Another swipe of his finger on the pad and another box were removed from the abandoned as Victor felt like faceplanting into the plastic table in exhaustion as his money increased after the minions removed it. Victor was currently in a temporary quarter until his actual inner sanctuary could be built. It was far from the grand and amazing sanctum he had envisioned in his plans, but desperate times called for the good old plastic chair and table.

He was only one day into building his criminal empire, and already a lot of his budget was spent. Somewhere, he thought that he was mentally prepared to lose thousands of gold bars in less than a day. It was an absolute heartthrob watching all of it go into a mess hall where his minions can eat, a barrack where the minions can sleep, a prison to hold and extract intelligence from captives, and WORST OF ALL, the power station.

It seemed as though the base itself was conspiring against him, running out of power just to force him into building more generators and waste a small fortune. He had to build three generators, which should be enough (for now), but it cost him over 12,000 gold. That was not even including the incinerator.

The only good thing was that he didn't build a vault, thanks to the old man who told him not to build a vault at the start; otherwise, it was going to be completely useless and a waste of resources seeing how fast he was burning through money.

What he had expected to be after getting here after completing all the boring paperwork that he had to sign before getting the base was get rich, battle Agents, take names, and take over the world.

Instead, it was just more, frigging, work! It was as if the boredom was an Agent that had found him again and just kept shooting at him constantly as he used his pad in order to design the base.

The pad was an invention that had a screen that showed the first layer of the base, with him unable to see what was on the other layers since he hadn't built anything there yet. Near the bottom of the screen, it showed a line of yellow buttons with different icons for different things and places to build in his lair. As soon as he selected something, the minions would get the order to clear a material in the mountain in order to make room or build something.

Unfortunately, the advanced equipment that allowed instant furniture and equipment without having to drag it here that the workers used cost a certain amount each time they were used, especially on what they used it on. He had to also pay the minions a small amount for everything they placed down as well as the materials from the mountain they removed.

This tech also allowed him to view his criminal network with there being a picture of the globe in the corner, and when he clicked on it would show him the world map and the places he has conquered, along with the reputation he has in each state and country as well as how much heat he has gained, so that he could clear it down so the area wouldn't go on lockdown.

Although he hadn't even established a single criminal network since he understood that as soon as he did, tourists and investigators would arrive at the island, he had standards to keep to, such as having a functional casino.

He didn't want to look bad in front of "The Forces of Justice," after all they would be his enemies, and he must not show a single sign of weakness or carelessness in front of an enemy. Everything had to be in the casino; it had to be replaced once people began to arrive on his island; after all, he couldn't have an empty casino.

He needed muscle, science, and deception employees. He had three lists for each one as well as the branches and in which order he would need to collect them.

The first one he would need to recruit would be the valet in order to have someone run the casino and distract the agents and tourists. No matter how much he would love to fight the agents, he would much rather them just get nothing and play at the casino in order to get some cash; after all, he needed to value all money no matter how small.

Another reason to recruit the valet first was because it would be very weird for people to come just to see an empty casino. Although he did consider getting a scientist first but dismissed it since Valet was more important if he wanted to keep the appearance of a regular casino business. He would get scientists later once he had more gold or if he changed his mind halfway through which was more likely.

Unfortunately, he needed more money to pay for the valet's salary since, unlike the workers, they would actually cost a reasonable amount, and the amount of salaries he had to pay would only increase with each valet employee he trained and gained.

The only path to earn more gold was to have the minions commit crimes and send over the gold. Otherwise, the only other option was to ask him for help.

...

It didn't take a moment for him to decide. The time had come to commit crimes that could send him to prison for a very, very long time.

Well, technically, it was time to send his minions to commit some crimes that would have them thrown away for a very long time. After all, he was the mastermind and shouldn't get his hands dirty with these kinds of things.

It was midday when he was waiting just outside the base's backdoor, which led to the Helipad. He was waiting for the three minions he was going to send in order to establish his first criminal network.

Taking a look at their watch, he saw it was already "12:08,"exactly 8 minutes after they were suppose to arrive. This made him wonder if he should make threats to speed them or not, only to see them coming outside the doors to the base as he stood up straight while masking his expression to continue portraying the charismatic and evil genius that they all think he is... or at least choose to believe they see him as such.

The minions stood in front of him with all their bags packed as they gave him a salute with smiles on their faces.

"We are ready to go boss! Just send us out into the world, and we will be back in no time with plenty of gold." One of the minions exclaimed in order to amplify Victor's expectations so they could blow it out the water.

Victor just stared at them as he tilted his head, confused. "Come back...?" Did they not get the memo?

This made the minions pause as they looked at him with a bit of hesitation to ask, wondering what they said to make the boss confused. "Umm, is everything alright, boss?"

