We prove unconditionally that either NE contains a language requiring Boolean circuits of size at least $2^n/(2n)$, or $VP^0_{\mathbb{Z}}\ne VNP^0_{\mathbb{Z}}$, a constant-free version of Valiant's conjecture over the integers. The Boolean alternative implies that $NP\not\subseteq SIZE[n^k]$ for every constant $k\ge1$. Our proof gives a fine-grained variant of the connection between ... more >>>