.

"Hehehe" Mei couldn't help but giggle after receiving the message Kazuya sent her about going to the Aoki group. She held in her hand a signed contract where she allowed Kazuya to be part of the Aoki group and let them represent him when it came to his career.

She could only imagine the shock he would receive when he finds out about what she did. A smile formed up on her face every time she would think about it because she intentionally hid this plan from him ever since she found out about his role-to-be in an upcoming program.

Mei was initially wondering who to get for the company's CM (commercial) after she discussed various advertising campaigns with Kazuya. She was fond of one CM in particular but it needed at least one real person to pull it off. This person would end up being one of the faces that would represent their company so she was quite concerned on who to pick. This was when she stumbled upon the script that was laying on Kazuya's desk.

She made a plan and met up with the Takagi group to discuss Kazuya's activities in their school. He spent quite the amount of time there so she wondered if Kazuya was thinking of joining the entertainment business one day. This was when she met Aoki Kanade, who was ecstatic to learn that Mei was one of Kazuya's guardians, with which she discussed a plan that turned into a plot to make Kazuya be the face of Kazuno Tech's CM.

She received a few messages from Kazuya a little later and thought that it had been too early for him to discover what she had been up to. Mei was surprised to find the message Kazuya sent was not about his visit to the Aoki group but rather a warning that she was being watched and observed by people from the Kurogane Company.

Of course this message wasn't sent only to her. Another message with an explanation of the details were sent to the men who were stationed by Kou to keep the Kouzuki residence safe, they also received such a message along with commands to detain these individuals to be questioned.

Now that they were aware of it, Jirou took action himself since his residence was in the vicinity of the Kouzuki household. It was relatively easier to spot anomalies or suspicious people because he was very familiar with the area and the residents, so it didn't take too long for him to apprehend people that were watching the Kouzuki residence and some had been even equipped with cameras.

"I feel bad for the Kurogane kid who tipped off the boy." Jirou sighed as he looked at the bunch of people they had caught. They were part of the security company of the Kurogane Conglomerate and they even had the identification to prove it. He didn't even need to interrogate them.

"What are we going to do with them?" The subject of their investigation came out of the residence and looked at the people that were assigned to stalk her coldly. She was enraged at them for provoking Kazuya, who had clearly proven that he would do anything to keep their lives at peace.

"There's nothing we can do except let the authorities take them." Jirou took out his phone to call one of the officials he knew. "It would be bad if the boy came back with them still here," he sighed again. "Let's hope that the peace between the two families won't be broken off by this."

.

Later that night, Kazuya was finally released from the clutches of the Aoki group's enthusiastic staff. He said that he was going to meet up with someone that was going to take him home nearby so he rejected the usual ride they offered him back to his house. He brought an outfit to change into and left the Aoki group's building to head towards the port area that was nearby.

He already received the news that Jirou had taken care of the people looming around their neighborhood. This move was clearly outside of Kazuya's expectations because he thought that it would still be a while before the temporary peace between the two families would be strained. Suzaku's actions were akin to someone poking a bear.

He sneaked into the port that hardly had any people left in it and chose a secluded place before he summoned the only companion he had from his previous life. He found this ring by accident and though it initially looked ancient and worthless, the mana it sucked out from him when he first wore it made it look like it was just forged.

Of course, now that he didn't have as much mana as he did before, it didn't look as impressive as it once was. Compared to the time where it changed to an almost pale color that was devoid of mana when he first used it on Earth, it has relatively recovered quite a bit. Though it was useful with its storage capabilities, the fact that it was something from his previous life that was carried over was more important to him.

"We only have a few more years to go before I can restore you to your original form so please bear with me," he spoke to the only companion from his previous life that he had left. It may not have replied but he didn't expect it to. No one would have understood how he felt nor did he ever expect anyone to.

He used his mana and put some of his consciousness on the ring to pick out one of the items that was stored. A few cell phones appeared in front of him and landed on one of the crates in front of him. These were some of the phones that Kuuga kept with him to conduct business with. Along with them, the prototype cell phone that was under development by Kazuno Tech.

The situation was moving in a direction he didn't expect but it wasn't that uncontrollable. Kazuya thought that the ceasefire would last for some time but judging from Suzaku's stupid action, he needed to adjust and accelerate the plans he had quite a little bit. Kazuya was quite uncertain on how to implement it at first, but after today's events he found his answer… or rather the answer made its way to him.

"Testing… Testing…" Kazuya gathered mana in his throat and tried to adjust his voice multiple times. "I want that woman once you confirm the information." It wasn't until he was satisfied at imitating a certain someone's voice did he stop the painful process his throat had to go through. One he finished the adjustments, he dialed a number that was stored in one of Kuuga's burner phones.

*RING RING* Muimina Ringo was relaxing in her room when the sudden call made her frown. She was previously looking into the whereabouts of Dokuro Domon whom her family was still unable to locate. Kazuya's statements disturbed her because she had not heard a peep out of Domyouji Kuuga either.

"You!" She answered the phone immediately after she read the name. "Where the hell have you been?!" She felt a sense of relief because she had thought the worst and assumed that Kazuya just issued her a death threat because of Suzaku's arrogance.

