[The Abyssal Academy - The Grand Dining Hall]
The Grand Dining Hall had been completely transformed. The rotting oak tables were replaced by sleek obsidian desks. The two thousand students of the Abyssal Academy were seated quietly, no longer rioting over food, but instead frantically taking notes.
Victor Thorne stood at the front of the hall, standing beside a massive chalkboard.
"We currently have forty-two point eight Million Gold sitting in the Academy's underground vault," Victor's voice echoed sharply across the room, carrying the weight of absolute authority.
The Orcs, Vampires, and Dark Elves in the audience drooled at the number. It was more wealth than any dark faction had ever seen.
"If you think that is a success, you are fools," Victor snapped, grabbing a piece of white chalk. "Gold sitting in a vault is dead capital. It doesn't yield. It doesn't compound. It simply depreciates against inflation."
Victor turned to the chalkboard and drew a massive, ascending graph.
"Starting today, the Pantheon Group is launching financial instruments for the student body," Victor announced, tossing the chalk to Seraphina. "We are establishing the Abyssal Systematic Investment Plan."
Lord Sterling, the vampire who had previously been forced into manual labor, raised his hand cautiously. "A... a SIP, Principal Thorne? What is that?"
"It is how we conquer the continent without drawing our swords, Lord Sterling," Victor explained, checking his gold Rolex. "Every week, instead of blowing your commission on overpriced cafeteria food, you will automatically invest a fixed amount of your gold into the Academy's Mutual Fund."
A towering, scarred Orc furrowed his brow. "Why would we give you back our gold?!"
"Because I am going to use that massive pool of capital to buy out our competitors," Victor smiled a cold, ruthless smile that sent shivers down the spine of every villain in the room. "The Elven Mage Tower to the North is currently experiencing a liquidity crisis. If we pool our funds, we can buy their debt from the Iron Bank."
Victor placed his hands on his hips, his Tycoon's Aura suffocating the room with pure, unadulterated ambition.
"We won't siege their tower with catapults. We will foreclose on it," Victor stated. "We will legally evict the Archmages, seize their spellbooks, and liquidate their mana crystals. And because you invested in the SIP, the profits from that hostile takeover will be distributed back to you as quarterly dividends."
The dining hall fell dead silent.
The villains slowly processed the math. For centuries, they had died charging the walls of the Elven Mage Tower. Now, the human Principal was offering them a way to own the tower simply by setting up an automatic weekly deposit.
"I'm in!" Sterling yelled, slamming a bag of gold coins onto his desk. "Take fifty percent of my weekly commission!"
"I want in on the hostile takeover!" an Orc roared, waving a handful of silver. "Take my loot!"
Within seconds, the entire student body was clamoring to sign up for the Systematic Investment Plan, throwing their hard-earned money back at Victor.
Up on the balcony, Princess Ignis watched the madness unfold. "He didn't just subjugate them," the demon princess whispered in awe. "He turned an army of bloodthirsty monsters into venture capitalists."