The Unwanted Son's Millionaire System

The sharp click of the motel room door locking behind them felt like the closing of a trap. Just a few hours ago, this room at the Starlight Inn had been their safe haven, a place to hide and catch their breath. Now, after agreeing to Silica's dangerous offer, the same four walls felt like a prison cell. They were just waiting for the guards to take them to their execution.

The ugly, faded wallpaper with its repeating flower pattern and the steady, low hum of the air conditioner seemed to mock them. How could such normal, boring things exist while they planned to declare war on a giant corporation?

For what felt like a very long time, no one said a word. The weight of their decision pressed down on them, a heavy blanket of silence. They had been running from violent criminals, but this was different. They were now planning to attack a company with more money, more lawyers, and more power than they could even imagine.

Evelyn was the one who finally broke the quiet. Her voice was practical and focused, cutting through the fear in the room. "Alright," she said, taking charge. "We have the information Silica sent us. Let's open it up and see exactly what we're up against."

Kaito didn't need to be told twice. He was already sitting in front of their laptop, his fingers dancing across the keyboard. A complicated diagram appeared on the screen. It was a map of the city, with a single route glowing in a bright, alarming red.

"Here's the plan," Kaito explained, his eyes fixed on the screen. "The target is a heavily armored van, and it will be followed by two security SUVs. It leaves the OmniCorp building at 11:00 tonight. To avoid traffic, their route goes right through the old industrial part of the city. That's where we'll hit them. That's our only chance."

Silva leaned in to look at the map, his forehead wrinkled in thought. "The industrial sector is good," he grunted in approval. "The streets are wide, the lights are broken, and most of the security cameras were destroyed in the recent riots. So, where do we stop them?"

"Right here," Kaito said, zooming in on the map. He pointed to where two streets, Mill and Foundry, crossed. "There's roadwork that's permanently closed the next block over. If we can block Mill Street right at this intersection, the convoy will have no choice but to stop. It's a perfect trap."

A slow, hard smile spread across Silva's face. "A roadblock? I can handle that. There's a construction site nearby. They have a big flatbed truck there, loaded with huge concrete blocks. I can 'borrow' it. If I swing that truck across the road to block both lanes, nothing's getting through."

Evelyn looked worried. "Silva, that's too risky! What if someone sees you?"

"Seen by who?" Silva replied confidently. "The night watchman is an old timer named Hemmings. He spends his whole shift asleep in his shack, listening to the radio. I'll be in and out before he even rolls over. Trying some complicated trick is riskier than just taking the truck."

While they talked, Ace was quietly listening. But he wasn't just thinking on his own. The mysterious System living in his mind was also analyzing their plan, calculating the odds of success and failure like a cold, emotionless computer.

<<<>>>

TACTICAL ANALYSIS: CONVOY INTERCEPTION.

- PROPOSED BLOCKAGE: EFFECTIVE. SUCCESS PROBABILITY: 89%.

- RISK FACTOR: SILVA'S EXPOSURE DURING VEHICLE THEFT. PROBABILITY OF DETECTION: 22%.

- RECOMMENDATION: PROCEED. A HIGH-SPEED DATA INTERCEPTION IS THE OPTIMAL STRATEGY. MINIMAL PHYSICAL CONTACT.

<<<>>>

"It's a solid plan," Ace said, agreeing with both his friends and the System. "There's hardly any fighting. It's all about causing confusion. While the van drivers are stuck, arguing with each other and calling their bosses, that's when I make my move." He then turned to Kaito. "But what about the van itself? How do I get inside?"

Kaito tapped a few keys, and the map on the laptop screen was replaced by a detailed, technical blueprint of the armored van. It looked less like a vehicle and more like a fortress on wheels.

"This is what we're dealing with," Kaito said, his voice serious. "It's called a Fortress XJ-9. The locks are the same kind the military uses. The windows are bulletproof. It even has sensors inside that can tell if the air pressure changes, meaning it knows if a door or window is opened. You can't pick the lock, and if you try to smash a window, an alarm will go off that will bring every police car in the city straight to our location in minutes."

A cold, tight feeling of dread formed in Ace's stomach. "Then how am I supposed to get inside?"

"You're thinking like a thief. Think like a hacker," Kaito explained, a spark of excitement in his eyes despite the danger. "The weak point isn't the metal; it's the computer that runs it. By law, all commercial vehicles have a small, external diagnostic port. Mechanics use it for emissions tests and software fixes. It has a simple lock on it, and Silica gave us the key to open it." He held up a small, odd-looking device that looked like a USB drive with a weird, custom-made tip. "You plug this in. It will send a fake message to the van's computer, making it think it's just hooked up to a mechanic's computer for a standard check-up. This will temporarily shut off the alarm and pop open the back door for exactly forty-five seconds. That's all the time you get."

"Forty-five seconds," Ace repeated. The words felt heavy. It was less than a single minute to get in, find what he needed, and get out.

"Now, once you're inside, don't try to take the whole computer server," Kaito continued. "It's huge, bolted down, and we'd never get away with it. Silica says the specific data we need is on a small, portable hard drive. It's in a black case with a shiny silver OmniCorp logo on it. It's held in a rack with a physical lock, the kind with a keyhole." He looked directly at Ace, knowing what he was capable of. "That's a simple mechanical lock. Your nanites can break it."

Ace nodded. He could feel the familiar, low-energy buzz of the microscopic machines inside him. They were rested and ready for his command. "I can do it," he said, his voice firm with confidence.

