System Check-In: Firing Range / Personal Combat Suite — 5:47 AM
Daily Check-In Complete
Location-Based Bonus Activated: War Intent Site
Rewards Received:
– $1.2M
– New Skill: "Recoilless Authority"
→ All weapons used by you gain enhanced precision and zero recoil.
– Temporary Boost: "Press Surge Nullifier"
→ Media attacks have 35% less influence for the next 72 hours.
System Auto-Broadcast:
– Virelli, DuMont, and Black Family satellite operatives now registering defensive behavior.
News Breaks – 9:03 AM
"Is Damon Black Running a Shadow Empire from St. Monarch?"
"Nova Cross: Weapon Mule or Loyal Partner?"
"Anonymous Agent: He's Not a Student. He's a Ghost."
Clips of Damon walking through campus in slow motion, backed by elite cars and masked women. Headlines layered with manipulated tax records, screenshots of Nova in Dubai, and leaked fake military contracts.
The attack had begun.
At Black Tower – System and ARCHAIOS React
"Public smear. Coordinated. CIA and media-linked bots activated," ARCHAIOS reported.
System Store Perk Triggered: "Bulletproof Reputation (Tier I)"
– Spend $3M to legally own 51% of one of the media companies reporting on you
– Rewrite their narrative. Use them as camouflage and weapon.
Purchase Confirmed.
Return Generated: $12M via insider ad contracts, brand attraction, and secret syndicate favor
Meanwhile – Sasha is Gone
Her apartment: Empty.
System tracking: Disabled.
ARCHAIOS drones: Blocked for the first time ever.
Status: Rogue. Unknown allegiance.
Emotion instability: 93%.
Mission pressure spike: 71%.
A handwritten note left behind on Damon's private desk:
"They said I had to betray you to protect you.
So I betrayed myself instead."
In the City — Phantom Moves
Damon appears at a press conference unannounced. Black suit, no tie, a $5M watch. No handlers. No lawyers.
Just silence before the storm.
Reporters rush.
He speaks into the mic.
"You want to know what I am?"
"I'm the man your kings take meetings with in the dark."
"I'm the one who's rich without your system, powerful without your permission, and alive because I refuse to kneel."
"I am Damon Black.
Or if you're brave enough to whisper it…
Phantom."
"And I do not leak blood."
"I pour it."
System Alert: Global Dominance Spike
– Underworld Trust: +17%
– Public Fear + Elite Attraction: +22%
– FBI Nexus Task Force: Officially moves Damon to Priority Black File – Tier One Threat