Season 3 chapter 8
The Yatsua Statues
"Okay," Filoska sighed, standing up from the bed and addressing the two men. "So what can we actually do about this scenario? What is the government trying to actually do by wiping out a religious town?"
"I was also going to ask this," Kniya frowned, crossing his arms. "It makes no sense. The federal government doesn't just burn down civilian infrastructure unless there is a massive financial incentive. Why would they clear a Yatsua temple?"
"Actually, you guys don't know about one specific thing," Malesh analyzed, walking over to the window. "But the Yatsua God statues are really expensive."
"The temple statues?" Filoska asked.
"Yes," Malesh nodded. "Let me tell you the thing. The Yatsua God statues present in the central temples are incredibly rare. Each major statue is costing around a few million credits per piece. And I think this military operation is some kind of extreme greed or chronic, rapid capitalism involved from the federal level."
"I don't think so about this," Kniya argued, raising an eyebrow. "And how the fuck do you know about this thing? You only care about oil prices."
"I visited a Yatsua temple once in my entire life," Malesh stated flatly. "And I know all this thing."
"Once?!" Kniya mocked, laughing out loud.
"Yeah," Malesh admitted without shame. "But I didn't actually want to know that thing from visiting the temple. I just learned it later. I was reading a corporate registry of the World's Most Expensive Pieces of Artifacts, and I got to know about this thing. The Yatsua temple God statues are specifically forged from incredibly rare earth metals that can be melted down for military-grade semiconductors. That is exactly why they are so expensive. The government isn't clearing the town for renovation. They are clearing the town to steal the metals."
Kniya stared at him, absolutely flabbergasted by the sheer lack of spirituality.
"Okay, so Malesh," Kniya smirked, pointing a finger at him. "Let me conclude one thing. This means you are a complete atheist."
Malesh narrowed his eyes. "No, you cannot say that. I have visited a temple once in my entire life. And you know, I do not love being an atheist, but you know... I don't love God that much. So yeah, I am like that. I cannot do anything about it. But you are telling me I am an atheist. What about you, Kniya? How many times have you visited a Yatsua temple?"
"I have visited exactly 436 times," Kniya stated proudly, puffing out his chest.
Malesh stared at him, his deadpan expression dropping into pure, judgmental disgust. "Do you keep a mathematical count of this thing? Which means, Kniya, you are not a true follower of the religion at all. You are just going there for the showcase. For the networking. This is the absolute worst, modern form of the religion. It is so sad to see."
"Stop the fucking shit, Malesh!" Kniya yelled, his face turning red. "We need to do something about the government stealing the statues!"
The Information War
Filoska rubbed her temples, trying to steer her idiot bosses back to the actual federal crisis.
"Upon getting the information, Malesh, you are absolutely right," Filoska agreed. "I think it has everything to do with the statues of God itself. If the President is authorizing military force to secure rare earth metals, they are preparing for something massive. What are we going to do?"
Kniya took a deep breath. His childish demeanor completely vanished. The playful CEO was gone, replaced instantly by the ruthless dictator of Kavilson Steel.
"Okay," Kniya said, his voice cold and terrifyingly authoritative. "So now we have to open our corporate treasuries. We are going to gather a massive bit of information."
Kniya turned to Malesh.
"And we are going to do it with the 'compensation' thing," Kniya grinned wickedly, referencing the President's own corrupt term for bribery. "We all know that 'compensation' opens every bank vault, every government officer's mouth, and every fucking individual present in this world."
Kniya paused, glancing at the Vice President.
"I am sorry for the fucking word, Filoska," Kniya added politely. "But we are going to buy this country."
Kniya leaned over the hospital bed, his face shifting into a terrifyingly wide, incredibly fake corporate smile. It was the exact smile he used when closing a hostile takeover.
"Don't worry," Kniya said, his voice dripping with forced gentleness. "We are coming up with a massive plan. And about your little brother, my private extraction team just radioed in. He will be here any minute. I have already arranged a luxury hospital suite for him, and also for you. The doctors advised me that you should be there for at least two to three days. So please, do not move out of this hospital. Every single charge is covered. The ten trillion fake bill was canceled. It's all funded."
The Yatsua priestess blinked, still absolutely terrified of Kniya's chaotic energy, but she managed a weak nod.
