CHAPTER 14: TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

"Deal!"

Roy watched as Donald shook hands with Mr. Cross. The price they had just agreed on still sounded absurd in his ear.

Yesterday, he was granted a system, and today, he was securing a one-billion-dollar deal to advance as quickly as possible. Not to mention the fact that a literal billionaire agreed to a meeting with them so casually and on short notice, it all sounded too good to be true, making him feel quite angsty.

Roy felt his heart beat faster as a sense of dread settled in his mind.

He didn’t even know when he grabbed Donny’s hand and voiced, "Something is wrong."

Mr. Cross tilted his head slightly with a shocked expression. Donny froze too, retracted his hand, and turned to Roy.

"What’s wrong?" Donny asked worriedly and in a subdued tone.

"I... I don’t know," Roy said, glancing at Mr. Cross with suspicion. "It’s just that billion-dollar deals don’t sound like they happen that easily. I don’t want to end up being someone’s slave."

Donny’s heart sank when he heard that coming from Roy.

He sighed and palmed his face. "What am I doing?"

"Is something the issue? Is a billion dollars not enough?" Mr. Cross asked, resting his back on his chair and steepling his fingers.

Donny sighed. "That’s the problem, actually. This is a very crazy deal. We’ll... we will need to go home and think on it."

"..."

"Are you sure?"

Donny glanced at Roy and nodded. "Yes."

Cash God’s red eye glowed ominously as the silence between the two parties drew out.

But then he gestured, "You’re free to leave, then. But do know that as you walk out that door, the offer leaves with you."

Donald’s face fell, and he quickly turned to Roy, hoping the stakes involved might change the boy’s mind, but Roy’s eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed to a slit.

He turned to Cash God and declared with certainty, "You did something to my brother, didn’t you, Mr. CASH.exe?"

Mr. Cross furrowed his brows too and questioned in turn, "Is that an accusation?"

From right when Cash God revealed that he had a system, Roy had a passing thought, wondering what kind of skills the billionaire would have. But then, Roy noticed that the normally confident Donald was so gripped with anxiety before this figure that his hands shook uncontrollably.

One would think that after working with several executioners, Donald would gain some mental resilience in business negotiations, but this reality proved otherwise.

A common saying in recent times was: ’If it is not normal, it most likely isn’t.’

On the forum, they even upgraded it to: ’The weather is bad? Blame a system.’

It was an ironic saying, but it was just a paraphrase of saying one should always exercise extra caution in this world with an uncountable number of systems.

Of course, there were laws in place that forbade irregulars from using their systems in ways not authorized, like coercion and manipulation, but the eye of the law wasn’t omnipresent or omniscient.

Roy was reminded of Pierre’s starting skill [Je t’aime]. Just how powerful could that skill be in the hands of at least a D-Class Irregular? He could make anything or anyone fall in love with them.

Hence, despite not knowing Mr. Cross’s evaluated class, he strongly believed that he had a similar skill that aided him in making business deals.

Donald oscillated gazes between Mr. Cross and Roy and hushed the latter, saying, "What are you saying? Mr. Cross can really help you out."

Roy started getting pissed seeing Donald act this way. He stood up and clicked his tongue.

"How do we know he’s not lying about that painting being worth twenty billion? Either we do it my way or we don’t do it at all. I’m not selling my soul."

With that, he stormed out of the office.

Donny meekly stood up, an extremely sorry expression on his face as he apologized, "S-Sir, I am greatly sorry for my little brother’s actions. He can get quite edgy. But I have to consider his concerns after all. I’m really sorry."

Mr. Cross just gestured with his hand, and Donald went away, following behind Roy.

Alone in his office, the corner of Cash God’s lips curled, and a shadow arose beside him, asking in a dark voice, "Why did you inform them about your system? And one billion dollars?"

"..."

Mr. Cross just glared at the shadow and picked up his cigar.

After taking a puff, he voiced, "I skipped meeting with the Chairman of the Executioners Association to be here, just to see what probability was calling so strongly. I’ve never felt something like that before. And that boy is the reason."

’I was too hasty. To think my excitement in times like this still cost me. Sigh. Anyway, good thing my opportunity magnet skill made his brother come here first,’ he added in thought.

The shadowy figure was silent for a few seconds before asking, "Wait, is he the greatest risk you talked about?"

Cash God smiled widely and nodded.

"I didn’t expect him to be immune to my skill, but that just makes me all the more certain that there’s something about that... Roy. He also lied about his system name, title, and also the fact that he only levels up by defeating gate bosses."

"Is that a good thing, though? Everyone lies about their systems," the dark voice said.

Mr. Cross twisted his chair and stared at the large red painting.

"This is different. The probability that drew the boy here is strong. He must be incredibly necessary. Find out the truth."

The shadowy voice was silent for a few seconds before answering, "Yes, sir."

Outside the office, Donald and Roy stood upright in the elevator as it went down. Shortly after, they were already in the vehicle parked at the roadside, about to return home.

"Roy, are you sure about this? Moving forward without this will be quite hard..." Donny said.

Roy shrugged. "I know you quit your job because of me, but there must be another way other than collecting a billion dollars from a sketchy irregular."

Donny sighed. "Yeah, it’s true. There’s no trusting such a person. Tsk, thinking about it, I was feeling scared and anxious for no reason. I should sue that bastard for using his powers on me!"

As the vehicle sped past others, Roy asked again, "So, what now?"

"We still need money. I’ll take a bank loan tomorrow."

"Oh, I forgot! Can we get some energy crystals? F-grade is ok..."

"Huh? Why do you need energy crystals?" Donny questioned, because it didn’t make sense for one who leveled up in God’s Abyss to need to sign in outside it.

Roy glanced around. "Uh... my system still needs to recharge for some reason."

He still had to sign into Pierre’s system tonight when the countdown was over! He just prayed Pierre was going to sign in, too.

Brrr~

Donald’s phone rang with a private number, and he answered it.

"Hello?"

Cash God’s voice emerged from the phone’s speaker, saying, "My assistant will send you the details of an account with ten million dollars. Take it as an apology and a token of good faith. Please come to me whenever Roy changes his mind."

Pim!

The call cut off before Donald could even say a word.