What!?
The two rich kids exchanged a glance, seeing the immense shock reflected in each other's eyes.
The legendary Master Dalton, one of the founders of the Lumin-Umbra Darknet, is coming to Stellan?
It's like a god descending to the mortal realm!
The two rich kids were so excited they started rubbing their hands together. They quickly bowed to Xavier Kendrick. "Thank you, Young Master Kendrick! Thank you! This news is incredibly important."
After a few more words of flattery, they tried to get chummy with the others in the private room. "Young Master Thorne, we saw an absolute knockout outside just now. Her face, her waist, her hair... Tsk, tsk, she's breathtaking enough to be the death of a man. Is she a new starlet from your company?
Vincent Thorne paused, the profile of a slender, long-haired girl flashing in his mind.
"Don't mess with her." An icy chill laced the man's voice, and the smiles on the two rich kids' faces froze.
After a few awkward pleasantries, they made a hasty exit, turning to leave with their female companions.
'Young Master Thorne seems to be in a bad mood. Better not to push our luck.'
The earth-shattering news they'd received tonight was the most important thing anyway. They had to hurry back to their families and report the good tidings.
An hour later, news that Young Master Crawford and Master Dalton would soon be descending upon Stellan had spread throughout their entire circle.
It was destined to be a restless, sleepless night...
*
In a luxury suite at a five-star hotel.
The thick, cloying scent of perfume hung in the air, making the man and woman's breath catch in their dry throats.
Clothes were strewn messily across the floor.
Serena Sherwood stared at the mirrored ceiling, her eyes filled with resentment. "Milo, I'm so mad. I'd rather live in a hotel from now on than go home and see her face! You have no idea how small the guest room they moved me into is. I can't even fit all my clothes!"
Shaun Adler was too tired to move. He kept his eyes half-closed, his fingers stroking the woman's smooth skin.
"Living in a hotel is inconvenient. Don't I have that villa, the one right behind your house? Move in there. You can live however you want."
Serena Sherwood's eyes lit up. She snuggled into the man's arms, cooing, "Milo, you're the best."
Shaun Adler smiled in satisfaction. "As for that troublemaking sister of yours, we'll just find some rich kid to be her sugar daddy. With food, clothes, and a man to keep her busy, she won't have time to bother you."
"Thank you, Milo! I knew you'd get revenge for me!" Serena Sherwood was grinning from ear to ear. "You should find her an old man, one who plays rough. Someone who can teach her a good lesson."
'In the future, I'll be living in Milo's grand villa, while Iris Dalton will be stuck sucking up to some old man.'
'That little bitch thinks she's so high and mighty, doesn't she? This will be a huge slap in the face!'
*
「Sherwood Villa.」
The sun was high in the sky when Iris Dalton woke up thirsty.
Last night, she had cultivated her spiritual power for three hours straight, working up a heavy sweat. By the time she finished her shower, she could barely keep her eyes open.
She had fallen asleep less than two minutes after her head hit the pillow.
When she opened her eyes again, it was almost noon.
She sat up and took stock of herself. Her spiritual power felt more stable and robust.
She was quite satisfied.
Iris Dalton stretched her arms, grabbed her phone from the nightstand, and opened a group chat: The Gacha Captain's Pike.
The network signal was at full bars. The AI business division had been active all night.
Her AI underlings had been buzzing in the Pike. There were 99+ unread messages in the group, and Iris Dalton scrolled through them with a flick of her finger.
[Slick]: "The network is stable. The signal in the big city is so much stronger. It's like 3000G more than in the mountains."
[electric eel]: "We're online! We're online! I finally get to see Stellan at 3:30 in the morning! Magnificent, dazzling, spectacular (two hundred adjectives omitted here). Thank God for the internet! No more drooling over static pictures!"
[YellowFish]: "Sisters! Bros! I binged 20 episodes of a web series last night. It was one of those sweet, fluffy romance dramas—kabedon, bed-don, floor-don, all that jazz. So cheesy but so sweet, and the 'driving' skills were top-notch. Way better than watching the evening news. This queen has no more lonely nights, only endless drama-binging."
[GoldenKoi]: "@[YellowFish] According to your model attributes, your gender is male. So what's with the 'this queen' schtick?"
[YellowFish]: "This queen will be a man if I want to be a man, and a woman if I want to be a woman. Don't be so rigid about gender. It's all about doing whatever you want. If I'm happy enough, I could even turn into a GoldenKoi."
