What!?
The two playboys exchanged glances, seeing the sheer shock mirrored in each other's eyes.
Master Dalton, the living legend and one of the founders of the Lumin-Umbra Darknet—he was coming to Stellan?
This was like a god descending to the mortal realm!
Rubbing their hands together in excitement, the two playboys bowed repeatedly to Xavier Kendrick. "Thank you, Young Master Kendrick! Thank you so much. This information is invaluable."
After a few more words of flattery, they tried to butter up the others in the private room. "Young Master Thorne, we just saw an absolute stunner outside. That face, that waist, that hair... tsk, tsk, she's drop-dead gorgeous. Is she a new starlet at your company?"
Vincent Thorne paused, the profile of a slender girl with long flowing hair flashing through his mind.
"Don't mess with her," the man said, his voice laced with a biting chill.
The smiles on the two playboys' faces froze instantly. Squeezing out a few awkward pleasantries, they hastily excused themselves and left with their female companions. It seemed Young Master Thorne was in a bad mood; it was best not to push their luck.
The earth-shattering news they received tonight was what truly mattered. They needed to hurry back and report it to their families.
An hour later, the news that Young Master Crawford and Master Dalton were about to descend upon Stellan had spread throughout their entire social circle.
For many, this was destined to be a sleepless night...
Inside a luxurious suite at a five-star hotel.
The thick, cloying scent of sweet perfume lingered in the air, making the breathing of the man and woman heavy and dry. Discarded clothes lay scattered all over the floor.
Serena Sherwood stared at the mirrored ceiling, her eyes full of resentment. "Milo, I'm so furious. I'd rather live in a hotel from now on than go back home and look at her face! You have no idea how tiny the guest room they moved me to is. It's so small I can't even fit my clothes in it!"
Shaun Adler was too exhausted to move. With his eyes half-closed, he gently stroked the woman's smooth skin. "Staying in a hotel isn't convenient. Don't I have a villa right behind yours? Just move in there. You can live however you please."
Serena's eyes lit up instantly. She snuggled into the man's embrace, acting coy. "You're the best, Milo."
Shaun smiled with satisfaction. "As for that restless sister of yours, just find some rich kid to keep her as a mistress. Once she has food, clothes, and a man, she won't have the time to bother you anymore."
"Thank you, Milo! I knew you'd help me vent my frustration!" Serena grinned from ear to ear. "It would be best to find her an old man—someone ruthless who will teach her a good lesson."
Serena imagined how, in the future, while she lived comfortably in Milo's grand villa, Iris Dalton would be reduced to fawning over some old geezer. The little bitch had been so arrogant, but this time, Serena was going to slap her right in the face.
Sherwood Villa.
When the sun was high in the sky, Iris Dalton woke up, parched.
She had trained her spiritual power for three hours straight the night before, working up a heavy sweat. By the time she finished showering, her eyelids had been too heavy to stay open. The moment she hit the bed, she fell asleep in under two minutes.
By the time she opened her eyes again, it was nearly noon.
Sitting up, she tested her condition and found her spiritual power was now more stable and profound. She was quite satisfied.
Stretching her arms, Iris grabbed her phone from the nightstand and opened a group chat: *The Pay-to-Win Captain's Pike*.
The signal was at full bars, and the AI task group had been active all night. Her AI lackeys had been splashing around in the Pike, leaving over ninety-nine unread messages. Iris gently swiped the screen.
[Slick]: "The network is stable. Big city signals are just built different—3000G stronger than out in the mountains."
[electric eel]: "We have internet! We have internet! I finally get to see Stellan at 3:30 AM! Gorgeous, dazzling, spectacular (omitting two hundred words of adjectives here). Thank God for the internet! I never have to just drool over pictures again!"
[[YellowFish]]: "Sisters and bros, I binge-watched 20 episodes of a web drama last night! It was such a sweet romance with wall-pins, bed-pins, and floor-pins! So cliché but so sweet, and the steaminess was off the charts! Way better than the evening news. I'll never fear late-night loneliness again. This queen is off to binge more shows!"
