Chapter 42: John D. Rockefeller

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: John D. Rockefeller

The next day,

*BAM*

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!" Ruth screeched, hitting Ricky's locker shut as the furious pampered girl appeared before his eyes.

"Good morning to you to-"

*SLAP*

"HOW COULD YOU!" Ruth screeched, her face contorting in anger..

Ruth had walked into the halls with a smile that seemed to outshine the earth itself, prancing about as if she was mother gaia herself, but everything changed quickly.

As she strutted down the halls, whispers began to circulate, and all eyes turned towards Ruth in a ruthless display.

Her victorious smile slowly vanished as rumors of her being 'loose' and a 'harlot' reached her ears.

Upon finally realizing that everything seemed to be out of place, she grabbed the first girl she saw and threatened her to spill the details.

As promised, Henry had used his connections to spread the rumor that he and Ricky had concocted after school the day before, and by morning, it had quadrupled in size.

For all of these kids who wanted to ruthlessly knock down this ice queen down a peg, they latched onto it like hungry hyena's.

Everyone in the school seemed to be talking about it, even the teachers couldn't help but give their two cents about whether it was true or not.

And like high schoolers do, the rumor had started to be over exaggerated, growing from involving three guys to encompassing all the guys in the school.

"Ruth you need to calm down-" Ricky raised his hands, seeing that Ruth was seconds from exploding into a tirade of rage.

"ARE YOU DEAF, I OWN YOU, YOU'RE MINE, AND YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!" Ruth's entitlement spiraled out of control as she demanded Ricky to fall in line, seemingly on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

"Ms. Steffield, what do you think you're doing!" Ms. Collins demanded as she roamed the halls in an effort to quench the rumors on Ruth's behalf, only to see this shocking scene unfold.

"SHUT UP, HE'S MY TOY AND I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT WITH HIM, LOOK!" Ruth went to slap Ricky only for him to catch the hand.

"Ruth calm down, I'm not your-"

*SLAP*

Ricky allowed her to slap his other cheek with her other hand, making her look even worse. He could have easily blocked her, but he chose not to since it benefited him more.

"RUTH!" Ms. Collins dropped the formalities and rushed over to Ruth, pushing her away so that she couldn't hit Ricky anymore.

"What has gotten into you-"

Ms. Collins tried to reprimand her only to have Ruth's slap, intended for her, be caught by Ricky.

"Ruth stop-"

"STOP TALKING BACK TO ME, YOU'RE MY SLAVE, MY TOY, YOU AND EVERYBODY ELSE ARE JUST MY TOYS!" Ruth started having a full blown rage fueled panic attack as everyone gasped at the overreaction.

Never in her four years had Ruth shown anything other than a smile and seeing this made literally everyone, including members of the skull and bones society, shocked to say the least.

"Ruth calm down-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Ruth jerked her hands away from Ricky before falling to the ground, starting a tantrum.

Her arms, legs, and body flailed on the ground as she let out entitled screams, all for the benefit of her audience.

Only when a handful of staff carried her out did she finally leave, attacking whoever tried to touch her.

Ruth's parents were obviously called, and her father, Harry Steffield, angrily burst into the school before stomping into the principal's office.

Screams and shouts echoed from the office as the principal could do nothing except listen to the whole tirade, slowly uncovering the reasoning behind Ruth's personality.

During all this, Ricky was escorted to the waiting area outside the principal's office, where he waited with Ms. Collins by his side until he was called in.

"Thank you, Ricky." Ms. Collins quietly thanked Ricky for protecting her in the face of the unbridled privilege that was Ruth.

"It's no problem, Ms. Collins." Ricky held up his hand as if to say it was alright, and Ms. Collins sat down in the chair next to him.

"Are you okay?" Ms. Collins placed a hand on his shoulder though Ricky still showed a smile.

"I'm fine Ms. Collins." Ricky thought of using his skill to flood this hallway but he wanted to use it later today so he held off for later.

*Sigh*

Ricky heard a heavy sigh and instinctively looked up to see Lucky with a disgruntled expression, staring plainly at him.

"I didn't-" Ricky tried to explain only for Lucky to pinch his nose.

*Sigh*

Lucky didn't say anything as he plopped down on a seat across from Ricky, his expression stern.

