DC: I am Bruce Wayne

Chapter 170: Rise of the God of Petty Revenge

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"Don't ever apologize for being the smartest one in the room."

– Mysterio, (Spider-Man: Far from Home)@@novelbin@@

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<(Lexcorp Tower, Metropolis)>

<(Omniscient POV)>

"Damn you, Wayne. Why did you have to stick your spoiled little nose in my business again? Because of you, I failed to acquire two of the things I needed." He muttered through his teeth while clenching his fist in utter fury. He was so angry at the Gotham billionaire that even his veins could be seen bulging out on his bald head. "I won't forget this. You are so proud of your wealth, aren't you? Well, wait a few more years and you will see. I will bide my time for now but when I am finished growing my power and influence, even you will have to bow before me. I will destroy Wayne Enterprises and show you that I have always been more intelligent and the better businessman." He muttered in anger as he stared at the bustling city through the glass walls in front of his desk.

Unlike what Bruce might have expected, Lex Luthor wasn't at the auction just to get the Ace of Winchesters for the Mawzir. No, he had a much more important objective for being there. He wanted to get his hands on a certain piece of jewelry that he had heard was going to be auctioned as well, a piece of jewelry that contained a red crystal with an energy signature quite similar to that of the green crystals Lex had seen his father collect and spend millions to research on during their time in Smallville. 

"Kryptonite" He whispered with obsession, remembering the name he had heard his father utter so many times. The senior Luthor believed that the crystals of unknown origin could be a source of unlimited energy for mankind and maybe more. The thing was a potential gold mine, one that Lex Luthor had no wish to let go to waste. And that red crystal that was sold in the Gotham auction could have brought him one step closer to his dream of unlocking all the secrets of those crystals including maybe even the method of how to produce them artificially. 

Of course, getting the Ace of the Winchesters for the Mawzir was a cherry on top. Hell, Luthor wasn't even sure that he would hand over the gun to the demon in the first place. Maybe he would just keep it for himself as a tool for self-defense against the more supernatural forces of the world or perhaps he would change the deal he had made with the demon to get it to work for him as his lackey. There were endless possibilities but because of that damned Wayne scion, none of his plans would come to fruition. 

"Maybe I should send a few assassins after him before he could become even a greater thorn in my path," Lex muttered in a cold voice.

The truth was that he had tried it numerous times already but quite peculiarly, almost none of the local professional hitmen in America had accepted the bounty he had offered and the few ones who had, were taken care of by Bruce's bodyguard long before they could reach him. Luthor had attributed the reason for this to two factors. One was the brilliant team of bodyguards Bruce Wayne had and the other was the new Continental chain of hotels that had been sprouting up all over the world out of nowhere.

Rumors were that the ancient organization called the League of Assassins had gone through some sort of rebranding and restructuring after an internal dispute to become a chain of luxury hotels that offered all sorts of services to hitmen, mercenaries, and professional assassins. In fact, the hotels had developed such an immense authority and influence over the underworld in a short amount of time that most bounties in North America, Europe, South Korea, Australia, and Japan were placed exclusively through their channels with an untraceable digital currency made by them being the only accepted form of payment during placing orders.

However, the most annoying thing about this entire system the Continental had established was that they didn't accept bounties on everyone. There were some whom the hotel had placed on their "VIP list", "VVIP list" as well as their "Blue list" and killing the people on those lists was akin to going against their system while giving up the right to all the advantages and services that the hotel chain offered.

Unfortunately, a lot of the ultra-rich, popular politicians and government officials at high posts like Presidents of different countries along with people who were considered too high profile were present on these lists including even Bruce Wayne. Bounties on them could only be accepted upon receiving special permission from the high command of the Continental chain of hotels, whoever and wherever they were. Of course, Lex himself was also one of the VIPs and quite proudly so since he had to literally spend a fortune to buy that benefit. Luthor didn't know if Bruce was one of the VIPs or simply on the blue list where most high-profile targets who were too important to kill casually were placed but wherever it was, Luthor currently didn't have a way of placing a bounty on him... at least not through an assassin from America.

Besides, there were rumors that the Continental didn't take well to rule-breakers and would often go to absurd lengths to hunt them down and set examples. After all, what happened to KGBeast after breaking the rules of the New York Continental was an open secret in the Underworld. 

Anyway, while Lex was contemplating how to take care of his newfound enemy, Mercy dressed in her official secretary clothes quickly came running into his office with a serious expression on her face. "Sir, you need to switch on your TV, it's an emergency." Her voice filled with urgency quickly broke Lex out of his thoughts as he looked at her with furrowed brows, annoyed at having been disturbed during his "thinking time". 

"An emergency? Hah, I doubt it. As long as it's not an alien invasion, there is absolutely no situation I cannot handle," he smirked, not knowing that it would be a long time before he could smile again.

