I'm The King of Business & Technology in the Modern World-Chapter 165: Alarmed

Sentinel BioTech HQ, Manila — Friday, 7:15 AM

The moment Matthew stepped out of the elevator and into the executive floor, he felt the shift in energy. The usual calm hum of the workspace had been replaced by an unmistakable current of urgency. Teams from Legal, Infrastructure, and Logistics were already scattered across meeting rooms, whiteboards filled with scribbles, flowcharts, and heatmaps of land corridors spanning Luzon to Mindanao.

Angel met him at the entrance to his office, tablet already in hand and coffee waiting on the table.

"Good morning, sir," she said, walking alongside him. "I spoke to Yamamoto's team at JR East. They've reviewed our preliminary specs. They're intrigued. Very intrigued. They're preparing a response and will send over a technical team next week to inspect potential build sites."

Matthew nodded, removing his coat and draping it over the back of his chair. "Good. I want them to understand this isn't a press release—it's a full build, end-to-end."

Angel smiled faintly. "They got that impression, sir. Especially when I told them we were skipping the government."

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "You told them?"

"Carefully," she said. "I phrased it as an 'independent mobility initiative funded by the private sector with a long-term vision for national infrastructure transformation.'"

He chuckled. "You're getting good at the polite version of 'we don't trust politicians.'"

She gave him a look. "I had a good teacher."

Matthew sat down, scrolling through the overnight briefings Angel had prepared. Land acquisition leads were already filtering in—private estates in Bulacan, unused farmland outside Taguig, long-abandoned industrial plots near Naga.

"Legal says they can begin negotiations on at least five of the priority lots as early as Monday," Angel continued. "We'll need to create holding companies to shield the purchases. Shell firms, basically. Otherwise, word will spread too fast and prices will spike."

"Set it up," Matthew said. "And I want an internal task force. Call it the Aurora Task Group. Give it top-level clearance. All updates go through you, then to me."

"Already drafting the org chart," Angel replied. "Also, I reached out to Siemens Mobility. They're sending representatives in two weeks. Alstom, however, wants a letter of intent before anything else."

"Give it to them," Matthew said. "But keep everything non-binding for now. We don't commit until we have specs, cost structure, and guarantees."

She nodded and paused, looking thoughtful. "We'll also need to address the human side of this. Resettlement, job creation, social impact. You said you want this clean."

Matthew leaned forward, serious now. "Yes. I want a program that doesn't just move people physically—but moves their lives forward. Every worker on the line gets training. Every relocated family gets support. No displacement without dignity. We're not building over people. We're building with them."

Angel smiled, quietly proud. "I'll bring in the social impact teams."

He turned to the window again, his mind already racing ahead. "We need to build communities along the rail. Transit-oriented hubs. Micro-cities with integrated housing, schools, clinics, and fiber internet. These stops aren't just stations—they're growth nodes."

Angel tilted her head. "You're thinking long-term urban development."

"I'm thinking nation-building," he said. "But one private kilometer at a time."

There was a knock at the door. Logan stepped in, his usually relaxed expression more serious today.

"Sir," he said. "We may have a problem."

Matthew turned. "What kind?"

Logan walked in and laid a folder on the desk. "It's Senator Arceo. He just filed a legislative proposal—Senate Bill 2143. It calls for mandatory congressional oversight for any railway development above 200 kilometers in length. It's clearly aimed at us."

Matthew opened the file and scanned the bill's abstract. It was vague, poorly written, and riddled with catch-all clauses designed to create bureaucratic chokeholds.

"They're trying to strangle the project before we even lay the first track," Angel muttered.

Logan nodded. "We checked. His cousin sits on the board of a major construction conglomerate with long-standing DOTr contracts. They're afraid of losing relevance—and revenue."

Matthew tossed the file back on the desk. "Of course they are. Because for the first time, someone's building something that doesn't need their permission."

Angel looked to him. "Do we respond?"

Matthew shook his head. "No. We don't dignify it. Let them posture. Let them try to twist arms behind closed doors. We stay silent. We stay focused."

Logan hesitated. "But if it gets passed—"

"It won't," Matthew said flatly. "Not if we stay under radar. We keep the project compartmentalized. No flashy announcements. No ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Not yet."

Angel crossed her arms thoughtfully. "You want to build half the backbone before anyone realizes there's a spine."

Matthew nodded. "Exactly."

Later That Day — Subic Command Center, 4:30 PM

By late afternoon, Matthew was already touring the auxiliary command room at Subic, which would serve as the temporary operations center for Aurora's Phase One. Engineers monitored drone footage of potential rail corridors, while GIS analysts mapped elevation data and calculated land grades for proposed track alignments.

Angel walked beside him, pointing out key changes.

"We've repurposed the old war room," she said. "Each desk now corresponds to a region—North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao. Every team is working in parallel."

Matthew nodded approvingly, then paused in front of a table where a young analyst was constructing a 3D terrain model using modular tiles.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Lara, sir," the woman replied, slightly nervous.

Matthew gestured to the tiles. "What are you modeling?"

"The stretch from San Pablo to Lucena," she replied. "We're identifying possible viaduct sections versus cut-and-fill zones. The terrain's a mix of rolling hills and soft soil."

He watched for a moment, then smiled. "You're doing good work, Lara."

She smiled, eyes lighting up. "Thank you, sir."

Matthew turned to Angel. "Let's give this place a name. It's more than a temporary base."

Angel thought for a moment. "Aurora Central?"

He nodded. "Aurora Central it is."

That Evening — Borja Residence, 8:30 PM

Back at home, Matthew sat on his balcony once again, looking at a printed map laid out across the table. Pen markings highlighted the routes, city nodes, and logistical bottlenecks. His laptop screen glowed softly with reports from JR East, Alstom, and Hyundai.

He heard a soft knock. Angel stepped out with two glasses of wine.

"I figured we earned it," she said, handing him one.

He chuckled. "We?"

"You don't think I'm in this with you?"

He lifted his glass. "To Aurora."

She clinked her glass against his. "To the rail we'll build."

They sipped quietly, the Manila skyline flickering below.

"Still don't trust the government, huh?" she asked, teasing gently.

"Not when they've taught me better," he said, smiling faintly.

She looked at him with something like admiration.

"You're really going to change the country," she said.

"No," Matthew replied. "We are."

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And under the quiet stars above Manila, that promise didn't feel like ambition.

It felt like certainty.