Tuesday, 8:45 a.m.
Leo sat quietly at a local café near campus, sipping from a plain mug of brewed barako coffee. He wasn't here for caffeine. He was here for a meeting—one that could begin the next phase of his plan: Influence Seeding.
The first target?
Education.
The café door chimed.
A tall, middle-aged woman entered, wearing a simple yet elegant Filipiniana blouse. Her stern face softened slightly when she spotted Leo.
"Mr. Ramirez?" she asked in a low voice.
Leo stood and offered his hand. "Call me Leo."
She sat across from him.
"I'm Dr. Teresa Malicdem, Dean of Outreach Programs. You requested to speak regarding… scholarship expansion?"
Leo nodded. "Not expansion. Revolution."
She raised an eyebrow. "Explain."
Leo pulled out a USB and handed it to her.
"Inside is a fully detailed program we're calling GZ Access—a self-funded scholarship platform targeting brilliant but overlooked youth from low-income communities. We'll combine it with mentorship from actual innovators, not just professors with PowerPoints."
Dr. Malicdem inserted the USB into her tablet. Her eyes scanned the presentation. Within minutes, her expression shifted from skeptical to stunned.
"Who's backing this?" she asked. "This is… millions worth of logistics. Labs. Trainers. Satellite campuses?"
Leo smiled faintly. "A silent trust. We're only asking for your institution's support in vetting applicants and providing accreditation. We'll handle the rest."
"You're talking about full rides for hundreds of students… no strings attached?"
"Only one string," Leo replied. "They must give back. After graduation, each recipient trains two more scholars."
The dean sat back in awe.
"You're not just building scholars," she whispered. "You're creating a cycle."
Leo nodded. "One that can't be bought, branded, or broken."
[Side Project Launched: GZ Access – Educational Seeding Program]
System Contribution: ₱10M injected via silent trust
Public Face: Ground Zero Initiative
Leo's Name: Hidden
Status: Approved
Institutional Influence in Education Sector: +18%
Reputation (Silent): Growing
Next Target Sector: Logistics
Later that day at Ground Zero, Zari cornered Leo as he was reviewing Dreigh's drone interface.
"Hey," she said, arms crossed. "So I was running code tests last night and noticed a spike in cloud traffic from our servers."
Leo didn't flinch. "From where?"
"Nothing malicious," she said. "But someone uploaded a huge packet of encrypted legal documents to a hidden vault folder labeled 'Trust Expansion'... and only your ID had access."
Leo stayed silent.
Zari leaned in. "You're hiding something big, Leo."
He gave her a long look. Then said, "You're right."
Zari blinked. "Wait—you're admitting it?"
Leo nodded. "You're the team's shield. You deserve to know."
He stepped aside and pulled up a secure screen.
On it, multiple real-time dashboards glowed: investment returns, asset portfolios, shadow companies, and legal frameworks—enough financial data to run an empire.
Zari stared, jaw slowly dropping.
"…You're the ghost billionaire everyone's whispering about."
Leo smiled. "Not billionaire. Yet."
She looked at him, speechless. "Then why keep working here? With us?"
"Because I'm not building this for me," Leo said. "I'm building this with people who still remember how to dream when they're hungry."
Zari exhaled. "You're insane."
"But you're still here."
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I am."
[Trust Milestone Reached: Zari Gomez – Loyalty 81%]
Bonus Activated: Dual Core Project Path – Zari and Leo can now co-lead digital enterprise builds
Shadow Security Layer Strengthened: +12% to GZ Infrastructure
That evening, Leo held a private team huddle at Ground Zero.
He looked each of them in the eye.
"I'm telling you this now, because what's coming next isn't small," Leo said. "We've quietly planted ourselves in education. Now we're moving into logistics—partnering with a last-mile delivery company in need of funding and innovation. We'll automate their routing system, improve their tech, and absorb their operations."
Martin raised an eyebrow. "We're going corporate?"
"No," Leo replied. "We're going smart. The best way to change a broken system is to own it from the inside."
Aria looked both impressed and concerned. "How far is this going?"
Leo answered simply: "Far enough that one day, when someone asks who made this world more livable, your names will come up."
No one argued.
They were in too deep.
And they loved it.
[New Sector Targeted: Logistics – Partnership with MetroDrop PH]
Covert Investment: ₱4M
Leo's Role: Silent Majority Partner
System Skill Progress: Strategic Influence Tier 2 – 64%
Global Observer Trigger: Hidden investors begin taking notice...
Meanwhile, in a skyscraper in Makati, a foreign man in a gray suit studied a report printed on high-grade parchment.
"Sir," his assistant said, "the Philippine market just triggered anomaly flags. Rapid growth in underdog sectors—education, logistics, fintech—coming from anonymous entities."
The man grinned.
"And in every case… a name keeps popping up quietly in the shadows."
"Whose name?"
The man turned the page.
"Leo."