The Unwanted Son's Millionaire System

The mood in the printing press basement became heavy and serious, like soldiers preparing for a final, desperate battle. The danger was different now. Sterling was no longer a controlled corporate executive; he was a wild animal, freed from his chains and filled with a burning desire for revenge. They had won the war against his company, but now Sterling himself was charging toward them, powerful and unstoppable, like a train that had jumped its tracks.

"A battlefield of our choosing," Silva repeated. A fierce, wild smile broke through the bruises on his face. He liked the idea of controlling the fight. "So, where do we make our stand?"

Ace's mind, connected to the powerful computer-like System inside him, was already scanning the city like a hunter looking for the perfect spot. He didn't just need a location for a fight; he needed a place that would mess with Sterling's head. A place that had meaning, a place they knew like the back of their hand.

"The cannery," Ace said. His words fell into the quiet room with heavy finality. "Unit B17."

Evelyn stared at him, her eyes wide with shock and worry. "Ace, that place is a burned-out wreck. It's a graveyard."

"Exactly," Ace replied, his voice emotionless and hard. "It's the place where Sterling and the crime lord Ramos thought they had destroyed us. It's where we lost our home, our equipment, and almost our hope. By going back there, we're going to show him that we rose from those ashes. And we're going to end him there."

The plan was incredibly bold. It wasn't just a physical trap; it was a mind game. They would use the hollow shell of their old life—the place of their greatest defeat—to lure in and defeat their enemy for good.

They moved with the smooth, practiced speed of a team that had been through hell together. In less than ten minutes, their most important gear was packed. Elara, using a small electronic device, created a false trail for Sterling to follow. She sent out a weak, hidden digital signal from a stolen phone she had placed near the cannery. It was bait, and they were absolutely sure the angry and cornered Sterling would be desperate enough to chase it.

The trip to the cannery felt like a journey into their own painful history. The street, with its familiar potholes, felt like it was leading them back in time. The hole they had cut in the chain-link fence was still there. The yard was still a junkyard of broken memories from their past life. And there stood Unit B17, a blackened skeleton of a building with no roof, the air around it still tinged with the sharp, smoky smell of their loss.

They slipped inside quietly. The inside was even more heartbreaking in the daylight. The main support beams were charred black and stood up like the ribs of a giant dead animal. The floor was covered in a thick layer of ash and the melted, twisted remains of their computers and tools. The huge, empty building was utterly silent.

"Positions," Ace whispered. His soft voice bounced faintly off the scarred walls.

Silva, moving carefully because of his injuries, climbed up to what was left of a second-floor office. This high spot gave him a perfect view of the entire main floor below. He picked up a heavy, fire-blackened metal pipe. It wasn't a fancy weapon, but in his strong hands, it could be deadly.

Evelyn and Kaito hid behind the only solid thing left—the broken shell of a large industrial freezer, its door dangling from one hinge. Kaito opened his laptop, connected to the internet through a portable device. He was their lookout, using his tech skills to warn them of any danger.

Elara seemed to disappear into the deep shadows near the large, broken loading bay door. She was like a ghost waiting for her moment. Her job was to create confusion and distract their enemies when the time was right.

Ace walked to the center of the open space, right where their workbenches and dreams had once been. He was the bait, standing out in the open, waiting. He closed his eyes and focused inward. The System was now a natural part of him, like a new set of instincts. He could feel its abilities as if they were his own senses—he could almost feel electronic devices, predict where a moving object would go, and notice the tiny changes in the air when someone was coming.

He didn't have to wait long.

The first sound was a soft hum of car engines in the distance. It quickly grew louder and more aggressive. Two black SUVs, just like the ones from the attack on the data convoy, screeched to a halt right outside the gaping entrance of the cannery. The doors flew open.

The first person to step out of the black SUV was Alistair Sterling, but he was unrecognizable from the cool, polished man they had known. The expensive suit jacket was gone. His shirtsleeves were rolled up messily, and his tie was hanging loose. His normally perfect hair was a mess, and his face was twisted by pure, uncontrollable rage. In his hand, he clutched a sleek, black pistol. Behind him, four of his most trusted, heavily armed men spread out, their guns sweeping back and forth across the ruined building, searching for threats.

Sterling's gaze instantly locked onto Ace, who was standing alone in the middle of the devastation. A nasty, cruel smile stretched across Sterling's face.

"The prodigal son returns to the scene of his failure," Sterling shouted, his voice bouncing off the empty walls. The smooth, cultured tone was gone, replaced by a raw, hateful snarl. "Did you come here to die? I have to admit, it's a fitting grave for you."

"I came here to give you one last chance to walk away," Ace replied. His voice was strangely calm, which seemed to infuriate Sterling even more. Ace took a slow, deliberate step forward. "It's over. OmniCorp threw you out. You have nothing left."

"I have you!" Sterling screamed, completely losing his composure. He took a frantic step forward, the hand holding his gun shaking with emotion. "You are the reason for all of this! That… that unnatural talent of yours! I will tear you apart piece by piece to learn how it works! I will have that power, even if it's the last thing I do!"

