Part 26
The manager burst into a harsh, mocking laugh, looking Marcus up and down.
"You bought the building? Right. And I'm the King of England," he sneered. "Security! Get this lunatic out of here!"
Two burly security guards began jogging down the aisle, their hands reaching for their radios.
Marcus didn't flinch. He calmly pulled his encrypted smartphone from his pocket and pressed a single button.
Instantly, the deafening roar of the massive automated sorting machines ground to a complete and sudden halt.
The alarms stopped. The conveyor belts froze. The warehouse plunged into an eerie, echoing silence.
Every worker, manager, and security guard froze, staring around in absolute confusion.
The massive digital scoreboard above the floor, which usually displayed relentless quotas in glaring red numbers, suddenly flickered.
The red numbers vanished, replaced by a massive, high-definition video feed of Damian Croft, looking panicked and disheveled in his corporate office.
Federal agents could be seen in the background, actively seizing his computers and boxing up his physical files.
"Damian Croft has just been arrested by the FBI for international smuggling and corporate fraud," Marcus’s voice boomed over the warehouse PA system, patched through by Aegis.
The workers gasped, exchanging shocked glances as they stared at the giant screen.
Marcus looked back at the floor manager, whose face had instantly drained of all blood.
"I wasn't joking," Marcus said, his voice entirely calm in the silent warehouse.
"I am Marcus Johnson. I just acquired a controlling sixty-percent stake in Vanguard Shipping through a leveraged proxy buyout."
The manager took a trembling step back, dropping his red clipboard onto the concrete floor with a clatter.
Marcus turned his attention to the exhausted woman, Sarah, who was still sitting on the floor, staring at him in disbelief.
He knelt down, offering her his hand.
May you like
"I am so sorry for what you have endured here," Marcus said gently, helping her to her feet.
"But I promise you, this company belongs to the workers now."
