My System Doesn't Give Power

Chapter 53: Locked UP

Locked UP

Waking up after a good night’s sleep, Marty freshened up and stepped out of his room.

He glanced at the tag of the room opposite him. "Of course." Shaking his head, he headed toward the upper deck.

Sure enough, he found Zac leaning against the railing, staring at the landmass that was growing larger with every passing second.

Marty walked over and stood beside him. "Is that the Central City?"

"It should be." For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then suddenly Marty let out a laugh.

"I still can’t believe all of this is actually happening to me." He looked toward the distant city. "It feels like a dream."

"Even after awakening A-Rank potential, I would’ve been happy getting into any of the Top Twenty Academies."

"But getting a chance to study in one of the top five..."

"Thank you, Zac."

"Don’t mention it." Zac’s expression remained calm. "We have bigger things to worry about right now."

[A friend in need is a friend indeed.]

"What brought that on?" Zac asked.

[I felt poetic.]

"That’s a proverb."

("...")

"Do you think there’s still a chance to get the permit back?"

"Hardly." Zac looked toward the approaching city. "If I were in their shoes, my priority would be entering the city as quickly as possible."

"I doubt they’d do anything different."

Earlier that morning, Zac had already confirmed with the system that the people who bought their permits had successfully entered the Central City. At this point, the permits were long gone. freeweɓnovel.cøm

"Let’s get something to eat before the ship docks."

"I’m way too excited about Central City right now. But you know me, I’ll never say no to food."

The two headed toward the dining hall and filled their stomachs. Not long after they finished eating, an announcement echoed throughout the ship.

"The Central City welcomes you. All passengers are requested to disembark in an orderly manner."

The moment the announcement ended, excitement spread throughout the ship. Passengers immediately began making their way toward the exits, with Zac and Marty following along with the crowd.

As they entered the disembarkation area, Zac spotted a Mark Ritchie.

Mark noticed them as well with a mocking smile on his face. He gave them a small wave before turning away.

"I think he knows about us," Marty muttered. "Should we wait before getting off?"

"No. We don’t have time for that."

"Let’s go."

The two stepped off the ship. The moment they entered the harbor, both of them were stunned by its sheer size.

Massive ships filled the docks in every direction, with thousands of people moving through the area and cargo constantly being loaded and unloaded. The entire place felt like a city by itself.

"It’s incredible. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was an ocean instead of a river."

"Well," Zac replied, "the Lolita River surrounds the Central City and stretches across all five continents. It’s larger than many seas."

"Not to mention it’s the main transportation route connecting the Central City to the rest of the world. Having this much traffic is normal.

"Marty nodded. "Fair enough."

"Anyway, enough sightseeing. Let’s go."

A few minutes later, they finally reached the harbor entrance. It looked more like a military fortress than a checkpoint.

Massive walls and armed guards standing everywhere. Not to mention, the pressure radiating from them was noticeably stronger than that of the guards they had seen before.

"Well, it is Central City," Marty said.

"That may be good for the city," Zac sighed. "But it’s terrible for us. We still don’t have our permits, remember?"

Ahead of them, the incoming travellers were split into two separate lines.

People who had previously entered the city were directed toward one gate. After a quick verification process, they were allowed inside.

New arrivals, however, were sent through a much stricter screening process. And the first thing checked was their entry permit.

Marty suddenly grabbed Zac’s shoulder. "Zac."

"What?"

"Look over there." Zac followed his gaze and saw Mark had reached the checkpoint.

Instead of entering through the returning residents’ gate, he deliberately walked toward the new arrivals’ inspection area.

He approached one of the guards and showed him something. The two spoke for a moment. Afterwards, Mark casually pointed in Zac and Marty’s direction. The guard looked over. Mark then shook the guard’s hand before walking away.

"That doesn’t seem good, does it?"

Zac watched the guard staring directly at them. Then he sighed. "No. It really doesn’t."

Marty swallowed hard. "We are definitely in trouble."

A few minutes later, the guard who had spoken with Mark began walking toward Zac and Marty. The moment he stopped in front of them, Marty forced a smile.

"Is there a problem, sir?"

"Yeah," the guard replied. "There definitely is. Show me your permits."

Marty and Zac exchanged a glance. "Sir, the problem is..." Marty began. "We were scammed in Cape Town, and our permits were stolen."

The guard’s expression immediately darkened. "The same old story every illegally entered person will say."

"No, sir. We’re telling the truth. You can contact the authorities in Cape Town and verify it."

The guard snorted. "Do you think I have time for that? A lot of criminals and terrorists come here with that exact same excuse."

"Guards!"

Instantly, several guards moved toward them from all directions. "Arrest them and take them into custody."

