"Boss... we have a water problem."
Shelley King Jadriel approached Drex with the kind of expression usually reserved for tax audits, crop blight, or apocalyptic weather patterns.
Drex looked up from his current project.
"Water problem?"
From his perspective, food and drink had remained consistently abundant.
Shelley sighed.
"The ranch consumes enormous amounts of water. Our groundwater reserves are nearly depleted."
That...
Was problematic.
Shelley explained further.
The ranch's existing well had dropped to less than a meter of usable water depth.
And given their brutal location near the Texas-Mexico border, surrounded by heat, arid terrain, illegal crossings, and desert conditions...
Water scarcity wasn't a temporary inconvenience.
It was an existential threat.
To solve it conventionally would cost millions.
And that assumed viable water sources even existed nearby.
Previous geological surveys had already concluded the area lacked accessible shallow groundwater.
Deep-water extraction?
Technically possible.
Financially grotesque.
For most people...
This would be a devastating infrastructure crisis.
For Drex?
It sounded like an engineering challenge.
He decided to solve it personally.
Because of course he did.
Launching skyward, Drex hovered over the ranch and activated his x-ray vision at maximum geological penetration.
Layer by layer...
Soil.
Rock.
Sediment.
Dry pockets.
Nothing.
Then...
Success.
Far below, deep beneath inaccessible layers of earth, Drex identified a substantial underground water vein.
There it was.
A hidden reservoir.
Shelley had been defeated by economics.
Drex intended to bypass economics entirely.
Heat vision.
Superman had done this sort of thing often enough.
Drex unleashed focused crimson beams into the earth.
The ground vaporized.
Rock liquefied.
Soil transformed into molten pathways.
Backlit by the blazing Texas sun, Drex's solar reserves surged as he maintained sustained thermal output.
Importantly...
He carefully contained surrounding heat signatures using his bioelectric field, minimizing the chance of S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite anomaly detection.
No reason to invite unnecessary bureaucratic curiosity.
Minute after minute, his heat vision carved downward.
Over one hundred meters deep.
Then...
Breakthrough.
The underground aquifer ruptured.
And pressure did the rest.
An explosive eruption of steam, gas ignition, and displaced geological mass transformed the site violently.
When the process stabilized...
A colossal crater remained.
Roughly 160 meters wide.
Deep.
Rapidly filling.
A massive artificial lake began forming as subterranean water surged upward in roaring torrents.
Mud and sediment initially churned chaotically, but over time...
The reservoir settled.
What remained was stunning:
A vast, clear blue freshwater lake.
On private property.
Shelley stared.
Then rubbed his temples.
Because at this point, conventional reactions had become exhausting.
Their failing ranch now possessed a multi-million-cubic-meter water reserve.
Just like that.
"No more water problems," Drex said calmly.
Understatement of the century.
Unexpectedly...
The new reservoir became its own business.
Neighboring ranchers.
Farmers.
Agricultural suppliers.
Regional buyers.
Everyone needed water.
And Texas drought conditions made reliable access absurdly profitable.
Drex suddenly discovered that water, under the right conditions, was practically liquid gold.
Daily profits soared into tens of thousands.
For the first time, Drex fully appreciated just how aggressively scarcity inflated value.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Naturally...
Drex's thoughts shifted toward broader expansion.
He wanted legitimate business infrastructure.
Something scalable.
Something profitable.
Something relatively simple.
He had no interest in navigating America's most complicated industries directly.
Too messy.
Too political.
Too inefficient.
So instead...
He chose supplements.
Health products.
Nutritional enhancement.
An industry with absurd legal profit margins.
Using Midnight Hotel's extensive behind-the-scenes infrastructure, Drex established his own company:
Shrouded Sky Biotech
A subtle nod to old cinematic inspirations.
And a deeply ominous corporate name.
Perfect.
His chosen flagship product:
Vitamin Infinity
Unlike many supplement scams, Drex actually intended his product to be effective.
After all...
He was a Kryptonian scientist.
Even if biochemistry wasn't his primary specialization, creating superior nutritional formulations was well within his capabilities.
And the American supplement industry?
A capitalist fever dream.
Massive demand.
Enormous markups.
Recurring customers.
Minimal regulatory resistance compared to pharmaceuticals.
The profit margins were staggering.
Traditional supplements often cost only 10-15% of retail value to manufacture.
Drex priced Vitamin Infinity at $300 per bottle.
Premium.
Exclusive.
Aspirational.
And because the product actually delivered measurable benefits...
Consumer retention would likely be extraordinary.
Midnight Hotel once again proved frighteningly effective.
Manufacturing facilities.
Supply chains.
Corporate structuring.
Distribution channels.
Political lubrication.
All handled.
Drex secured product placement throughout New York pharmacies.
Several million dollars in strategic bribery and market penetration ensured favorable retail adoption.
He even hired a prominent Hollywood actress for endorsements.
Because if capitalism had one eternal truth...
It was that attractive celebrity marketing sold almost anything.
Drex wasn't merely becoming rich.
He was building systems.
Infrastructure.
Influence.
Diversified power.
Because assassination contracts were lucrative...
But true wealth?
True dominance?
That came from scalable empire-building.
And Drex Valen had every intention of becoming far more than an assassin.
He was becoming a force.