I'm Trying To Go Broke, So Why Do I Keep Getting Richer?!-Chapter 258: Fixer

"Starlight Hotel," Leo said, sliding into the backseat. "And take the scenic route. I want to see what I’m buying into."

"Right away, Boss," the driver replied.

As the limo entered the high-speed traffic lane, Leo leaned his head against the tinted window, looking out.

His reflection stared back at him. However, what greeted him was an unfamiliar face. It was the disguise that he had taken to protect his real identity.

Although his face was still the same for the most part, there were a few key differences. He was wearing contract lenses that made his eyes a beautiful shade of red, a defining characteristic of people from Corvus.

He had already dyed his hair blonde again, and even outgrown them to the point that they were coming down to his shoulders.

A bored expression remained on his face as he watched the surroundings.

This time, he had a new strategy. In the past life, or rather, his past identity, he had climbed the ranks by displaying overwhelming talent and strategic genius.

The problem with being a genius was that it drew the eyes of too many people, almost burying him under the burden of expectations.

It made him a threat, and many people wanted to win him over. It was also what brought him the wrath of the Lionel Family over a single rejection.

But a rich, brainless heir? What could go wrong?

Nobody feared a fat sheep. They only saw an opportunity to take a bite. And by the time they realized the sheep had sharp teeth, it would be far too late.

The Starlight Hotel lived up to its name. It was a beautiful yet majestic tower that used heavy white and gold. It was so tall that it was almost piercing the clouds in the sky.

"Boss, this is my number. If you ever need a ride, please don’t forget to contact me. I will even give you a discount.’

While Leo was stepping out of the car, he heard the voice of the driver. Before he could react, a number was transferred to him.

He didn’t respond to the driver, only nodding lightly. If he was truly a naive heir, he would have believed the discount on rides.

There were no free rides in this world. Now that the driver knew that he was a whale, he was simply trying to get more out of him.

As for discounts? It was just bait.

When Leo strolled into the grand lobby, his overcoat slung carelessly over one shoulder, the concierge staff immediately flagged his arrival.

They had already been notified of his Class-A Commercial Visa.

"Mr. Kaelen," a well groomed manager greeted him, bowing slightly. "We are honored to host you. Your suite is ready on the 142nd floor. It includes a private landing pad, a localized gravity-control chamber for training, and a dedicated automated staff."

They didn’t even let him choose what kind of room he wanted, offering him the most expensive one on their own.

In any case, it wasn’t the first time that they did it. They were playing into the vanity of this young master, having known that he had enough funds to pay for the room.

Now that they had already assigned him the room, wouldn’t he be too embarrassed to ask for the price or change to cheaper variants?

They didn’t even give Leo a chance, and immediately asked him about the number of days he was planning to stay.

’To think that even such a massive hotel would be pulling this kind of trick on outsiders. No wonder most immigrants go bankrupt and have to return before they can even establish themselves.’

The corner of Leo’s lips crept up. He didn’t say anything extra, playing his role to perfection.

"Seven days for now. If I like it here, I won’t mind extending my stay."

"Alright. Please make the payment."

They didn’t even let him stand at the reception, offering him a seat while they brought him the payment scanner. It was as if they were worried that this fat whale might find an excuse to leave.

Leo made the payment in a single attempt before standing up.

"Send up a bottle of your most expensive vintage," he commanded dismissively, barely looking at the manager. "And don’t let anyone bother me unless the building is on fire."

"Of course, sir."

They assigned a person to escort Leo to the assigned room. It was wrong to even call out a room, being so grand.

The hotel was already established at a massive scale, covering areas larger than a massive city district.

Even if they followed earth’s standards, they could’ve easily made over ten thousand rooms on a floor. However, the higher floors only had ten penthouses each.

Leo was basically paying for space that could accommodate over a thousand people, and the hotel didn’t mind charging him as much.

Minutes later, the heavy soundproof doors of the penthouse suite closed behind him.

Leo stood in the center of the massive living area.

The floor-to-ceiling windows offered a breathtaking, panoramic view of Vitrean’s glittering skyline. He took a slow breath.

"I must say, it’s not half bad to be rich. How many people would work their entire life to experience something like this?"

Then, his posture completely changed.

The slouching shoulders straightened. The arrogant, empty gaze sharpened into something cold and calculating.

Kaelen the young fool was gone, and Leo was back.

He raised his hand, and a faint, invisible pulse rippled out from his storage ring. It was a high-grade counter-surveillance sweep, a little trick he had acquired from the Necropolis.

The pulse swept over the room, neutralizing three standard auditory bugs and one optical sensor hidden in the chandelier.

He didn’t destroy them, he simply looped their feeds to show an empty room.

Satisfied, Leo walked over to the sleek glass coffee table and pulled the physical business card from his pocket. He tossed it onto the surface.

It was a simple card, completely devoid of the usual holographic flair favored by high-tier businesses. Printed on it in plain, bold text was a name and a comm-frequency.

[Varnak]

[Independent Acquisitions & Real Estate]

[If you have the credits, I have the keys]

"Independent Acquisitions. Right?"

The clerk at the spaceport had seen a walking vault of credits and immediately passed him off to a local fixer, likely someone operating in the gray market who specialized in bleeding rich immigrants dry.

They would sell him overpriced, useless land, siphon his funds through hidden fees, and bleed his ’company’ before it even opened its doors.

It was exactly what Leo needed.

Since he was trying to get his hands dirty, flying under the radar, he needed someone like this.

To build his base of operations, he needed warehouses, off-the-books supply lines, and industrial sectors that the military forces weren’t heavily monitoring.

After all, even though he was under a disguise, it was still better to have as little to do with authorities as possible.

Going through the official High-Tier planetary channels would involve months of red tape, background checks, and any oversights.

But a gray-market scammer? A scammer would bypass all the red tape for him, eager to make a quick buck, entirely confident that the ’foolish immigrant’ wouldn’t know any better.

Leo tapped his comms terminal, punching in the frequency.

It rang twice before a gruff, gravelly voice answered.

"Varnak. Who’s asking?"

"My name is Kaelen," Leo said, letting his voice pitch up just slightly, injecting it with that same naive entitlement.

"A friend at the spaceport told me you were the man to talk to. I want to establish a company, and I don’t want to wait around for the Guild’s slow paperwork. I want it done fast."

There was a heavy pause on the line. Leo could practically hear the man grinning on the other end.

"That’s a tall order, kid. Fast tracks cost premium credits."

"I don’t care what it costs," Leo snapped back, playing his part. "Just tell me where to meet you."

"Hmm... Fine, then come to the destination I sent you."

The man didn’t say any extra words than he needed to, immediately disconnecting the call.

He didn’t even tell Leo when to arrive, or the timing of the meeting.

And the next moment, Leo received a message with a destination and coordinates marked on it. Fortunately, there was a time for the meeting mentioned in the message.

Leo relaxed on the chair as the call ended.

He placed his feet on the table, and went through the message before investigating the destination.

From what he was able to find, it was an old abandoned factory, outside the main city hub.

It was in a place that was known as a dangerous place where even authorities rarely patrolled, leaving them to their own.

Even if he was to be kidnapped after leaving the city, he didn’t believe the authorities were even going to care enough.

"What a perfect place... Are they trying to go beyond a usual scam? Or am I overthinking it?"

Leo waved his hand lightly, and many advanced weapons came out of his storage ring, including a few that he had received from Necropolis.

There were even a few that were prototypes of Alpha Lab, but compared to the artefacts from Necropolis, they were still leagues behind.