Bitcoin Billionaire: I Regressed to Invest in the First Bitcoin!-Chapter 332: Status Update and New Quest

Rachel left the office and the oak doors clicked shut after her. Just like that, Darren was alone.

He sat quietly for a while, listening. Not to any music in particular, but to the city humming against the glass. The kind of low vibration you feel more than hear.

He rose from his chair and walked over to the hexagonal window, slipping his hands in his pockets. For a moment, he just stood there, looking out at Los Alverez spread out below.

Sunlight bounced off skyscrapers, cut through streets, made the whole thing look like it was glowing.

He couldn’t remember the last time he just stood here and looked at it.

The past few days had been chaos. The Romance Radar, corporate warfare, takeovers, people trying to knife him in the back.

But standing here now, watching the city move, it hit him. He was really doing this. He was evolving to something bigger.

He now had a board of untouchable shareholders, a new set of fiercely loyal employees, and formidable ally companies forming a protective ring around his empire.

He’d been so focused on the weeds—Caldwell, Scotland, putting out one fire after another—that he forgot to look up. Forgot the thing that got him here in the first place.

"System?" he said quietly. "Status."

The purple interface flickered to life, that familiar semi-transparent glow hanging in the air in front of him. Numbers scrolled, calculated, updated.

He hadn’t checked in a while, so when he saw the figures, he was genuinely surprised.

┏Profile Status updating...┛

┏Host Profile: Darren Steele┛

┏Age: 21 (Note: Birthday tomorrow)┛

—----------------------------------

┏Assets:

— Cash: $1,482,445,900 (Checking & Liquid Capital)

— Personal Belongings: $310,880,400

— Real Estate: Greenbaby Mansion, Blackridge Villa, Vermillion Hill Estate, Tuscan Montelago Vineyard Estate

— Commercial Real Estate: The Steele Complex HQ, The Pantheon (VIP Nightclub)

— Luxury Vehicles: Ferrari Reventón, Rolls-Royce Ghost (2011), Aston Martin One-77

┏Liabilities:

— Debt Free

┏Net Worth (Assets Minus Liabilities):

— $2,243,326,300 – $0.00 = $2,243,326,300┛

—----------------------------------

┏Active Investments: BTC, Trendteller, Delverate, Aparagon, Castle Cottage, Horizon Strategies (Silent Partner)┛

┏Businesses Owned / Shareholding:

— Steele Investments (Parent Company - 63% Majority Control)

— Trendteller Inc. (45%)

— Delverate Technologies (31%)

— Aparagon Logistics & E-commerce (Integration Phase)

— Castle Cottage Restaurants (10%)

— Heirloom Whisper (40%)

┏Portfolio Summary:

— Stocks: Strategic Holding Portfolio under Stealth ETF Management

— Cryptocurrency:

• Company Wallets: 400,000 BTC

• Personal Wallets: 29,780 BTC

— Business Assets: Trendteller AI Engine, Delverate Nyros IP Stack

— Physical Assets: Real Estate x4, Vehicle Fleet, Commercial Hubs.

—----------------------------------

┏Expenditure Log┛

┏Monthly Ledger:

— Money Gained: $2,142,117,000

— Money Spent: $1,322,334,800

┏Reputation Tracker┛

— Public Reception: ★★★★★ (Titan of Trendteller / The Young Visionary)

— Rivals’ Fear:

• Richard Morrison – Hostile (Extreme Threat Level)

• Adam Scotland / Morris & The Scottish Capital – Parasitic (Active Counter-Measures Engaged)

• Moon Wealth Management – Disrupted

• Empire Companies – Wary / Observing

— Allies’ Loyalty:

• Cheyenne Lamb Bordeaux (A)

• Charles Nelson (A+)

• Rachel (A+)

• Beth (A+)

• Grant Hayes (A+)

• Elena Ramirez (A)

• Marcus Thorne (B+ / Contractual)

• General Silas Vance (A)

• Jonathan Vance & Daisy Chen (A+)

• Ava Monroe (Pending Alliance)...

—----------------------------------

┏Financial Milestones┛

— First $1B Net Worth: Unlocked!