"I can't talk for too long." A panting and panicked voice caught Ringo off guard. "My battery life won't last for long so I just want to know if you're willing to pay a hundred million for important information!" The voice of Kuuga on the other line seemed rushed which immediately made Ringo think that something serious had happened.

"100 million!? Are you sane!?" Although she, or more specifically her family could afford it, it was still a big amount of money.

"100 million is nothing if you can recover the billions that Dokuro Domon stored away! Do you want to know or not!? I told you I don't have much time! I only escaped from their clutches after they found out that I had a deal with you! I need to leave town as soon as possible!" the panic in his voice could clearly be felt. What Ringo was unaware of however was that the cracks in this supposed Kuuga's voice was because of Kazuya slowly injuring his own throat to keep up such an act.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know that what you say is real?" She was a little excited because from what she could assume about Kuuga's state, he was desperate and had no reason to lie to her.

"I can't rely on the old method because those bastards would find me if I put it in one of my accounts. I need to leave tonight so all you need to do is to put the money in something that wouldn't be found suspicious in an ambulance. Bring it to your family's personal warehouse near at the port. I stole the evidence to prove everything so you can just leave the money inside your warehouse and give me the code to enter it after you're satisfied. Remember, I will leave town if I find myself in a situation so you only have a few hours." Kazuya cut the call.

*cough cough cough* His throat felt like it was burning. He could taste blood in his mouth but he resisted the urge to spit it out. He couldn't leave any traces of himself after all.

His plans had only reached the halfway point. He put one of Kuuga's phones down and contacted Munie Ika, otherwise known as Squid God, using the prototype phone in his hand.

"[Do it. Initiate contact.]" He sent the message.

"[Are you sure about this boss?]" Ika was already briefed of their plan earlier. He was both surprised and a little scared about what he found out. He may had been a criminal but a hacker was a criminal that didn't need to go out and do things themselves.

"[I'm going to be borrowing one of your offshore accounts so take half of everything we're going to be gaining tonight as compensation. This is what they get for messing with us,]" he replied.

"[I'll be contacting them now and let you see it.]" Another screen popped up where he could see a new conversation opening.

Squid God may have settled down quietly but Kazuya was well aware of what this person can do. It was mainly because he was familiar with this person's antics in his previous life did he know how to get along with him. He had a vigilante mentality but he really wasn't a selfless one.

"[I have sensitive information that will lead to who you're looking for.]" Ika started a conversation with one of the Domyouji group's people. He claimed to be a person who sells information.

Kazuya had to hand it to him. Ika may be a narcissist but he knew how to get things done. Kazuya would expect nothing less from one of the legendary hackers who created not only trouble but provided a great leap towards the advance of programs and technology in his previous life.

It didn't take much to rile up the Domyouji as they were grasping at straws to find any leads pertaining to Domyouji Kuuga. It took only a few exchanges for them to say that they were already in the presence of Kuuga's grandfather Gakuto.

"[All I want is for 100 million to be wired to my offshore account and you will get the lead in my hands. What you do with it or whatever you may find after getting it will be none of my concern.]" Ika typed in.

"[How do we know that you're not scamming us?]"

"[If I wanted to scam you, I would have straight out blackmailed you.]" A few pages of sensitive information was sent that startled Gakuto and everyone in the room they were in. These were various dealings that they were involved in that only existed within their systems. "[The only reason why I haven't done so is because you happen to help a lot more people than you hurt.]"

"[Do you really have a lead that will help us?]" They were slightly convinced that whoever the person contacting them was it was someone who had the power to take them down if they wanted to.

"[I'm a picky information broker but not an unreasonable one. I can keep silent about what I discovered about your business but you will never be able to find me once you change your mind and want it later, that I guarantee. You have two hours to transfer the money to the account provided, failure to do so will just have me delete the information I have.]" Ika ended the connection after he typed in the final statement.

"[Good work. Wouldn't have done any better myself]"

"[Are you sure you want to trust me with a hundred million boss? I could just keep it and run away you know]"

"[You think you could run away from me? With those slow hands of yours?]"

"[That's not fair! If I'm a legend then you're a goddamn myth! I've never met anyone whose hands can most likely input in the same speed as the keyboard can recognize commands! You're too much of a freak!]" Ika was upset, how could he not be? He looked highly upon himself and saw himself as the best until he was unfortunate enough to meet someone who could even call him a turtle in a game he decided to try out on a whim.

Though things were moving smoothly, their plan wouldn't be completed until both parties complied. What Kazuya was after wasn't the money but rather he used it so that they would have more things to worry about. Humans, especially humans like them would have their greed first and foremost before anything else. The fact that they would be letting go of such an amount of money would make them less wary about the actual reason behind it.

*RRR RRR*

Kazuya heard several vehicles approaching so he hid his presence and blended into the shadows. It had only been a little over an hour and Ringo had arrived with her people. All of them looked cautiously around and tried to see if there was anyone else around the dark port before Ringo got off of one of the vehicles and was led inside the warehouse by some men carrying what looked to be the money that was requested.

"(Looks like the first act is completed.)"

.