"And I'll be right here," Evelyn said, moving to stand firmly by the laptop, which was now their mission control center. "I'll be your communication link. I'll be listening to the police radio frequencies. Kaito will also hijack the live video from a traffic camera at that intersection so I can watch it happen. If anything goes wrong—if a unexpected car shows up, or if the police response is too fast—I will call for an immediate abort. The code word is 'Nightfall.' When you hear that, you run. No heroics, no arguments. Everyone gets out."

Everyone nodded in agreement. They all understood that Evelyn's job was perhaps the most difficult of all. She had to sit in safety, watching and listening, and might have to make the call to pull her friends back from the brink of disaster, even if they were on the verge of success.

The plan was now completely set. It was a daring scheme that depended on every single step happening at the exact right second, using knowledge about their enemy that came from their most dangerous and unpredictable ally.

It was at that moment, as the final pieces fell into place, that the System in Ace's mind, which had been quietly analyzing everything in the background, delivered its final judgment. A new message, framed in a harsh, warning red, appeared behind his eyes.

<<<>>>

NEW DIRECTIVE ISSUED.

- MISSION: SECURE THE OMNICORP TARGETING DATA.

- CONTEXT: A HOSTILE CORPORATION HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED. ACQUIRING THIS DATA IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL FOR YOUR LONG-TERM SURVIVAL AND STRATEGY.

- REWARD FOR SUCCESS: INTEGRATION OF A NEW 'CORPORATE ESPIONAGE' MODULE INTO THE SYSTEM. THIS MODULE WILL GIVE YOU THE POWER TO TRACK THE FLOW OF MONEY, FIND THE WEAK POINTS IN A COMPANY'S STRUCTURE, AND EVEN PREDICT THE MOVES OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.

- PENALTY FOR FAILURE: A PERMANENT FINE. $50,000 WILL BE ERASED FROM EVERY DOLLAR YOU EVER EARN IN THE FUTURE.

<<<>>>

Ace felt his whole body go stiff, as if he'd been plunged into ice water. He quickly turned to face the laptop screen, pretending to be absorbed in the map so the others wouldn't see the panic on his face. This new penalty from the System wasn't just a threat; it was a deeply cruel form of psychological torture.

It wasn't warning of physical agony or the loss of a precious memory. It was attacking their future. The System somehow knew that his most desperate wish was to build a safe, normal, and legitimate life with the friends who had become his family. This penalty was designed to shatter that dream forever. It promised that no matter how hard they worked, they would always be poor, always struggling, always one step away from disaster. The System was evolving, becoming smarter and more brutal in how it controlled him.

"Ace? You okay?" Evelyn asked, her voice laced with concern. She had noticed how tense he had suddenly become.

He forced himself to turn back to the group, carefully making his face expressionless. "Yeah," he said, the word feeling like a lie on his tongue. "I'm fine. Just... thinking through the timing. Forty-five seconds is going to be really tight." It wasn't a complete untruth, but it hid the terrifying secret he now carried. If they failed, he would be the reason their future was stolen, and they would never even know it.

"It's a hell of a risk," Silva grumbled, his words echoing the fear Ace was hiding. "We're betting everything on the word of a girl who's been manipulating us since we first heard her name."

"But her logic is solid," Kaito argued, ever the pragmatist. "And all the technical data she's given us has checked out perfectly. We're out of options. This is our only move."

Ace nodded, pushing the private dread down into a dark corner of his mind. He made his voice sound strong and determined. "Kaito's right. Failure isn't an option for us." He paused, letting the words hang in the air. "For more reasons than you know." He left the statement vague, allowing the others to hear it as a statement of grit, while he alone understood it as a chilling, literal fact.

The next few hours were spent in a whirlwind of focused activity. Silva left first to do a final check of the construction site. Kaito and Evelyn tested the network of cheap, disposable phones that would be their only communication link during the mission. Ace sat quietly on the edge of one of the motel beds, running through the mission in his head like a movie. He pictured every move: plugging in the device, hearing the door unlock, spotting the black drive with the silver logo, and commanding his nanites to break the simple lock. Overlaying it all was the constant, grim awareness of the System's countdown and the terrible price they would pay if he was even one second too slow.

He felt less like a person and more like a specialized tool, being honed for one specific, dangerous job. The right and wrong of stealing didn't matter anymore. This was about the most basic kind of survival. They were trapped, and this dangerous mission was the only path they could see to freedom.

As the sun finally set, painting the sky in brilliant oranges and reds, Silva returned. The jangling of a set of heavy keys in his hand broke the silence. "It's done," he announced. "The truck is in position. Old man Hemmings never even twitched."

It was time.

They gathered by the door, a silent team united by a shared purpose. The fear was still there, a cold, hard knot in each of their stomachs, but it was now overpowered by a hardened determination. They had a clear target. They had a working plan. They had each other.

Ace looked at his team, his brilliant hacker, his loyal fighter, his sharp witted strategist. They were his whole world. And he was leading them into a battle where the true stakes were a secret he bore alone.

"Remember the signal words," Evelyn said, her voice calm and firm. "'Bluebird' means go. 'Nightfall' means abort immediately."

Ace nodded. He looked into Evelyn's eyes, then Silva's, then Kaito's. No more needed to be said. He held his secret close, a heavy burden for a soldier going to war.

He opened the door. A gust of cool night air swept into the room, carrying the smells of car exhaust and the promise of rain. Together, they stepped out of the dim, temporary safety of the motel room and into the vast, unknown darkness of the night.

The quiet preparation was over. The dangerous mission was about to begin.