Chapter 342: The Devil's Whisper! A Goddess's Price Tag!
"Natsuki-chan, are you hungry? What do you want to eat? Italian, French, or Chinese?"
Shen Anyu smiled as he looked down at Suzuki Natsuki, his voice dripping with the casual elegance of someone who owned the world.
For him, the millions of yen he had just swiped on his black card were a drop in the bucket—less than dust.
Compared to the massive amount of [Destiny Value] he was harvesting, these luxury goods were practically free. In fact, considering the system rewards, he was making a profit.
Since he had decided to make a move, he would not play games. He would overwhelm Suzuki Natsuki directly, crushing her defenses with an avalanche of wealth and dominance. No hesitation. No mercy.
At this point, Shen Anyu wasn't afraid of Suzuki Natsuki, this greedy little kitten, running away. With his [Divine Perception] and psychological mastery, he had already grasped her thoughts completely.
Beneath her pure, innocent high school student exterior lay a heart that throbbed with vanity. She was a creature who indulged in pleasure, yearning for material possessions and the intoxicating scent of luxury. She was a flower that could only bloom when watered with gold.
Different [Destined Heroines] required different strategies.
If it were someone like the proud assassin Ye Liyou or the pure celebrity Zhong Lingyin, throwing money at them would be counterproductive. Zhong Lingyin would find it vulgar and repulsive, while Ye Liyou would likely just sneer in disdain and perhaps put a dagger to his throat for the insult.
Especially Ye Yan's Eldest Senior Sister, Pei Changli, the aloof "Fairy Pei." Even if you proposed with a hundred gold mines, let alone moving her heart, you would probably be met with a [Heavenly Human] sword strike that would cleave you in two.
Most [Destined Heroines] possessed a certain nobility or obsession with the Dao that made them immune to bribery. At most, spending money was just a tool to facilitate scenarios to gain favor.
Shen Anyu was somewhat glad that Suzuki Natsuki, this specific [Destined Heroine], loved money. It made things so much simpler.
"Anyu-kun... you... these things... are you really going to give them to me?"
Suzuki Natsuki's watery peach blossom eyes looked up at Shen Anyu. Her pure and lovely face was flushed pink, filled with intense nervousness and disbelief. Her voice trembled, sounding like a dream she was afraid to wake up from.
In her hands, her arms were laden with exquisite shopping bags—Chanel, Hermes, Gucci. The weight of them was heavy, yet it felt like the sweetest burden she had ever carried. The glossy paper, the silk ribbons, the faint scent of expensive leather wafting from inside... it was intoxicating.
"Of course. Do you not like them?"
Shen Anyu smiled, his eyes locking onto hers, challenging her.
"I like them... I like them very much! It's just..."
Suzuki Natsuki bit her lip. It wasn't just "liking" them. She craved them. But the rational part of her brain, the part that remembered the tofu shop and the boy with the AE86, was screaming a final warning. This is too much. You can't accept this. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
"There's no 'just.' It's enough that you like them."
Shen Anyu smiled and interrupted Suzuki Natsuki's stammering moral struggle. He didn't give her time to think. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them.
His large, warm hand slid around her slender, flexible waist, pulling her slightly closer.
"Let's go. I'll take you to a Chinese restaurant that's supposedly very good, though I feel the Chinese food in Ginza, Tokyo, isn't quite authentic. I'll take you to Yanxia to try the real thing sometime."
Suzuki Natsuki felt Shen Anyu's warm palm searing through the thin fabric of her uniform. The heat of his hand seemed to brand her skin. Her delicate body stiffened instinctively, a jolt of electricity shooting up her spine.
He's hugging me.
She bit her pink lower lip with her pearly white teeth, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She did not resist. She couldn't.
Gifts worth over ten million yen... Anyu-kun just gave them to her like buying a bottle of water?
Her slender white fingers clutched the handles of the shopping bags so tightly her knuckles turned white. Suzuki Natsuki felt her steps float, as if she were walking on cotton. The ground felt unstable.
Why is Anyu-kun so good to me? Did Anyu-kun fall for me at first sight?
But... I already have Takumi in my heart. Takumi treats me so well...
No, this couldn't be. I shouldn't be doing this.
Absolutely not. I am a bad girl.
Should I refuse? Throw the bags back and run?
