Building The Strongest Family-Chapter 157: Rebirth Of An Empire [ 1 ]

The salt-laden wind howled through the skeletal remains of Port Varenya’s collapsed gantry cranes, making the rusted metal groan like dying beasts.

Arthur Osborn stood at the edge of Dock 17, his custom-made shoes crunching on decades of accumulated corrosion flakes as he studied the graveyard of sunken freighters visible just beneath the oil-slicked waves.

"Goodness," Ethan muttered beside him, wrinkling his nose at the stench of rotting seaweed and diesel. "Smells like a refinery hooked up with a landfill."

Arthur didn’t flinch. "You should’ve smelled it last month before the bioremediation teams started."

He kicked a chunk of concrete into the water, watching the splash ripple outward. "This dock alone had three mass graves from the siege of ’38."

Suddenly, a distant blast from a ship’s horn cut through the heavy air.

Ethan shielded his eyes against the glare as twenty massive freighters emerged from the morning haze like steel islands.

"Damn! You really brought in the whole fleet!"

"Needed Titan’s heavy lift cranes for those quantum shielding components,"

Arthur said absently, watching as automated systems began deploying anchor lines thicker than most trees. "Those generators weigh eight hundred tons each. Normal ports need six months just to prep for..."

"Arthur!"

The shout came from their left, where George was picking his way across the unstable dock in handmade Berluti loafers that probably cost more than what most Varenyans made in a year. His navy Brioni suit was already collecting rust stains.

"What on earth, cousin?" George spat as he reached them, gesturing wildly at the derelict port. "You drag me out here to this... this post-apocalyptic wasteland without even..."

"Breathe, George," Arthur interrupted calmly. "You’re going to love this."

George opened his mouth but froze as Osborn Titan’s forward cargo bay began unfolding like a mechanical flower, revealing rows of massive construction drones. "Are those... are those new Mark VII autonomous pile drivers?"

Arthur grinned widely. "With plasma-assisted drilling modules you helped develop."

For once, George’s outrage wavered; he adjusted his glasses, suddenly intrigued despite himself. "Those haven’t even cleared EU safety testing yet."

"Good thing we’re not in Aurelian Federation." Arthur pulled up a holographic display from his wrist-comm; its blue light cast eerie shadows across their faces. "Full specs, tell me what you think."

George leaned in closer; his engineer instincts kicked in over irritation. "You’re using graphene-infused smart concrete for foundations? That’s..."

"The only way to stabilize this godforsaken seabed," Arthur finished confidently. "The original port sank six inches every year before all this chaos began."

"Wait, wait!" George exclaimed, pinching the hologram to zoom in on the load-bearing schematics. "These support columns are rated for 150,000 metric tons! That’s serious overkill even for..."

"Tier-4 quantum shielding requires structural integrity," Arthur interjected smoothly. "When those Kharzin storms roll in, we need to be ready."

Ethan cleared his throat loudly, a playful smirk on his face. "For those of us who didn’t graduate from MIT with a doctorate in civil engineering... care to explain?"

Arthur sighed, rolling his eyes. "The port won’t collapse when we install the forcefield generators."

George continued muttering under his breath as he manipulated the hologram. "This tidal compensation system... is it based on the Venice model?"

"Modified version," Arthur replied confidently. "We’re using AI-predictive algorithms to...."

"Whoa, whoa!" George suddenly zoomed in on another section. "These energy consumption numbers can’t be right! You’d need three nuclear reactors just to..."

"Already purchased," Arthur said with an air of nonchalance. "Two SMR-300 small modular reactors from NuScale. They’re currently en route to Titan."

George’s jaw dropped in disbelief. "You got the Americans to sell you actual... but what about export restrictions?"

Arthur’s smile was sharp but cold. "Turns out the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman has a gambling problem, and a mistress, and a secret bank account in the Caymans."

A long silence followed as George absorbed both the technical schematics and their implications, finally exhaling sharply.

"You’re building the most advanced port in human history... in Varenya?" he asked incredulously.

Arthur gestured toward the dilapidated docks and sunken ships around them, sunlight glinting off bullet-riddled warehouses.

"Think about it, George! The Kharzin Straits handle 30% of global shipping,they’re at capacity and choke-pointed by politics and pirates."

He spread his arms wide like an artist unveiling a masterpiece.

"This? This will be our alternative: deep-water access, AI-managed logistics, quantum-shielded storage, we’ll undercut every major route by 18-22% transit time!"

Ethan whistled appreciatively. "That’s not just a port; that’s practically a license to print money."

George remained transfixed by the holograms, fingers twitching as if he wanted to tweak every detail. "The regulatory hurdles alone..."

"Already handled," Arthur assured him casually. "President Dravik signed an exclusive 99-year concession this morning."

Another pause hung heavy between them as they listened to construction drones firing up outside,their plasma cutters screaming as they began dismantling old dock infrastructure.

Finally, George shook his head in disbelief. "You realize this will take at least 500 billion Unicreds to complete?"

Arthur didn’t flinch. "Actually, it’s 470.3 billion Unicreds. Phase one is already fully funded through our Noctis arms sales."

"The what sales?" George asked, eyebrows raised.

Ethan clapped George on the shoulder with a grin. "Sir George, trust me, you really don’t want to know."

As the first prefabricated dock segments were hoisted into place by the Titan’s cranes, Arthur checked his watch.

"We need your transportation models integrated by Thursday. The first container ships arrive in eleven days."George’s head snapped up in surprise. "You’ve already sold the capacity?"

Arthur flashed a toothy smile. "Every last TEU, at 220% of standard rates!"

The piercing sound of metal being cut mingled with engineers’ shouts and the deep rumble of heavy machinery springing to life.

What was once a desolate area was now buzzing with activity.

Ethan leaned closer to Arthur as George wandered off, already berating some poor engineer about load-bearing tolerances. "Are you sure you want him running this?"

Arthur watched his cousin passionately debate rebar density with a construction foreman twice his size and shrugged."Who better? He’s an insufferable perfectionist."

A massive crane swung a 500-ton concrete pylon overhead, its shadow momentarily eclipsing the sun.

"Besides," Arthur continued, turning back to witness the rebirth of an empire, "only an Osborn could build something worthy of that name."