Chapter 382: Dealing with scammers Noah returned to the cafe with a sleek black suitcase containing the hundred thousand dollars in cash. The woman and her two enforcers were already waiting, their expressions showing greedy anticipation mixed with composure. He placed the suitcase on the table between them with a decisive thud that made the weight of the money audible. But before allowing them to touch it or verify the contents, Noah held up his hand. "Papers first. Sign the settlement agreement and release of all claims, exactly as you promised." The woman’s smile tightened slightly at his insistence on proper procedure, but she couldn’t refuse without revealing the scam’s true nature. She withdrew the prepared documents and signed them. "Now we need witnesses," Noah stated firmly, gesturing toward the cafe staff. "Independent third parties to verify this transaction occurred and the settlement was properly executed." He called over two waiters who were working the afternoon shift. Initially, they looked reluctant to get involved in what was clearly some kind of serious financial matter between customers. Noah solved their hesitation by pulling out his wallet and handing each of them a crisp hundred-dollar bill. "For your time and signature as witnesses to this settlement agreement. Just sign here confirming you witnessed both parties sign and exchange payment." The money transformed their reluctance into cooperation. Both waiters signed the documents as witnesses, their names and signatures now legally binding them to testimony about what had occurred. With multiple copies made and witness signatures secured on each, the transaction was legally complete. The woman took possession of the suitcase, verified the cash inside with barely concealed satisfaction, and stood to leave with her enforcers following close behind. Noah and the woman departed in their own directions, the scammers clearly believing they had successfully executed yet another profitable shakedown. After the meeting concluded, Noah drove Smith and Ethan back to their house. During the drive, Smith kept expressing guilt and gratitude about the massive sum Noah had just paid on his behalf. "Don’t worry about it, Uncle Smith," Noah reassured him as they pulled up to the house. "I’ll sort this out properly, and I’ll let you know soon enough how everything resolves. Just trust that those criminals won’t be enjoying that money for long." Smith and Ethan exited the GTR, both looking uncertain but willing to trust Noah’s mysterious confidence about the situation. After dropping them off, Noah sat in his parked car and opened his phone, launching a specialised tracking application he had downloaded earlier. A red dot appeared on the screen, moving steadily across a digital map of the city streets in real-time. During his brief stop at an electronics shop on the way to the bank, Noah had purchased a high-quality GPS tracker—the kind used for vehicle recovery and covert surveillance. While the woman and her enforcers had been distracted counting the cash and congratulating themselves inside the cafe, Noah had casually walked past their car in the parking lot and placed the small magnetic tracker underneath their rear bumper where it would remain undetected. He wasn’t going to let them walk away free with his money. He was already upset and emotionally volatile from everything happening in the medieval world, and these criminals had decided to target his family and piss him off at absolutely the wrong time. Noah’s expression turned cold as he watched the red dot continue moving through city streets, heading toward whatever location they used as a base of operations. "You picked the wrong person to scam," Noah muttered to himself, his voice carrying dark promise as he watched the red dot on his tracking app. He followed at a discrete distance for nearly forty minutes as the GPS tracker led him through the city. Eventually, the red dot stopped moving and remained stationary at a single location. Noah checked the address displayed on his phone’s map interface. "Interesting..." A smile formed on his face as he examined the location details. These weren’t run-of-the-mill street scammers operating out of cheap apartments or seedy motels. They were rather wealthy, living in an upscale private residential complex with gated security and expensive property values. The kind of place that suggested years of successful fraud had paid off handsomely for these criminals. Although he couldn’t determine the exact unit number from the GPS location alone, that wasn’t really an issue. He had their general location, their vehicle, and enough information to track them down when the time came. With their address secured, Noah closed the tracking app and made his way back home. He had learned enough for the time being. They could keep his money with them for now—he still had preparations to make before paying them back properly. Arriving home, Noah found his father preparing dinner. They ate together, Alan chatting about his day and asking casual questions about Noah’s activities. Noah provided vague but satisfactory answers, not wanting to worry his father with details about insurance scammers or his plans for revenge. After dinner, Noah excused himself and headed to his room, claiming he had some studying to catch up on. Once alone, Noah jumped onto his gaming PC and opened multiple browser tabs. He began searching for the best resources on computer science, network security, and related topics that would give him the