novelGlobal Chapter 119: COLD
Chapter 119: COLD
"Welcome to the Sovereign Garden’s Headquarters," the guard at the gate greeted with a smile.
Silas nodded.
"I will need to search you before you enter," the guard said, walking closer to Silas.
"Sure, do what you need to," Silas replied.
As he said those words, he raised his hands.
"I am using a technique. If you feel any tingling sensation, it is only an effect of the search."
With that, a blue light covered Silas’s frame in a thick sheen.
Tiny motes of aether began to drift through his body.
The light vanished in a flicker.
"You may proceed," the guard said with a slight bow.
"Thank you," Silas said with a smile.
He passed through the gate into the Sovereign Garden’s compound.
The place was busy, with people moving through in haste.
Trucks carried tons of goods away.
’Funny how this level of success was achieved with less than ten products,’ Silas mused with a smile.
He entered the reception with gentle strides.
The place was large but well laid out.
A wide desk sat at the far end, with ten staff working simultaneously to answer customers.
Beside the reception desk was an elevator with a warning label at the top.
[Do Not Approach.]
"Good day," Silas said to one of the receptionists as he approached her desk.
"Back of the line," she replied, not even looking up from the tab in front of her.
"I have an appointment with the manager."
She looked up at those words.
Her gaze was scrutinizing, the kind that could unravel a person’s composure.
But Silas brushed it off without so much as blinking.
"Let me check with the manager," she said.
She picked an orb from the drawer beneath the desk.
"What is it?" The voice came from the orb, cold and distant.
"You have a visitor," she replied quickly.
Her tone was noticeably different from the casual one she had used with Silas.
"Name?" The manager asked.
"What is your name?" She asked.
"Silas Lancaster," Silas replied casually.
"His name is Silas Lancaster."
She had not finished speaking.
The transmission ended.
The receptionist looked up with furrowed brows.
"Wait a few minutes. The manager seems to be occupied," she said.
With those words, she returned to her work.
Silas’s brows knitted slightly.
"Master Silas, should I contact her directly?" Rion asked in his mind.
"No, don’t worry," Silas replied, turning toward one of the seats arranged in the waiting area.
A step away, the elevator doors chimed.
The soft click of heels against tiles echoed through the room.
Silas turned back.
"Where is the person?" The woman asked, stopping beside the receptionist who had called her.
"He is the one over there," the receptionist said, pointing toward Silas.
The woman looked at the receptionist, her brows drawing together briefly before she let it go.
Silas looked at the woman with a calm smile.
The woman turned to face him.
She was slender, with crimson hair that cascaded down her back and deep blue eyes like the ocean.
She looked like a work of art even at a single glance.
"Welcome, sir," she said, approaching Silas with a calm bow.
Silas smiled.
"I am well."
The lady nodded.
"I am Zendaya, the general manager of your company," she said.
As she said those words, she gestured toward the elevator.
Silas walked toward it slowly.
The receptionist from before stared after him, her mouth wide open.
’Owner of this company?’ She wondered.
Silas entered the elevator, Zendaya stepping in behind him.
She pressed a button and the elevator began to ascend.
"My apologies for the delay at the reception," Zendaya said with a calm voice.
"No problem at all," Silas replied almost immediately.
’She seems intimidating,’ he thought with quiet amusement.
The elevator doors slid open.
The office was a vibrant silver and white.
A gold chandelier hung from the ceiling, releasing motes of light that drifted through the air.
A large black wooden desk sat at the far end of the room.
A white roller chair was placed behind it.
Two smaller black chairs sat on the other side.
Behind the main chair, a crystal-like window rose from the floor all the way to the ceiling.
Silas took slow steps toward the white chair.
"So, the meeting," he said.
Zendaya approached the desk at his words.
Neither of them spoke, letting the silence grow.
"May I sit?" Zendaya asked, pointing toward one of the two chairs.
Silas looked at her with a smile.
"Please."
With those words, he settled into the white chair.
A chime came from the elevator. Someone stepped out calmly.
She pulled a trolley into the room.
The trolley carried two cups and two plates.
She bowed at both of them, her eyes lingering on Silas with barely concealed surprise.
But the maid continued with practiced ease.
She placed a cup of milk before Silas, then a plate of cookies beside it.
Silas looked at the plate.
"Thank you," he said, his calm smile still in place.
’I like how she runs this company,’ Silas said to Rion mentally.
"I selected the most qualified person. You are welcome," Rion replied.
Silas did not respond.
He picked a cookie from the plate and dipped it into the milk.
Both of them ate in silence for what felt like an eternity to the impatient Silas before Zendaya finally spoke.
"I hope you are enjoying it, sir," she said.
"Yes, it is nice," Silas replied.
It was genuinely sweet, but compared to what he had been eating over the past few days, it was not worth mentioning.
Zendaya smiled. "I am glad it is to your liking."
She went quiet again.
"The meeting will take place in a Virtual Server," Zendaya said, a screen flaring to life in her view. "It is hosted by the Thornwood Company."
Silas’s forehead creased slightly.
"Why could they not come here?" He asked.
"Most of them are too far from this sector. The only way to bring everyone together is through a server," Zendaya replied almost instantly, as if she had been waiting for the question.
Silas nodded.
"Alright then," he said.
"This is a temporary pass to the server."
Right on cue, Rion chimed with a new notification.
[You have received a one-time key to the Thornwood Server.]
"Master Silas, would you like to use the key now?" Rion asked immediately.
"Yes," Silas replied.
The light in his eyes flickered, then his body went still as he fell unconscious.
The same happened to Zendaya.
Her eyes went out as her body eased against the chair.
The world gained color again as they appeared in a new room.
They sat at a large round table.
They were not alone. Close to ten other people sat there.
All of them wore the same expression. Stoic, cold, emotionless.
If anyone had wandered in by mistake, the weight of the room would have pressed against them before they could see a single face.
"Coming late to your first meeting. Is this what you want us to expect from the CEO of a fast rising company?" One of the people asked, his voice resonating through the room like a gong.
"We are sorry," Zendaya said, standing to bow at the person who had spoken.
"Sorry? Like that will give us back the time we wasted here," the man retorted.
Silas ignored him entirely, his eyes moving through the room like he was searching for someone.
Because he was.
His gaze found Elizabeth’s, cold and direct.
"I don’t want him here," Silas said.
"What do you mean you don’t want me here? You think you can speak to anyone however you like?" The man yelled, slamming both palms against the table.
A gentle smile crossed Elizabeth’s lips.
"Is that what you want?" She asked, not even acknowledging the man.
It was less a question of confirmation and more of a tease.
Silas nodded.
The man opened his mouth.
The words never came.
His body vanished in a flicker as Elizabeth revoked his access.
Everyone stared at the empty seat with wide eyes.
"Was that not the leader of the White Company?" One of the attendants asked, the words catching in their throat as they spoke.
Although the White Company was considered mid-level at best, to a growing company like the Sovereign Garden it was a towering existence, something they could not hope to match for hundreds of years.
Zendaya looked at the empty seat, then at Silas, who sat there with a smirk.
’Is this the true nature of the CEO?’ She wondered, the realization settling over her.
She had only met Silas today, and through it all he had always been smiling.
Like a fragile glass struck by a hammer, the silence shattered.
"Thank you, Miss Elizabeth," Silas said. "I would not want anyone acting all high and mighty," he added.
"So, let us get this meeting started."
A smile was on his face as he spread his hands wide over the table.