"Mr. Luciano-" Ms. Collins tried to speak on behalf of Ricky but Lucky wasn't having it.

"Quiet doll face." Lucky pointed his cane at Ms. Collins and shut her mouth immediately before slowly turning the cane to Ricky.

"What should I do with you? Honestly Ricky, you literally cannot keep yourself out of trouble even if your life depended on it." Lucky let out a tired sigh as Ricky held up a hand.

"When am I ever going out and causing trouble-"

"Yesterday."

"...." Ricky really fell into that one, having literally destroyed a circus yesterday and naturally, Lucky had found out about it.

Lucky only had to say one word to stop his son's blabbering as he rubbed his eyes, knowing that this had to be another one of Ricky's stupid endeavors.

*Click*

"Mr. Luciano, Ricky, could you please come in." Under Lucky's watchful eye, the principal opened and requested, prompting Lucky to let out one more sigh before sitting up.

As he walked in, he immediately received an intimidating and hateful glare from Harry. However, the Mafia boss didn't even blink and sat down.

Ricky didn't immediately walk in, instead, he looked around until he saw Henry in the distance as he gave him a slight nod, causing Henry to nod back.

"Is this him? IS THIS THE BAS-" Harry immediately looked towards the door, seeing Ricky in the doorway.

"Watch your tone Harry Steffield." Lucky promptly spoke as Harry halted his voice before realizing who this was in front of him.

"So my little girl truly fell for a thug." Harry snarled at the two of them who were mirroring each other with an uncaring expression.

"Principal, there is a misunderstanding here since me and Ruth have never done anything-" Ricky tried to be the one to explain but Ruth wasn't having any of it.

"WE MADE LOVE RICKY, I FELT YOU INSIDE OF ME!" Ruth screamed, patting her belly as Harry showed a horrified look.

"Ruth!"

"Daddy it's true! Yesterday, me and Ricky made love and he came-"

"STOP! STOP!" Harry put his hands over his ears, since no father wanted to hear the foul things coming out of their daughter's mouth..

"Did you lay your hands on my daughter yesterday because if you did, you'll take responsibility for it." Harry's voice was cold as he turned to Ricky with an accusing glare.

"No sir, I was with Henry yesterday picking out a new car he promised-"

"LIAR, HE'S LYING!" Ruth screeched at him but Lucky only raised an eyebrow, turning towards Ricky.

"Wait, that's where you got that new ford?" Lucky asked since he had seen that same ford parked outside the mansion.

"I didn't tell you, did I? My good friend, Henry Ford II, gifted me a car yesterday." Ricky said his full name on purpose as Lucky raised his eyebrows along with a smile.

"Now I see why this school was so important to you-"

*BAM*

"THIS IS SERIOUS!" Harry slammed his fist on the principal's desk, angered that the two of them were so carefree.

"Sir, I couldn't have done anything with Ruth that day if I literally spent it picking out another car-"

"LIAR! LIAR! DADDY MAKE HIM MARRY ME!" Ruth stood up, pointing at Ricky while stomping her feet as Lucky frowned side-eyeing Ricky who shrugged.

"Where is this Henry Ford, tell him to come here and clear my son's name." Lucky gestured as the principal nodded, walking out into the hall before returning with Henry.

"Henry, tell me everything." Harry came in front of the young man with an intimidating expression though the teenager wasn't the least bit perturbed.

"Of course, Mr. Steffield let me start from the beginning-"

Henry then went on to explain the cover story that Ricky and he had come up with, accurately citing the other three men as being involved with Ruth.

"HENRY YOU BASTARD!" Ruth screeched, clawing at Henry's face only to have her held back by her own father.

"W-We need to go." Harry had a pale expression on his face as he started to slowly believe Henry instead of his delusional daughter after hearing it all.

Though Harry would still need to do his own investigation, he needed to do damage control and take his daughter out of here.

"This isn't over." Harry looked at Lucky and Ricky before storming out with Ruth on his shoulders as she screamed at RIcky.

"YOU'LL BE MINE, ONCE GRANDPA HEARS OF THIS YOU'LL BE MINE!" Ruth screeched out as she was forcefully pulled out of the office.

