I Don’t Cut Corners

Chapter 24 - I Don't Cut Corners

This first attempt had failed, but Darius wasn't done yet. Once he reached his sports car, Darius slid into the driver's seat. 

Next to him, Jack was already in the car, sitting in the passenger seat and casually swiping through a dating app on his phone. 

Darius scoffed, then opened his own phone, scrolling through his contacts. A name popped up on the screen.

Lieutenant General Coil (Marine)

He tapped to call, and after a long two minutes of waiting, the line finally connected. The hoarse voice of an elderly man came through.

"Who the hell is this?"

Darius quickly disabled speaker mode, lowering his voice to a respectful tone. "H-Hello, sir. I'm Darius from White Rift Mercenary. I'm calling about the mentorship program that you mentioned at the seminar."

"Oh, the one a couple of weeks ago? Right. You or your colleagues interested?"

"N-No, sir. I wanted to apply on behalf of my son. Just wondering, how much LOVE would be needed to secure a spot for the next year's quota?"

LOVE, in this context, was their mutual code for a bribe.

The lieutenant general didn't miss a beat. He shamelessly demanded, "One million USDT. You still have my wallet code, right?"

Darius gulped. "Y-Yes, sir."

"Good. Send the slip along with your kid's profile. And if his mana concentration is under 2%, top-up another million for the implants. I don't usually accept weaklings unless they are willing to throw away their humanity."

"…Understood, sir."

"Great. Call me when it's sent." The general quickly ended the call. 

Darius's polite smile froze and slowly faded as the call ended. Because of the frustration and the unreasonable demand, he barely resisted the urge to throw his phone out the window.

"FUCKING GREEDY BASTARD!" Darius screamed at the phone even though the call had ended. 

Jack was startled. He turned off his phone and looked at his father, "W-What's wrong?"

"I can still get you that license, but it's going to cost us five million."

Darius lied through his teeth. He inwardly laughed, planning to scam his own son. 

"T-Ten million?! Just for the license? We got the money! You said you got 10 million on the last expedition. That will be easy, right?"

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOUR LAZY ASS DOESN'T EVEN HAVE THE GUTS TO ENDURE 10 YEARS, YOU USELESS BRAT!"

Because of the sudden yell, Jack was taken aback. He widened his eyes, staring at his father as if he had become a stranger. 

Darius calculatingly softened his voice and continued, "I'm fine with something trivial like ten million. But you… every penny of it is on you! I'll have my lawyers draft a loan contract. You'll work your ass off to pay me back, and every cent you make will go to me until that debt is cleared. You got that?! And don't expect any more allowance. Get a part-time job while you're at it because I ain't gonna keep feeding you useless ass forever."

"W-What?!"

"You want this or not?! I can just cancel the deal, drag you to a third-world country, and sell you off! Are we in or not?!"

"…H-How can you do this to me?! I'm your fucking son!"

Darius suddenly stomped on a brake and parked his car to the side. He pointed his finger at the door.

"Well, fuck you, then. Get out of my car. WE. ARE. FUCKING. DONE! I don't have a sissy-ass pussy son that can't even stand on his own feet! GET OUT!"

Realizing the threat, Jack gritted his teeth and glared at his father in contempt. Although he wanted to protest and argue, he was more afraid of being thrown to the street and homeless. 

Instead of leaving his nuclear family, he chose to cling to social status. For the sake of becoming an explorer and getting rich quick, he chose to seize the only opportunity he had. 

"I'll pay you back. Make me an explorer."

Darius smirked and chuckled. He extended a hand and smacked the top of Jack's head twice. 

"That's more like it! Work hard to pay me. Oh, the interest rate will be 10% a year. Therefore, you need to pay me one million of pure interest alone. You got that?"

"…Fine."

Swelling anger flared in Jack's eyes as he looked at his father, who hummed and continued driving as if nothing had happened.

.

.

December 13th, 2019 

It was Friday the 13th. Many TV ads and stores played into the theme, decorating their storefronts with hockey masks and creepy props as if it were Halloween. 

Coincidentally, Han brought Carn to his new school early that morning to finalize the transfer process. They met with the school dean to introduce Carn. 

In the dean's office, a middle-aged man in a suit with metal prosthetic arms casually served coffee to both parent and son. Despite the artificial arms, his movements were fluid. 

On the dean's desk, his name plaque displayed a military rank 'Colonel Morra'. Judging by his current role and the state of his arms, he seemed to be a retired veteran. 

Han accepted a cup of coffee and casually asked, "Was your last service in Afghanistan?" 

Morra chuckled, curling his prosthetic arms. "Iraq. 4th Infantry Division. That motherf-cking Saddam was already a doppelganger by the time we found him, and that's when my arms got snacked. But we got him." 

"Thank you for your service, sir." 

"No, thank YOU for keeping our country safe. Anyway, I saw the file. Is your kid going to join ECD after this?" 

Han smiled proudly. "After graduation, yes." 

"Awesome!" Morra turned to Carn, "Since you passed the ECD exams, you must have some mana in your blood, right?" 

Carn awkwardly looked at his father, surprised at how the dean quickly figured out their secrets. 

Han shrugged, "The ECD procedures are not actually a secret. You don't have to worry about it."

Carn sighed, relieved. He faced Morra and answered his previous question, "…Yes, sir. I have mana." 

"Do you know what your special abilities are?" 

"Special abilities?" Carn was surprised that this topic was brought up.