Chapter 164: Last Minute Sprint

[The Broadcast System will be announced in a few Earth days and will be accessible to everyone by Monday, August 15th. Earth’s entertainment industry is about to receive a massive boom. If you have the means, it’s not a bad idea to invest early.]

Zane frowned. The term [Broadcast System] was familiar, and after a quick mental channeling, he remembered someone mentioning it when he visited the hunting guild. However, Zane never found more information on the subject in the library, so he used this opportunity to ask Xi’Ke.

[I can’t say more, but it will be explained in class after the announcement. Just know it’s a crucial part of the program, one you must invest in—especially if you’re thinking about becoming a God.]

"I understand. Thank you," Zane replied back before ending the conversation.

"What’s that about?" Keesha asked.

"It’s about...Nothing. Evy, can I see you in the hallway?"

"Um? Alright."

The two stepped out of the room, and Zane immediately said. "What I’m about to say cannot get out — at least, not for a few days. Understood?"

"My lips are sealed."

"I mean, no one else can know?"

Evelyn was serious. "I understand."

Zane showed her the email.

"The Broadcast System — where have I heard this word before?"

"If you visited the hunting guild, it might have been mentioned."

Evelyn nodded, then paused to consider the news. "Why are you only telling me this?"

"You’re the only one with the capital to take advantage of this information," Zane replied. "Plus, I like to consider myself someone who repays gratitude. The tutoring session has immensely increased my confidence in passing the analyst test, and I consider this information one of the ways I want to repay you."

"How kind," Evelyn said, smiling. "But there really isn’t enough time to do much."

Zane nodded. Xi’Ke’s information was too vague, and with so little time, Evelyn could only invest in the entertainment industry; when the news broke, the stock price would rise, and she might make decent money.

"I know, but you can do more than any of us." The knights had money, but most of it went to training resources, which is why Zane didn’t tell them the news—especially since the information was vague and it might be risky. If something went wrong, Zane might be blamed for their loss. As for Evelyn? She can bear such a risk.

"Well, thank you."

"No problem."

They returned to the room, but no one mentioned anything about their conversation. Soon, it was time for Zane’s second training, and everyone dispersed, leaving Myk to talk to Zane.

"What’s up?" Zane asked as he undressed for his training.

"Mama wants to see you."

"Really? Then, let’s set up a FaceTime during the next departure day."

"How about Seven PM? I can finish hunting early and set it up."

"You don’t have to; she can just call me."

"She’s not really good with technology."

"Alright, then. Oh, before I forget." Zane showed him Xi’Ke’s email. "You can invest if you want, but don’t put too much money."

"I can scrape 300 grand, maybe 450."

"That’s enough to make a decent profit if the stocks really go up."

"But in what should I invest?"

"Call Ali and ask."

"Good idea."

Zane finished dressing and left the dorm. "By the way, how did you deal with those people?"

"What people?"

"The Russian mob."

"I put the fear of god in them," Myk said. "Busted their walls with one punch, and after, none of them dare approach me about a fight anymore."

"It seems we think alike."

"You dealt with the Lion Pride?"

"I did."

"That’s great, but you should be more careful."

"I should be the one saying that to you," Zane said. The Russian oligarchs who controlled the underworld of Russia, Ukraine, and even a few surrounding countries had far more power than the crooked business elite of the Lion Pride. A simple sign of their power is that the mob’s influence even reached the US, which is how they found Myk in the first place.

"I will."

After an intense training session, Zane checked his status.

[Mana: 0.68]

[Mental Energy: 0.657]

[Life Energy: 0.14]

"Mental Energy is really moving as slowly as a turtle," Zane sighed. However, he wasn’t that worried. His mental energy had reached this high without any potion or other assistance, which meant he could surpass the 0.7 walls as soon as he had the money to spend. More importantly, Zane looked forward to the Analyst Title; maybe he could receive a blessing that would help him improve his mental energy.

With the upcoming test, Zane stopped coding and focused only on studying; he even planned to cut his training sessions—minus the meditation—and replace them with more reading. So, when he woke up the next day and prepared to try this new training plan, he noticed an email from Professor Malida: his test was on Thursday, Day 90.