"What a crazy b*tch." Lucky stood up for the first time, actually believing that his son was the victim in this.

Though Ricky held off on telling him, knowing that if he did, his father would definitely lock him in their house and throw away the key, which would halt his plans to quash the vampires.

"Ricky, we'll hash this out so you and Henry should go back to class." The principal dismissed the two who walked out of the classroom.

"Remember Ricky, you'll eventually meet the most powerful person in the world so be careful." Henry was a little nervous for Ricky though he waved him off.

"He's only an old man, how scary can he be?"

1 hour later,

At a private hospital, two people stood in the empty but fully staffed waiting room as Harry was one of them.

"How bad is it?" The other man dryly spoke as Harry bit his lip.

"I had my people in the school contact me and they said there's rumors that Ruth has been sleeping around with multiple guys-"

*Bam*

"Nonsense." The old man slammed his hand on the chair.

"My grandaughter isn't a harlot-"

The old man was about to say something until he saw the doctor who he had paid way too much money for discretion, walked out from behind the curtain.

"Mr. Rockefeller." The doctor slightly bowed to the most powerful man who almost took control of the entirety of America.

John D. Rockefeller.

"How is she? That man didn't do anything to her?" Rockefeller asked as the doctor rubbed his forehead.

"Mr. Rockefeller I swear on my family I ran all of the tests and-"

"Shut up boy and get on with it." Rockefeller scoffed while already angry about the bad news he was about to hear.

"Ruth is pregnant, which is impossible to happen in a day." The doctor unknowingly proved Ricky's innocence as this was Ricky's last plan.

The unnatural and weirdest skill he had, Apex Fertility, a skill that defied all logic, was used as his biggest strength.

In reality, all it took was for Ricky to bust one load inside any girl, and she would become pregnant that same day.

This was unheard of in the medical field and something that wouldn't make sense unless someone saw the system.

Even if logic played a role, could anyone truly judge such a skill through the lens of normalcy, considering all the complexities of this world?

"You are a magical creature-"

"No, I am a being of chakra, not bound by this energy you call magic." Chester clarified politely. Rockefeller's eyes remained steady as he scrutinized Chester.

"Then how is it that my talismans and artifacts are powerless against you within my own mind?" Rockefeller inquired but didn't panic although was clearly perplexed by the situation.

It didn't make sense to Rockefeller since Chester shouldn't have been able to exert such control within his own mind, yet he remained unaffected by all of Rockefeller's attempts to expel him.

However, instead of telling Rockefeller the reason, he would never understand that Chester was astute enough not to reveal his strategy that the old man was unknowingly trapped in an illusionary construct within his own mind.

Chester had pushed his abilities to their limits, creating an intricate illusionary mindscape entirely composed of chakra within Rockefeller's consciousness.

As a result, whenever Rockefeller attempted to use magic or any other form of energy, it would be absorbed and neutralized by the chakra-based illusion that had attached itself to his own subconscious.

Chester was correct: the charms were designed to protect Rockefeller, and by embedding his own mind as a shield, Rockefeller was unable to destroy the illusion without risking the destruction of his own consciousness.

The only reason this worked in the first place was that Rockefeller had never encountered such an energy before, and no charm existed to repel or counter Chester's unique form of chakra, at least, not yet.

"It doesn't matter. Just look into my eyes and forget everything." Chester said slowly, coating Rockefeller as he stood from his seat and walked towards the floating Chester.

"I've faced the devil himself and he blinked. Do you truly think I'll fold?" Rockefeller's mind was a fortress of willpower, a realization that struck Chester at that moment.

Compelling someone of Rockefeller's strength was nearly impossible, leaving Chester with only one option.

"I suppose you're right." Chester conceded with a nod. Rockefeller's lips curled into a smile.

"Now, let-"

"I won't be able to compel you outright, so I'll have to break and fracture your mind until it succumbs to my influence." Chester said, his gaze steady as he met Rockefeller's eyes. The old man's anxiety was evident in the nervous chuckle that escaped him.

"Do you really think you can manage against my mind? Lower your barrier at once." Rockefeller demanded, puffing out his chest. Chester's eyes glowed with swirling blue chakra.

