CHAPTER 10: THE JUNCTION STRATEGY

  [OBJECTIVE: REGIONAL DOMINANCE]

  [TARGET: THE THREE-ROAD JUNCTION]

  [ASSET REQUIREMENTS: HIGH]

  The Oasis was a fortress, but a fortress is a static asset. It waits for the world to come to it. If I wanted to truly protect my investment from the Guild and the Empire, I needed to control the flow. I sat in my office, surrounded by topographical maps of the Southern Wastes. Forty miles to the east lay the Three-Road Junction. It was the jugular of the continent. Every grain shipment, every spice wagon, and every slave-train had to pass through that bottleneck.

  Currently, it was held by 'The Iron Lion,' a Warlord named Lito. He wasn't a businessman; he was a parasite. He charged a 'Protection Fee' that was so high it was actively stifling trade.

  "I didn't come here to play small-scale, Lilo," I said.

  Lilo was standing by the window, watching the moonlight hit the dunes. He looked hollowed out. The incident with the Knight had changed his posture. He was no longer the hero; he was the enforcer.

  "You're talking about a war, Gray," Lilo said. "Lito has four hundred men. They’re battle-hardened. We have... what? Twenty bandits and the three of us? Those aren't odds. Those are a massacre."

  Stolen story; please report.

  "I didn't suggest a war, Lilo. War is an inefficient allocation of resources," I said. I tapped the map. "I suggested an acquisition. Lito is over-leveraged. He spends sixty percent of his take just on feeding his men. He’s one bad harvest away from a mutiny. I don't need to kill him. I just need to own his supply chain."

  "He won't just hand over the road because you have a nice ledger," Lilo muttered.

  "He will if I’m the only person who can keep his men from starving," I replied. "Ami has been scouting the perimeter for three days. She’s found the vulnerabilities in his logic. He thinks because he has the biggest axe, he has the most power. He doesn't realize he’s breathing air I can tax."

  I pulled up the report Ami had filed. She had been distant since the boy was processed, but her work was still flawless. She had identified the Warlord's primary water source—a deep-earth vein that was already starting to fail.

  "I didn't send her there just to watch," I said. "I sent her to prepare the groundwork. Mito and his men are moving tonight. They aren't carrying swords. They're carrying mana-blockers and sand-diversion kits."

  "You're going to dry them out," Lilo said. It wasn't a question.

  "I'm going to create a market necessity," I corrected. "By tomorrow morning, the Iron Lion will have four hundred thirsty men and a dry well. And I will be the only man in the Wastes with a surplus of water and a contract for a 'Merger and Acquisition'."

  "Gray, if this fails, they'll ride here and burn this place to the ground."

  "I didn't build this place to burn, Lilo. I built it to last. And to last, it must grow. Go get your armor. You're leaving at midnight. You aren't going as a conqueror. You're going as a messenger."

  I watched Lilo leave the room. He didn't argue. He didn't have the spirit for it anymore. He was a man who had traded his glory for a roof and a meal, and he knew it.

  I turned back to the maps. I didn't feel the thrill of the gamble. I had run the numbers twelve times. There was an eighty-four percent probability of success. The only variable was the Warlord's pride.

  I didn't like variables.

  I opened the Core's secondary menu. I needed more mana for the coming expansion. I looked at the 'Soul-Tax' yield from the Crypt. It was steady, but not enough for what I had planned. I needed a currency. Not gold—gold was the Empire's tool. I needed something the Oasis controlled entirely.

  'Soul-Credits.'

  I began drafting the first minting process. I didn't want to be a King. I wanted to be the Bank. And by the time the Sun-Walkers reached the Three-Road Junction, the Bank was going to be the only thing left standing.