This thought flashed through Suzuki Natsuki's mind, a flicker of loyalty. But then, she remembered the scene in the Chanel store just moments ago. The sales assistants bowing to her, the envious and jealous gazes of other women looking at her—or rather, looking at the man beside her and the bags in her hand.
She remembered the touch of the limited-edition Chanel bag she had dreamed of for years.
If she refused... she would have to go back to the tofu shop. Back to the smell of soy beans. Back to counting coins for a vending machine soda.
Sensing Suzuki Natsuki's inner struggle, the wavering of her soul, Shen Anyu smirked internally. He leaned down, his lips brushing the shell of her sensitive ear. His hot breath washed over her neck, smelling of mint and expensive tobacco, making her shiver.
He whispered, his voice low and magnetic, like a devil proposing a contract:
"Natsuki-chan, let's go on a date. As long as you agree to one thing... just one small request from me... these are all yours. Forever. And there will be more."
"That one thing is..."
Shen Anyu whispered the condition clearly. It wasn't explicit, but the implication was heavy, thick with desire and possession.
Like the devil's whispers, as Suzuki Natsuki listened to Shen Anyu's words, her pupils continuously constricted. Her breath hitched in her throat. Her face turned a deep, burning crimson that spread all the way to her neck.
Her pearly white teeth almost bit through her lip, drawing a drop of blood.
That request...
After Shen Anyu finished speaking, he smiled confidently and released Suzuki Natsuki. He walked towards the parking lot, the keys to the Ferrari jingling in his hand, not even looking back.
He drove the Rosso Corsa Ferrari SF90 Stradale out of the parking spot, the V8 engine purring with a restrained growl.
Suzuki Natsuki stood frozen on the sidewalk, the wind ruffling her skirt. Her expression was a chaotic mix of hesitation, conflict, greed, and desire. Her small hand, clutching the shopping bag, alternately tightened and loosened, mimicking the beat of her treacherous heart.
Takumi... or the Ferrari?
It wasn't until the red Ferrari sports car pulled up beside her, the window rolling down to reveal Shen Anyu's handsome, inviting smile—a smile that promised a world of pleasure she had only seen on TV—that she broke.
Suzuki Natsuki finally made up her mind.
'Takumi... I'm sorry...'
'I just... I just want to experience this life for one day. Just one day...'
Suzuki Natsuki clutched the shopping bag tightly, feeling extremely guilty, the shame burning her stomach. But her legs moved on their own. She opened the door and slid into the passenger seat of Shen Anyu's red Ferrari.
The door closed with a solid, expensive thud, shutting out the noise of the ordinary world.
Shen Anyu watched Suzuki Natsuki's conflicted and guilty expression with amusement. He found her internal torture incredibly playful.
This was the ultimate pleasure of a man—not just possessing a body, but dragging a pure and unblemished beautiful girl down from her pedestal, pulling her into the mundane world of lust and greed, and watching her corrupt herself willingly.
[Ding! Detected Destined Heroine Suzuki Natsuki's favorability +5, plundering +15,000 Destiny Value!]
[Ding! Detected Destined Heroine Suzuki Natsuki's favorability +3, plundering +9,000 Destiny Value!]
[Ding! Detected Destined Heroine Suzuki Natsuki's favorability +10, plundering +30,000 Destiny Value!]
[Ding! Detected Destined Heroine Suzuki Natsuki's total favorability 82, additional plundering +30,000 Destiny Value!]
[Ding! Child of Destiny Echizen Takumi's emotional line has undergone a major twist, plundering +100,000 Destiny Value!]
...
On the other side, in the rustic garage at the foot of Akina Mountain.
Clang!
A wrench fell to the concrete floor.
Echizen Takumi suddenly felt a sharp, piercing pang in his heart. He clutched his chest, his face twisting in confusion. His eyelids twitched wildly, a physiological reaction often associated in folklore with bad omens. It felt as if he had just lost something precious, something that could never be replaced.
But the feeling was fleeting, vanishing as quickly as it came.
Echizen Takumi rubbed the back of his head, bewildered. His hands were covered in black grease, his fingernails permanently stained.
He chuckled foolishly, his optimism blinding him to reality:
"Maybe Natsuki-chan is thinking of me. Or maybe she's nervous about our date tonight."
