Gains and Plans
After discovering he might be being followed, Zac took double the precautions when moving through the streets near his residence, using his special powers.
By temporarily disabling the street lights and security cameras in his vicinity wherever he went, he could return to his building without any major problems.
He didn't notice anyone following him and imagined he might have left his house earlier without attracting the attention of the man from The Vipers who was supposed to be watching him.
That relaxed him, but not enough to make him feel completely unconcerned.
The feeling of being watched wasn't good, and he had a lot of things on his mind that he didn't want to be disturbed by someone spying on him. Even though he was relieved that nothing worse had happened today, he still had enough problems to worry about.
As he lay down on the sofa at home and rested for a while before deciding what to do, he put his hands in his pockets and found one of the wallets he had collected that evening.
Thinking about the bandits he had defeated earlier and Dario's belongings, he quickly gathered all the items he had collected today.
When he placed everything on a small table in front of him, there were 4 smartphones, 4 leather wallets, 6 credit cards, 3 IDs, a driver's license, some worthless papers, and 895 Lunar Pennies!
As he counted for the second time the amount of money he had collected from four targets, Zac couldn't help but smile. He saw why so many young people in his neighborhood chose crime over honest work.
In just one night, he had collected more money than many people in his neighborhood could earn in a month of honest work!
But he didn't feel guilty that this money came from thefts he had committed that night. He had stolen it from three bandits who had tried to rob him that night and from Dario, a member of a criminal gang.
Come to think of it, this money was probably stolen or even of illegal origin. Taking it from those four people couldn't be called robbery!
'I'll call it justice.' He thought to himself, convincing himself he wasn't wrong and he would put the money to better use.
'I'll pay off some of the bills I'm behind on at home and stop forcing Amy to work so hard for me.' He looked in her direction as he took the money and put it in his wallet.
He subconsciously planned to go to the bank tomorrow after school and pay off all their overdue bills!
Not only that, he didn't need four smartphones, so he was going to sell all four of them, which could bring him another few hundred Lunar Pennies, even considering where they came from.
As for the credit cards and IDs, he planned to burn them so as not to get into any more trouble.
After counting the night's earnings, he put what he had to keep in his school bag before lying down on his bed with Dario's cell phone in his hands.
'Maybe I should repeat what I did today soon...' He smiled as he looked into the darkness of his room, where Amy slept not far from him.
He looked in her direction and imagined how much better their future could be if he could make money dealing with criminals and thus help her at home and with her treatment.
'You have taken care of me enough, Amy. It is time for me to take care of you!'
He would soon turn his attention to analyzing Dario's other compromising conversations because the next day, he planned to restore this device and then sell it.
...
The next day, Zac woke up after only two hours of rest and quickly ate breakfast with Amy before getting ready for school.
Even though he hadn't slept much the night before, he was in great shape and didn't look like someone who had spent much of the night fighting and spying on other people's conversations.
Zac would no longer be surprised by this kind of physical reaction. He already sensed that it had something to do with his powers and acted naturally before leaving Amy at home and going to school with his money, cell phones, and some overdue bills.
The stores weren't open at that time, so he would follow the plan of selling the cell phones and paying the bills after school. But before he left the house, he told Amy that he had found a part-time job and explained why he would pay the bills.
After a few minutes' walk, he arrived at the school just as the gates were about to close and the day's first class began.
However, the school seemed to be completely different today!
As soon as he walked in, Zac saw many small groups gathered around, talking about something until he reached the building where he had his morning classes and understood what today's strange situation was all about.
Not far from the entrance to the classroom where he had his first lesson today, a crowd watched as a young man with brown hair walked slowly by.
When he stopped not far from there, Zac saw the man's face. He recognized Dario among the bruises on this person's face, which could frighten those who had never seen the face of a professional fighter after a competition.
Not only did Dario's face show several marks and bruises, but he was wearing a sling on one of his arms while walking slowly in a position that made it look like he had an injured spine and ribs.
Sean and Mia were already there when Dario and Zac arrived, and they couldn't stop watching this young man with brown hair arrive with the help of their own accomplices.
"That..." Sean opened his mouth in shock.
He had spoken to Dario last night. What could have happened since then to justify that?
Mia knew who Dario was and which group he belonged to, so she couldn't help but be shocked as well.
For someone to do this to a member of The Vipers, that person or group had to be courting death or seeking the start of a war!
Thinking about it, she couldn't help but be surprised and worried about Dario's situation.
'Shit! What happened?' She asked herself in a cold sweat. 'Could this somehow interfere with my family's plans?'
Amidst the thoughts of these two and many other students who knew less than them, Zac walked toward his classroom with a smile on his face.
As he passed Dario, he couldn't help but let out a laugh loud enough for everyone around him to hear it.