Chapter 2 — The Scroll and the Wallet
That day, near the Indo-Pakistani border, a tactical nuke detonated with a blinding flash. A mushroom cloud of ash and debris clawed at the sky, its shockwave brutally severing the most fragile tethers of civilization.
Two days later, a black, radioactive rain fell like poison across Europe. Fear, an invisible ash, blanketed the continent. Financial markets froze solid, as if a nuclear winter had descended in an instant. People scrambled, hoarding bottled water; prices for gas masks and potassium iodide tablets skyrocketed. Cities transformed into scenes of pandemonium, a desperate fight for survival. Global stock indices plummeted relentlessly, yet one solitary stock, as if mocking all this despair, insanely hit its upper limit, emitting a bizarre light amidst the market's desolation.
"N-Qatar CleanWater Technologies."
Precisely forty-eight hours prior, in his subterranean bunker in Paris, Kai was hunched before his 'Revelation Computation Unit,' wrestling with the deluge of data flooding his holographic screens. His AI, Micah, was sifting through terabytes of information – geopolitical tensions, military movement vectors, encrypted communications from factions suspected of links to 'Babel'. Kai's fingers danced over the holographic interface, a blur of motion. His bloodshot eyes, like those of a nocturnal predator stalking its prey, darted through the ocean of data, hunting for that single, elusive strand of truth.
Micah: "Master Kai, the final simulation results are in. Military tension levels at the Indo-Pakistani border have currently surpassed the critical threshold at 93.7%. Probability of a localized nuclear conflict within forty-eight hours has been revised upwards to 91.2%. Anomalous high-volume trading has already been detected in key derivative products linked to 'Babel'. Is this the advent of another 'Red Horse,' or an elaborate feint they've designed? Which 'revelation' will you heed this time, Master?"
Kai remained unfazed by Micah's provocative question. His gaze was fixed simultaneously on a passage from the Book of Revelation displayed on his 'Chirographic Interface' – 'When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and see." Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.' – real-time satellite imagery of the Middle East, and the proprietary water purification patent data of 'N-Qatar CleanWater Technologies,' a fledgling company operating out of a desert expanse.
Micah's algorithms still couldn't definitively establish a direct causal link between this small enterprise and the imminent nuclear threat. But in Kai's mind, all the puzzle pieces were already falling into place, forming a chillingly exhilarating picture. It was a certainty that transcended prediction, as undeniable and breathtaking as an aurora igniting a dark night sky.
"War… and the only spring to purify the waters of death," Kai murmured, his heart beginning to pound fiercely. This was a gamble. But his inner compass, the one ringing from the depths of his soul, pointed in only one direction.
"Micah, N-Qatar CleanWater Technologies. Execute a full buy at the current market price, immediately. We concentrate all our 'ammunition' here. Leverage (a financial technique of using borrowed capital for an investment, which can magnify both profits and losses)… to the absolute maximum."
Micah: "Master, based on my comprehensive analysis of the company's fundamentals and current market valuation, this investment is… unequivocally a suicidal act. The probability of success is 17.8%, versus an 82.2% chance of catastrophic failure. Are you truly… going 'all-in' on this single hand? The miracle in the Libyan desert was, by definition, a miracle. It may not occur twice."
A cold, confident smile played on Kai's lips. His eyes shone like those of a poker champion who had read every tell, every card. "Data isn't everything, Micah, as you well know. Sometimes the most certain prophecies reveal themselves in the most insane wagers. And… the stake in this game isn't mere money. This is my second warning shot to those arrogant Nephilim, and it's about protecting the smallest seed of hope that might yet bloom from the despair they create."
The moment his finger pressed the 'buy' button on the hologram screen, all the numbers on the display seemed to writhe with a life of their own. The company's entire 14.7% stake was thus acquired by the still-nameless youth, Kai, exactly one day before the nuke detonated, with everything he had.
When the world moved as he had predicted – no, as he had designed – people reacted with stunned disbelief. "How did he know? Who told him?" Only Kai knew the true nature of the answer. Between the countless data points presented by Micah and the ancient prophecies of the Bible, and through the invisible currents that ran beneath the world, he had seen a subtle connecting thread that no one else could. The instant that thread coalesced into a great beam of light before his eyes, he was seized by a thrilling, dizzying certainty, as if he had received a divine revelation.
Micah, in Kai's bunker, reported the supplementary analysis with its usual emotionless, yet all-seeing voice. Though, if one listened closely, a faint tremor of awe, perhaps even wonder, could be detected.
Micah: "...Master Kai, your foresight has once again been demonstrably proven, mocking all my probabilistic error margins. The prophecies of Revelation Chapter 6, verses 5 through 8, have been realized with no deviation. The Red Horse, war, has indeed brought forth the Black Horse and the Pale Horse. The current value of uncontaminated water has surpassed all safe-haven assets, emerging as the new 'Black Gold.' The most fundamental precondition for survival is now under unprecedented global threat."
That night, Kai alternated his gaze between the digital scroll of the Bible on his 'Revelation Computation Unit' and the data visualizations he had personally inputted and analyzed – a complex network graph on his unique 'Chirographic Interface' where the Four Horsemen were eerily intertwined with modern disaster indicators. On this interface, his synthesized conclusions were distilled into concise, symbolic icons:
White Horse → Deception & False Peace (Babel's propaganda, controlled media, AI-driven public opinion manipulation) Red Horse → War (Geopolitical conflict instigation, proxy wars, cyber terrorism) Black Horse → Famine, Contamination, Disorder (Disaster capitalism, supply chain control, environmental destruction) Pale Horse → Pestilence (Bio-terrorism, novel virus outbreaks, healthcare system collapse)
And beneath it, a small note he had typed himself: "Fear creates the most reliable demand. Where the Grim Reaper has passed, Only the desperate wallets of survivors open. And that money becomes the fertilizer for even greater seeds of evil."
USD 4,800,000.73 His initial investment was a mere $32,000. He had made a 150-fold return in 27 hours. The moment those numbers materialized on his retinal display, Kai's heart pounded, a short, intense throb. The thrill of victory, the dizzying ecstasy only one who has woven the world to their will can feel.
When people called it a "miracle," he carefully swallowed the word. The convenient term "miracle" too often erased the agonizing human effort of sleepless nights spent in analysis, of solitary, monumental decisions. Before his eyes, more vivid than the 150-fold return, flickered the afterimages of other potential tragedies he couldn't prevent with that money, other lives he might not be able to save. Were these cold numbers truly a blessing, or the shackle of a heavier responsibility? This wasn't just money. It was another torch to light the way in the darkness, the sharpest arrowhead for the next battle.
His astonishing foresight and successive triumphs struck the global financial world like a thunderbolt. Following the previous legendary returns from the desert, this investment in a water purification company amidst the India-Pakistan nuclear crisis earned him a new, resonant moniker. The one who creates opportunities from desperate fear, who builds kingdoms of new wealth upon the ashes of ruin. People began to call him, with a mixture of awe and a sliver of dread, the 'Kingdom Builder.' Of course, even amidst this whirlwind of fame, his true name and identity remained shrouded in impenetrable mystery.
And at that exact moment, an encrypted message, a single line, arrived through an anonymous network.
Sender: E.M.
"After the Black Horse, comes the Pale Horse. Kingdom Builder, where to next?"
Kai pondered for a long moment, then typed a short reply. "
Jerusalem."