Chapter 321: Keeping the Ace For Now
Axel carefully placed the pendant behind the laptop. And then, through a few clicks and taps, began to read the said data container.
From the back of the laptop’s screen, a powerful laser scanner burst out. It was thin as a thread, almost invisible, but where it passed, the air shimmered faintly.
It began scanning in a straight line, from top to bottom, without stopping. Each beam of light was able to skim the inside of the machine, ignoring physical constraints, through a specific application of quantum tunneling.
Within a few seconds, the reading of data was done.
But no, it wasn’t simply reading the data either.
Within seconds, all its contents were copied straight into storage, creating a new drive partition in the computer specifically for just that. Though since the memory capacity of the laptop was in Zettabytes, a mere 500 Petabytes couldn’t even consume 1% of storage capacity.
Burning with curiosity, Axel didn’t delay, accessing the drive, but...
"This is... a password?"
He tumbled right at the first step.
Well... not really.
He had the entire data copied in, and within that was the password of the device itself. Meaning, with just a simple password cracker program that came with the software, he could easily unlock the files.
True to his guess, it didn’t even take ten seconds before the password was dug up. Axel just copy-pasted it then pressed enter.
The next moment, however, he couldn’t help but take in a sharp breath. His hand, still hovering over the trackpad, went completely still.
All the files were arranged neatly in folders, each one containing bone-chilling keywords. Just a single glance at them was enough to paint Trismus as a villainous organization!
"But no, it could be just the file names..." Axel reasoned, shaking his head.
As a test, he moved to a more tame folder. Inside it were three kinds of files. Audio, video, and text files. Feeling a little scared about what he might discover, Axel decided to go slow. He selected the text file and double-clicked on it.
But after reading a few lines, he ended up regretting it.
After closing the file, he pinched his nose bridge and took a deep breath. "The text file is already bad... I’m scared of opening the audio and video files..."
However, without checking their contents, he would never be able to grasp the extent of these materials.
Without a choice, Axel checked a few folders one by one.
Each time, his expression turned darker and darker. Whatever image he had built of Trismus in his head was already bad. This was making it worse.
After the third folder, he decided it was enough. He’d seen what he needed to see. Pushing further at this point felt less like due diligence and more like punishment.
If the other folders were at the same level, if not worse, then there was no doubt this would be enough to pull down Trismus. But now, the problem was the avenue to make use of this information.
Even if he publicized it himself, it’s not like he had the power or connections that could actually punish Trismus.
Or... at least, until not that long ago.
Without hesitation, Axel bought a single storage drive. A cheap one that barely had 1 PB of storage. He then connected it to his laptop and copied the three folders he just checked. Just those three already managed to fill the thumb drive to the brim!
Then, through the shop’s chat, he transferred the drive to Roamer, along with a short note regarding what it contained—a sample.
Not even a minute later, a reply had already arrived.
~~~
>>> SunderTECH Imperium: This looks good, but just this isn’t enough to bring down Trismus.
~~~
Axel smiled, typing in a reply as fast as he could. Though the reply came faster than he could blink, almost as if the other side had pre-sent it.
~~~
>>> Hexel: I see. But this is just 0.2% of the entire data I have. What do you think...?
>>> SunderTECH Imperium: Sounds great. If you share the entire file to me, I can bring down Trismus for you. What do you think?
~~~
"..."
Axel paused for a moment, holding back his finger that was about to say yes.
Thinking about it now, eliminating Trismus would benefit him. But it’s not like he really needed them gone. With what he earned from trading the Trismus Co.’s ship to SunderTECH, he could literally pay back what he owed now, even with interest on top.
In short, the danger wasn’t so bad anymore...
The case where he took down their ships could be blamed on self-defense too, so they shouldn’t have much reason to push Axel any further... Unless it was purely personal grudge.
Soon, he made up his mind and replied.
~~~
>>> Hexel: Not now, I guess. Maybe later.
~~~
Right.
Now that he knew he could use this to blackmail Trismus, there was also the path of blackmailing them into paying up for the necklace containing the original copy.
Of course, that was saying Axel wouldn’t delete the copy he had on his laptop. A free deal that didn’t make him lose out on anything.
This was a better path than straight up destroying them!
For once, Roamer’s reply came slower. His reply only arrived about 15 seconds later, as if he had taken time to think.
~~~
>>> SunderTECH Imperium: Alright, I understand. Whenever you think Trismus needs to go down, just send the drive to me and I’ll handle the rest.
>>> Hexel: If that time comes, I will. Don’t worry.
>>> SunderTECH Imperium: Then I’ll hold onto your word.
~~~
Axel now had a plan and a backup plan. With this, he had nothing to fear.
He closed the laptop and lowered the screen, leaning back on his chair with a simple, victorious smile.
In his hand was the pendant-shaped storage device he got from Rochelle, turning it against the light, as if appraising a precious gem. Something this small, and yet the amount of damage it could do was almost funny.
"I wonder how much Trismus will be willing to pay for this?"
He had just gotten a windfall, and was already thinking about how much he’d scam out of his opponents!
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