Chapter 162: Brutal Separation

Zane looked left and right, then used the key to open the door. A black, middle-aged man with a large belly, wearing a blue suit and an unbuttoned white shirt, waited for Zane at a table by the window. As soon as Zane saw him, he couldn’t help but show his disdain; this man reeked of someone who wanted others to think he was successful and important.

"Zane, my friend. It’s good to see —"

Zane didn’t utter a word. He walked directly to Boss Mike and strangled him. The latter tried to resist, but Zane casually lifted his more than 300-pound body off the floor with one hand.

"Wh-what...are you...doing?"

"I want you to listen to me clearly," Zane said, his eyes not cold, just indifferent; it was as if the person in front of him wasn’t human, but an insect he could squash at any time. "This is the last time I’ll work for you guys. If you dare contact me or come close to my family, this is the fate that awaits you." He pointed his right arm to the side, and Boss Mike witnessed something horrifying. Zane’s hand released a soft light, followed by a burst of lightning bullets that charred the wall above the bedroom.

"Y-You’re..."

"A transcendent? That’s right. And if you dare mess with my life again, I won’t hesitate to slaughter you and everybody in the Lion Pride. Is that understood?"

"Y-Y-Yes."

"Good." Zane dropped him. Boss Mike immediately began wheezing on the floor, desperately trying to take in as much air as possible. "Now, I understand people like you are always evading wisdom even better than prime Muhamed Ali, so I’ll add another threat to get it through that thick head of yours. I’ve already hacked your internal server and accessed hundreds of megabytes of internal emails, financial transactions, proof of corporate espionage, conspiracy, drug manufacturing, and countless other evidence of criminal activity.

"If any of you scum come close to my family or me, this information will be sent like a neatly wrapped gift to the FBI. They should have enough information to bury you and countless others with a hundred counts of a RICO charge."

"You!"

"You better not act stupid. Unlike last time, you won’t be sent to a cozy minimum prison for a year or two; we’re talking about decades, maybe even life. And if things truly go south, even the people above you will not escape, let alone a footsoldier like you."

Boos Mike didn’t utter a word: he didn’t dare.

"And one more thing." Zane suddenly slapped him so hard, breaking half a dozen teeth.

"What...what was that for?"

"That’s for abusing my trust and putting me in all that danger."

Boss Mike didn’t dare complain. Meanwhile, Zane felt better than before; much of the anger he’d held for the past two years had left his body. Part of him wanted to slap the bastard a few more times, but he controlled himself; he was in enemy territory, so he should leave as soon as possible. After one last glance at Mike, he turned and immediately cast the Detection Bio-Electricity Spell to see if anyone was waiting outside the room. He pulled on his hoodie and walked to the back entry; he had already disarmed most of the cameras on the floor and mapped out his exit, but for safety, he kept a low profile and moved as fast as possible. Throughout the process, he stayed on high alert, ready to use defensive magic to protect himself.

Boss Mike slowly wiped the blood from his mouth, then made a call. "Sir, Zane has gone rogue."

"Who?"

"The hacker."

"Oh. What happened?"

Boss Mike explained everything that had happened, without lying. "What should I do?"

"Leave him alone."

"Are we going to let him go just like that?"

"Otherwise? Forget how he’s protected by the tower; how many men would we need to deal with him?"

"It’s just —"

"The government is eyeing our business right now; we don’t need the extra trouble. Plus, he’s just a hacker. We can spend a bit more to find others like him on the dark web."

"I understand," Boos Mike said. Zane was his ticket to the upper echelon of power, but now his meal ticket was gone; the worst part was that he couldn’t do anything about it.

"Keep your head down and don’t do anything stupid."

"I understand, sir."

"Alright...wait, what’s his name?"

"You mean Zane?"

"Yes, what’s his full name?"

"Zane Skylar."

"Zane Kwame Skylar?"

"That’s right." Boss Mike nodded.

"You better stay far away from him. In fact, erase all our records and dealings we had with him."

"Why?"

