She Used Me for a Dare… Now I Own Her Mother Chapter 595: Foundation of Eclipse

"A brilliant strategy, Master Alex. Everything can be set in motion whenever you give the word. But..."

Viktor trailed off, an uncharacteristic pause hanging in the quiet room.

Alex raised a single brow, watching his second-in-command with quiet amusement. "Since when do you hesitate, Viktor? Speak."

Viktor straightened, folding his hands before him.

"It is Raymond Cole himself, Sir. A plan of this scale assumes we hold the foundation beneath their feet. But Raymond is notoriously stubborn. For months, the Valentis used leverage, the Calders made astronomical cash offers, and the Mercers threatened him with city council sanctions. None of them could force his signature. If Raymond refuses to sell to Eclipse Holdings, our entire leverage across all three houses falls apart before we take our first step."

A faint, knowing smile curved Alex’s lips.

He leaned forward, sliding a hand into the inner breast pocket of his tailored charcoal vest. With an effortless motion, he retrieved a sleek, dark-leather portfolio bearing a crimson wax seal and slid it across the polished mahogany table.

"I apologize, Viktor," Alex said smoothly, his tone laced with easy warmth. "I should have mentioned it sooner. Yesterday was... rather eventful."

Viktor looked down, puzzled. He picked up the heavy folio and unfastened the clasp.

The moment his eyes scanned the first page, his breath halted.

?It was an official deed of commercial land transfer. At the bottom, stamped with an irrevocable City Municipal Registry seal and crisp, legally binding notary marks, sat Raymond Cole’s unmistakable signature.

The entire property... the central commercial tower, the surrounding land parcels, and the subterranean rights... was formally registered under Alexander Hale.

Viktor’s sharp eyes widened, tracing the legal seals again to ensure he wasn’t imagining things.

Three prominent families had torn each other apart for months, throwing blood, political capital, and fortunes at the wall without moving the stubborn old man an inch.

Yet Alex had slipped into the city, concluded the deal in a single afternoon, and now had the signed deeds casually resting on the table as if they were nothing more than morning mail.

A look of pure, unadulterated awe washed over the veteran’s face. When he looked up at Alex, the respect in his eyes ran deeper than ever before.

"You... you already secured the deed," Viktor murmured, exhaling a quiet, breathless laugh.

He closed the portfolio with reverent care, laying his hands flat against it. "Then... there are no obstacles left, Master Alex. Not a single one. We don’t just hold an advantage; we have the board by the throat. We can proceed at any moment you wish."

Alex chuckled softly at the sharp hunger returning to the older man’s eyes.

"We will handle those families soon enough," Alex said smoothly, leaning back into his leather chair. "With this deed in our hands, the physical foundation of Eclipse Holdings is already secured. I had originally intended to establish our first official branch — Special Operations and Tactical Security Division — to move in on the property and begin executing the plays we just mapped out."

A faint smirk played at the corner of his lips.

"However, an elite vanguard division is useless without a commander who stands completely above the rest. I decided to wait until your breakthrough was settled before formalizing the structure."

Viktor’s eyes flared with disciplined fire, his posture straightening instantly.

"You will not have to wait, Sir," Viktor answered, his voice steady with quiet confidence.

"My foundation has never been more solid. Over the past day, I focused entirely on tempering my vital core to absolute saturation, reinforcing every channel to ensure there isn’t the slightest instability when the surge hits. I am ready to step across the threshold at any second... I was merely waiting for your arrival to deliver the report."

"Good," Alex replied, a satisfied light gleaming in his dark eyes. "Because ordinary progress is far too slow for where we are heading."

Alex extended his right hand over the table.

In a faint shimmer of spatial distortion, a small, heavy crystal vial materialized in his palm.

Inside, a dense, molten-gold liquid swirled with its own quiet rhythm, catching the soft lighting of the room. It was the Elixir of Absolute Ascension.

Alex raised the vial slightly, offering it toward Viktor with a calm, assured smile.

"Here," Alex said. "I’ve been waiting for you to say that. This medicine will eliminate every single risk of failure and multiply the strength of your advancement severalfold."

Viktor’s eyes locked onto the vial, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

The sight struck an immediate, resonant chord deep within him. It was just like the vial Alex had handed him in the past, back when he had needed it most—a miracle that had rewritten his fate and restored his ruined life. And now, placed directly before him once again, was a substance vastly more profound, carrying an aura far more terrifying in its purity.

He knew what the leap into Ascension meant to any cultivator. It was a deadly precipice where even the greatest talents risked shattering their own channels.

Yet Viktor didn’t hesitate for a single second.

There was no false modesty, no trembling reluctance, and no performative refusal. From the moment he had pledged his life to Alexander Hale, he had sworn to serve him with everything he had. To hesitate now, or to shy away from greater strength out of lingering doubt, would only make him a liability to the man building an empire.

If Alex wanted a commander who could stand above the entire city, Viktor would step into the fire and become that monster without question.

His hands remained steady as he reached forward, receiving the vial as if accepting a sacred decree.

Alex watched him quietly, reading the silent storm of emotions behind the veteran’s hardened eyes. He knew exactly what was running through the older man’s mind. To someone who had spent decades surviving in the dirt, discarded and broken before being handed a second life, a gift like this felt like an impossible debt.

A faint, easy smile softened Alex’s expression, breaking the heavy solemnity in the air.

"Don’t get emotional over every small thing now, Viktor," Alex said smoothly, leaning back into his chair. "A single elixir is nothing. We have heights to reach that people in this city can’t even begin to imagine."

His dark eyes locked onto Viktor’s, filled with an unshakeable, sovereign certainty.

"When that day comes, I want you right there beside me. Not just as my sharpest blade or my most loyal subordinate... but as family."

Viktor went quiet for a moment.

?The word family didn’t roll easily off a man who had spent most of his life in the underground, where trust was a liability and loyalty always came with an expiration date. But spoken so casually by Alex, without flair or pretense, it carried a weight that made the veteran’s chest tighten just slightly.

?He looked down at the golden vial in his hand, his fingers closing firmly around the cold crystal.

?When he looked back up, whatever emotional storm had stirred beneath the surface was gone, settled into a calm, unshakable clarity. There was no dramatic oath or roaring declaration. At his age, Viktor knew words were cheap; results were the only currency that mattered.

?"I will do everything in my power to live up to your expectations, Sir," Viktor said, his voice quiet, calm, and heavier than any sworn oath. "I won’t let you down."

"I know you will."

?Alex smiled, nodding back.

?He pushed his chair back and rose smoothly to his feet, casually adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves with practiced composure. The warm, quiet gravity of the moment dissolved into crisp, focused intent. The foundation was set, the deed was secured, and the board was waiting.

?A faint smirk touched the corner of Alex’s lips as his gaze drifted toward the heavy corridor leading down to the subterranean training hall.

?"Now, come on," Alex said, walking around the mahogany table. "Let’s go greet the boys. It’s about time we officially assemble our first division... wouldn’t you say?"