CHAPTER 4: A LATE REALIZATION
The atmosphere in the living room of Aryo's parents' house was suffocating, even though the central AC was set to the lowest temperature. Hardi paced back and forth like a caged animal, his face flushed red, suppressing rage mixed with immense humiliation.
"Sixty-five billion..." Hardi hissed, his voice trembling. "He paid cash! Cash! While my company accounts are frozen!"
Hardi kicked the coffee table, sending a flower vase crashing to the floor, shattering into pieces.
Bayu sat on the sofa, gripping his own hair nervously. "Dad, this doesn't make sense. Aryo is poor! A week ago he asked for cigarette money and I threw coins at him. How did he become a trillionaire overnight? Did he rob a bank?"
"He couldn't have robbed a bank, Bayu!" Eva chimed in from the corner. Her face was pale, fingers busy stalking social media, hoping to find Aryo's trace, but finding nothing. "If he robbed a bank, he wouldn't dare flaunt buying a Koenigsegg in public. That money is legal. Definitely."
Eva's eyes stared into the distance, deep regret pooling within them. "I shouldn't have broken up with him..."
"Shut your mouth, Eva!" Bayu snapped. "You regret it now? Huh? You gold digger!"
"Enough!" Hardi shouted, halting their bickering. He stopped pacing, his eyes narrowing sharply as he recalled the events of that afternoon when he evicted Aryo. His memory circled back to one specific moment.
That rusty box.
"The box..." Hardi muttered. "The ugly iron box I threw at his face..."
Bayu looked at his father, confused. "You mean? Grandpa's trash?"
"It wasn't trash, you fool!" Hardi smacked his own head. "My brother... Satria... he was a mad scientist. He always said he was working on a project called 'Future Legacy'. I thought it was nonsense because he never brought money home. It turns out..."
Hardi grabbed Bayu by the collar, his eyes bulging wildly. "The contents of that box! The key was in there! I threw the treasure at him! I did it myself!"
A heavy silence fell. The realization hit them like a freight train. They hadn't just kicked Aryo out; they had literally thrown the keys to the vault into the lap of the person they hated most.
"We have to take it back," Bayu's voice turned cold, filled with greed. "That's our house. That's Grandpa's heirloom. Legally, it belongs to you, right Dad?"
"To hell with the law," Hardi growled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "The law can't touch Aryo now if he has that much money. We'll use street methods."
Hardi dialed a contact named "Ringo - The Collector".
"Hello, Ringo. I have a big job for you. Track my nephew, Aryo Purnomo. Find out where he lives now, and drag him to me. Dead or alive... but make sure the box he carries comes back to me."
***
Meanwhile, inside the Sanctuary.
Aryo sat relaxed in his command chair facing a giant monitor screen. On the screen, the CCTV footage of Hardi's living room was displayed clearly. The image quality was crystal clear, the audio crisp, thanks to the micro-bugs Alia had infiltrated through the house's Wi-Fi network.
Aryo sipped his black coffee, a smirk playing on his lips as he watched his family's panic.
"They just realized it now," Aryo muttered.
Alia stood beside him, her eyes glowing a dim blue as she processed data.
"Master, the system detects an outgoing call from Hardi's phone to a number registered in the underground criminal database. The target is named Ringo, a specialist in kidnapping and intimidation."
Aryo set down his coffee cup. "So they want to play rough."
"Should I dispatch combat drones to neutralize Ringo before he approaches?" Alia offered flatly, as if suggesting a dinner menu.
"No," Aryo stopped her. "That's too fast. It's not fun."
Aryo swiveled his chair to face Alia.
"Let Ringo track us. Leak a little GPS signal from my new car. Lure him to the border forest. I want to give Uncle Hardi a little... horror show."
"Understood, Master. Activating Ghost Protocol. GPS signal emitted."
***
Two hours later.
A black SUV sped through the desolate road heading toward the foot of the mountain. Inside, Ringo, a muscular man with neck tattoos, drove while smoking. In the passenger seat was Bayu, who had insisted on coming because he wanted to beat Aryo with his own hands.
"Are you sure he ran here?" Bayu asked, looking around at the dense, dark forest.
"His GPS is active. The expensive car is at this point. Maybe he's hiding in an old shack," Ringo answered raspily. "Relax, Little Boss. Once we find him, just break his legs, then we take the goods."
The car turned onto a rocky dirt road. The GPS on Ringo's phone beeped, signaling the target was close.
"You have arrived at your destination."
Ringo slammed the brakes. The car's headlights illuminated thick undergrowth. No house. No shack. Just a massive, ominous banyan tree.
"Where is he?" Bayu barked. "You said here!"
"The map point is right here!" Ringo hit the steering wheel, confused.
Suddenly, their car engine died completely. The headlights cut out. The darkness of the forest swallowed them whole.
"Damn, breakdown?" Ringo tried to restart, but the engine didn't respond.
Click.
The sound of car doors locking automatically.
"What the hell is this?" Bayu started to panic. He pulled the door handle, but it was jammed tight.
Then, from the darkness of the forest ahead, two red glowing dots appeared. At first, they looked like the eyes of a beast. But the lights rose, higher and higher, until they were three meters off the ground.
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed. BOOM... BOOM... BOOM...
The ground shook.
"What... what is that?" Bayu's voice caught in his throat.
From behind the trees, the silhouette of a three-meter-tall guardian robot, an old Sentinel model modified by Alia, stepped out. Its body was made of pitch-black steel, with a single red eye scanning their car.
The red light pierced through the windshield, illuminating Ringo and Bayu's terrified faces.
Aryo's voice was heard, not from outside, but hijacking their car's speakers.
"Hello, Bayu. Hello, Mr. Ringo."
Aryo's voice sounded calm, yet it echoed terrifyingly in the cramped car cabin.
"Are you lost? Or are you looking for my trash box?"
Bayu trembled violently, cold sweat pouring down his face. "Aryo! Come out! Don't play games!"
"You are trespassing on private property," Aryo's voice continued. "According to Article 1 of the Blue Horizon Security Protocol, armed intruders are considered lethal threats."
The Sentinel robot in front of the car raised its right arm. The sound of a mechanical whir was heard as the barrels of a gatling machine gun spun slowly on the robot's arm, aiming straight at Bayu's head.
"Mercy! Aryo! I'm your cousin! Don't be crazy!" Bayu screamed hysterically, tears spilling over. Ringo, who was fierce moments ago, was now frozen stiff; the pistol at his waist felt useless against the steel monster.
"Go home, Bayu," Aryo whispered through the speakers. "Tell your father... this is the first and last warning. If you send anyone else, I won't send a guardian robot. I will send a direct invitation to the destruction of your company."
CRASH!
The robot stomped its foot, creating a shockwave that sent the SUV bouncing backward several meters.
The car lights turned back on. The engine roared to life on its own.
On the car's dashboard screen, which usually displayed maps, blood-red text now appeared:
RUN.
Without a second thought, Ringo slammed the steering wheel, turning the car around in a panic, and floored the gas pedal, fleeing the forest as fast as a demon chased by the grim reaper. Bayu sobbed uncontrollably in the passenger seat, his courage shattered instantly.
Inside the Sanctuary, Aryo chuckled as he watched the car speed away on the monitor.
"Excellent work, Alia. Father's toys in the warehouse still function well, it seems."
"Indeed, Master," Alia replied with a smile. "Their adrenaline levels increased by 300%. The message was delivered very clearly."
Aryo looked back at the blue chip in his hand.
"Now that they are terrified... it is time to begin the real attack. We destroy Uncle Hardi's business tomorrow morning, right when the stock market opens."