The man swallowed hard and shook his head frantically, terrified Jake might pull the trigger on impulse and end his life right there."Boss, please, don't shoot! Look, honestly, we were just messing around these guns, they're toys. Fakes, all of them!" the big man blurted out, genuinely panicking now.Turned out the bearded man and his crew were just a handful of guys from a poor rural town who'd come to the city chasing construction work. Decent, honest guys, as it happened they'd put in two solid weeks on a job site, only for the contractor to skip town with their entire paycheck.Broke and starving, the bearded man had made a desperate, stupid call: order a batch of ultra-realistic toy guns online and stage a bank robbery. Except now here they were, staring down what looked like an actual military-grade sniper rifle, and every one of them would rather do hard time than die over this.The second Jake heard the word "toy," a few stress lines nearly cracked across his own forehead. He

With Kayla's team having piled in and pinned the whole crew to the ground, none of the robbers could so much as twitch. Derek's chest tightened with frustration, close to actually choking on it.His mouth worked for a second before he forced out, "Fine but this still doesn't add up. Sure, his gun's fake, but how was anyone supposed to know that at the moment? These robbers' guns were fake too, and they're still getting charged. The same standard should apply here."Kayla's brow furrowed. She snatched the rifle out of Jake's hands and pulled the trigger a few times, and out came a tinny, unmistakably electronic pew-pew sound a toy through and through. The whole room let out a collective breath of relief.Every customer who'd been held hostage in that lobby had already crowned Jake a hero in their minds. If he hadn't stepped up with nothing but a toy and pure nerve, there was no telling how badly this could've ended the bank's losses alone would've been catastrophic."I have to say, off

Jake waved him off without hesitation. "Please, sir, don't mention it. Honestly, this is just what anyone should do. A young guy sees trouble, he steps up, that's just basic decency."The manager's admiration for Jake only deepened at that, and a thought struck him suddenly."Say does a young man like yourself have a girlfriend, by any chance? My daughter's actually flying back into town soon, close to your age. If you're open to it, I could introduce the two of you." The offer landed like a lightning bolt.Jake stood there completely dumbfounded. Seriously, one thing after another today. And why exactly was this man so eager to set him up with his own daughter, of all things? Simple, really Jake's courage under pressure had clearly made an impression. Stepping between armed robbers and a room full of frightened strangers wasn't nothing, and the manager had clearly clocked it. Add in the fact that Jake had just traded numbers with Chief Hendricks right in front of him, and the manager

How many points would those two lions be worth? Jake wondered, a little startled by the possibility. Between all the repairs and store purchases lately, his balance had been running on fumes for days. If two iron statues could actually be recycled, that would be a serious windfall.[Scan complete. Item composition: hardened steel. Estimated recycle value: no less than 10,000 points. Proceed?] The system's calm voice sounded in his head once again.Jake nearly gasped. Ten thousand points, from a pair of decorative lion statues? He didn't hesitate for a second, focusing his mind and muttering, Recycle them. Now. I'm about to make a fortune here. This whole industrial park has to be full of stuff like this.Meanwhile, Marcus had wandered off with a curious Grace in tow, giving her the grand tour of the place. Neither of them noticed the two statues quietly vanishing from the lobby. Not that anyone would have cared even if they had the building was packed with so much flashy décor that no

"Oh, come on what if Marcus and the guys walk in and get the wrong idea about us?" Jake batted her hand away instantly.That set Grace off. "You saw everything back there, and don't think I didn't notice how your body reacted. If you don't play along today, I'm telling my dad exactly what happened. And trust me, once he finds out some guy saw his daughter like that, you are not going to enjoy what comes next."Jake's mouth twitched, a cold sweat breaking out across his forehead. He genuinely hadn't expected this girl to have this kind of bite in her when she wanted something but he also caught the playful glint still lurking behind her supposed anger."Fine, but you have to promise me none of this leaves this room. And for the record, I didn't actually see anything," Jake said, backpedaling fast.Grace wasn't having it. She kept poking and prodding at him, apparently testing the muscle definition under his skin, clearly more curious about this whole situation than she was letting on;