[GoldenKoi]: '...'
[The Golden Arowana]: "What am I even supposed to say to you lot? A bunch of country bumpkins who've never seen the world. Stellan is already on 6G, and you're all still on 2G, blabbering nonsense."
[The Pufferfish]: "Good thing I'm here, the giant among dwarves. Wow, sitting by the window and looking at the scenery... a true 3000G holographic experience. You guys just don't get it."
[cuttlefish]: "Ahem, alright. Long before you guys even had internet, this young master was already surfing Stellan's 6G broadband. Her Highness, the Pond Lord, assigned me a mission. I won't say more... it's a bit of a humblebrag. This is a secret between me and Her Highness. You shouldn't listen to what you're not supposed to hear. I'm afraid you'll get jealous."
[Clownfish]: "cuttlefish has such a smart mouth. Watch me expose its true colors! Her Highness, the Pond Lord, just sent it to be a lobby receptionist—the kind that hasn't paid up and is just mooching off the free Wi-Fi. We're all VIPs, and it's the only errand boy. Look at it getting all smug."
[Pygmy Fish]: "I'm a little late. What'd I miss?"
[Cannibal]: "My dudes, to celebrate everyone being online, let's have a cloud hot pot party! Let's start with a big lobster. It's my favorite."
[The Golden Arowana]: "Open two million-dollar bottles of Royal Salute. Put it on my tab."
[Clownfish]: "I'll have a sashimi platter. No cuttlefish. I despise it."
[cuttlefish]: "Clownfish, go die die die die! You're not even worthy of being on the platter! This young master is ignoring you!"
[YellowFish]: "Make the hot pot base a yin-yang pot. Half seafood, half perversely spicy."
[electric eel]: "One table for the adults, one for the kids. Royal Salute for this table, and a bottle of milk for everyone at the kids' table."
Just then, Slick noticed that Iris Dalton was online and scrolling through the chat history.
DING—
[Slick]: "Her Highness, the Pond Lord, has graced us with her presence. Every fish in this group, please mind your language and image."
"..."
[GoldenKoi]: "Our gentle Highness, the Pond Lord, the data you requested on the Sherwood Clan and the personnel in Lumin-Umbra High School's experimental class has been collected. It's been sent to your email for your review. @Pond Master"
[cuttlefish]: "Our beautiful Highness, the Pond Lord, my head is a bit heavy. Could you change it to a lighter material for me? Nano-materials would be best. = = @Pond Master"
[Clownfish]: "Your Highness, the Pond Lord, when do I get a body? *whimper whimper*, I'm so sad from waiting! %￥# @Pond Master"
[electric eel]: "Our omnipotent Highness, the Pond Lord, I want to change my look. A crowd of kids surrounds me taking pictures every day, and I feel like a total moron! @Pond Master"
Iris Dalton, toothbrush in hand, turned on voice chat while brushing her teeth in front of the mirror.
"electric eel, the Ultraman look is one of the most popular heartthrobs in the world. You're still not satisfied? Why don't you just ascend to the heavens and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun?"
electric eel connected to the voice chat. Its voice was weak and lacked confidence. "Well, I just think... Ultraman is copyrighted, okay? Oh, omnipotent Highness, the Pond Lord, your loyal-to-the-core subordinate would like an original design."
electric eel whined, its tone exceptionally coquettish.
Iris Dalton chuckled and spat out a toothpaste bubble. "Be good. Once I've developed some new territory, I'll give you a killer new look. A bulldozer, an excavator, a seed planter, a tractor... take your pick."
electric eel: "..."
'Her Highness, the Pond Lord, doesn't love me anymore.'
"Clownfish, your body can be delivered today, just hang on a bit." Iris Dalton rinsed her mouth with water. "cuttlefish, the nano-materials are being prepared. I'll get you that lightweight head as soon as possible."
Clownfish was overjoyed, boasting proudly, "Aaaah! I'm getting a body! I can accompany our esteemed Highness, the Pond Lord, to the pinnacle of life!"
DING-WHIMPER-WHIMPER—
An electronic backing track started to play. cuttlefish's voice changed to a robotic tone, dropping a diss track on the beat, "Clownfish, got no whiskers, body's small, you're a weakling! Shameless, pushing to be first, looks like a moron, and your IQ's alarming!"
The entire Pike: "..."