Two days went by quickly as Logan immersed himself in reading, reviewing countless reports and files. Thanks to his exceptional memory, he'd managed to remember the majority of them.
'Some businesses are rather easy to understand, such as mana core processing and cave rights, but others require more in-depth research,' Logan thought, having read through some basic documents about the scope of the businesses.
Overall, the past two days had been relatively peaceful. Something Logan welcomed with open arms after having his life turned upside down.
Other than Edric, only Silas had come to visit him. During the visit, Silas explained he would be gone for the next two weeks, having joined a raid team for an A-rank dungeon.
'If I have any more questions, I'm supposed to ask Edric, and he'll bring me into contact with the right person,' Logan thought.
In the past two days, Logan had also come to understand that the family businesses weren't in a perfect state right now. This was all thanks to Silas, who had sent him the document right after the visit.
'Turns out, being without a leader for an entire year created quite serious problems,' Logan thought, having made some notes about the current situation.
'With no one at the top to make key decisions, the board could rarely reach a majority vote on anything important.'
The result had been a slow but steady decline—missed opportunities, delayed projects, and growing uncertainty among staff.
'Some departments have already fallen behind competitors,' he noted, 'and the lack of direction has shaken confidence among the regular staff. Without stability, people start fearing for their jobs.'
'External suppliers are also losing trust in the businesses and are switching over to competitors.'
But these weren't even the most troublesome problems Logan had read about.
'Being leaderless made some people very ambitious,' Logan thought. 'Some of the board members and department heads formed factions to gain as much influence as possible.'
'There's also been an increase in personnel caught embezzling funds, and board members intentionally hoarding resources to sabotage competing factions. On top of that, multiple suspicious people were caught lurking near important machines.'
Sighing, Logan looked out the window of his study room.
"What a mess," he muttered.
Looking at his system screen, Logan felt relieved.
[Cooldown 01:21:54]
'It's almost time,' he thought.
He'd thought it through over the past two days and decided to go through with it—especially after he realized he could take out two birds with one stone.
'From the documents I've seen, a great internal investigation needs to happen to filter out rats,' Logan thought. 'And I know now, if I try to start an investigation myself, I'll be shut down by the directors since none of them want that to happen. Their influence and jobs would be at stake if it went through.'
'But all of that changes the moment a billion USD suddenly disappears. They'll be forced to go along, whether they like it or not.'
Logan tapped his desk and smiled, satisfied with the plan in his mind.
'This investigation will also reveal if the documents Silas sent me were truthful.'
He'd learned his lesson and wasn't naïve enough to just fully trust someone who showed him a little kindness.
It wasn't impossible for Silas to try and use a naïve 18-year-old to get rid of competitors within the company.
'But then again, this entire plan isn't without risk,' Logan thought. 'Although I'm 99% sure the system is untraceable when it withdraws money, if it isn't, I'll have a lot of questions aimed at me.'
Looking back at his system's timer, Logan couldn't help but feel excited.
'I really wonder what I'll get out of this.'
Time dragged on as Logan worked through several more documents. Some requested investments, while others needed a green light to start new projects.
As the cooldown approached the 5-minute mark, Logan put everything aside and mentally prepared himself.
[Cooldown 00:03:54]
[Cooldown 00:01:25]
With every second that ticked down, he got more and more nervous.
[Cooldown 00:00:05]
Then the message he'd been waiting for popped up.
[Cooldown Complete. Awaiting Input.]
Looking at the golden system screen, Logan's smile widened.
'It's time,' he thought.
"System, redeem one billion USD."
[Redeeming one billion USD....]
Seconds ticked by with the same screen stuck in front of his eyes.
Logan stared intensely at the screen, even starting to sweat as he hoped for something amazing.
The longer it took, the more nervous he got.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! Your F-rank fire affinity evolved into an SSS-rank phoenix flame affinity.]
Logan stared at the screen, holding his breath as his mind went blank.
That's when it began.
Logan felt intense heat inside his chest, forcing him to clutch it as he slumped forward.
Deep inside him, the yellow swirling mass changed to a fierce red color as it expanded. Growing larger and larger, vast amounts of energy rushed through Logan's body, even cracking his core from the sheer pressure.
Logan was in total agony, feeling as if he'd been set on fire from within.
Suddenly, he felt like he couldn't breathe anymore. It felt as if the air in his lungs had been replaced by fire. He collapsed to his knees as his veins turned crimson and his skin started glowing a deep orange.
The glass around him fogged. The books on his desk ignited. His laptop melted. Then, one by one the nearby chairs, tables and shelves collapsed into melting heaps.
For a moment, his vision completely faded.
Finally, a pressure wave shot out, shattering all the windows around him.
Then, silence.
Gasping for air, Logan looked around him with blurry eyes as a deafening alarm went off.
Raising his head, he realized fire was everywhere around him. The water falling from the sprinklers in the ceiling had absolutely no effect on the flames surrounding him.
But strangely enough, he didn't feel the heat from the flames around him.
'This might become a problem,' Logan thought, looking at the melted furniture and broken windows around him.
Seconds later, Logan heard a loud bang behind him.
Turning around, he watched Silas charge in—behind him, Edric and multiple other people wearing security uniforms.