CHAPTER 74: 1 TON OF GOLD

Liam’s eyes fluttered open as he stirred awake. He gazed at the ceiling, smiling to himself.

Ahh... Enough of that. It’s a new day and I have quite a bit to achieve today.

He immediately got up from the bed and went to the bathroom. Some minutes later, he walked out and got dressed, picked up the tab and ordered breakfast.

As he waited breakfast, he decided to do his daily ritual, sign-in. He hopes that he will get a surprise reward today. But even if he doesn’t, it won’t be bad as the reward would be valuable nonetheless.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, Host, you received 0.05% shares of

[You received 1 ton of gold bars with 100% purity]

[Note: The good bars are in the inventory]

***

Huh? What? 1 ton of gold bars with 100% purity?

Liam froze for a moment, staring at the floating words on his status screen as though they were playing tricks on him.

One ton of gold bars.

He repeated the phrase silently in his head several times. No matter how he turned it, the weight of the words didn’t lessen.

Gold. The oldest and perhaps purest representation of wealth in human history.

A faint chuckle escaped him as he sat back down on the bed.

Shares, cash, cars... even a Fabergé egg that belonged in a museum. Those he could understand to an extent. But gold? A literal mountain of it? That was completely different. It was on level with the bearer bond.

He shook his head slowly. The irony wasn’t lost on him.

There was a saying in elite circles — one he’d stumbled across while browsing through the financial histories on the internet.

"The wealthy don’t hoard money; they hoard metals. Rare metals. As much as they can."

Money fluctuated. Stocks rose and fell. Empires were built and destroyed. But gold? Gold endured. It was the silent witness of civilizations. Pharaohs were buried with it, emperors adorned themselves with it, kings waged wars for it.

And in modern times, it sat in underground vaults, silently buttressing currencies, national reserves, and the secret dealings of dynasties.

The truly wealthy — the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds, the Sauds — kept gold not because they needed to spend it, but because it was power distilled into physical form. It has an unquestionable value which is universal and unchanging.

And now, Liam had a literal ton of it sitting in his inventory.

"System... you really don’t play around," He let out a low whistle.

His mind spun as he did a quick math of the value of the gold bars almost automatically. A ton was a thousand kilograms. With gold currently trading at roughly $64,000 per kilo, that meant—

Sixty-four million dollars!

And that was just market value. Pure 100% gold bars carried a premium far above spot price. If liquidated through the right channels, that ton could fetch closer to eighty or even a hundred million.

And more importantly, it wasn’t just about selling it. It was about what it represented.

Gold in this form wasn’t an investment. It was insurance. It was collateral. It was the kind of silent asset you could leverage in times of crisis, one that even governments would acknowledge without question. If push ever came to shove, he could walk into any financial institution on the planet, produce a single bar, and have entire doors open for him.

Wow! The system never fails to surprise.

Curious to see what a gold bar of 100% purity would look like, Liam reached into his inventory and retrieved one.

In the next instant, the bar materialized onto the low table before him.

Liam blinked when he saw the gold bar.

It was... beautiful.

Unlike the slightly dull, brassy-gold sheen he’d seen in jewelry stores or on coins, this bar shone with a radiance that felt almost unnatural.

The surface gleamed like liquid sunlight frozen into solid form, its edges razor-sharp and flawless, as though no human hand had ever touched it.

"Pure gold..." Liam muttered softly.

He reached forward and placed his hand on it. Immediately, the sensation registered — heavy. Incredibly heavy for its size.

The bar was no larger than a thick paperback, yet it dragged at his arm as though he’d picked up a slab of stone.

The metal was cool to the touch at first, then quickly warmed under his skin, almost as though it were alive.

His fingers slid across its mirror-smooth surface. No imperfections, no rough edges, just perfect weight and flawless luster.

He turned it slightly in the morning light streaming through the penthouse window. The golden surface caught it like fire, scattering it into brilliant reflections.

"Wow..."

Liam smiled faintly. Even though he had received things far more valuable in monetary terms — billions in shares, priceless relics, luxury yachts — there was something kind of different about holding a bar of gold in his hands.

I wonder why he system gave me this? It said that I can’t sell the rewards or give out the rewards it gives you me. What does it expect me to do with it?

He exhaled deeply and pushed the thought aside for now. He decided not to think too much about it. He was sure that he will know when it’s time. And there was still the other reward.

0.05% of Apple.

On the surface, it sounded small. Insignificant even. But Liam knew better. That half-a-tenth percent wasn’t pocket change.

0.05% of Applē’s market cap was worth $1.7 billion. Just like that, his portfolio had surged again.

He now held 0.8% in total — a stake valued at over $27 billion. Combined with his JPMorgan holdings and the other assets the system had stacked onto him, Liam’s portfolio now stood at a staggering $37.5 billion.

He leaned back into the pillows, staring up at the ceiling.

Thirty-seven and a half billion... I’m practically in spitting distance of the world’s top fifty wealthiest people.

Before he could let the thought settle, his phone buzzed on the nightstand. The screen lit up with a familiar name.

Daniel Conley.

Liam picked up immediately. "Daniel."

"Good morning, Mr. Scott," Daniel’s smooth, composed voice came through the line. "I thought it best to call you directly with updates."

"I’m listening." Liam sat upright

"Firstly, your company headquarters. I’ve secured a building in downtown Los Angeles. Prime location, modern architecture, fully equipped to serve as a public-facing corporate hub. It’s been registered under the holding structure we established. The paperwork will be finalized today, but effectively — it’s yours."

"We’ve also secured the parcel of land in Nevada for the industrial base. Construction crews are already being mobilized. Security, energy, and zoning have all been pre-cleared. Work will begin within forty-eight hours."

Liam’s brows rose. "That’s perfect."

"Yes. We don’t delay on matters of this scale. And lastly — the biological samples you requested. The eagle and starfish acquisitions. I’ve pushed them through under a scientific exemption license. The documentation will clear before the end of today, and the samples will be delivered directly to Bellemere Mansion tomorrow."

Liam opened his mouth, but before he could respond, a soft knock came at the suite door. Mason’s voice filtered through: "Sir. Room service."

The door opened and the female staff member wheeled in a polished cart. She set the plates onto the table with carefully, bowed lightly, and withdrew without a word.

Liam turned back to the call. "Daniel... Thank you for the update. I also appreciate the efficiency."

"It’s my pleasure. I’ll keep you updated as everything progresses. Enjoy your day, sir."

The line clicked off.

Liam placed the phone down and moved to the table where his breakfast waited. He ate quietly, savoring each bite as his mind drifted over Daniel’s updates.

The headquarters was done. Just like that, he now had a physical address, a corporate banner to hang his empire under. The Nevada base was secured too — which meant in a few short weeks, he would have a place to house the molecular assembler and begin the real work.

And the samples...

He paused halfway through a bite of bread, as he smiled to himself. With the eagle and starfish genomes in his possession, the first step toward acquiring traits would finally be possible.

He didn’t know exactly what changes they would bring once the nanites went to work, but the thought excited him more than he could admit.

Everything was moving so fast and it made him happy.

He finished the meal, dabbed his lips with the napkin, and rose from the table.

"Alright," he murmured to himself. "Back to work."

The laptop sat waiting on the bed. He sat down, flipped it open, and his fingers found the keys again.

The screen filled with scrolling lines of code, the half-built shell of his AGI waiting for its maker.

Liam inhaled once, steadying his thoughts, and he smiled to himself.