"Haven’t you read the news? He’s not someone we can mess with."

Boss Mike swiftly checked the web, and one of the trending topics on most social media was about the [255 Little Giants] (85 Knights and 170 Mages & Shamans). "Maybe it’s not him."

"His first and last name are already uncommon, let alone the middle name. Either way, let’s not risk it, so do as I say."

"As you wish, sir."

Boss Mike hung up and immediately clenched the phone so hard his palm turned red. Eventually, he calmed down and acted: first, he ordered someone to swiftly clean the spell damage from the wall, then ordered the erasure of all of Zane’s information from their servers.

After leaving the hotel, Zane followed his planned exit route to his car and drove home. His fight-or-flight response remained activated, and only when he reached his small bed did he finally sigh in relief, letting his tense nerves relax. He reviewed everything in his mind to make sure he hadn’t made a mistake. "Hopefully, this is really the last time I have to deal with these people. Otherwise, things will really get ugly."

Zane retrieved his phone from the Faraday Bag and opened it; he had a few missed calls from his mother and Alisha. He called his mother first.

"What do you need? You said it was somewhat urgent?"

"Before my arrest, you told me Cindy came by to give you my external drive. Do you still have it?" Over the past few days, he’s reviewed his memories, and Zane has realized he had overlooked many things. First, his laptop went missing. After campus police arrested him and handed him over to the city police, his bag was taken away. However, when they returned it, his laptop was missing.

The second thing he realized was that Cindy might have predicted what was happening to him; at the very least, she read the situation correctly. During and even after the rest, Zane didn’t think about his stuff; he was already overwhelmed. However, Cindy swiftly retrieved his external drive from his room and handed it to his mother.

"I remember that. She told me it was important, and I must use my magic to protect it."

Zane squinted. He was right: she had figured out why he was arrested. "Where is it?"

"I sent it back home. It’s with your grandma. If you want it, I can have your cousin bring it."

"Please do."

The two talked for a few more minutes before Zane called Alisha.

"Hello, my little giant."

"Don’t call me that; it’s so cringe coming from your mouth."

"More reason I shouldn’t stop," Alisha chuckled. "Anyway, I’m glad you’re thriving in the tower."

"Thriving is an exaggeration, but things are going well for me — at least for now."

Ali nodded. "That’s good. By the way, do you want to make some money?"

"I’m listening."

"Don’t be mad, but people at my office may have figured out you’re a recruit."

"By Mother Afua’s tongue, don’t tell you’ve regained your snitching habits?"

"Mother Afua’s tongue? Oh, right, because she’s the Goddess of Truth? I’m stealing that."

"Ali!"

"Oh, right. It’s not my fault. I was excitedly practicing my Gremorian when a coworker heard me and asked what I was doing. I thought it was no big deal, so I told him, but things spread, and before I realized what was happening, upper management summoned me to ask questions. I didn’t say anything at first until I realized their intentions."

"They want to buy potions?"

"Bingo! They want someone as an intermediary, and I didn’t immediately refuse."

"What’s their price?"

"They want ten potions, and they are offering 2 crystals per potion as remuneration."

"That’s 10 grand."

"Yes, and I think you can ask for more."

"Oh?"

"The potion costs 7 crystals, right? I think their bottom line is 3 crystals per bottle."

"Alright. Negotiate the price with them, and I’ll give you a third of the profit."

"No need. Just use it on your training."

"Are you sure?"

"I’m sure."

"Alright."

"Give me a moment." Alisha did not end the call. Instead, she went to upper management and put on a charade, as if she were negotiating with Zane, finally raising the price to 3 crystals per bottle. Less than ten minutes later, Zane received a contract, and after signing it, they wired him the money.

A grin appeared on his face. Today, he made 30K from the dark web, finessed 70K from the Lion Pride, and received another 50K for his services. And now, he had made another 30K from this sale, for a total of 180,000 USD. Considering his bank account had only $12 before the tower, that number was truly astronomical.

"I should have a decent amount of resources this week, which is right in time for the analyst test," Zane thought.