Alex stood motionless in the corridor, his gaze fixed on the space where Catherine and Victoria had disappeared moments ago.

The evening had unfolded exactly as planned. Better than planned, actually.

His attention shifted to the system interface materializing in his vision like translucent glass overlaying reality.

[Catherine Blackwood ]

- Emotional Dependency: 90% (+5%)

- Conquest Points Awarded: +2,000 CP

- Status: DEEPLY COMMITTED

Alex studied the numbers with quiet satisfaction.

A five percent increase from a single breakthrough. From 85% to 90% just by delivering on one promise.

Alex's slight smile widened.

The gratitude in her eyes when she'd looked at him. The softness beneath her usual control. The way she'd said "I won't forget this" with genuine emotion rather than political calculation.

'She's not just strategically aligned anymore. She's personally invested.'

But getting from 90% to 100%...

Alex's expression turned thoughtful.

That won't be as simple as another elixir.

The remaining ten percent wasn't about gratitude or resources or even breakthrough achievements. Catherine had spent her entire life building toward one goal: becoming Head of House Blackwood.

Everything she'd done... every political alliance, every calculated move, every year of grueling cultivation... had been in service of that singular ambition.

She won't give me absolute devotion until she has what she's been fighting for her entire life.

The succession. The position. The legacy.

Only by making her Head of House Blackwood will she reach 100%.

Alex felt no disappointment at the realization.

If anything, it clarified his path forward.

He'd already committed to helping her claim the succession. Already promised her the resources to make it happen. Already set events in motion that would culminate in her victory.

Six months until the decision. Three months to push her to Peak Apex. Another three to consolidate political support and destroy her opposition.

He pulled up his status screen, reviewing current capabilities:

[DOMINION SYSTEM - LEVEL 2.0]

[MASTER STATUS]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

NAME: Alexander "Alex" Hale

AGE: 22

TITLE: Master of Dominion/Master of all paths

REALM: Enhanced Realm (Early)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[CORE STATS]

• Body: 30/50 [+] (Cost: 500 CP per point)

• Mind: 30/50 [+] (Cost: 500 CP per point)

• Charm: 30/50 [+] (Cost: 500 CP per point)

Current CP Balance: 18, 000

[Note: Enhancement is permanent and immediate upon allocation]

[Warning: CP cannot be refunded once allocated]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[FINANCIAL RESOURCES]

Bank Account (Liquid): $1,025,000,000

Other Assets: $25,000,000

Total Net Worth: $1,050,000,000

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[ACTIVE SKILLS ]

★ Silver Tongue Protocol (Level 2)

★ Elite Presence Mastery (Level 2)

★ Golden Touch (Level 2)

★ Alpha Stamina Core (Level 2)

★ Bullet Veil (Level 2)

★ Dominion Touch: Serpent's Whisper

[All skills function on targets up to ONE STAGE above host.]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[HAREM - PARTNERS]

★ VICTORIA BLACKWOOD (100%)

Status: Completely Devoted.

★ TISHA WELLS (95%)

Status: Extremely Loyal.

★ Catherine Blackwood (90%)

Status: Deeply Committed.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Alex's eyes lingered on the CP balance displayed in his status screen.

[Current CP Balance: 18,000]

The number looked substantial at first glance.

But Alex knew better.

It's not nearly enough.

Reaching Peak Enhanced alone would require approximately thirty thousand CP. His current stats needed significant advancement across all three categories... Body, Mind, and Charm... and each point cost five hundred CP.

The math was straightforward and unforgiving.

And that was just his own advancement.

His promise to Catherine required far more.

Four additional fighters needed to reach Apex realm. Each one would cost somewhere between twelve and fifteen thousand CP, possibly more depending on their current foundation and compatibility with breakthrough resources. Conservative estimates put the total investment at sixty thousand CP minimum.

Alex's jaw tightened fractionally as the full scope assembled in his mind.

Ninety thousand CP total. Probably closer to one hundred thousand once he factored in Catherine's continued advancement elixirs, Victoria's cultivation resources, and the inevitable complications that arose in any complex operation.

One hundred thousand CP. In six months.

For a moment, Alex felt the weight of that requirement settle over him.

The Harem Support System had made his ambitions feasible. The ninety percent discount on anything he purchased for his partners... elixirs, skills, resources... had transformed impossible math into merely difficult math.

Catherine's Apex breakthrough elixir would have cost him ten thousand CP at standard rates. With the harem discount, it had been one thousand.

Victoria's Peak Mortal elixir, similarly reduced from prohibitive to manageable.

Without that discount, I'd have burned through thousands just on those two breakthroughs alone.

But even with the harem system's efficiency, advancing Viktor's entire team to Apex realm was going to be expensive.

