After Aron finished making the program for subscription, he was reminded that this new version of BugZapper would also need someone to oversee it. This realisation led him to think that he needed to establish a company if he wanted to manage the software in his place.
This would also help him generate SPs, still, it will not be a very good amount. Aron had learned it the hard way after he tried to earn enough SPs to buy the programming language. As the app count increased, the SP he was earning continued to diminish. After he had scanned through the tenth app for vulnerabilities, the number of SPs gained dropped by half and after the twentieth, it continued dropping by half of the SPs he had got from the eleventh to nineteenth scan. From this, he hypothesized that this would continue until he would only be earning 1 SP with every scan.
Although it may seem modest, how many websites do you think exist in the current world?
This means that although the amount of SP earned will be small, the sheer quantity of websites in existence will be compensating for it.
Aron’s current plan revolved around making the BigZapper popular enough for every website in the world to use it at least once a month. The aim was to emphasize the program’s significance in bolstering website security, thus encouraging every site owner to experiment with it at least once. This kind of approach would mean that he will be able to earn 1 SP every single time someone uses his program. AFK to the death.
While he was perfecting his business strategy and designing the company’s inaugural products, Aron’s phone buzzed, displaying Felix’s name on the screen.
"Hello, long time no talk?" After picking up the phone, Aron greeted him and started the conversation.
"You gave us so much work that I barely had time to catch my breath, let alone time to think of contacting others in the past month," Felix replied, complaining in a happy tone.
"So, why did you call me?" Aron inquired.
"I just wanted to inform you that our negotiations with the various companies have been concluded and the payment will be fully transferred to you once the taxes and everything else is paid," Felix reported.
"Finally, it took you guys very long," Aron continued, feigning his annoyance.
"Well, you gave us too much work, so we even had to make a dedicated team to handle your work. But considering the generous amount of money you had paid to us, we can't really complain anyway," Felix laughed as he replied.
"So, how much will I actually receive after all the taxes and your payment is taken care of?" Aron pressed.
"You‘ll find out when we send it to you, but be ready for a surprise," Fellix's teasing voice came from the other side of the phone as he tried playing mischief, wanting to frustrate Aron as much as he could to vent out for the work he made them do.
"If you don't spill the beans, I'm hanging up the phone," Aron threatened playfully.
Crap. Just after Aron finished voicing his threat, Felix immediately responded by ending the call to make his statement.
'Fuck, He got me,' Aron thought as he put the phone aside and continued to do his work as he eagerly waited for the money to start raining in his account.
....
Five Days later, the comprehensive payment along with the spreadsheet detailing the allocations arrived to him.
And here was the breakdown as to who paid how much. The figures listed below were after taxes and lawyer fees had been deducted.
YouTube, G****e+, Android and G****e were treated as a collective entity paid as a one, and since G****e in itself was among the companies that held the highest user base which depended on them to have the best top-tier security since their emails were used by almost anyone with an email. This meant that if there were any vulnerabilities in their system and were exploited, it would potentially jeopardize their reputation and have them almost get bankrupted as almost every user who cared about keeping their secrets would have turned to their competitors.
So, they forked the most money and since they were paying for three of their companies, they paid a substantial amount of money– $335 million dollars. This included buying the information about the vulnerabilities and their solutions to them as they needed to patch it as fast as possible, lest someone uses it against them.
Apple - The company paid $87 million dollar for both the weaknesses and solution for their iOS weaknesses since they put too much importance on keeping their iOS as a black box.
Microsoft - It was also among those companies who paid too much money, they paid him $145 million dollar for their weaknesses in Windows and the solutions to it. And oh god was there enough bugs in it to write a book on what one should not do while making an operating system?
Sina Weibo - Paid $17 million dollars without opting to buy the solution. They decided to solve it themselves, worrying that if they were to buy the solution it would mean the other company knew how their app security works and that was not good when it is connected to the CCP knowing that the one who sold it to them was an American. That would put them on the radar.
Qzone - Since it is owned by Tencent, a prominent Chinese technology conglomerate. They simply forked $33 million dollars, mirroring the same protective reason as the one above.
Twitter & Vine were parent companies, so they paid a joint sum of $75 million for the vulnerabilities and their solutions.
