Darien answered quickly.

"Yes?"

"How did the market position go?" Adam asked.

Darien went silent for half a second. Then his voice changed.

"You called for that?" he asked. "I was going to report, but I thought you would call when you wanted me to exit."

"Report."

Darien breathed out, and this time excitement entered his voice.

"It moved almost exactly like you said," Darien replied. "The companies dropped and then held."

Adam listened without interrupting.

Darien continued, faster now. "The ones tied to imports are still under pressure, but they are not dead. We bought low, added slowly, and booked profit on the rebounds."

"Good."

"And there is another thing," Darien said. "Aster Core’s name is starting to appear in business talk."

Adam’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he did not speak.

"Not publicly in a big way," Darien added quickly. "Just enough. People are saying there is a small supplier that can deliver when others are delaying."

"Keep the position."

Darien paused.

"Keep it?" he asked. "You are not calling to tell me to sell?"

"No."

"Then these companies are not going down?"

"Not in the way people fear."

Darien sat back on his side. Adam could hear the chair move.

"You are very calm for someone playing with this much money," Darien said.

"That is your first job," Adam said. "Maintain the market work. Take profit where needed, but do not leave the main line without my order."

"First job?" Darien repeated.

"Yes. Now listen to the second."

Darien’s mood changed at once. "Why does that sound worse?"

Adam ignored the complaint. "You will open another branch under your company. Investment and asset development."

"Asset development?"

"Land."

Darien did not answer.

"I will send you a map," Adam said. "The area is called East Kavel Belt. I will mark the plots and sectors."

"And what do you want me to do with them?"

"Buy as much as possible."

"Wait, wait," Darien said. "We are a market group. Stocks, advisory, structured positions. We do not suddenly become land buyers."

"You do now."

"That is not how a company works."

"It is how a company works when the owner finds a better asset."

Darien laughed once, but it was not a happy laugh. "And what is in this East Kavel Belt? Gold under the ground?"

"Government plans."

That made him quiet.

"My network found something," Adam said. "The area will be announced as a greenfield smart city project."

Darien stopped moving on his side.

"Roads will widen," Adam continued. "Industrial blocks will be planned. Residential sectors will be opened. The government will need land for roads and service lines."

Darien’s silence changed again. It was no longer only fear. Adam could almost hear him arranging numbers in his head.

Land before announcement meant low price. Road acquisition meant forced buying from the government side. Industrial and residential zones meant a second layer of profit after the public news came out.

Darien understood the greed in it immediately.

Darien’s voice lowered. "How certain is this?"

"Certain enough."

"That is not an answer."

"It is the only answer you need."

Darien did not like that, but he kept listening.

"The plots near the road path are for resale to the government," Adam said. "Buy low. Sell when acquisition starts."

"And the other plots?"

"Hold them. Industrial side, residential side, anything I mark. After the announcement, develop complexes, lease space, or sell to builders."

"I handle markets," Darien said. "Not town planning."

"Your talent is asset management," Adam replied. "Not only stocks. You see value before others do. Use that."

For a few seconds, Darien said nothing.

Then the fear came back.

"Where am I getting this money?" he asked. "Do you know how much land costs if we start buying seriously?"

"I will give you one hundred and twenty million dollars."

This time Darien stopped breathing for a moment.

"You will give me what?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"One hundred and twenty million."

"If I buy land with that much cash, the government will kick my door open before the ink dries," Darien said quickly. "And if they ask me where the money came from, I swear I will give them your name first."

Adam smiled faintly.

Darien was afraid, and fear made him talk too much.

"You will not buy with only my money," Adam said.

"Then how?"

"Arrange loans first. Use your company, your market positions, and the capital I provide as strength."

Darien did not answer.

"Feed the right people if you have to," Adam continued. "Get bank financing above one hundred million if possible. The larger the clean loan, the better the cover."

Darien’s breathing slowed.

"So the cash becomes backing," he said.

"Yes."

"And the loan makes the purchase look like business expansion."

"Exactly."

Darien muttered something under his breath. "This is insane."

"Many people have done land plays before you," Adam said. "You are not inventing crime. You are arriving early."

That line calmed him more than comfort would have. Darien understood early arrival. The stock play had worked because they entered before others understood the direction. Land was different, but the principle was familiar enough for his fear to become calculation.

"There is still a problem," Darien said.

"Say it."

"If we buy too much too quickly, people will notice. Even with loans."

"Then do not buy like a fool," Adam said. "Different holders, different timings, different excuses. Make it boring on paper."

Darien let out a tired laugh. "You say that like boring is easy."

"For you, it should be."

Darien did not reject it after that. That told Adam enough.

He was scared of the government, scared of the money trail, and scared of the person on the phone. But beneath all that fear, the opportunity had already hooked him. A man like Darien could complain for an hour and still start drafting the structure before the call ended.

There was a long pause.

"Fine," Darien said at last. "Send the map. I will look at the structure."

"Good," Adam said. "Your second task is different."

Darien groaned. "There is another one?"

"You need to arrange a man for a foreign trip."