"I must win first place in the Akina Mountain race tonight! Then, I can confess to her. We'll go on a date... just the two of us."
He looked at the white sedan in front of him, his eyes burning with passion.
"No one can beat my AE86!"
When it came to racing, Echizen Takumi immediately became spirited and full of confidence. The legend of the AE86 Car God on Akina Mountain was him. On the downhill, gravity was his ally.
What if that red Ferrari supercar during the day was worth over two hundred million yen? On these mountain roads, horsepower meant nothing without skill. He had still easily left it behind, its exhaust fumes unable to catch up to his tail lights.
Immediately, Echizen Takumi picked up his wrench and continued to tune his beloved AE86, unaware that while he was tuning a car, another man was tuning his woman.
...
Meanwhile, twilight had fallen over Tokyo.
Shen Anyu took Suzuki Natsuki to enjoy a high-end Cantonese Chinese meal. The shark fin soup, the abalone, the vintage wine—every bite was a taste of money. Natsuki ate timidly at first, then with increasing enjoyment, her guilt slowly being washed away by the exquisite flavors.
After dinner, he didn't take her home.
He booked a top-floor presidential suite with a private swimming pool at a five-star hotel overlooking the Tokyo Tower.
The suite was dimly lit, the atmosphere heavy with ambiguity and anticipation.
By the poolside, the water glowing with a soft blue light, Shen Anyu leisurely leaned back in a lounge chair, swirling a glass of red wine. He had instructed Natsuki to go "prepare herself" in the bathroom.
He was waiting for the surprise Suzuki Natsuki would bring next. He knew that for the sake of those bags, and to maintain this dream, she would agree to anything.
This wait was definitely worth it.
While waiting, Shen Anyu picked up his phone, casually replying to messages from his other [Destined Heroines] and handling various important matters. He scrolled through reports from the [Dragon King Society] and the [Shadow Alliance]. News about the whereabouts of the [Child of Destiny] was especially crucial.
Beep beep.
Just then, a text message arrived from an unknown number.
Shen Anyu glanced at it. With his [Nanometer Monitoring Robot] and god-level hacking skills, the sender's ID was transparent to him. He naturally knew who sent it.
Even without the tech, the tone was obvious.
"Senior, are you there?"
Starting with "Are you there?" always meant a clown—or a girl deeply in love and unsure of herself.
Fortunately, Shen Anyu was a benevolent "Great Person of Destiny" and never harmed any [Destined Heroine] (unless they enjoyed it), so he immediately replied:
"Mm, I'm here."
...
On the other end of the connection, in a secure safehouse somewhere in Tokyo.
Ye Liyou, the feared Blood Shadow Rose, sat on the edge of a bed, clutching her phone like a lifeline. When she received Shen Anyu's message, the frosty aura that usually surrounded her instantly melted. Her cold and beautiful eyebrows relaxed, curving into a rare, soft smile that no target had ever seen.
She had pressed her Fifth Junior Sister, Zhong Lingyin, for a long time that afternoon, trying to interrogate her. Who is he? Where is he? But Lingyin had been tight-lipped, protecting her "scoundrel" boyfriend.
However, seeing that Zhong Lingyin was safe and visibly happy, Ye Liyou felt a complex mixture of relief and... envy.
Then, alone in her room, she had hesitated for over an hour. She typed, deleted, and retyped the message a dozen times.
Finally, Ye Liyou sent the text message.
She still didn't know "Senior's" name.
That kind of thing had already happened in the car. Her innocence, her [First Time], her most important thing... he had taken it all away in a storm of dominance.
At the very least... at the very least, she should know the name of the man who conquered her.
"Senior, I still don't know your name. Would it be convenient for you to tell me?"
After sending this message, Ye Liyou held her breath. Her heart pounded against her ribs.
As Blood Shadow Rose, a gold-medal female assassin who walked in the [Dark World] and killed without batting an eye, she remained calm even when facing a hail of bullets or desperate situations. Even when she was poisoned and surrounded by the Vulture gang earlier, Ye Liyou had remained icy calm, preparing to counterattack with her life on the line.
But now, facing a simple text message reply, Ye Liyou was extremely nervous. Her palms were sweating.
Back at the hotel pool, Shen Anyu raised an eyebrow as he read the message, his expression suddenly becoming strange.
"Tell Ye Liyou my name?"
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