"It's not an alien invasion sir..., it's a market crash" Mercy answered while effortlessly hiding the displeasure she felt at her boss' dismissing words. 

"A market crash? Oh, it seems like it finally happened just as I expected. Let me guess, the government finally admitted that the mortgage situation in the country was unsustainable, didn't they? I wasn't sure exactly when it would happen or how much damage control the government would be able to do but it was a given that a crash was coming. Any intelligent businessman worth his salt would be able to foresee it, much less someone like me. Well, not to worry, Mercy, I had made sure to liquefy most of our company's stock investments and converted them into either cash or treasury bonds.

Lexcorp is well-cushioned from this crash, no matter how much the fire spreads. In fact, we actually stand to make money from it since we can buy out bankrupt companies once the crash reaches its peak. Unfortunately, Wayne Enterprises is no longer a public company because this would have been a wonderful opportunity to attack them but who knows, maybe we will be lucky enough that they will struggle with their businesses or run out of cash or something." The billionaire mastermind laughed without even opening his computer or TV and instead calmly grabbed a bottle of wine to pour himself a glass. 

"*Sigh* Sometimes, I feel like I should get another job" Mercy muttered under her breath before grabbing the TV remote from Lex's desk and switching it on herself before opening up WNBC news.

Immediately, a chart with the names of countless banks and financial organizations became visible on the display along with different values beside them that were apparently approximations of how much money they were going to lose because of the mortgage cash. 

"It's not just the mortgage market or the stock market, sir. Bonds, commodities everything is crashing down... including banks" Mercy explained before pointing to the name of a certain bank on the screen. 

"Luthor Financial? But how? I thought I had told them to minimize investments and increase our liquidity for the last few months. HOW COULD THOSE IDIOTS SCREW UP?" He screamed in anger with his wine glass cracking under the pressure of his grip. 

"It seems that about a year ago, Gotham Merchant Bank owned by Wayne Enterprises sold a significant portfolio of mortgage-backed securities to Luthor Financial. These bonds at first glance were structured to appear stable but were backed by subprime mortgages—loans given to borrowers with poor credit history. However, since the mortgage market was at an all-time high at that time, no one at Luthor Financial bothered to question the sale due to how lucrative the deal was.

Also, the board including your CEO ignored the small discrepancies in the contract because of certain stipulations included in the sale contract that seemed almost a dream come true like a repurchase clause where Wayne Financial was obligated to buy back the securities at a hundred percent premium IF the price of the securities were to increase by a minimum of twenty percent later. Also, since the MBS were sold to us at a discounted price, Luthor Financial agreed to sign a contract with Gotham Bank where we would have to hold the securities for three years at least unless we sell the securities to them. If we break this agreement and sell them to anyone or make any sort of money because of them, even if it's from the government, we will have to pay them half of the money we receive." Mercy explained.

"So, we were never able to sell those securities? And since their prices never increased, we can't force Wayne to buy these back from us. In fact, no one is going to buy these securities from us anymore, now that the market has crashed. We will have to shoulder the debt alone." He spoke through his clenched teeth. "How much is it? How much are we going to lose?" He asked.

"About a hundred billion dollars, although it's nothing compared to the money some of the big banks are going to lose because of this crash," Mercy answered honestly.

"THAT SON OF A GODDAMN LEECH!" Lex screamed before throwing his already cracked wineglass into his TV screen, but he quickly calmed down after taking a few deep breaths. "He knows that this amount of money won't harm my business especially since the government will no doubt come to rescue all the banks that have been affected. Even if we have to give Gotham Merchant Bank half the money we receive as a federal bailout, it still won't be enough to put us under. Worse comes to worst, I will just have to sell Luthor Financial, but this will permanently damage my image. Imagine what will happen when people learn of the great Lex Luthor taking on bad loans without being able to foresee the market crash. This will destroy my reputation in the entire country's business circle." He fumed while panting, his eyes blood red with rage.

"Umm, sir?" Mercy muttered from behind him after noticing a constant influx of notifications on her phone. "It seems our company is being attacked. Someone just shorted a huge amount of Lexcorp stocks and that coupled with the news about the bad securities our financial division is holding started a chain reaction. Our stocks are falling, and we need to stop it." She informed with a gulp. 

"... Wayne." Lex Luthor barked out with venom, the hatred in his voice imminent. He knew very well that Bruce Wayne was aware that none of this would result in any permanent damage to his company. No, Lexcorp was already too big for that. It was a major player in almost all sectors of business in Metropolis. However, what Bruce was doing would still result in putting chips on the company's impregnable walls and this was extremely annoying and frustrating for the billionaire nonetheless since it would mean that Luthor would have to use a major portion of his own personal wealth to stabilize Lexcorp's unstable stock prices.

"I swear Bruce Wayne, I will avenge this day very soon. And when I do, I will make sure that unlike me, you are left with nothing at all." He spewed. 

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