Chapter 5: This Is My First Step Toward the Pinnacle of Life
Inside the pitch-black maglev sports car, Jonas sat in the back seat while 【Butler】 Eiffel drove.
Twenty-five special operatives equipped with Vetting’s second-generation tactical armor—this force was sufficient to contend with a Level 2 Peacekeeping Force.
It sounded impressive, but suppressing an entire district’s riot was still a stretch.
Due to the suddenness of events, Jonas couldn’t quickly mobilize enough force to directly crush the Arte District.
Of course, this was also influenced by Jonas not yet fully entering the Vetting Conglomerate’s board of directors.
These twenty-five special operatives were the maximum force he could gather on short notice.
Observing the gang-controlled areas on his tablet, Jonas’s gaze flickered.
From the driver’s seat, Eiffel glanced at Jonas through the rearview mirror before quickly looking away.
Her mind remained perfectly calm. Even knowing this trip was fraught with danger, she hadn’t shown any emotion.
Jonas’s judgment seemed utterly foolish to her…
Attempting to quell a riot with just twenty-five people was nothing short of delusional.
Choosing to personally enter the riot zone with such slim odds of success was undoubtedly handing the enemy an advantage.
Had Eiffel not been confident in extracting Jonas if the special operatives failed, she would never have agreed to such reckless decision-making.
Unaware of what his 【Butler】 Eiffel was thinking.
Just as Jonas was lost in thought, the car suddenly came to a halt.
He frowned and looked up.
The scene before him left him stunned for a long moment.
Thick black smoke rose from the district, with everything around engulfed in flames.
The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, and the walls of buildings were blackened by soot.
The raging fires of rebellion had ignited the entire district.
Everything before his eyes unmistakably signaled that the situation had spiraled completely out of control…
The circumstances were likely far worse than he had imagined…
“These wild dogs…”
Jonas couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
He was now absolutely certain who was behind the orchestration of the Arte District’s uprising.
No mere gang or the original protagonist’s schemes could have achieved this level of devastation.
There was undoubtedly another conglomerate’s shadow lurking behind this incident.
And the one most interested in the Arte District…
“Eiffel.”
“Here.”
“Order the special forces to prepare for combat.”
Eiffel was momentarily taken aback by his command.
Then she witnessed a side of Young Master Jonas she had never seen before.
For a fleeting moment, Jonas’s figure overlapped with that of the absolute ruler of the Vetting Conglomerate from years past.
After a long silence, Eiffel finally spoke:
“Your will shall be done.”
………………………..
Resolving this uprising wouldn’t actually be difficult, but the longer it dragged on, the greater the repercussions would be.
And the gang members of the Arte District were well aware of this fact…
They never truly intended to rebel against the conglomerate—they merely wanted to tear a piece of flesh from the Vetting Conglomerate’s body through this incident.
To be precise, they wanted to tear a piece from Young Master Jonas himself.
Therefore, they didn’t need to consider how to expand after initiating the uprising.
They only needed to hold onto the territories they had already seized—everything else was irrelevant to them.
The longer they held out, the more bargaining chips they would have.
The Arte District was easy to defend but hard to attack—the advantage was theirs!
However, this was the thinking of ordinary people.
As the leader of the Arte District’s gangs, Ston had never considered stopping here.
Sitting atop a pile of rubble, watching the retreating security personnel of the Vetting Conglomerate in the distance, he couldn’t help but grin.
He had never tasted such sweet victory before.
This feeling made him want to spread his arms and embrace the cheers and applause.
Of course, it wasn’t yet time to pop the champagne.
According to the instructions from that mysterious figure, mobilizing forces in thirty minutes would allow them to capture the Arte Branch headquarters.
The resources there were enough to make even major conglomerates drool with envy.
If they succeeded this time, he might truly break through class barriers and ascend to the upper echelons, rubbing shoulders with figures he had only ever heard about in the news.
This was something he wouldn’t have dared to dream of in the past…
But now, not only were all his men equipped with the Tyne Conglomerate’s second-generation tactical gear, but they also held absolute strategic superiority.
Though he didn’t know who the person sending instructions through anonymous emails was, every step of their guidance had indeed given him the upper hand.
At first, he had been skeptical—until the mysterious informant accurately predicted every subsequent deployment of the Vetting Conglomerate’s security forces, at which point he became a true believer.
With the support of these two parties, the originally timid and cautious Ston began to grow overconfident.
If it were his past self, his first instinct after occupying these areas would have been to hold them. But now, he clearly sought even greater gains.
The Vetting Conglomerate’s Arte Branch building…
Ston could feel his ambition swelling endlessly.
—Beep beep
The communicator buzzed again.
Ston’s eyes lit up as he hurriedly opened his email.
There, the mysterious figure had sent another message.
【K: Here’s the attack route and troop distribution map. Follow my instructions, and you’ll take the Arte Branch building.】
【K: [Image]】
【K: Remember, no one else must see this message. Destroy it immediately after capturing the Arte Branch building.】
As he looked over the materials sent by the mysterious figure named K, Ston’s body trembled uncontrollably.
With this information… he could absolutely seize control of the Arte District and demand greater concessions from the Vetting Conglomerate.
Then, he could defect directly to the Tyn Conglomerate and continue expanding his influence.
And this would be the first step for Ston Ratka on his path to the pinnacle of life.
……………………………….
“What weapons were those gang members using in the recent combat logs?”
Jonas spoke up from inside the car, though his gaze never left the tablet in front of him.
“They were using tactical gear from the Tyn Conglomerate.”
Eiffel, seated in the driver’s seat, answered while glancing at Jonas through the rearview mirror, silently speculating about what decision the young master would make.
Given the current situation, reclaiming the out-of-control district by force was unlikely, at least in the short term.
Moreover, there was the possibility of the enemy fighting to the death. A direct confrontation was clearly not a wise move.
But negotiating with them also carried the risk of losing both personnel and assets.
After all, these gang members were no pushovers. If Jonas went alone to negotiate, he’d likely be taken hostage as leverage for greater gains.
The current situation was truly a dilemma—advance or retreat, neither was ideal.
“Order the Arte Branch building to fortify its defenses. Also, have those twenty special operatives set up ambushes along the route.”
Jonas’ words stunned Eiffel. After hesitating for a long moment, she finally spoke:
“Are you sure?”
This was undoubtedly a gamble, leaving the initiative to the gang’s leader.
And according to the intel, the gang leader of the Arte District was timid and cautious—getting him to take the initiative was nearly impossible.
“I’m not sure…”
Jonas met Eiffel’s eyes through the rearview mirror:
“But I can afford to gamble, can’t I?”
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