"That’s the same time as the Class Tournament," Zane thought, then emailed the professor. However, she told him he had to be there on time or fail. With no choice, Zane contacted Instructor Seiya, hoping he’d be more reasonable. And he was. He casually said he’d move the tournament to Friday, then sent a mass email to the whole class a few minutes later.

"From his appearance, you’d never know he was easy to talk to," Zane thought, grinning widely.

Sunday, Day 86:

"Here you go," Ziyad said, handing Zane a blue metallic box with rust marks.

"Thank you. And the spell has been removed, correct?"

"Don’t worry."

Zane slowly opened it, revealing three things: an external drive, a phone, and four YubiKeys. He immediately squinted when he saw the phone. Back then, he had two phones; he used one to communicate crucial information with Cindy, who realized what kind of technology he was developing and warned him to take precautions.

"The second phone was with me when I was arrested. How did she get it back? No, I shouldn’t be surprised she retrieved it; I should be surprised she didn’t also get my laptop."

Zane wanted to open the phone immediately, but it’s been five years; the battery was most definitely dead, if the phone was operational at all.

"Once again, thank you, Commander."

"No problem."

"Oh, one more thing. It’s like this, my brother, I mean, half-brother, is also in the program. He’s a shaman, and I was hoping you could look after him for me. I normally wouldn’t ask such a big favor, but this involves his life."

"Don’t sweat about it; it’s a minor thing," Ziyad said, waiving his hand.

"I appreciate it. And don’t let him take advantage of your kindness. If he walks out of line, tell me, and I’ll deal with it."

"You don’t have to worry about it."

Zane nodded, feeling reassured. Ziyad wasn’t someone to play with; he’d earned the nickname commander even when they were young.

"What was his name again? Wally? Wel—"

"William."

"Yes. That. Do you know if he’s a Spiritual Shaman or a Nature Shaman?"

"I honestly don’t know."

Ziyad frowned. "If it’s the former, that’s a different department than mine, so the help I can provide will be limited."

"No matter, just do your best."

"Alright."

After breakfast, Zane didn’t work at the Arcane Guild; he had a 2-hour free lecture, and once it was done, he paid 50 magic crystals to acquire the necessary guild points. Then, he spent the rest of the day doing mock exams with Professor Burbank. Late at night, after returning to his dorm, he finally used the YubiKey to open the newly charged phone. As expected, the phone held vital information: bank transfers, mineral acquisitions, communications with many other coders, hackers, and computer engineers, and much more. The phone contained information about the business side of things. As intelligent as Zane was, he still needed money and a team of people to help him develop the technology.

"Those were the good old days," Zane thought. The past was gone, so there was no point in dwelling on it. After throwing the phone onto the bed, he connected the external drive to his computer and opened it with the second YubiKey. A smile couldn’t help but creep onto his face as he looked through the content. If his sketchbook held ideas that needed to be created, tested, or researched, then this laptop held finished or semi-finished products, with one in particular as the crown jewel.

"Hello, Jarvis," Zane tapped.

"Hello, sir."

His grin widened. Years ago, he studied machine learning and came close to developing the world’s first LLM. And depending on who you ask, he did succeed. H.O.M.E.R. —named after the AI that appeared in Iron Man Issue #298, released in 1993, and renamed Jarvis after the 2008 film—was his masterpiece. It was supposed to be the golden ticket to revolutionizing the world.

"Let’s see how you hold up," he thought. The program he gave Myk was at least 2 years behind Jarvis, meaning the technology was even more advanced. After a quick check, Zane realized it was still highly advanced; it contained a prototype similar to Transformation Architecture that Google had just developed and planned to release next year. More importantly, he had already trained it to help him code, meaning Zane could use it to finish the Magic Analyzer Program.

"With this thing, Kwame Dynamic can be highly competitive in the AI field. However, I still need a research team to complete what I started." As long as he invests a couple million dollars, he was confident he could catch up and eventually become the leading expert in AI.

Zane exhaled deeply. He had many ideas for developing and using this technology, but now wasn’t the time; his primary focus should be the upcoming test, so he put everything behind him and started reading a book on Rune Theory. The next day, on Monday, Zulu brought another set of mock exams, signaling the start of Zane’s last-minute sprint before the Analyst Exam.