Chapter 195: Max Vs Rick (Part 1)
There was a reason for Max’s late arrival, and it wasn’t because he wanted to make some grand entrance, like some movie star arriving fashionably late. No, that wasn’t it at all.
The real reason was far more mundane, but also more telling: he had completely lost track of time. Not out of carelessness, but because his mind had been swimming in thought, obsessing over his newest ability, the strange and unpredictable power of the Vow.
To someone like Max, someone who had survived and thrived as the head of the White Tiger group, understanding the rules was only the first step. The next was breaking them, or at least bending them until they almost snapped. He had made a career, a life, out of finding loopholes and back doors, of thinking five steps ahead and sidestepping disaster. Now, he was trying to do the same thing with his ability.
What if, he wondered, the Vow could be activated just through a simple bet? A spoken agreement, a mental commitment, a private challenge, did the power respond to belief alone?
If he told someone he would win, and they doubted him, would that be enough to ignite the flame? Would his determination override the normal rules of engagement?
Even if the person he made the bet with couldn’t pay up, would his mind, believing it had already won, unlock temporary power?
He’d hoped so.
But it didn’t work.
Max realized, as much as it frustrated him, that the Vow couldn’t be tricked, not even by him. It was linked too closely to truth. It had to be real. He had to believe, without doubt, that the conditions were solid. Otherwise, there would be no reward.
That led him to a new theory. What if he made a bet with someone who could actually afford to pay? Someone like Wolf.
After all, he had already been giving Wolf hundreds of thousands of dollars every time he needed a job done. So if he made a legitimate bet, won, and delayed payment, wasn’t that technically valid?