It made no sense that the entire cybersecurity team would leave their post just for a meeting, even if they were curious. Besides, this was a billion-dollar company; they probably had several teams located in different countries.
"That is my mistake then; I have shown too much of my hand," Richard replied with an uneasy smile.
This wasn't part of the plan, but it wasn't something that would cause any problems in the future. Without further ado, Richard immediately switched the video feed on his screen to another area of the company.
On the screen, he could see several people on their PCs, all typing away furiously. It seemed it was true that he had just out-hacked their entire team.
Looking at it, he had a feeling that they had anticipated him hacking them, so they had prepared for him. Such a test was uncommon and extremely dangerous if he had any bad intentions.
"You do not need to be wary. You call it a mistake, but to us, I would say it is an honour to meet someone with your skills," Larry began.
"Well, thank you, but what about the payment?" Richard said, knowing that the conversation was already going astray.
"We will come to that, but the board and I have a proposal to make," the man continued.
As he said that, Richard immediately began to inspect the video feed of the conference room closely. This led him to notice the small webcam sitting discreetly behind him.
It delivered a live feed of whatever happened within the room to another conference room in the building, which was filled with their higher-level shareholders.
"I am not working for anyone. I have my plans. However, as long as I get paid, I have no problems," Richard replied.
He wasn't one to shy away. They had outsmarted him—which was expected; they were older and had more people than he did, so more people were giving them ideas.
He already knew something was wrong when he saw the literal founder of the company in the room with them, but again, he wasn't one to shy away. His presence meant that these people held him in high regard.
"Of course, they also have access to my information," Richard thought.
"That removes one option, but no. We would like you to help us design a better security system. You seem to be a company worth of cybersecurity experts in one."
"A whole new system?" Richard asked.
"We believe that if you could find and exploit such flaws, then it would make sense that you would surely have a way to fix them… For that alone, we would be offering you a total of $500,000," the man said as Richard's eyes widened.
Five hundred thousand dollars! That was a whopping five hundred million Naira. It was way above what he thought he would be earning from one company alone.
"…And if you can help us create a new security system, we are willing to pay you a total of twenty million dollars," Larry said.
"Twenty million…" Richard shouted in shock.
That was way beyond what he was expecting; that was twenty billion Naira. This was more than enough for him to do everything he had thought of so far.
Even if he didn't push further than what he had done today, it would be more than enough for him to live peacefully for a lifetime and more.
"Why would you want to do that? Your company stats show that you have over a thousand employees worldwide who, if they came together, would be able to create something even I can't hack," Richard asked.
It wasn't that he didn't want the money—he most definitely did. It was just that the offer was too sudden. Well, truthfully, he should be demanding more from them.
The budget to create or even maintain a security system for such a huge company went into billions of dollars.
Twenty million dollars was nothing compared to a billion; however, he wasn't here to extort them of their money. He wasn't that kind of person; the money offered was more than enough, so he did not need to ask for more.
"Think of it as a fee to get closer to you," Larry said bluntly.
"Okay then, I will be sending the fix for the flaws soon. Please let my payment follow promptly after…" Richard began as he took a proper posture and way of speaking.
"As for your offer, I accept and will send the file for that as well. I assume it will take about a week for you all to examine and approve it, so I will be seeing you then," Richard continued.
He wouldn't say that creating the cybersecurity system would take that much time. He had already done so when creating KingOS; all he needed to do was revamp it to fit their company.
"I see then. Thank you," Larry replied before he and his team bowed.
"No, I should be thanking you," Richard replied with a hearty laugh.
If they wanted to use the money to make him a friend, then why not? His payment might not be enough for the system he would build for them, but he had gained a friend in a very high place.
After a bit more exchange of pleasantries, Richard gave them his Discord name and a link to access him, and with that, the meeting came to an end. Without wasting much time, Richard quickly compiled the new cybersecurity system and sent it to them.
It was just a pile of code with several instructions; there wasn't exactly much to it. He had already sent the solution to the flaws; it wasn't necessary but had to be done since it was via a standard channel.
Minutes later, Richard received a notification telling him that his bank account had been credited.
"The power of money," he noted.
Normally, such international transfers should take at least a day to be completed, but it had barely taken an hour.
Opening his bank app, Richard was faced with a substantial sum. His account had only around 320,000 Naira within it, but there was now a new section for it.
Nigerian banks couldn't receive foreign currency within their normal accounts, but some banks like his would automatically create a new account corresponding to the currency received.