Become a Homelander and a Marvel superstar

He thought that Ah Zu would immediately show a look of disdain upon hearing this background, since people in high society are most averse to being associated with criminals.

But Azu simply nodded slightly, as if he had heard something completely ordinary.

"The case from three years ago... Scott..." Azu pretended to think for a moment, then a look of "sudden realization" flashed in his eyes.

"No wonder you looked familiar. Scott Lang... that Cyber ​​Robin Hood who hacked into Vista Corporation's security system and drove the CEO's Bentley into the swimming pool?"

Scott nearly spat out his drink and asked somewhat awkwardly, "You...you've heard my story?"

"Someone mentioned it during casual conversation at a business cocktail party," Ah Zu said casually, leaning against the bar.

Scott lowered his head in sudden realization. Yes, to these billionaire circles, his "feat" back then was nothing more than a source of amusement for them during their leisure time.

Azu pulled a box of Cohiba slim cigars from his suit pocket, took one out for himself, and gave one to Scott as well.

Scott took the cigar but refused the lighter offered by the bartender, carefully putting it into his pocket.

Ah Zu saw this, smiled slightly, and continued speaking without saying a word.

"But there's one thing I'm curious about."

"You hacked into your former employer's system and altered the flow of funds. Even if you didn't pocket the money, legally this still constitutes unauthorized cyber intrusion and illegal transfer of a large sum of money. This felony typically carries a sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison."

Ah Zu raised one finger, then raised a second one.

"Secondly, you broke into the CEO's private mansion. Regardless of whether there was any theft, trespassing is a very serious crime. If someone was inside, the sentence would be even heavier. In California, this crime typically carries a sentence of 2 to 6 years."

"Finally," Azu held up his third finger, "you also drove that expensive Bentley into the pool. Damaging property worth over $400 is a felony, let alone a Bentley. These two charges combined will carry at least two to four years."

"Logically speaking, with all the charges added up, even if the judge gives a lenient sentence, you should still serve more than 10 years in prison."

"And you only got three years? How did you manage that? Is the judge a relative of yours?"

Scott listened to this professional analysis and gave a helpless, bitter laugh. He tilted his head back, downed the beer in his glass in one gulp, and then slammed the empty glass heavily on the table.

"You're absolutely right, Daniel. Not only are you right, the situation was even worse than you described."

Scott wiped the foam from the corner of his mouth, recalling the chilling courtroom experience.

"Actually, I almost got sentenced to life imprisonment at first."

"My assets were frozen at the time, and the court assigned me an Asian lawyer. He seemed quite shrewd, dressed in a suit, with his briefcase stuffed with documents. But he was a disaster!"

Scott lowered his voice, as if he were telling a horror story.

"Faced with tons of irrefutable evidence from the prosecution... surveillance footage, network IP addresses, and even my fingerprints left in the Bentley. Guess what the lawyer did?"

"He rejected the prosecution's proposed ten-year plea deal. Facing the judge and jury, he loudly declared that he would plead not guilty!"

"Not guilty!" Scott waved his hands dramatically. "He actually told the jury that the person who hacked the network, broke in, and drove the Bentley into the pool wasn't me at all, but an alien disguised as me!"

"The judge's face turned ashen. The prosecution even proposed adding contempt of court charges against me, directly recommending that the judge sentence me to life imprisonment without parole."

A hint of surprise flashed in Azu's eyes when he heard this.

"That does sound...very wild. What was the name of that lawyer who almost sent you to your doom?"

"His name is Snake Zhang," Scott spat out through gritted teeth. "I'll never forget that name."

"ha!"

Snake? Zhang?

When Azu heard this name, he suddenly felt no surprise at all.

Scott, oblivious to Azu's unusual expression, continued his story.

"Thank goodness! Thank God. My friend Louis knows some connections out there."

"He went to Hell's Kitchen in New York and found a very capable blind lawyer, I think his name was Matt something."

"That blind lawyer was a genius. After taking the case, he immediately overturned the previous absurd defense. He found a fatal flaw in Vesta's accounting fraud, and a procedural loophole in the prosecution's chain of evidence. He used this as leverage to negotiate a plea bargain with the prosecution. He emphasized to the judge that my motive was to return the embezzled funds, not for personal gain. In the end, he managed to reduce my sentence to the minimum of three years."

Ah Zu listened with a smile, and then waved to the bartender to bring two glasses of bourbon whiskey.

After the liquor went down his throat, the alcohol began to burn in Scott's blood.

His long-suppressed emotions finally broke down in front of this wealthy stranger who had let him go and was willing to listen.

"I thought the three years would pass quickly. I thought that after I got out of prison, everything could start over."

"But I'm lying to myself, Daniel."

"I thought I was upholding justice, but what was the result?"

"I lost my job, I lost my wife, and I lost the three most important years of my daughter's growth."

"I couldn't even get into her birthday party!"

Scott's tears involuntarily streamed down his face.

"I'm no good person. I'm just a thief, a self-righteous, stupid thief. Letting me go today is a complete waste of your kindness."

The dim lights in the bar shone on Scott's dejected figure, as if the world had already left him behind.

Azu watched him quietly, without offering immediate comfort; he simply asked the bartender to refill Scott's whiskey.

"Lift your head up, Scott."

Ah Zu abandoned his previous casual, teasing tone and became serious.

"You're not a thief. A thief only steals other people's things to satisfy his own greed."

"And you? You have an enviable high-paying job and a happy family. If you just shut up and pretended you didn't see anything, you could have lived a comfortable life and enjoyed the privileges of the middle class."

"But you didn't."

"What did you do? You risked losing everything to stand up for ordinary people you didn't know and who were being misled, and to fight for their justice."

"And you, Scott, my friend, you are a true hero."