"If you need anything, just give us a call," Kniya continued, patting the metal bedframe. "My secretary is always available. Wait, sorry, not my secretary, because I actually don't have a secretary. I am deeply paranoid and I refuse to pay someone just to answer a telephone. So this is my direct private number. Just call me. Or else, there is a guy, he is my heavily armed guard. You can call him too. I know it is a very weird and long story about why a multi-billionaire doesn't have an assistant, and I will tell you later on. But don't worry about this thing. Have some food."
Malesh stepped forward, adjusting his dragon-themed tie. "And about the education. Because Kniya and I are mathematically really serious about education. We have already appointed a premium, highly expensive home tutor for him. So don't worry about that thing too. Education is really, really important. It builds the corporate workforce."
"Goodbye! Have some great time in the hospital!" Kniya cheered, his fake smile practically hurting his cheeks.
Without waiting for her to respond, Kniya and Malesh turned on their heels and walked out of the ward.
Once they hit the hallway, Kniya dropped the smile. "Okay, let's get out of this province. I am calling the private jet."
They drove the armored sedan straight to the nearest provincial airstrip, boarded Kavilson Steel's heavy private flight, and flew completely out of the Antrious Hub region, heading straight for the capital.
As Kniya and Malesh walked out of the ward, Filoska didn't follow them. She pulled a chair right up to the edge of the metal bed and sat down, gently holding the young priestess's trembling hand. Filoska stayed in that hospital room for a few more hours, offering quiet emotional support and making sure the terrified girl knew she wasn't alone. Filoska only finally left to catch her own flight to Seistain after the private extraction team safely brother from the apartment and he would be reaching there any moment.
A few hours later, Kniya and Makesh walked through the massive glass doors of the Seistain Main Hub—the true, central headquarters of their corporate empire.
Waiting for them in the primary boardroom were Filoska and Salesh.
Kniya slammed his heavy coat onto a chair and proceeded to dramatically—and loudly—retell the entire horrific story of the military massacre, the Yatsua priestess, and the stolen rare-earth metal statues to Salesh, who had just arrived. Kniya had to tell the story with full sound effects and explosive hand gestures.
"What the actual fuck?" Salesh whispered, dropping his pen onto the boardroom table. He looked genuinely disturbed. "The government just wiped out a holy city? What can we do against the Federal Army?"
Malesh walked up to the head of the mahogany table and placed his hands flat against the polished wood.
"I have come up with a plan this time," Malesh announced, his voice echoing in the massive room. "We are going to legally purchase the entire land of the religious village. We are going to buy it as a corporate real estate developer to permanently protect the holy town from further military excavation."
Kniya scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his leather chair.
"Yeah, right," Kniya mocked. "The government would really just allow you to buy the town for no reason? A corporate billionaire randomly wants to buy a destroyed religious town in the middle of nowhere? The government would be instantly suspicious of it! They are trying to steal the statues!"
"They will not be suspicious," Malesh corrected smoothly. "Because we will formally state that we are buying the town, and all the massive nearby areas, for the heavy development of the steel and oil industry. We will say to the government that it is really necessary to support the bottleneck of our supply chains. We will claim the processing infrastructure requires that specific geographic zone."
"Okay," Kniya argued, tapping his fingers on the table. "But how long will you keep up with this lie?! Because eventually, federal inspectors will come after a year or two! And then you have to tell them the story of why you haven't actually developed a single factory there!"
Malesh's deadpan face cracked into a tiny, highly cynical smirk.
"I have also come up with that plan," Malesh stated with absolute arrogance. "Because we are going to use a completely fake, heavily bribed soil report to fool the government. When the inspectors arrive, I will submit documentation stating that the soil is simply not best for the construction of heavy buildings and infrastructure. We will claim it is severely lacking the necessary amount of bedrock minerals, and we are giving it some time to settle. We will say two or three years is strictly required for the dirt to compact. And till then, we are going to heavily compensate the government officials with bribes to keep them quiet. We will trap this town in industrial red tape."
Kniya stared at Malesh. The sheer, calculated fraud of the plan was actually brilliant.
"Okay..." Kniya muttered. "So how are we going to get the massive liquid capital to buy this entire region upfront?"