The red digital screen of the premium terminal continued to blink,
casting a crimson glow on the bank manager’s sweating face.199,999,199,000.
The twelve digits sat there, cold and unyielding.
The silence in the elite marble lobby was so heavy you could hear the air conditioning hum.The police officer slowly retreated,
his hands dropping to his sides as he looked at the old man’s ragged coat with sheer terror. He hadn’t just assaulted a vagrant;
he had just put his hands on a man who could buy his entire police department with his pocket change.

The bank manager, Victoria Vance, swallowed hard.
Her arrogant smile had completely vanished,
replaced by a grotesque, twitching mask of panic.
Her knees shook violently inside her designer pencil skirt.

“Sir… I… there must be a system glitch,”
Victoria stammered, her voice cracking as she desperately hit the refresh button.
“This card… this is a Black Sovereign Onyx.
Only three of these exist in the entire global financial sector.
Who… who are you?”

The old man didn’t answer immediately.
He stood up perfectly straight, the frail,
trembling posture he had used moments ago completely disappearing.
He reached into his ragged pocket, pulled out a pair of pristine,
gold-rimmed reading glasses, and put them on.
His weathered eyes suddenly looked sharp, piercing, and terrifyingly intelligent.