The Tycoon's Odyssey

Steven Hook sat at the head of a long table in Pears' luxurious boardroom, surrounded by senior executives. The meeting was in full swing when, without a warning, every screen and desktop in the room went dark. The air filled with the unsettling sound of silence as the hum of electronics ceased.

Steven frowned, his sharp eyes narrowing as he stared at the blank screen in front of him.

"What is going on?" His voice was calm, but it carried a dangerous edge.

One of the executives shifted nervously in his chair. "Sir, it seems to be a technical issue. Perhaps a server crash?"

Steven's jaw clenched. "A server crash doesn't cause a complete blackout across the entire system. Find out what this is, now!"

Minutes later, a member of the technical team burst into the room, sweat beading on his forehead. "Sir, it's not just us. The entire country's internet is down. There's no communication, no access to data—nothing."

Steven's frown deepened into a scowl. "What kind of attack can bring down an entire nation's network? Who is behind this?"

The technician hesitated, then stammered, "Sir, it's… unprecedented. Reports from every major ISP suggest catastrophic failures. There are indications that this could be an external attack—a deliberate one."

"What?!" Steven's fist slammed onto the table, the sudden noise startling everyone present. His face was taut with suppressed anger. He forced himself to calm down, though his face turned red.

As the realization set in, one name surfaced in Steven's mind. His lips pressed into a thin line as he murmured, "Evan."

His expression twisted with a mix of fear and frustration. His hands trembled slightly as he clenched his fists. "Is he insane? Has he lost his mind?"

He began pacing the room, his shoes echoing loudly in the tense silence. "This isn't just a military strike. This is targeting civilians. Has he lost all reason?"

The room turned silent and no one dared to speak.

_____

Meanwhile, in Youkou's headquarters, Linwei Ding, the company's CEO, was engrossed in reviewing progress reports in his opulent office when his assistant barged in, pale-faced.

"Sir! We have a situation!"

Without even looking up, Linwei responded curtly. "What is it now?"

"The production lines… they've stopped. Research operations have gone offline. We've lost all connection with our servers."

Linwei slammed his pen onto the desk and stood abruptly. "What are you saying?"

"It's a nationwide blackout, sir. The internet is down. We can't access anything."

Linwei's face darkened as he paced toward the window, gripping his forehead. "How could this happen? All operations? Stopped? Do you have any idea what this means?" He suddenly turned, his expression venomous. "Every second of downtime costs us millions! Millions!"
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The assistant swallowed nervously. "Sir, reports indicate it's not just us. This is a global-scale attack."

Linwei's hand lashed out, sending a vase off his desk before it shattered on the floor. "Who could pull this off? Who has the power to do something like this?"

The assistant hesitated before whispering, "There's speculation… it might be Evan."

At the mention of the name, Linwei's face contorted into a rage. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the edge of his desk. "Evan! That lunatic!"

His voice rose to a near-shout. "Does he think he's some kind of god, playing with the world like this?"

He slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a dent. "Every second this continues, my company bleeds money. Fix it, or I'll have someone's head for this!"

_____

Across the globe, chaos erupted as people tried to make sense of the sudden blackouts. In homes, offices, and public spaces, devices sat lifeless. Panic set in as the usual lifelines of communication and information failed.

On a crowded street in New York, a man shouted into his dead phone. "What the hell is happening? My phone's not working—what about yours?"

"No!" a woman replied, her voice rising in panic. "It's like everything just… stopped. The internet, the TV, even the radio!"

Groups began gathering on street corners, murmuring anxiously.

"This has to be an attack," an older man said grimly. "We're under attack, aren't we?"

Similar scenes played out worldwide. In London, a man clutched his head in frustration. "This is madness! How are we supposed to work, to live, without the internet?"

In Okyo, people gathered outside electronic stores, staring at blank TV screens. A young girl clung to her mother. "Is it a war, Mama?"

The mother hugged her tightly. "I don't know, sweetheart. I don't know."

Governments scrambled to control the narrative. Officials tried to address the public using trucks equipped with loudspeakers.

"This is an act of sabotage!" a booming voice declared. "All of this is Evan's handiwork. He has attacked the very fabric of our society!"

In response, whispers and shouts filled the streets.

"Evan??" a man asked, shocked.

"Why would he do this?" another person questioned.

"Who cares why?" a woman snapped. "He has destroyed our lives! We need to stop him!"

The propaganda against Evan spread like wildfire. Flyers bearing his image, labeling him with words like "Tyrant" and "Destroyer," began appearing on walls. Public sentiment turned increasingly hostile.

"He's gone too far this time!" a man exclaimed angrily in a Paris café. "Someone needs to take him down before he ruins the world!"

"But why would he target civilians?" another person asked, confused.

"It doesn't matter why!" the first man shouted. "He's a menace and he has to be stopped."

_____

Inside a darkened government war room, leaders from various nations convene to discuss their next moves.

"This cannot go on," an official from the USL growled. "We need to act now."

"But how?" another replied, frustration evident in their voice. "We don't even know where Evan is hiding in that mysterious dark water."

The room fell into a heavy silence as they realized the extent of their helplessness.

One official suggested, "What if we sabotage his systems? Make the areas he's targeting completely signal-less. No communication, no data."

The Minister of Electronics and Information Technology nodded thoughtfully. "It's possible. We could deploy signal blockers, disrupt local power grids… but I don't think it's of any effect as he might be generating power from highly advanced, self-sustaining methods."