Because Viktor and his team weren't harem members. They were subordinates. Loyal, capable, essential to his plans... but outside the system's cost-reduction mechanics.

Alex's jaw tightened as the frustration crystallized.

What I really need is something similar for subordinates.

A Subordinate Support System. Something that gave him the same ninety percent discount on resources purchased for loyal operatives. Let him advance Viktor's team for one thousand CP each instead of ten. Let him build an entire organization of enhanced fighters without bankrupting his CP reserves.

If I had that, the math would be completely different.

"Lilith," Alex said quietly, voice barely above a whisper. "Is there something like the Harem Support System... but for subordinates? A discount on resources purchased for loyal operatives?"

Then her voice came through, but instead of the cryptic wisdom he'd expected, she laughed.

Not a polite chuckle. A full, delighted laugh that carried genuine amusement at his expense.

"Oh, Alex," Lilith said, still laughing. "You're already thinking about optimizing subordinate costs? You haven't even properly managed the harem system and you're already asking for discounts on your employees?"

Alex's jaw tightened slightly. "It's a reasonable question."

"It's an ambitious question," she corrected, mirth still evident in her tone.

"I have to admire the audacity. Really, I do."

Alex waited, refusing to rise to the bait.

Finally, Lilith's laughter faded into something more thoughtful.

"Who knows?" she said, her tone shifting to that familiar ambiguous quality. "Nothing is impossible. The system evolves. Adapts. Rewards users who demonstrate they can handle expanded capabilities."

A pause.

"But maybe focus on managing what you've already been given before asking for more toys to play with, hmm?"

Then silence.

Alex stood there for a moment, processing the response.

She didn't say no.

She laughed at me, mocked the ambition, but she didn't say no.

"Who knows" and "nothing is impossible" weren't confirmations. But they weren't denials either.

Relief settled through him, small but significant.

At least there's a possibility.

Besides, he'd chosen the Hybrid Path for a reason.

The system had explained it clearly when he'd made the selection: Hybrid Path users gained access to all mission types. Conquest missions. Combat missions. Economic missions. Social manipulation. Strategic planning. Everything.

Other paths specialized and gained bonuses in their chosen domain. But Hybrid users had flexibility.

'Which means I can generate CP through multiple vectors simultaneously,' Alex thought. 'Catherine and Victoria are secured. But there are other targets. Other opportunities. Other ways to accumulate power.'

He dismissed the status screen, filing the information away for later analysis.

Right now, there were more immediate priorities.

The book, for one.

He still didn't know what had happened after the investigation team returned. Whether they'd authorized nuclear deployment. What the fog samples had revealed.

How humanity had transitioned from "lethal phenomenon we can't understand" to "divine catalyst enhancement system that creates the Enhanced elite."

Alex turned back toward the library.

The Genesis Chronicle was still there, still open, text still glowing with that same patient illumination. As if it had been waiting for him to finish his business and return to the story it wanted to tell.

He moved through the corridors, retracing his path to the archive chamber.

The book sat on its black stone pedestal exactly as he'd left it, silver script suspended across obsidian pages.

Alex settled into position, leaning forward, eyes finding the point where he'd stopped reading.

The fog investigation. The team's return. Volkov's inexorable logic pushing toward Phase Three authorization.

'What happened next?' Alex thought, genuine curiosity mixing with strategic interest. 'Did they actually deploy nuclear weapons? Or did something else occur first?'

The text seemed to respond to his attention, new sections beginning to form as the book's interface adapted to his focus.

Alex's eyes tracked the emerging script.

Ready to discover how the world had ended.

And how it had been reborn.

But suddenly a hand settled on his shoulder.

Warm. Confident. Deliberate.

Alex went still. He hadn't heard footsteps.

Hadn't sensed anyone approaching.

"What are you reading?"

Catherine's voice came from directly behind him, low and amused.

He turned. She'd changed into a deep crimson silk robe that hung loosely, suggesting rather than revealing. Her dark hair was unbound, features sharper and more defined... Apex realm enhancement making her look like power wrapped in silk.

Her hand closed the Genesis Chronicle with a soft sound.

"Boring," Catherine said, "when there are far more interesting things we could be doing."

Movement at the entrance. Victoria appeared in midnight blue silk, moving with silent precision. Peak Mortal realm had transformed her... more grace, more presence, more everything.

Both women flanked him, hands settling on his shoulders.

"We thought," Victoria said softly, "we should properly express our gratitude."

Catherine leaned close, fingers tracing his jawline.

"So tell me, Alex... do you really want to keep reading?"

Her dark eyes held promise.

"Or would you prefer something far more memorable?"

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