LinkedIn - Recognizing the significance of safeguarding its platform, paid $45 million for both problems and solutions.
I*******m - Since they paid before as F******k, they had already solved some similar problems in I*******m. So, the lawyers only managed to negotiate the remaining vulnerabilities that didn't exist in the list of those that were found and sold to F******k before. So, they paid only $25 million for both the problem and solution pertaining to the newly identified vulnerabilities.
Tumblr - Addressing its security concerns they only paid $10 million dollar only for being the problem and not the solutions to them.
The remaining four social media platforms paid a total sum of $39 million dollars since they were relatively smaller companies.
This brings the total sum of the money amounting to $811 million dollars and this was after taxes and fees. If he didn’t have to pay tax and lawyer fees, he would have more than $900 million but Brother IRS would be having a field day with him.
And he wasn't ready for them.
This meant he was almost a billionaire. However, he needed to make the money return to the market because the longer he held it as cash in his account, the longer inflation would erode their purchasing power per dollar.
Also, although he already paid tax for it, he would still need to continue paying taxes for any interest that he earns from the money if it were to stay in the bank.
However, all these thoughts were cut short when he unexpectedly received a phone call from an unknown number, curious yet at the same time cautious, he picked up the call.
Aron: "Hello?"
"Hi, is this Mr. Aron?" inquired the voice on the other end.
"Yes, speaking. May I know who this is?" Aron asked since he didn't know who had called him while he was relishing his net worth.
"Hi Aron, this is Mark from the American Bank. I wanted to talk to you about your account." Said the voice on the other side of the phone.
"Oh, okay. Is everything alright with my account?" Aron asked, startled by the call and wondered if something bad had happened to his account.
Bank Worker: "Certainly, there is no issue at all. Actually, we wanted to arrange a meeting with you to discuss your account further."
Aron: "Okay, but what is this meeting about?" Aron answered while releasing a sigh of relief, knowing that nothing bad happened to the account.
Just think about it, right when you almost became a billionaire, all of your money was stolen from you. That would be a suicide level of tragedy right there. Thank god something like that didn't happen.
Bank Representative: "Well, we have noticed that you have a significant amount of money in your account and we wanted to go over some options with you."
Aron: "Oh, I see. Yes, I earned a large sum of money recently."
Bank Representative: "Indeed, we have taken note of that. Congratulations, by the way."
"Thank you," Aron replied, feeling happy about it while replying calmly.
Bank Representative: "We would like to send you a Black American Bank card. To proceed, we need to confirm your address".
Aron: "Okay, that's fine. I will provide you with my address."
Bank Representative: "Great. Also, we would like to introduce some potential investment opportunities with you during the meeting as well."
"Oh, I see. Well, I'm interested in investing, but I would prefer to gather more information before committing." Aron replied in surprise since he was also thinking about investing his money in order for it to not just remain in his account to just accumulate interest. Still, he wasn't completely sure as to what to invest in, so he might as well meet them and hear their investment plan and then decide on his plan based on that.
Bank Representative: "That's completely understandable. We can arrange a meeting with one of our investment advisors. They will help you go through your options and address any questions you may have."
Aron: "Okay, sounds good."
Bank Representative: "How about next Wednesday at 2 pm? Would you prefer the meeting to be held at your residence or a nearby establishment then?"
Aron: "Yes, next Wednesday at 2 pm worlds for me, Let’s hold the meeting at a nearby establishment.”
Bank Representative: "Great. We'll see you then. And once again, congratulations on your success."
Aron: “Thank you, I appreciate it."
Bank Worker: "Alright, have a great day."
Aron: "You too."
With the call concluded, Aron chose to calm himself down a little before he started continuing with his work, lest he ends up messing something up due to his excitement.
While he was resting to calm himself down from the excitement, fatigue overtook him as he fell asleep and drifted into a daydream, his subconscious kept smiling.
I wonder what he was dreaming since it was possible to see that he was drooling from his mouth with that creepy smile on his face.
