Apocalypse Trade Monopoly
Chapter 34: : Finding the Loophole

Chapter 34: : Finding the Loophole

Ava’s mind raced.

Zhao had locked Lucas in. Tied him down with a contract he couldn’t break. But the Lucas Bai she knew wasn’t the kind of man who let himself stay caged.

"So." Ava leaned forward, voice sharp. "What’s the loophole?"

Lucas grinned. "Knew you’d ask."

He drummed his fingers against the table, thoughtful.

"See, the contract stops me from directly moving against Zhao. No feeding enemies intel, no sabotage projects, not plotting with underlings."

His golden eyes gleamed.

"But it says nothing about what happens when the system collapses on its own."

Ava stilled.

Lucas chuckled, voice smooth. "I don’t need to break the bunker. I just need to be the last one standing when it breaks itself."

Ava clenched her jaw. "So you’re waiting."

Lucas tilted his head. "Waiting. Watching. Taking what I can before the foundation cracks."

Ava exhaled. "And when it does?"

Lucas’s smirk sharpened.

"Then? I don’t have to move against Zhao. I just have to make sure he’s not around to enforce that contract anymore."

Lucas leaned back, golden eyes sharp, thoughtful.

"You ever wonder why I don’t rely on this bunker’s resources?"

Ava tilted her head. "Because you don’t trust anyone."

Lucas chuckled. "True. But also because I’ve been to other bunkers. Ones with real food supplies. Ones that didn’t bet everything on rations and military control."

Ava stilled. "Other bunkers? And?"

Lucas tapped a finger against the table. "You see, the problem isn’t just scarcity. It’s demand."

His voice dropped slightly, more amused than concerned.

"Shifters eat a lot, Beauty. A normal person? Three meals a day. A Shifter? Anywhere from three to thirty times that—depending on the animal."

Ava’s stomach tightened.

"Thirty?"

Lucas smirked. "Bigger forms need bigger fuel." His golden eyes flickered with something darker. "And this bunker supply change wasn’t built to handle that kind of consumption."

Ava exhaled. "Which means eventually—"

Lucas chuckled. "Eventually, they need to choose the mouths to feed."

Ava’s pulse kicked up.

Lucas twirled a trade token between his fingers, lazy but calculated.

"Then there’s infighting. Call it madness if you want. It’s been hush up. But I’ve seen the worst firsthand."

His smirk faded slightly.

"Shifters shift and not return."

Ava’s blood went cold.

Lucas’s voice was calm. Too calm.

"You ever see a man with a tiger’s body slowly forget how to be human? It’s ugly, Beauty."

Ava swallowed, the weight of his words settling in her chest.

Lucas’s golden eyes flickered, but his smirk was gone now.

"The thing in the tunnels... was it like that too."

Lucas spun the trade token between his fingers, slow, methodical. "Close. But different."

Ava’s stomach tightened. "Different how?"

Lucas exhaled, voice smooth but lacking its usual amusement.

"The tiger still had a face, and talked. It takes a while before they turn into beast like those outside the bunker."

Ava froze.

Lucas leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.

"When we were in the tunnel, the body we found? The cause of death was clear."

Ava’s mind raced back. The corpse. The unnatural damage. The way Lucas had barely looked before deciding they were leaving.

She hadn’t questioned it then.

She should have.

Lucas’s voice dropped, quieter now.

"Bitten."

Ava’s breath caught.

Lucas’s golden eyes were sharp, unreadable.

"By Project 98635G."

Ava’s skin prickled.

That wasn’t a random mutation designation. That was a classified experiment.

Lucas leaned back, stretching.

"I didn’t need to see anything deep. The data from the tag was more than enough for me to understand the general sitaution."

Ava clenched her fists. "You knew. And you didn’t say anything."

Lucas’s smirk returned—slow, knowing.

"Now, now, Beauty. I don’t waste words."

Ava’s pulse hammered.

Lucas tapped a finger against the table, thoughtful. He was explaing the details.

"The Shifter problem runs deeper."

Ava stayed silent, listening.

"Shifters get more aggressive the more they shift." His golden eyes gleamed, calculating. "The data is clear—too much shifting leads to permanent damage."

Ava’s stomach tightened. "Damage?"

Lucas tilted his head, watching her carefully. "Think of it like muscle overuse. You tear something too many times, it doesn’t heal properly. But for Shifters? It’s not just their bodies."

Ava exhaled sharply. "Their minds."

Lucas nodded. "Exactly. The more they shift, the more they lose. Instincts take over. Control starts slipping. And if they shift too much—"

He twirled the trade token between his fingers, voice calm.

"They don’t come back."

Ava swallowed.

Lucas leaned back. "That’s why I don’t let my butler fully shift. Ever."

Ava stilled.

Lucas smirked. "William’s dangerous enough as he is. He doesn’t need to lose his mind on top of it."

Ava exhaled, processing. "And you? You don’t have to worry about that."

Lucas chuckled, low and sharp. "No. My system can handle fights just fine. I got a good one."

Ava’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"What does your system really do, Bai?"

Lucas’s smirk deepened.

Golden eyes gleaming.

"Now there’s the right question."

Lucas’s golden eyes gleamed, sharp with amusement.

Ava didn’t blink. Didn’t back down.

"What does your system really do, Bai?"

Lucas smirked, tilting his head. "Curious, are we?"

Ava’s arms crossed. "You keep dancing around it. I don’t like being left in the dark."

Lucas chuckled, slow and mocking. "Beauty, if I told you everything at once, where would the fun be?"

Ava didn’t react. Didn’t take the bait.

Just stared, waiting.

Lucas sighed, stretching his arms. "Fine. Since you asked so nicely."

He tapped the trade token on the table, voice dropping slightly.

"Monopoly Appraisal. That’s what my system is called."

Ava’s pulse kicked up.

Lucas grinned, catching the shift in her expression.

"It lets me see the true value of anything. People, objects, deals, potential." He flicked the token into the air, caught it effortlessly. "But that’s just the surface."

Ava’s stomach tightened. "Then what’s underneath?"

Lucas leaned forward, elbows on his knees, voice smooth.

"I don’t just see value. I can monopolize it."

Ava stilled.

Lucas flicked the trade token into the air, catching it effortlessly.

"In simple terms, I can upgrade things. Improve them. Even myself."

Ava’s mind raced, processing every word.

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