The Master Programmer-Chapter 78: Perfect Alignment 1

Troy’s brows lifted, intrigue and greed warring in his expression. "What are you feeling?"

She turned to him, her gaze intense and filled with wonder. "It’s like... everything makes sense. My thoughts are so clear. It’s like I’ve unlocked a part of my mind I didn’t know existed."

Jason leaned back, his confidence radiating. "That’s just the beginning. You’ll realise soon that you can remember everything. When I say everything… I literally mean EVERYTHING."

"Your childhood memories. The first time your mom held you in her hands. The first time someone taught you how to speak. Your first kiss. Everything is clear. Everything makes sense. That is what this is. That is everything I am offering you."

"You might be one of the best salesmen I have ever met," Troy said, picking up one of the pills, and turning it over in his hand. "And you’re the only one who has this?"

Jason nodded. "The people standing behind me developed it. As you can imagine, I cannot reveal who they are and what they do. But I can say that they are important people. We control the supply. And if we’re partners, you’ll have exclusive rights… in this territory."

Troy laughed, a deep, booming sound that filled the room. "You’ve got guts, Jason Cross. And a hell of a pitch… I’m just curious…" After saying this, he leaned forward menacingly. "Is your family behind this?"

Jason’s expression didn’t waver. "Firstly, It’s not a pitch. It’s a guarantee. And secondly, my family is nothing in comparison to the people I have in my life right now. I would explain it to you, but even I don’t know how far their reach goes. All I know is that they have plans for me, for all of us. I’m just being led to do things, to make contact with certain individuals and do the things I need to do."

Troy stood, placing the pills in a metal casing. "Alright, kid. You’ve got my attention. But if this goes South…"

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Jason rose as well, extending his hand. "It won’t. And if it does, you’ll know where to find me. A favour: Please don’t come for the people around me like you did with the trio. I appreciate facing all my problems head-on. Why do you think I came here so quickly."

Troy gazed at Jason and then he smirked, also extending his hand to him. Their handshake was firm, a silent agreement forged in the underworld’s shadows. Jason turned to leave, the weight of the encounter settling on his shoulders. As he stepped out into the cool night air, he allowed himself a small smile.

The game had begun. And Jason Cross never lost.

What he had done back there was way too simple sounding, but he had done a lot. For one thing, introducing a player in the background was all to protect himself, and getting the man to give the girl that thing was all to make sure that he could give him the thing he wanted to give.

All of it was to protect himself. When Troy did more research on Jason, only to find inconsistencies, he would understand that Jason might be telling the truth. It was because Jason’s history truly did not make any sense. He was making such rapid progress, such intense progress and yet everything in his life was going well. How did he manage something like that?

That was the main thing they would be concerned about, and so they would not touch him until they knew what was up. And to do this, they would probably start watching him, whether it was to find out who he was in contact with or what he was actually doing on a daily basis.

Jason smirked. And in this way, he would have a way to validate the things he was doing. Anyway, it was time to go and get those idiots.

Those idiots better prostrate themselves to him when he gets there.

Jason’s boots crunched against the gravel-strewn street as he made his way to the abandoned factory. The faint glow of the city lights painted his path, but the air was thick with tension as if even the wind knew where he was headed.

The factory loomed ahead, its skeletal remains casting eerie shadows under the pale moonlight. As Jason stepped inside, the murmurs of voices stopped. Dozens of eyes snapped at him, their gazes sharp and suspicious. This guy was back…

Wait, he was back?!

At the centre of the room stood Draco, the gang leader, his chiselled face illuminated by the faint glow of his phone. He looked up, his piercing eyes locking onto Jason. A slow grin spread across his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

"Well, well, well… Jason Cross," Draco drawled, his voice a smooth baritone laced with venom just like the dragon on his neck. "Still breathing, huh? Figured you’d be feeding the crows by now. It seems the leader was nice this time, letting you off."

Jason’s lips curled into a smirk, his hands casually slipping into his pockets. "Nice? No… Turns out your boss and I have some mutual interests. We’re business partners now. Don’t believe me? Call him. He’ll confirm."

Draco’s grin faltered for a split second, but he recovered quickly. His men exchanged uncertain glances, whispering among themselves.

"Business partners?"

"There is no way. He’s lying."

"Wasn’t he going to die today?"

"Well, it makes no difference if he died to the boss or not. Now that he’s back here, and Boss Draco has his gun, which he forgot at the building, everything should resolve itself."

Jason did not care about all those murmurs though. His eyes flicked to Marcus, Marek, and Mousa, sitting in the corner. They looked unharmed but tense, their eyes darting between Jason and the gang leader and the rest who were bruised but energetic after the earlier fight.

They were also still injured, at least they were the least injured among everyone. Jason had been ruthless back then, resorting to breaking people’s arms and legs just to send a message and when he did, he managed to get them to break just as he wanted them to.

Without waiting for Draco to respond, Jason tilted his head toward the trio. "Come on, boys. Time to go."

The sheer audacity in Jason’s tone caused an uneasy ripple through the gang. Draco’s jaw tightened, his fingers twitching as if considering giving the order to stop them and to pull out the gun he had hidden under his Shirt. But then his phone buzzed. He glanced down, and whatever he saw made his expression freeze.

Jason didn’t wait to see the effect of the message. He turned on his heel and started walking toward the exit, leaving everyone astounded.

Boss Draco, aren’t you going to stop him?

He just walked into your building and disrespected you after walking in there an hour before and taking down all your people! How could you let him do something like that? How could you manage to let him do something like that?! It made no sense! Jason’s steady steps echoed in the silence, the sound somehow louder than the collective breaths held by everyone in the room.

Marcus, Marek, and Mousa hesitated, exchanging confused looks. Draco hadn’t said a word, nor had he signalled his men to act. Emboldened by the silence, the trio scrambled to their feet and followed Jason.

Behind them, whispers erupted.

"What’s going on, boss?"

"Why’re we just letting them walk out?"

"Yeah. We should make them—"

"Shut up!" Draco’s voice cut through the muttering like a blade. "Just shut the fuck up!"

Jason smirked to himself as the factory door swung shut behind them. That’s right. They had better shut the fuck up. Wanting to beat him up? Psych… it was better if they kneeled and begged for forgiveness after everything that happened.

The chill night air greeted them like an old friend. He had been out there for a long time and now was no different. Now that he was walking away, Jason noticed an abandoned alleyway and decided to head over there to deal with some business. The three followed him with uncertainty until Marek and Mousa turned to Marcus as if prompting him to go for it.

Marcus understanding that these cowards were looking for him to ask Jason how things went and what happened, jogged to catch up with Jason after he turned into the alleyway, his brows furrowed in bewilderment as everything went dark around him.

"How… How the hell did you do that?" he asked, his voice tinged with awe. Jason heard this awe but to him, it meant nothing. These fuckers had caused him so much trouble, and yet they hadn’t done anything useful. Fucking bastards needed to learn their place. He would make sure that they did just that, that they learned their place and sat down, making sure that they would become nothing.

Jason stopped, turning to face them. His expression was ice cold. "You hesitated," he said simply.

"What?"

"You hesitated when I told you what to do," Jason continued, his voice low but sharp. "And because of that, you embarrassed me." Jason gave the men a stare that made them freeze and it was as if he and the darkness and cold all around had melded together.

Even the two idiots that came in after Marcus couldn’t help but start shivering as if the cold had suddenly managed to sink into their bones.

What... What was this demon going to do?