"But sir, we didn’t do anything wrong!"

The guard folded his arms. "Entering the Central City without a permit is already a violation of the law. Attempting to deceive an officer and sneak into the city is another."

"But we never tried to sneak in!"

Before the guards could grab them, Zac stepped forward. "Wait. If you really want proof, check our variant licenses. We’re not cultists."

The guard stared at him, then laughed. "Are you telling me how to do my job, kid? I can buy hundreds of fake licenses from the black market."

The growing commotion began attracting attention from nearby travelers. People slowly stopped watching.

Just then, a powerful aura approached, and the crowd instinctively made way.

A tall man in military uniform stepped forward. "What is going on here?"

The guard immediately saluted. "Captain Benedict!"

The guard pointed at Zac and Marty. "These two are attempting to enter the city without permits. When I tried to detain them, they resisted and presented fake variant licenses."

"That’s not true. He didn’t even check our licenses and accused us the moment he walked over."

"And we never tried to sneak into the city. We were just standing here the entire time. He is the one who came to us himself.

"The captain remained silent.

"Whether the licenses are fake or real doesn’t matter; you don’t have permits, and that’s enough evidence for me."

"Arrest them."

"Captain, wait," Marty said quickly. "We’re really telling the truth. Our permits were stolen in Cape Town. We’re newly admitted students of New Dawn Academy.

"For the first time, hesitation appeared on Benedict’s face. "New Dawn Academy, you say?"

"Yes, sir."

"What potential do you two have?"

[This is going to be fun.] The system chuckled inside Zac’s head.

"I’m an A-rank potential with the Shield Bearer class."

The captain nodded. "That at least sounds plausible, but still not enough to get admitted into a top five academy."

Then his gaze shifted toward Zac. "And you? Clearly, being handsome isn’t enough to enter New Dawn Academy."

After a brief silence, Zac said, "I have E-Rank potential."

Instantly, laughter erupted throughout the area. The guard who had accused them pointed at Zac. "An E-Rank? You have some serious courage showing your face in Central City." freewebnøvel.coɱ

Captain Benedict raised a hand, and the laughter immediately stopped. "That’s enough." He looked at Zac and Marty.

"Arrest them. Verify their variant licenses and confirm with the Cape Town officials whether their story is true, and also investigate their backgrounds."

"If they’re clean, send them back to their home country."

"Yes, Captain." The moment they heard "E-Rank," the possibility that Zac had been telling the truth had completely vanished from everyone’s mind.

Both of them were locked up in the dark, cold, and terribly smelling prison cell of the harbor. Their weapons, accessories, and VSB equipment were confiscated before getting locked up.

Marty sat down against the wall. "Why didn’t you tell them your real potential?"

Zac leaned against the bars. "Because even if it got us out of here today, it would create far bigger problems later."

Marty sighed. "You know... I kind of miss the old Zac." Zac raised an eyebrow. "The one before awakening. He was righteous, optimistic, a little gullible, and always smiling and friendly with everyone.

Zac rolled his eyes. "But he wasn’t mysterious." Marty looked at him. "He was easy to understand."

"Now? You feel like a completely different person."

"Hardship changes a man."

Marty lowered his head. "I just hope there’s still a little bit of him left inside you."

"We’ll have to wait and see about that."

The cell fell silent again. A few moments later, Marty groaned again. "So what now? We came all the way here hoping to attend the academy, but now we’re prisoners."

"Actually..." Zac hesitated but still said it. "I do have a way out of here."

Marty instantly stood up. "You WHAT?"

"I said I have a way out of here."

"Then why are we sitting here?!"

Zac rubbed his forehead. "Because I don’t really want to use it."

"Zac." Marty grabbed his shoulders. "Please. Do something. I’m too young to live my life in prison."

Zac sighed. "I know someone in the Central City who could help us."

"How influential is he?" Marty asked with expectation. "You could call her a big shot."

Marty stared at him. "It’s a SHE again, dammit."

"Fine. Then why didn’t you mention this earlier?"

"Let’s just say..." Zac grimaced. "It’s complicated."

Marty narrowed his eyes. "Is she the ex that you accidentally knocked up and ran away with, or something?"

"No, I don’t! Don’t run your imaginations."

[Yeah! Like hell you could do that. She would probably cut your balls if that ever happened.]

"Fine. Even then, how are you planning to contact her? I don’t think prisoners get phone privileges."

Zac smiled. "Do you know the biggest weakness people in power have?"

"Arrogance."

A mischievous grin appeared on Zac’s face. "We just need to poke it a little."

Marty stared at him, and then a grin slowly appeared on his own face. "I like this plan."

[Me too. Let’s call the sugar mama.]