technical knowledge he needed. After considerable research, he compiled a shopping cart of essential texts: The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson - $49.99 Metasploit: The Penetration Tester’s Guide by David Kennedy - $44.95 Black Hat Python by Justin Seitz - $39.95 The Web Application Hacker’s Handbook by Dafydd Stuttard - $54.99 Network Security Assessment by Chris McNab - $59.99 Gray Hat Hacking by Allen Harper - $64.99 Practical Malware Analysis by Michael Sikorski - $69.99 The total came to $384.85 for digital editions that would download immediately rather than waiting for physical shipping. Noah didn’t hesitate, clicking purchase and charging it to one of his accounts. Within minutes, all seven books were downloaded and ready for consumption. He cracked his knuckles and opened the first text, his photographic memory and enhanced intelligence attributes allowing him to process information at speeds that would seem impossible to normal people. The initial Chapters covered fundamental concepts—how programs interact with memory, the structure of executable files, basic assembly language. But Noah tore through those foundations like a starving man at a feast, his mind absorbing and connecting concepts with supernatural efficiency. Buffer overflows. Stack manipulation. Heap exploitation. The technical jargon that would confuse most beginners made perfect sense to Noah’s enhanced comprehension, each concept clicking into place like puzzle pieces forming a complete picture. He moved from reading to practical application, opening terminal windows and testing the concepts in real-time. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he wrote simple exploits, watching with satisfaction as his code successfully manipulated memory addresses and bypassed basic security measures in test environments. After several hours of intense studying and hands-on practice, a notification flashed across his retina, appearing in his vision like a heads-up display. [Your Programming skill has reached Level 3!] An influx of information entered Noah’s brain as the system integrated his learned knowledge with enhanced understanding that transcended mere memorisation. Suddenly, patterns he’d been struggling to grasp became crystal clear. The relationships between different programming concepts formed an intuitive web of understanding that felt like remembering something he’d always known rather than learning it fresh. A smile formed on his face as he felt the tangible improvement in his capabilities. This was what made the system so powerful—it didn’t just reward effort, it accelerated learning in ways that compressed years of experience into hours of focused study. "More... I want more," Noah whispered with hungry determination. He dove back into the texts with renewed intensity, moving beyond basic exploitation into more sophisticated topics. Network protocols, packet manipulation, social engineering techniques, privilege escalation—each subject became another tool in his growing arsenal. Noah’s high intelligence and various skills meant he could hold multiple complex concepts in his mind simultaneously, testing theoretical approaches against practical limitations while already planning three steps ahead. His photographic memory ensured nothing was forgotten or needed reviewing—every line of code, every technical detail, every security vulnerability remained perfectly preserved for instant recall. He practised breaking into virtual machines he’d set up specifically for testing, each successful intrusion teaching him both the attacker’s perspective and how to defend against such methods. The ethical implications didn’t concern him—these were tools, and tools were neutral until directed toward a purpose. The sky darkened outside his room, but Noah remained hunched over his computer, completely absorbed in his studies. His father had long since gone to bed, leaving the house quiet except for the steady clicking of Noah’s keyboard and the soft sound of his PC’s cooling fans. Hours passed in what felt like minutes, his high focus allowing complete immersion without the mental fatigue that would cripple normal learners. He moved through the advanced texts, consuming knowledge about exploitation frameworks, vulnerability assessment, and sophisticated attack vectors. Then, as dawn began lightening the sky outside his window, another notification appeared: [Your Programming skill has reached Level 4!] Another wave of integrated knowledge crashed through Noah’s consciousness. Suddenly, he understood not just how to use various hacking tools and techniques, but the underlying principles that made them effective. He could visualize network topologies in his mind, trace packet routes through complex systems, and identify potential vulnerabilities in code just by reading its structure. The smile on his face widened. With Level 4 Programming and his other enhanced attributes, he now possessed capabilities that most professional hackers took decades to develop. Those insurance scammers had made a catastrophic mistake targeting his family. They thought they were untouchable in their gated community with their ill-got wealth. They had no idea that the person they’d just stolen from had both the resources and now the technical skills to make their lives completely miserable. Noah leaned back in his chair, he had what he needed. Now it was just a matter of planning the perfect response—one that would ensure these criminals regretted ever crossing paths with Noah Carter.