"Perhaps in your youth, it might have been impossible, but you've grown old and weak."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rockefeller's sudden, ear-piercing scream cut through the air as he fell to his knees before Chester. Chester looked down at him with a cold determination.

"That's why I'll be able to break you."

Meanwhile in the real world,

Chester exhaled softly, a small trickle of blood seeping from his beak as he staggered back slightly.

Fracturing a mind was no simple task; it required significant backlash on his part but despite the toll, he had succeeded in breaking Rockefeller's mind to comply with his genjutsu.

"You alright, Chester?" Ricky asked though Chester held up a wing, signaling he was fine.

"I am fine, merely out of practice." Chester hid his pain under his own incompetence but Ricky still patted his head.

"I should've known that it wouldn't have mattered regardless if I had evidence or not." Ricky revealed since this was his final excuse as he messed up earlier.

Although Chester had hoped to address Rockefeller in a more isolated environment, he had wanted to see if reason would prevail with the old man.

"Hey John, would you have made me marry Ruth even if she really asked you out of the blue one day?" Ricky asked, wanting to see how far Rockefeller would go for that spoiled brat as the old man's pupils were dilated heavily.

"Yes, I would have forced you to marry her since my granddaughter gets whatever she wants." Rockefeller confessed in a haze as Ricky became slack jawed.

'Is every daughter of a rich person spoiled rotten?' Ricky wondered since Maria, although way more tolerable than Ruth, was also spoiled rotten and treated like a princess.

"Geez~" Ricky let out a sigh of relief before gazing at tired Chester and a pouting Alexander.

"After this Chester, I'll get you whatever you want-"

"A better bird bath, better grain, and an immense amount of peanuts." Chester spoke his demands as Ricky nodded his head while Alexander crossed his tiny arms.

"What's his deal-" Ricky asked Chester who let out a small sigh, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

"You have ruined my game of go fish, I was about to vanquish Chester only to be pulled away from it at the last moment." Alexander's face went red in anger while explaining the dilemma as Chetser smirked.

"I guess we'll have to start over-" Chester let out a tired chuckle but it only infuriated Alexander.

"WE SHALL NOT!"

"Guys, can we do this later, after I do this." Ricky gestured to the almost drooling Rockefeller as Alexander huffed in agreement.

*Ahem*

"Now John, when you leave today, you are finally going to grow a pair and say no to Ruth." Ricky continued as Rockefellar twitched but after Chetser expelled more chakra, he simmered down.

"This man doesn't seem to be in the presence of that weird energy the man called Abraham had on him, but his mental fortitude is frightening." Chester commented in slight breaths, having to keep his entire focus on this seemingly normal man.

However with Rockefeller's wealth and connections, he of course knew of the peculiarities of this world and made sure to arm himself with protections, especially against the supernatural.

Rockefeller was decked head to toe in charms as well as different artifacts and if Rockfeller would've known that Ricky possessed a different energy that could penetrate the mind and past his defensives, he would've prepared more.

But as Ricky had no way of knowing how far Rockefeller's pockets and money went, so did the old man when it came to the vastness of his power and system.

In reality, it all stemmed from Rockefeller's own arrogance and his underestimation of Ricky, whom he had dismissed as a mere idiot.

"Listen, you're going to send her to some christian boarding school and force her to not be such a spoiled b*tch." Ricky gave out another condition as a weight in his heart let off a bit.

"Next you'll force your family into silence as anyone who talks about it will be shamed and kicked out of the family." Ricky issued another demand, beginning operation 'Get this crazy b*tch away from me'.

"You'll also stop anyone in your family at getting back at me and you'll hold them on a tight leash before doing so." Ricky spoke as his demands were growing longer and longer.

"Then you'll make an excuse that you paid me off with 100,000 dollars which will be delivered to my residence." Ricky then formed a greedy smile before getting to the main topic.

"Before I ask for my final demand, answer how much money you have that is easy to access?" Ricky asked with gold bars shining in his eyes, gazing at the walking money bags in front of him.

"Right now out of my current holdings of over 900 million dollars, the total liquidity I have is around 27.5 million. Adding together both liquid and non-liquid accessible assets it is around 930 million." Rockefeller confessed, but even when it wasn't even one tenth of his wealth, Ricky took in a breath of air.