— First $2B Net Worth: Unlocked!

— Syndicate Board Established: Unlocked!┛

┏Legacy Counter┛

— Jobs Created: 412

— Companies Disrupted: 5

— Rivals Defeated: 4

His eyes stopped on the net worth line. Two point two billion.

"I’ve been too pessimistic," he muttered, and a real smile crept onto his face. He actually laughed a little, shaking his head.

With everything that had gone down—the betrayals, the stress, people literally trying to destroy him—he was still here. Still growing. Twenty-one years old, and the world was basically in his hands.

Well, twenty two years old after tomorrow. Hmm... Darren wondered if he should throw a party.

The screen suddenly flashed. A sharp chime only he could hear.

[Ding!]

┏Monthly Quest Triggered: The Hollywood Gambit┛

┏Objective: Establish a high-profile public relationship (authentic or simulated) to manipulate market sentiment, shield Steele Investments from corporate sabotage, and elevate your personal brand into pop-culture invulnerability.┛

┏Time Limit: 14 Days.┛

┏Reward: [Advanced Prediction Algorithm Upgrade for Trendteller] + [System Gift: ’Ironclad’ PR Aura (Passively reduces negative media impact by 50% for 30 days)]┛

┏Failure: Increased SEC scrutiny and vulnerability to Adam Scotland’s smear campaigns.┛

He raised an eyebrow. "Been a while since I got one of those."

It was amusing that he had been wondering just yesterday of what he would gain by fake-dating Ava Monroe. Was the system trying to push him into it?

Naughty clanker.

However, those rewards? Those were hard to ignore. A better algorithm for Trendteller meant leaving competitors in the dust. And that PR shield? Perfect for the war he was still fighting with Morrison and Scotland.

Yeah. He was doing this.

Right on cue, his phone buzzed.

Ava Monroe: Meet me at L’Étoile. In an hour?

He smirked and pocketed the phone. Speak of the devil.

He grabbed his blazer off the chair, shrugged it on, fixed his cuffs, and headed out.

The corridor was empty, but as he rounded the corner toward the elevators, he almost ran into Amelia.

She was holding a thick blue file against her chest, looking tired but determined.

"Mr. Steele!" she said, caught off guard. "I’m glad I caught you. The overseas shipment for Aparagon. I have the updated metrics. Port authority’s playing hardball, but I think I found a loophole in the tariff regulations—"

"Good job, Amelia." Darren didn’t slow down, he just nodded as he passed. "Drop it on my desk for when I’m back. Tell Rachel to clear my afternoon. Off-site appointment. I’ll be back soon."

The elevator doors closed behind him.

Amelia stood there in the hallway, the file pressed against her chest. She watched the floor numbers above the elevator tick down with a disappointed look on her face.

She’d been up until 3 AM on those numbers. Stayed late, skipped dinner, wanted to show him she could deliver. And he was already gone.

She felt stupid for expecting more.

Down in the garage, Darren slid into the Aston Martin. The One-11 roared to life, echoing off the concrete. He pulled out and merged into traffic.

L’Étoile sat in one of those neighborhoods where the only thing that talked was money. It was perched on a terraced rooftop, completely obscured from street view by high walls woven with lush, blooming jasmine and ivy.

To get in, reservation wasn’t enough; you also needed a pedigree.

Darren handed the keys to the valet, who couldn’t take his eyes off the car.

Inside, the maître d’ led him through the restaurant. Tables spaced way apart, white umbrellas, crystal glasses clinking, quiet deals being made over lunch. Jazz played somewhere Darren couldn’t see.

Not that he was looking. His eyes searched for someone else.

With the help of the maître d’, he spotted her right away.

Ava was tucked in a corner booth under a canopy of wisteria. She wore oversized Chanel sunglasses, a wide-brimmed sun hat, and a summer dress that showed off her shoulders.

She was trying to be "incognito," which of course only made her look exactly like a movie star pretending not to be one.

She saw him coming. Pulled the sunglasses down just enough to show those blue eyes, already sparkling. Then she smiled and gave him a little wave.

Darren smirked and walked toward her, all his worries fading for a minute.

This was a different kind of game. It looked like fun.