1 Prologue

According to rumors, to be a predator at the top of the food chain, having money is not enough; to be a true man at the summit of a mountain, power is required. A man with money is just that—a simple man with money. However, when that same man faces one with absolute power, the difference is always quite noticeable.

"Bite first, and don't let them bite you afterward." That was the motto of a man who tore through the skin of wealthy men with nails and teeth until he became powerful enough not to bite but to devour.

In life, many wonder where to acquire power, but only men with clear ideas know where to take it and whom to bite.

Deep within the forests, where trees stood like silent giants, reigned a man named Anton. The owner of a thriving tree-cutting company, his life was marked by unbridled ambition and insatiable cruelty in business. For Anton, nature was simply an endless source of profit, an inexhaustible resource that could be ruthlessly exploited over and over again.

From an early age, Anton learned the importance of cunning and a lack of scruples in the business world. Being just an heir to a small lumber company, he soon realized that to accumulate wealth and power, he had to be ruthless. As he grew, his greed became his only compass, guiding him along a dark and treacherous path where corrupt business was the most lucrative.

Anton's name soon became synonymous with corrupt business practices. He bribed government officials to obtain logging permits in protected areas, ignoring environmental laws with impunity. He hired underpaid and poorly trained workers, risking their lives in dangerous operations. And, even worse, he logged trees without restrictions, leaving entire forests desolate and ecosystems destroyed in his wake.

Anton's conscience was numbed by his obsession with personal enrichment and obtaining a power none of his relatives had achieved. He mocked those who cared about nature conservation, labeling them naive idealists.

"Wood is essential for modern life," Anton said disdainfully in television interviews. "People need furniture, paper, and houses. If they don't want us to cut down trees, why do they keep buying our products?"

And he was right about one thing: modern society had built its comfort and luxury on the foundations of ruthless logging. Consumers devoured wood products, unconcerned about the consequences of their choices. Most of the time, people didn't even know where the products filling their homes came from.

Anton used this as justification, a way to cleanse his own conscience stained with greed. He told critics that, instead of protesting against him, they should look in the mirror and question their own role in forest destruction. It was a masterful distraction tactic, a cynical attempt to shift attention from his own crimes and instead blame others for being the demand for his enrichment.

Years passed, and Anton's fortune continued to grow. His company expanded internationally, looting forests worldwide with impunity. There were no limits to his greed and cruelty. The echo of destruction he left in his wake resonated in the hearts of those who had witnessed his relentless pursuit of wealth.

But, as often happens in life, destiny had its own plans for Anton. The man who had defied nature for so long would finally find himself at his most vulnerable and, ironically, most ironic moment.

It was a sunny day in the middle of the forest when the incident that changed Anton's life forever occurred. Personally supervising a logging operation, he was in the heart of a protected area where logging was strictly prohibited. Ignoring the warnings of his employees, he ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, obsessed with finding the most valuable and lucrative trees for his prestigious buyers.

And then it happened. A gigantic tree, whose roots had clung to the earth for centuries, swayed. Anton, blinded by his ambition for this job to be perfect, did not realize the imminent catastrophe. The roar of the falling tree was deafening, and before he could react, a deadly shadow loomed over him.

The tree fell with a thunderous crash, crushing Anton under its immense mass. The irony could not be more cruel. The man who had spent his life destroying forests and defying nature met his end under the relentless force of a tree that had survived for centuries.

"It seems that nature did end up taking my life; I should have sold my company when I could." Anton's last words were insensitive even in his death, only regretting that he couldn't enjoy life a little but feeling extremely calm under his own death.

The news of Anton's death shook the logging industry and sparked a wave of mixed reactions. Some mourned his loss as a shrewd business leader, while others celebrated his death as an act of poetic justice. But, regardless of the opinion people had of him, his legacy of destruction and cruelty was undeniable, even for businessmen who, instead of exploiting protected areas, used children in underdeveloped countries to create products that reached nine out of ten households.

Indeed, Anton's story served as a somber reminder of the consequences of unchecked greed and a lack of consideration for nature. His selfish life and corrupt business had left deep scars on the land and on the consciences of those who had witnessed his relentless pursuit of profits.

As news of his death spread, a debate in society also unfolded about the role of consumers in forest destruction. Protests and demands for more sustainable logging gained strength as people began to question their own consumption habits and responsibility for preserving nature.

Anton's life, marked by greed and cruelty, had come to an unexpectedly tragic end. But, as if no one expected it, the fortune Anton had amassed at the expense of exploiting forests was donated to a company responsible for rejuvenating places exploited by his own company. This was a joke he had made himself, believing that he wouldn't die so soon, but this simple joke left everyone in silence, not knowing exactly how to address Anton.

A demon or just a human?

Even after his death, Anton left behind an immense shock to the egocentrism of people.