A week before Aron received his payments.While the payments will arrive a week later the negotiations were completed two weeks ago, so almost all the companies spent a week at maximum to patch their weaknesses in their programs.This means that it has been a week since someone's normal day to day life has been messed up.…..Bluffdale, UtahThe NSA's Utah Data CenterThis week has been like hell to those who are working here, because one after another almost 17 data collection points have been blocked. This meant that they completely lost access to almost all social media sites.This wasn't good, because some departments are sorely there to collect and analyze data from these sites. This meant that they lost almost their whole functionality in a span of a month.This all started by the loss of access to Facebook's data, and while they were trying to solve one, another seventeen rose beside it....NSA Conference RoomEveryone in the department of Special Source Operations Directorate
While Aron was waiting for his lawyer to finish the process of founding the company he had already convinced Sarah to be his companies CEO. She agreed immediately after Aron showed an example by using the app to vulnerability check Fanbase.com website, after the results came he hacked the site and managed to get admin access by following all the steps that were showed by the app's subscription version. .... When Sarah saw what the app can do the gear's in her head were turning like jet engines, Although she was not an engineer, she knew the importance of cyber security better than anyone because in the past she suffered hell when she messed with Aron and he decided to mess with her, that became a good lesson to her and she started taking Aron's advice seriously when it came to cyber security. "How will you verify if the user is the owner of the site or just malicious user" She asked after spending about 30 seconds of thinking. "Yeah you are right, if anyone can use it they can us
Bluffdale, UtahAlthough the new NSA data center her was online but not all servers where used for the same purpose. Nearly half the data center was being used to test new program before they are approved for the NSA use.Today the all the servers that where usually being used for testing new programs was fully booked for the whole of the next month.The reason they booked it for the whole month is because they needed to fully make sure the program the will be testing be safe and harmless to their overall system.Noah entered a room full of people in front of computers waiting for him with a hard drive on his hand. This room was directly connected to the servers that is used for testing. The hard drive had the program that is to be tested.After he sat on his chair he took the hard drive and inserted it to the port and transferred the program to the server.The moment it finished copying he removed it and put it aside to make if a problem happened to their servers they had something t
Two weeks Later.White house.In the Oval room the National Security Committee was in a meeting to hear about the findings of their investigation on the app.Usually things such as these are handled by their respective departments, and if the respective department project needed something outside their operative jurisdiction they all just have to settle it between them. But today's meeting was set due to the insistence of the DNI Director as he said it was capable of changing one of the branches in their current warfare. Hence the meeting was settled."Sir, after our short testing of the app, we managed to discover more than a million weaknesses on the current NSA systems and programs in our test servers." Said James Clapper (Director of National Intelligence) who is also the head of Intelligence Community.He received a report and presentation from the NSA and he deemed it important for the National security of their country."When we installed the program in our test servers it star
The email informed them that they have passed the assessment and they will be returning to the negotiation table, but they will be negotiating not as America but as Nato. So, they gave them a week of preparation time to prepare for the negotiations.When Sarah read the email she was happy that they passed the assessment although she was sure they will, but she also felt the pressure of negotiating such a big contract for the first time.So, she decided to attend the meeting but she will not be the head negotiator, that will be taken by the law Firm.She will be a spectator and only agree to the deal if they come to an agreement. They must come to an agreement else they will be forced by the government to do so and she didn't want it to reach that place.....While the company was preparing for their meeting with the NATO team, Aron was finally ready to exact his revenge.He was currently in his work room sitting in front of his computer ready to begin enacting his revenge.'Let's see
The negotiations ended on a positive note as they promised to reply to them with in the week.Sarah was relieved the negotiation went better than she expected. what she didn't know was that NATO by itself was desperate for the program because they were almost always dealing with Chinese, Russian and many other non-friendly countries hacking attempts.Them having the program will make the weight of dealing with these problem's a little bit easier and it will help them divert the resources in developing more sophisticated programs that will be helping them.Sarah returned to dealing with her work, as it continued piling even though they haven't released the program yet......Aron continued completing his daily quest but last month he suddenly gained a massive amount of sp. This coincided with the day after the NSA took the program for evaluation.At first he expected the sp amount to continue being reduced if the program continued being used but since the programs that were tested in t