The reasoning behind this was that the amount the Luciano family made a year per Lucky's words was around 26.5 million.

Then after the countless bribes, salaires, and other expenses, Lucky himself was left with around a yearly salary of 2.8 million dollars though he could only clean about 1,700,000 every year.

However, unlike the other mob bosses who frivolously spent their clean money, Lucky seldom used his funds for anything beyond reinvesting in the properties under his own name.

It was why he was so easily able to gather the necessary seed money for the small bank he wanted to open since in total, Lucky had an emergency fund of around 10,000,000 clean money that was tightly saved which was everything to his name.

The money he didn't clean was used to reinvest into the family and after everything, Lucky usually came down with around 1,200,000.

(Today money: 11,233,175.18)

$1,200,000 was still a lot to maintain a lavish lifestyle, and Lucky also had around $4.5 million of uncleaned money stashed away in case of a secondary emergency, however, the amount that Rockefeller seemingly had stashed away was simply outrageous for Ricky considering the current time.

(27.5 in today's money is $630,430,474.45, no it's not all cash)

"How much of your current wealth could you liquidate without raising suspicion?" Ricky boisterously asked, his greed shining in his eyes.

"My holdings are held through numerous trusts, foundations, holding companies, and on top of that I have been splitting up my various holdings in companies to my most competent children so although my wealth will reach one billion in around 1 or 2 years, the amount I actually can liquidate without raising eyebrows is around 53 million total or around an additional 25.5 millions from my already liquidated wealth." Rockefeller confessed as Ricky's eyes widened as he started to become nervous.

Ricky wasn't an expert but he did understand that a million here was a sh*t ton more than it was in his past life.

(Quick Author's Note: For those wondering why Ricky can't just grab all of Rockefeller's assets, here's a brief explanation and if you don't care, you can skip it: First, Rockefeller is preparing for his death, and his well-known trust, which still stands today, was designed to protect his wealth from inheritance taxes and other government grabs.Second, the wealth of the rich isn't usually in cash—it's tied up in investments, real estate, art, foundations, companies, stocks, etc. No wealthy person keeps a pile of cash or a gold swimming pool like Scrooge McDuck. Instead, they use their assets as collateral to secure loans from banks (in which they often have a significant stake) to get cash quickly for immediate needs. Finally, Rockefeller has around 200 descendants. If Ricky suddenly inherited everything, it would raise suspicions. His family would likely contest any claim to the fortune endlessly, making it impractical for Ricky to gain access to it.)

(Also for reference 53 million dollars in 1932 = 976,815,389.22 which is a f*ck ton to ask for and the reasoning for that will be explained now.)

"Why do you have so much money in hand?" Ricky couldn't help but ask as there is no reason that a sensible man should have this much cash in hand.

Most of someone's money wasn't liquid but tied up in assets since cash depreciates but assets don't.

"I always keep at least $10 million in cash reserves, so I can make bribes, underhanded deals, and purchases without raising any red flags with the IRS or other government agencies. The reason for this is simple: I'm dying. When I'm gone, even the institutions I've lobbied for and the bills I've passed won't be enough to counter the policies that that bastard Theodore Roosevelt put in place to target me. That's why I've been gradually liquidating any assets that could be taxed in an effort to make a bribing slush fund for my family." Rockefeller confided in Ricky, raising an eyebrow at this perfect opportunity.

"And your family also knows about this?" Ricky asked as he had seen a chance to not only get rich, but a chunk of the Rockefeller family's wealth as well.

"Yes, all of the children have been assisting and covering for me as I did it." Rockefeller smoothly spoke as a lightbulb popped above his head.

"Alright, do you have any places that only you and no one in your family knows about?" Ricky asked and Rockefellar nodded in a daze.

"I have a remote farm in upstate New York that I use as a place to get away from all my family." Rockefeller answered as Ricky rubbed his chin greedily.

"How many people know about it and how many of them do you trust?"

"Ten." Rockefeller said as Ricky had a toothy smile.

"How long will it take to move all that liquidated money to the farm?" Ricky then got to the final question with eager eyes.

"Seven years."

"W-What?"

