"I would..." Blaze began, but the lift came to a halt and the doors slid open.
A man was waiting outside. He was middle-aged, dressed in a black suit, and his bearded face was set in a grim expression.
"Blaze, there you are," the man said in a heavy voice. "Can I borrow you for a minute?"
"Can this wait? I'm a little busy," Blaze replied, gesturing toward Leo.
The man in black ignored the protest, stepping forward. He leaned in and whispered urgently in Blaze's ear.
As Blaze listened, his own expression tightened, mirroring the man's seriousness.
"I apologize," Blaze said, turning back to Leo. His voice was strained, and a trace of panic flickered in his eyes. "Something urgent has come up. I have to go."
He quickly handed a card to Leo. "This is your assigned floor. I'll send someone else to show you around, but until then, feel free to look around on your own. This will give you access to all the rooms."
After handing over the key card, Blaze rushed out of the lift, following the man into a different lift.
Leo watched them go, frowning. Just what could make that man so worried?
He looked down at the card in his hand. It was unexpectedly heavy, forged from a dark, metallic substance that resembled polished meteorite. His name was already printed on it, just above the floor number.
"Whatever, it has nothing to do with me. Even if the sky were to fall apart, I'm sure the heroes can handle it."
Leo let out a sigh and stepped out of the lift. This entire floor belonged to him, but it was still hard to believe it.
Just the corridor alone was so long that he couldn't even see the end of it. It was like the corridor stretched on for an eternity.
The Hero Tower was certainly a massive building. Even with a conservative estimate, he was certain that this floor had hundreds of rooms.
"Look around on my own? As if I could even find my bedroom like that."
Leo simply waited outside the lift with his hands in his pocket for the next guide to arrive. Fortunately, the wait wasn't long.
With a light ring of the lift behind him, the doors slid open again. A woman stepped out.
"We meet again." Kayla stepped out, carrying the same professional smile as before.
She was again assigned the responsibility to guide Leo around after Blaze had to leave.
For the next three hours, Leo was guided by Kayla. He was shown around the rooms, most of them were arranged for him specially.
There were multiple labs with various chemicals and materials already gathered in place. He didn't even know what most of those materials were, but he pretended to know them all, acting all unimpressed.
There was even a personal gym on the floor that was even larger than the greatest gym in his previous city. It could easily be used by hundreds of people at the same time, yet it all belonged to him alone.
Beyond the gym, they passed by a fully-equipped medical bay, a high-tech strategy room with holographic projectors, and what looked like a large, private cinema.
Leo kept his expression neutral, but his mind was mesmerized. The sheer scale of it was beyond extravagant.
"And finally," Kayla said, as if she were showing off a standard two-bedroom apartment, "Your personal quarters."
To Leo, her voice sounded even more pleasant since he was in such a good mood already.
Kayla guided Leo into tapping his key card on the glass panel next to the door. A set of double doors slid open silently.
If the gym was big, the living suite was a different dimension. The main room was larger than his entire previous apartment building.
The bedroom didn't have ordinary windows either. Instead, it had a floor-to-ceiling panel of armored glass, offering a god's-eye view of the city below as it spread towards the horizon.
A minimalist kitchen with appliances he didn't recognize sat in one corner. A sofa arrangement faced a screen that took up another wall. Doors led off to what he assumed were other attached bedrooms and bathrooms.
"This is... adequate," Leo managed to say, stuffing his hands deeper into his pockets to stop himself from gaping.
Kayla's professional smile didn't waver. "Of course. Your nutrition plan and training schedule will be uploaded to your terminal by morning. You can use the intercom system on any wall panel to request personal staff or supplies. Is there anything else I can show you?"
"That guy earlier," Leo said, turning away from the window. "Blaze. He seemed rattled. Is everything alright?"
Kayla's smile tightened, just slightly. "Lord Blaze was called away on official business. I'm afraid I'm not privy to those details."
Her tone was polite, but the message was clear. It was to drop it.
"Right," Leo said. "Official business."
"If that will be all, Lord Leo, I will take my leave." She gave a short bow and walked back out of the room, her heels clicking softly on the polished floor.
Leo stood alone in the room. He walked slowly toward the massive window, the city lights just beginning to flicker across the city as the sky had started to darken.
He could see the entire city, but no one could see him.
"All of this," he mumbled, pressing a hand against the cold glass. The labs, the gym, the view. It was a king's ransom, given to him for free.
He looked back at the dark, meteorite card still clutched in his hand.
"Although my first plan was spoiled, it's only a matter of time before I succeed. Before long, I'll be losing so much money that I will become the richest person on earth... No, the entire galaxy."
The corner of his lips slowly crept up as he looked into the distance
"Next time, I will not fail. The chances of showing up in hell would be higher than the chances of me earning profit."