Although it has been months, professor Rottem was still trying to regain his reputation in the circle.It wasn't working because her wife stopped helping her."That bitch, If it wasn't for her brother I would have slapped the shit out of her" shouted Rottem in his office as he reached the tipping point.Although he shouted that but he knew the moment he rose his hand to her he is considered dead."I mean you can't divorce me even if you want, it's not like I wanted to marry you anyway. Your fucking brother forced me. FUCK!!!" he continued shouting.His secretary (also a cheating partner) entered the room due to hearing him shouting from the outside."What's wrong with you, why are shouting from nowhere? you are attracting too much attention" Said the secretary."It's my office so who cares"the secretary rolled her eyes in a giving up way and said "They still think that you are still traumatized from the presentation".Rottem release a sigh then said "I could have moved away from it b
The family mansion glimmered in the moonlight as guests arrived for a dinner like no other. The opulent estate was a sight to behold, with its grand entrance and immaculate gardens. The evening promised to be one of exquisite taste and extravagance, with no expense spared in the preparations.The dining room was adorned with the finest linens, crystal glassware, and silver cutlery, all carefully arranged to perfection. As the family members took their seats at the table, they were greeted by the tantalizing aroma of the sumptuous feast that awaited them.It was clear that no detail had been overlooked in creating a dining experience that would leave a lasting impression on all who attended. This was to be a meal fit for royalty, served in the grandest of settings, and enjoyed by the most discerning of palates.But despite the beautifulness and grandeur of it, no one seemed to be too hyped up for the food as most of them couldn't enjoy the food due to their nervousness.Although they h
“Seraphina,” Aron began, his voice steady but carrying an undercurrent of authority, “I’m not your enemy—unless you choose to make me one. I understand your anger, your frustration. You’ve lost control of a situation you believed was firmly under your command. But this predicament wasn’t my doing—you’re here because your leader chose to sacrifice you. What I’m offering you isn’t a chain—it’s an opportunity.”Her sharp eyes narrowed, the intensity of her gaze unwavering, but she held her silence. Aron leaned forward, his own gaze unrelenting as it met hers.“You can continue resisting, pushing the boundaries of the mana oath, and enduring needless pain. Or…” He paused, letting the words linger like a challenge. “You can choose to turn this situation into one that serves us both. Your strength, your insight—these are not things I wish to suppress. Quite the opposite. I want them refined, amplified, and put to meaningful use.”He motioned toward the table, where Nova was still doing fina
[Colosseum]Aron and Seraphina stood motionless, maintaining the same distance as at the start of their faceoff. Neither had moved, even during the spectacular fireworks show that followed Aron’s acceptance of her surrender. The only exception was Aron briefly waving to the citizens of his empire watching the broadcast, many of whom were overcome with emotion, crying in celebration of their historic victory. This event marked the first-ever interstellar combat they had participated in, and despite their lack of experience, they emerged as the sole victors.As cheers of triumph reverberated among his people and the disbelief of others lingered, the broadcast concluded. The moment Aron secured his final victory, the Arena itself was officially handed over to him as part of his reward, along with control of the AI referee. Without hesitation, the AI complied with her new owner’s first command: to end the broadcast. Aron had more pressing matters to attend to—a private conversation with a
[Meeting Room]Inside the Zelvora mental network, an oppressive silence hung over the gathered representatives around the meeting table. The events of the day had left them all stunned, their minds racing with the implications of what had transpired. These were not just any representatives—they were the ones who had signed off on the agreements, the architects of their civilizations’ participation in this contest.Now, they were confronted with the brutal outcome of their decisions.Many representatives sat deep in thought, their faces betraying various degrees of fear, frustration, and resignation. Those who hailed from civilizations steeped in selfish political traditions knew all too well the grim truth: scapegoats would be needed. Someone would have to bear the brunt of the blame for the humiliation, anger, and setbacks their civilizations had suffered.For many of them, the path forward seemed bleak. In the best-case scenario, they might lose their positions, exiled from the corr