"The current $27.5 million I have in liquidity will take about four months to collect from all the locations where it's held. Another eight months will be needed to transport it covertly without drawing any attention. This is the result of eight years of carefully funneling money through various holding companies to amass such a sum while minimizing taxes. It will take-"

"Alright wait, before we do anything, transport the 27.5 million while starting the process for the other 25.5." Ricky made a command and it was suggested into Rockfeller's brain as it reworded to follow the plan.

"Then we'll meet after a year-"

"Ricky, Genjutsu doesn't work like that." Chester finally chimed in once Ricky was done while dosing his summoner with a cold bucket of reality.

"What do you mean?"

"Genjutsu, although extremely effective on individuals without chakra, will have an easier time being swayed but it still needs to be reapplied or it will wear off." Chester informed Ricky who let out a sigh since he wished it was even easier than it was now.

"Then how long will it stay?" Ricky asked as Chetser thought about it for a while.

"Around a month if I use all the chakra I have at this moment and strain myself, however it will take one to two weeks for me to recover to full strength to keep this suffocating Genjutsu working, meaning I won't be able to cast other Genjutsu in that time." Chester informed Ricky, the cheat he had just now started to utilize had seemingly up and vanished.

Ricky didn't understand since he knew nothing about Genjutsu, but suggestive and hypnotized Genjutsu was vastly more chakra consuming and way more sophisticated than the regular illusions.

These sorts of Genjutsu really only worked on people weaker than Chester which Rockefeller so happens to be since although he is vastly more influential than the common human, he is really only human without all his little knick knacks.

"There are also effects meaning that any stimulation or energy above my own Genjutsu will break the Genjutsu and they will remember everything though I'll know when it's broken." Chester informed Ricky as he nodded but ultimately shrugged.

"Fine, John, make sure to meet me at this house on the first day of each month, got it?" Ricky said to Rockefeller who hazily nodded along.

"Alright Chester, I promise to make your life the most comfortable one a bird has ever seen if you help me with this." Ricky's eyes shone and Chester thought about it but sighed.

Chester gazed at Rockefeller, his eyes dilating until they nearly reached the edges of his eyelids, before he collapsed.

Ricky quickly caught him, then looked at Rockefeller, who immediately drooped his head down as Ricky cradled the tired Chester in his hands.

"Wh-What happened?" Rockefeller snapped awake as he gazed up to see RIcky holding a crow and although strange, didn't harp too much about it.

"You were talking about how you'd ruin my life if I ever spoke of your daughter's premarital activities?" Ricky lied as he asked in a questioning tone, as this was his first time ever using suggestions and hypnotism on someone.

"Ah yes, I vaguely remember it now." Rockefeller was about to retort until his subconscious suggested that he needed to agree with Ricky's statement.

"The 100,000 will be delivered to your residence as agreed, and Ricky." Rockefeller quickly stood up as he walked to the door but stopped.

"I'll destroy you if you don't hold up your end of the deal." Rockefeller threatened as Ricky nodded aggressively.

"Yes, sir," Ricky saluted as the old man walked out, his bodyguards following closely behind.

"Hey, Rhino guy-" Ricky had an idea and called out,

"My fee is $2 million a year." The Rhino guy replied without turning around as Ricky rushed over to the broken window but recoiled, realizing this wasn't the first time someone had tried to pouch him.

However, the Rhino guy would never leave Rockefeller's guard detail, as it was too beneficial.

"Have a good day, Rhino guy," Ricky said, waving as he gave up on that idea.

The Rhino guy nodded and then helped Rockefeller into the van before the old man gave him one last scowl.

"Ricky, be warned that I needed to create a rift in his mind," Chester said, sitting on the table as Alexander patted his feathers.

"He might die before then, so you must be prepared." Chester's warning was met with a casual shrug from Ricky, who turned back to the crow.

"It'll all work out."

Author's Note: I've been quite slow in responding and reading comments lately. However instead of addressing them now, I'll be procrastinating until tomorrow cause I'm tired. If you have questions or need answers on other questions asked eariler in the week, I'll get to them tomorrow. Also, I tried to ensure that my logic make sense for those who need clarity. However, if you spot any errors in my logic or it just doesn't make sense in certain areas, please let me know, and I'll make the necessary adjustments.