Why does this woman keep trying to take advantage of him?

Could she really be a female praying mantis?

"I'm not available lately - going through my egg replacement phase," he brushed her off vaguely.

"Alright," Novelist sounded somewhat disappointed. The rightful source is novelfire(.)net

"Same as last time, I need you to help me place a fake delivery order, with the delivery time as long as possible," Liu Zheng said.

"No problem," Novelist agreed readily.

"As for payment, I'll give it to you when I deliver the food," he said.

Now that he had money, free loading didn't feel appropriate anymore.

For reliable connections like Novelist, he needed to cultivate the relationship carefully.

"No need, I'm not short on money," Novelist refused.

"Then let me bring you some Unlucky Coffee?"

On his way back, he'd given the remaining coffee to the plane tree - this cup was the one he'd saved for himself.

"Wow, thank you, Senior!" Novelist said happily.

Liu Zheng hung up and noticed Bullhorse staring at him with a strange expression.

"What's up, boss?" he asked.

"You know how to write novels too?"

"Passably. But my talent wasn't enough - after writing a few books, my career started declining, so I changed professions," Liu Zheng replied.

"What did you switch to?"

"Journalism."

"Which newspaper?"

"Some third-rate tabloid, not worth mentioning," he said dismissively.

"If you could write that well, why did you start delivering food?"

"Pissed off some important people and got fired."

He'd previously written an article exposing how a certain residential development had been built on former industrial land with severe environmental pollution, where massive amounts of toxic substances had accumulated underground. The new units' luxury renovations had also used large quantities of substandard materials.

Then Liu Zheng's editor-in-chief demanded he issue a public apology admitting his reporting was false, otherwise he'd be fired and blacklisted from the industry.

Simultaneously, the developer contacted him - one hand holding an envelope, the other hand also holding an envelope.

Except one envelope contained money, while the other contained a lawyer's letter.

Faced with the choice between professional ethics and his career, he didn't hesitate long before choosing the money.

But just as Liu Zheng was about to contact the developer, his hospital test results came back.

He was diagnosed with "ALS."

That settled everything.

An educated, capable person who doesn't value his life and has no family can achieve almost limitless destructive potential.

The details aren't worth elaborating, but suffice to say both the editor-in-chief and the developer paid the appropriate price.

"Wouldn't have guessed you've got quite the backstory," Bullhorse curled his lip.

"Who doesn't have some story these days? Like you, boss - that tale of escaping the breeding farm with the pig-headed man was pretty spectacular too, right?" Liu Zheng offered some flattery.

"You've got some nerve, kid. I don't even dare call him that. He's got another nickname - Heaven's Butcher."

Bullhorse shot him a sideways glance.

"Heaven's Butcher?"

"Right. Actually, we weren't from the same breeding farm. His was called 'Heaven,' specializing in breeding his particular species. Mine was called '103' - probably raised twenty or thirty types of large livestock."

Bullhorse recalled.

"So how did you get sold off by the Circle God Sect?"

"Just unlucky. Right after escaping the breeding farm, I got caught by Circle God Sect members who were there to steal stuff."

"Goddamn it! If I'd left just one minute earlier or later, I wouldn't have had to suffer through all this."

Bullhorse said indignantly.

"Surviving great calamity means great fortune will follow," Liu Zheng comforted.

"Then you got sold to the restaurant?"

"Right. At first I was backup ingredients, but after he killed off most of the kitchen staff, I applied for a job. Later when the delivery department was short-handed, I transferred over."

Bullhorse explained.

"So Heaven's Butcher is basically your savior then."

"Heh, you think he got down from that roasting rack by himself?"

Bullhorse snorted coldly.

"Boss, is this the kind of thing you can just say out loud like this?"

Liu Zheng was shocked.

"Doesn't matter," Bullhorse waved a hoof dismissively.

"Except for Britannia, all the current restaurant management got their positions later. If anything, they should be thanking him."

"So is Britannia really strong?"

"Strong indeed. In a straight fight, I couldn't beat him," Bullhorse admitted.

"As for Napoleon - if he doesn't use the Seven Deadly Sins, he probably couldn't beat me either."

"Goddamn it! If I just had the right equipment, none of them would be my match," Bullhorse cursed.

"Don't worry, I'll leave the Legendary Deliveryman set to you," Liu Zheng said.

"Keep it for yourself. Anyway, after I get back from vacation, I'm quitting. After all these years, I've finally understood - working for someone else has no future. If you want to get rich, you need to be the boss yourself."

Bullhorse declared.

"I'd say there are advantages to both approaches," he wasn't as extreme as Bullhorse.

For powerful beings like Bullhorse, working for others naturally seemed like a bad deal.

But for weaklings like Liu Zheng, it was better to rest in the shade of a large tree.

Actually, even for Bullhorse - if he hadn't been a restaurant employee, that time he sold fake alcohol, the plane tree probably would have killed him.

"First I'll expand through the restaurant's channels, then take over all the Circle God Sect's resources, then expand the business into the Black Market."

Bullhorse laid out his commercial empire plans.

"Will you go steal from the '103' breeding farm like they did?" Liu Zheng asked.

"Is that even a question? How else would I get low-cost inventory?" Bullhorse said matter-of-factly.

"What about the bullhorses you steal? Sell them to the restaurant too?"

"Sell them!" Bullhorse said decisively.

"Even if it were my wife and kids - if we couldn't put food on the table someday, I'd sell them too."

"Badass," Liu Zheng pressed four tentacles together pretending to give a thumbs-up.

"That's just how the world works. You know how I escaped from the breeding farm?"

"How did you escape?" he played along.

"Because I lied to them, saying that after I got out, I'd open the gates and free them all."

"They believed you?"

"Believed me. They willingly became my stepping stones, rushing forward in waves to crash into the high-voltage fence to overload it."

"Such idiots, actually believing that nonsense. Just because I took a few beatings for them? Just because I told them what the outside world was like?"

"How the hell would I know what the outside world is like? I made all that shit up!" Bullhorse cursed vehemently.

"If you hadn't been caught by the Circle God Sect, would you have opened the gate for them?"

"Of course not," Bullhorse said without hesitation.

"Boss, you really are a beast," Liu Zheng gave another big tentacle thumbs-up.

"If you're itching for a beating, just say so. I'll go borrow Napoleon's skinning knife to scratch that itch for you," Bullhorse gave him a sidelong glance.

"No need, no need, I'll scratch it myself. But aren't you worried that being this honest with me will make me wary of you?"

"If I didn't tell you, would you actually not be wary of me?"

"Heh."

The two beasts shared a knowing smile.

"With smart people, you should speak honestly. If you can really help me build my business, as long as you don't cheat me out of money, I'll have your back."

Bullhorse stated.

"Don't worry, I just want to survive. Money is just a tool to me."

"That's best then," Bullhorse nodded.

Just as the two were about to end their conversation, Ghost Hand silently crawled in.

Only this time, after placing the order slip, it didn't leave.