Becoming A Tech Tycoon Begins With Regression-Chapter 222: A Trap For Mice

Marìa,for the first time in a long while, was actually relaxing.

Her apartment had been upgraded to resemble those five star hotels, and she didn't even have to worry about fixing anything.

Usually, an apartment upgrade meant an increase in rent, but not this time. Her tenants were like family to her, and she knew of the struggles each underwent, so a sudden rent increase would make them uncomfortable.

With a sigh, she leaned back on her couch.

Being this comfortable felt strange, so much so that it almost felt like a calm before the storm.

"I can't be thinking like that," She muttered, shaking her head, before switching her line of thinking, "I wonder how Ethan how Ethan is doing."

Speaking of which, she looked at her wrist where a high quality smart watch was strapped.

It was a gift from Ethan, one he had instructed her to never take off. The expression he had when giving it to her showed that he was completely serious.

He even seemed a bit...scared?

"I wonder why he made such an expression," María muttered.

It was like Ethan to show that much emotion, he usually... What did her anime obsessed tenant call it again?

Ah that's right,  or something.

So she just promised not to take it off to help

calm him.

But it wasn't like keeping the watch on was a hard task, besides, from what she heard, it was a trending product from that company, OmniTech.

Every aged person right now had it, so it wasn't like she'd feel awkward having it on when going outside. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Besides the looks, even its functions were surprising.

Like this, she didn't even need to go to the hospital for regular checkup, after all, the watch informed her if anything was wrong.

Even now, it was running checks in the background.

A faint blue ring appeared along the edge of the watch's face, slow and steady, almost like a heartbeat. María glanced at it with mild curiosity, tapping the screen once.

A clean, minimalist interface came to life.

[Daily Scan Complete — Subject Health: Optimal.

Heart Rate: Normal

Anomalies Detected: None.]

She chuckled softly. "Fancy little thing, aren't you?"

Technology had come a long way. Back when she was younger, something like this would have been impossible to even imagine.

But suddenly, they now had their very own personal diagnosis doctor right at their finger tips...or rather, wrists.

According to Ethan, this thing was barely ever wrong, and he had also set it so that each report was sent to him even if nothing was wrong with her.

[Cardiovascular Anomaly Predicted in a few years, regular visit to a certain medical center recommended.]

María exhaled was silent for a while before exhaling, half amused, half uneasy. "You're getting dramatic now too?"

She leaned back again, telling herself not to overthink it. Machines were machines.

It was probably just picking up her former stress, or whatever these smart devices liked to complain about.

But just to be safe, she'd at least go to the hospital once in a while, after all, it was just check up.

"Ah, I should probably call Ethan," She said looking at the advice, "else the kid might just worry for no reason."

María let out a yawn, "maybe I'll do that later, for now, let's get some rest."

With that, she pulled up the sheets that covered her legs before taking a short nap, completely unaware o the dangers heading her way.

***

Rather than dangers that was coming her way, it was more accurate to say that the danger had been averted.

You see, Ethan expected his identity to be found out sooner or later, especially by someone like the collector.

Athena had informed him the moment someone started digging into his past and as much as he could lead them on a wild goose chase or erase everything, he didn't.

The collector had pieces that Ethan needed to deal with, and just as he predicted, those pieces were revealed the moment information on him was gained.

"To think you two would escape China, where you have the most influence," Ethan, still using his avatar, said, "to hide in the US, how interesting."

Sitting together on the couch in a hotel room in California was both Madam Xu and Jian Long.

They had just returned to California the previous night, but just before they could thinking of reaching the contacts that the collector allowed them, they had been somehow knocked out, and they were now somehow in this hotel.

Coincidentally, it belonged to Solterra, so the staffs had been ordered to pay no mind this particular room.

"You can stop hiding behind that mask now," Jian, who didn't seem the least bit intimidated, spoke up, "after all, we know who you are."

"Do you?" Ethan's avatar asked with a small smile on its face.

His smile made the two reconsider, did they really know his identity? Was OmniTech really Ethan Carter?

Was he sloppy enough to just let his identity be found out like that?

"What makes you so sure that you do?" Ethan continued, "what if the identity you know is just a trap to flush you out?"

He was right, they hadn't even taken the time to confirm whether or not the information was correct.

But even the Collector believed the information, so it had to be right... Right?

Jian's confidence wavered for just a fraction of a second.

Madam Xu noticed it immediately.

"You wouldn't have brought us here just to talk in circles," she said calmly, folding her hands on her lap. "Whether you are Ethan Carter or not doesn't change the fact that you intercepted us. That means you already know what we intended to do."

The avatar tilted its head slightly, it seemed he was actually thinking about her words before saying.

"Correct," Ethan replied. "You were going to use Maria Alvarez as leverage."

"Since you know her," She muttered looking directly at the screen held up by one of Irina's men, "that means —"

"It means I expected you to be foolish enough to do this," Ethan cut her off, "and I'm glad to see I wasn't wrong."