10 Chapter 10 Expulsion (Part 1)

"Mr. Wood, you step out for a moment." After some deliberation, Robert Green decisively spoke.

"Headmaster Green." Mr. Wood was taken aback.

"You go out for a while, I have something to discuss with Director Thomp." Robert Green quickly said.

"This... alright." Mr. Wood was a bit at a loss, had he made a mistake by disclosing Finn Lewis's huge wealth? But Headmaster Green was in charge here and there was nothing Mr. Wood could do but to walk out of the office. However, he didn't leave, instead waiting outside.

"Headmaster, you heard it, didn't you? There's something strange about this whole affair. Although we don't know when they split the money, right after gaining such a large sum, he took out two million directly to squander on Cora Franklin? And right in front of everyone's eyes. If it were someone else who just got hold of this sum of money, they could never just squander it. This obviously had been planned beforehand!" Robert Thomp said quickly.

"Mr. Thom, don't jump to conclusions here, you're wrong to say this. After all, it's one hundred million we're dealing with, not some small change of a few million. That's not the kind of money someone can casually lay hands on." Robert Green was somewhat taken aback, considering what Mr. Wood had said: it's not that easy to illegally obtain such a large sum.

"Headmaster Green, let me tell you something. What does Mr. Wood's class teach? Programming, software. Don't tell me you've forgotten about our school's raging hacker issue from a while ago? They hacked Tsinghua's school forum to oblivion and it took a whole three days for Tsinghua to reclaim their servers. In the end, though, they had to resort to cutting off physical connections to do so," Robert Thomp rattled off.

Robert Green watched Robert Thomp skeptically and said, "Are you suggesting that this kid could be a hacker and acquired the cash illegally?"

"Yes, that's my suspicion. As I see it, whether it's two million or one hundred million, it's unlikely he gained it in the real world through illegal means. With his physique, it's basically impossible. There's only one other source — everyone knows our school has a hacker problem. We don't know who it is but the rivalry between our computer science department and that of Tsinghua is no secret. That kid is a key figure in this department," Robert Thomp said gravely.

"Moreover, technical types like them often act without considering the consequences," Robert Thomp added.

Robert Green watched Robert Thomp with some skepticism, mulling over whether Robert Thomp was doing this because Finn Lewis brazenly cussed him out in the office or because of the money issue. Or was it both?

Robert Green and Robert Thomp weren't in the same faction. Robert Green was well aware of the rumors about Robert Thomp, the ones Finn Lewis had railed against, but without evidence — and even with it — Robert Green would not act. Robert Thomp still has important contacts within the city, after all. Though Fusion University didn't care too much, it was still an issue of saving face on both sides.

After deep consideration, Robert Green asked, "Mr. Thomp, be candid, what do you think we should do?"

"Expel him!" Robert Thomp spat out fiercely, "We should make the first move. He cussed out professors and classmates in the classroom, he threw money at a student. Isn't this a moral issue? Isn't expelling him appropriate? We'll expel him first and then investigate where his money comes from. That would be a matter for the police to investigate. It's not our problem. You should know, this hundred million isn't a small amount. If it was obtained criminally, it is serious enough to warrant the death penalty."

"Isn't expulsion a bit too harsh?" Robert Green looked at Robert Thomp, astonished.

"If his money is obtained illegally, how would it look if this huge affair becomes public? It will damage Fusion University's reputation. But, if we expel him first, even if it eventually comes to light, it won't have much to do with us and the damage to our reputation would be minimized," Robert Thomp replied swiftly.

"Give me some time to think," Robert Green said, a frown creasing his forehead.

"Our school's rules are strict: any student with illegal behaviors is eligible for expulsion," Robert Thomp quickly added.

"But we haven't finished investigating," Robert Green couldn't resist admitting.

"Just contact Director Samuel to know for sure. If they confirm there's trouble of Finn Lewis, and they start investigating, we can proceed. If we wait until the investigation is over, we won't be able to extricate ourselves." Robert Thomp was clever, he tied the issue up with the school's honor.

Unbeknownst to Finn Lewis, the discussion about him had escalated. But after he arrived at the police station, Sharp James first confirmed Finn's identity and family background with Cora Franklin and Yuri Lucas, then let them leave. The police station has its own system. Accessing Finn Lewis's family's records was simple. After reading them, Sharp James was frowning.

Sitting across from Finn Lewis, Sharp James said, "Finn Lewis, if your money comes from a legal source, tell me now. I can you protect your confidentiality. But if you don't say anything, you're handling a lot of money here. This matter may exceed our jurisdiction and need to be reported to city headquarters. Once city headquarters get involved, it will impact your schooling. Do you understand?"

Although just a small town police chief, Sharp James had a good guess what was going on at the school. But he didn't want to get involved in such a matter, and as a small town police chief, he couldn't really join.

Finn Lewis laughed, "Director Samuel, it's not that I don't want to tell you, but that I can't. If I do say something and any information leaks, the issue could become huge and losses could amount to tens of billions of Flame Nation coins. Can you handle that responsibility, Director Samuel?"

(If I could tell them, wouldn't I have done so? Shit, if I could prove that I am a shareholder of Fruit, why would I give a damn about that Robert Thomp?)" Finn Lewis muttered under his breath, frustrated. Zero had only mentioned a single sentence from beginning to end. Although Zero had told Finn that he was a shareholder of Fruit now, Finn couldn't entirely trust that. To become a shareholder, won't there be a contract or some kind of stock transfer agreement? But Finn had nothing.

Just because you say you are, does that mean you are? It already feels ridiculous that a college student from Flame Nation is a shareholder of Fruit. If you're a minor shareholder, that makes sense. Even if you bought a share of Fruit stock on the open market, you're technically a shareholder. But the problem is, you're claiming that you own as much as 4.8% of Fruit stocks…. Okay, Zero initially made it clear to Finn, Finn couldn't believe it himself. How can others?