In that moment, Ace understood the true depth of Sterling's madness. It was never really about the company or the money. It was an obsession with possessing the secret of Ace's abilities.

"Is that all I ever was to you?" Ace said, still walking slowly forward, drawing all of Sterling's focus onto himself. "Just an asset? A thing to be collected and used?"

"Everything is a thing!" Sterling yelled, spitting the words out. "People, companies, entire cities! They are either useful assets or worthless liabilities! You were supposed to be my greatest prize! And you ruined everything!"

While Ace kept Sterling talking and distracted, the System in his mind fed him a constant, silent stream of information about the other enemies. It told him the position and even the emotional state of the armed men surrounding them.

Ace was now only ten meters away from Sterling. The armed men were closing in, tightening the circle around him.

"Now!" Ace yelled.

Their counterattack began not with a gunshot, but with a deafening screech of twisting metal. From the second-floor ledge, Silva hurled the heavy metal pipe. He wasn't aiming for a person. He threw it with all his might at a main support beam that had been weakened by the fire.

The pipe hit the beam with a loud CLANG! The damaged beam buckled with a groan, and a huge section of the charred roof and wall collapsed, crashing down between one of the gunmen and the rest of the group. A thick cloud of ash and dust filled the air, creating chaos and confusion.

In that moment of shock, Elara struck from the shadows. She aimed her strange device at another gunman and fired. There was no loud noise, but the man's body suddenly stiffened and jerked before he collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.

Two of Sterling's men were already down.

Sterling spun around, firing a wild, panicked shot into the dust cloud where Elara had been. "Kill them! Kill them all!" he shrieked.

The two remaining gunmen opened fire. Bullets smacked into the concrete floor around Ace, sending up little puffs of dust. But Ace was already moving, his body reacting faster than thought, guided by the System's predictions. He dove behind the burned-out shell of a large generator as bullets sparked and ricocheted off the metal.

From behind the broken freezer, Kaito worked his magic. He used his laptop to blast a series of painfully high-pitched sounds from its speakers, directly targeting the gunmen. The noise wasn't deadly, but it was unbearable, disorienting them and ruining their aim.

Up on the ledge, Silva, now using a makeshift slingshot, fired a metal ball bearing. It shot through the air and hit one of the gunmen square in the helmet with a sharp CRACK! The man staggered, stunned by the impact.

Seeing her chance, Evelyn burst out from her hiding place. She didn't have a gun. Instead, she was holding a can of super-strong industrial glue they had found in the ruins. She ran, ducking under the wild gunfire from the last operative, and sprayed the sticky glue directly into the face and over the weapon of the stunned man. He screamed, dropping his rifle and clawing at his glued-shut eyes.

Suddenly, Sterling was alone and defenseless. He turned and fired twice at Evelyn, but Silva was already ready. Another ball bearing whizzed through the air, this time hitting Sterling directly on the wrist. The sound of the impact was sickening—a sharp crunch of breaking bone. Sterling cried out in agony, and his pistol clattered to the ground from his now-useless hand.

A sudden silence fell over the cannery, broken only by Sterling's pained gasps and the moans of his captured men. Ace stepped out from behind the generator and walked slowly toward the man who had hunted them, tortured their friend, and tried to destroy them.

Sterling clutched his broken wrist, his eyes wide with a mix of physical pain and utter, bewildered fury. He looked at the team as they emerged from the ruins—Kaito the hacker, Silva the fighter, Evelyn the planner, and Elara the ghost. He had thrown everything at them: the full power of a giant corporation and then his own personal rage. And they had beaten him all using little more than junk, cleverness, and teamwork.

"How?" he rasped, blood trickling from his lip where he had bitten it in his rage. "You're nothing! You were always nothing!"

Ace stopped right in front of the broken man. The System in his mind was quiet. This victory wasn't about data or calculations.

"You're wrong," Ace said, his voice quiet but filled with absolute certainty. "You look at the world and see assets and liabilities. I look at it and see my friends. That's the real power. It's a power you could never understand, and it's a power you can never, ever steal."

To show his complete disdain, Ace turned his back on Sterling. "The police are on their way. Your own company gave you up to save themselves. You have no one left to protect you. The life you built is over."

As if on command, the distant sound of police sirens grew louder, quickly becoming a wailing chorus just outside. Sterling's shoulders slumped in defeat. All the fight drained out of him. He finally understood. In the cold, heartless system he had devoted his life to, he was now just a worthless liability to be thrown away.

Ace walked towards his team, who stood together amidst the ashes of their old home. They were covered in soot and sweat, but they were alive, and they were together. They had faced a monster and won, not by becoming monsters themselves, but by staying true to who they were.

The final battle was over. Their last enemy was defeated. As police cars screeched to a halt outside the cannery, Ace looked at his friends and felt a deep, unshakable certainty. Their old life of running and hiding was finished. A new future was waiting for them to build it, together.