To say Aron was surprised would be the understatement of the gigaannum. The announcement had obliterated every scenario he had meticulously crafted in his mind. In all his time spent in simulations, preparing for countless contingencies, not once had he considered the possibility of the Xor’Vaks surrendering—least of all without a fight.Their pride in their strength was legendary, surpassing even the vaunted arrogance of the Valthorins. For a race that reveled in their dominance, surrendering, especially on such a grand stage, was unthinkable. This sudden reversal of expectations hit him with such force that he could practically feel the metaphorical veins in his temple throbbing from the sheer shock of it all.The audience’s collective astonishment mirrored his own, but none felt it as acutely as Aron, whose carefully laid strategies now seemed almost laughably over-prepared in the face of this unanticipated twist.The largest part of Aron's shock wasn’t just the surrender itself bu
The minutes passed quickly for the viewers, their eyes glued to Aron as he sat unmoving in the same meditative position for over fifteen minutes. Speculation ran rampant on both sides, fueled by curiosity and tension.For those in the Empire, the consensus was that Aron was in VR, likely meeting with family or key figures. Many debated who he might be speaking with, guessing that he was either calming worried loved ones or strategizing for the next fight.On the other hand, viewers from the Astral Conclave harbored a mix of anxiety and intrigue. They questioned whether Aron was recuperating in preparation for the upcoming battle, enhancing his focus and mental clarity, or if his recovery from the previous fight was incomplete and he was still in the process of healing.But their speculations ceased to matter as Aron opened his eyes with five minutes remaining in the waiting period. Calm and deliberate, he removed the glasses from his head, placing them back into their container. His n
The moment the fight was officially declared over, Nova acted without hesitation. She immediately dispatched the collector ship, equipped with a medipod, to retrieve the Trinarian fighter's body. Simultaneously, she ensured Aron could rearm himself with a fresh set of nanomachines. For the first time, this process was being done openly, marking a significant shift.Previously, nanomachines had been classified technology, their existence kept strictly under wraps. However, that secrecy had been unintentionally broken when Nova used them to cover Aron’s exposed body during a critical moment, prioritizing his dignity over confidentiality. As a result, while the technology remained shrouded in mystery, its existence was now officially acknowledged, albeit without disclosing any further details.Aron retrieved a small canister from the ship and opened it, revealing a liquid-like substance inside. Pouring it onto his hand, the substance behaved unnaturally, defying gravity as it began to sp
"Him alive is better than dead, right? I can use his live brain data to study how they use their spatial abilities—it might even help accelerate my plans if things go as intended," Aron said as he stood over the fainting Trinarian fighter.{True, having him alive presents opportunities. But dead men cause no problems, while the living carry infinite potential for chaos—especially one like him. If our spatial lockdown isn’t enough to fully contain his abilities, he could use them long enough to cause catastrophic damage, even if it means enduring the backlash,} Nova replied, her tone laced with caution. She wanted to ensure Aron was fully aware of the risks he was inviting by sparing the fighter's life.Usually, Nova would have been in favor of keeping him alive—it meant more data for her to process, analyze, and extrapolate from. But spatial ability users were in a league of their own when it came to danger. Even a dead one would yield enough data to at least satisfy her curiosity for
“Nova,” Aron called out in his mind the moment his eyes snapped open, rapidly collecting information and orienting himself, realizing he had finally left the enigmatic place the system had sent him.“Nova,” he called again, this time aloud, his voice carrying a commanding weight as it echoed faintly in the arena. Receiving no response to his first call, his sharp gaze shifted to his surroundings. It didn’t take long for him to notice his current state—nearly naked, save for the swarm of nanomachines that had begun assembling around him.{The system had ejected me, sir,} Nova’s voice finally came through, calm but slightly delayed as the nanomachines completed their task. They prioritized covering his lower body, forming a sleek pair of trousers, as there weren’t enough surviving nanomachines to reconstruct full armor. His chiseled upper body remained exposed, glistening under the lights of the Colosseum, much to the awe and unease of the spectators.Nova’s pragmatic choice left Aron l
Following Nova's orders and the AI referee's approval, the mana stone carriers swiftly began moving toward the Colosseum. As the first ship arrived and entered, it wasted no time, promptly unloading its entire cargo of mana stones before departing to make way for the next carrier to do the same. The process was conducted with remarkable efficiency, ensuring a steady flow of mana stones into the Colosseum without any unnecessary delays.The process continued as over fifty ships unloaded their cargo of mana stones, an act many from the Conclave viewed as both excessive and wasteful. With each successive ship, the pain of the Conclave's viewers grew, particularly when the fifth ship alone had already matched the quantity of mana stones used during the Colosseum's initial construction. Yet, they didn’t stop there; instead, they went on to unload ten times that amount, as if mana stones were an endless resource, leaving the Conclave citizens bewildered and horrified by such apparent extra