He decided to explain. "Alright, I guess none of you got the message. I'll explain the best I can."

It took a couple of seconds for him to find the right words before speaking. "You see, when I decided to send you out to establish a criminal network, I am not expecting you to return. Since this isn't some heist. I am expecting you to be out there, working undercover, securing influence, and expanding my control in the region. Even if you complete, you do finish that. There is still the problem of the agents that could follow you back. They could follow you back and expose this entire operation, which would mean all of this was for nothing and there would be no point in you going in the first place."

After hearing this, the excitement from the minions to go out and explore the world quickly dimmed, replaced with uncertain glances between them. Victor decided to cheer them up slightly since they would both need to understand the situation and also be motivated so that they are less likely to fail.

"Look on the bright side; whenever you get gold, you'll get to keep some to yourself; you simply need to send the rest here. Once you are done with this job, use your shares to live a nice quiet life and out of any possible danger."

This helped do what Victor intended, because after a moment they quickly straightened up with their anticipation returning along with determination.

One of the minions in front of him, a short and stocky fellow, saluted him as he spoke with as much confidence as he could. "Understood boss! We promise we won't let you down and will make sure everyone fears and respects your name."

His eyes widened at this as his thoughts went into overdrive to think of something to say since it seemed like they didn't get what he wanted them to do. He just wanted them to establish a criminal network in the region, and that was it. If they did beyond that and spread his name around while their organization was still starting out. If they were to do that well, this organization was about to go down as the shortest organization to ever be.

"No, no, no. When I say, "Establish a criminal network,' I don't mean, "paint my name on every wall, newspaper, or hold press conferences in my name." He used these outlandish examples in order to make sure they got the message. Not like they would actually do something.

"So, don't... do that?" One minion asked as he just looked at him dead in the eyes as the minion suddenly felt like crumbling due to him getting stared down.

Were they actually going to do all that!? Why did it suddenly feel like Victor has surrounded himself with a bunch of morons?

"That was really just asked? Was that really just asked?" He muttered as all three workers looked at the floor, daring not to look him in the eye. This only confirmed to him that they WERE actually going to do resisted the sudden urge to just pinch his nose.

On second thought, he might have to get a scientist first, since he doesn't give a damn if any tourist finds it boring that there is nothing in a casino or if someone (agents) found it really suspicious. He was going to make sure there was at least one more competent person here.

"B-but boss, how will they know to fear you if they don't know your name?" The short, stocky one trembled out while saying it. Victor felt as if he were lecturing a child, and the child wasn't understanding a single thing. Victor looked down at him. before saying. "Look me dead in the eyes and say that again."

The minion only had to take one look at his piercing gaze to look back at the floor, immediately fearing that he might lose his head by how sharp the boss's stare was while looking at him.

Victor sighed deeply; he wanted to slam his head against the wall but couldn't since he had an operation to run. "Look, they will fear me. Just not now. Imagine this organization as a subtle shadow that will grow bigger without anyone knowing that we are there. It will be too late by the time they realize we are here."

His workers nodded, although they still looked a little puzzled as Victor tried to use an example that came off the top of his head.

"Just imagine that you're building a... fortress. You don't put up a giant sign that says, 'LOOK I AM BUILDING A FORTRESS!' You are simply wasting time. Start with the foundation, laying the foundation brick by brick. If you are truly smart, then you'll make sure no one figures out until it's too big to be covered up by then, and even if they do find it, they are no longer able to bring it down as easily as they would if they knew it was there before."

After he finished with his explanation, hoping to God that they understood, he saw some lights spring upstairs in their heads with him seeing they realized what he had just said, which made him thank the Lord for once. They were not a complete lost cause... yet.

"Now that you understand what I said, go out there and make my dreams a reality!" He said as he spread his arms out wide in a grand gesture of dominance.

They quickly straightened up again, as they all said in unison. "Understood Boss!" They took their bags with them as they walked down the path to the elevator and to the helicopter.

"...Hmm." He walked back into the base as he wondered to himself how long it would be until agents began arriving here. For once he decided to have just a little faith for his minions. After all, he made sure to send them a territory in A.N.V.I.L.

Why ANVIL specifically? Cause screw them, that's why, along with an actual reason that won't be explained until later.

A thought appeared in his mind as he was once again reminded that he would need to tell all minions about the whole scheme thing and how they couldn't come back. He felt exhaustion itching at the back of his head. Being an Evil genius really had its downsides. He just had to keep reminding himself that he only needed to get through the early stages, and then he truly could have fun.

Maybe he could even allow the minions to return, as long as he made sure they weren't being followed by any pesky agents of course.