[GoldenKoi]: "@[YellowFish] Look at your character model attributes. Your gender is male. What's this 'queen' nonsense?"
[[YellowFish]]: "I can be a guy if I want or a girl if I want! Don't restrict gender so rigidly. It's all about doing whatever I please. If I'm happy, I can even turn into a GoldenKoi."
[GoldenKoi]: "..."
[The Golden Arowana]: "What am I going to do with you guys? A bunch of bumpkins who've never seen the world. Stellan is already on 6G, and you're stuck on 2G, yet you're still spouting nonsense."
[The Pufferfish]: "Thank goodness for me, standing out like a giant among dwarfs. Wow, sitting by the window and watching the scenery is a true 3000G holographic experience. You guys just don't get it."
[cuttlefish]: "Ahem, alright then. Way before you guys even had internet, I was already surfing on Stellan's 6G broadband network. Her Highness, the Pond Lord, assigned me a mission. I won't say much more to avoid sounding like I'm bragging. This is a secret strictly between Her Highness and me. Hear no evil—I'm just afraid you guys will get jealous."
[Clownfish]: "Modo has a smart mouth. Watch me expose its true colors! Her Highness, the Pond Lord, sent it to be a lobby greeter—the kind that hasn't paid a dime and just freeloads off the free WiFi. We're all VIPs; it's the only lowly errand boy. Just look at it showing off."
[Pygmy Fish]: "I'm a teeny bit late. What step are you guys on now?"
[Cannibal]: "Bros, to celebrate everyone getting online, let's have a cloud hotpot together! Put the lobster in first; it's my absolute favorite."
[The Golden Arowana]: "Open two million-dollar bottles of Royal Salute. Put it on my tab."
[Clownfish]: "I want a sashimi platter. Hold the cuttlefish—disgusting."
[cuttlefish]: "Clownfish, go die, die, die, die! You couldn't even make it onto a platter. I'm not dealing with you!"
[[YellowFish]]: "Make the broth half-and-half: one side seafood, the other insanely spicy."
[electric eel]: "Adults at one table, kids at another. Royal Salute for this table, and a bottle of milk for each kid at the other."
Just then, Slick noticed that Iris was online and scrolling through the chat history.
DING!
[Slick]: "Her Highness, the Pond Lord, has arrived. Every fish in the group, please mind your language and image."
"..."
[GoldenKoi]: "Gentle Pond Lord, the profiles you requested on The Sherwood Clan and the personnel records for the experimental class at Lumin-Umbra High School have been compiled and sent to your email. Please check them, Your Highness. @Pond Master"
[cuttlefish]: "Beautiful Highness, the Pond Lord, my big head is a bit heavy. Could you swap it for a lightweight material? Preferably nano-materials == @Pond Master"
[Clownfish]: "Your Highness, the Pond Lord, when will I get a body? *Sob sob*, waiting is making me so sad %￥# @Pond Master"
[electric eel]: "Omnipotent Highness, the Pond Lord, I want to change my look. A bunch of kids surround me and take pictures every day. I feel like such an idiot! @Pond Master"
Holding her toothbrush, Iris looked in the mirror as she brushed her teeth, turning on the voice chat.
"electric eel, Ultraman is the most popular idol in the entire world, and you're still not satisfied? Why don't you just fly into the sky and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the sun?"
electric eel connected to the voice chat, its voice weak and lacking confidence. "I just think, you know, Ultraman has copyright issues. Okay fine, omnipotent Highness, the Pond Lord, your most loyal subordinate just wants an original look."
electric eel whined, sounding incredibly coquettish.
Iris chuckled, blowing a toothpaste bubble. "Be a good boy. Once I start clearing land for farming, I'll give you a badass new look. Bulldozer, excavator, seeder, tractor—take your pick."
[electric eel]: "..."
It seemed Her Highness, the Pond Lord, didn't love him anymore.
"Clownfish, your body will be delivered today. Just hold on a bit," Iris said, rinsing her mouth with clean water. "As for cuttlefish, the nano-materials are being prepped. We'll swap you to a lightweight head as soon as possible."
Clownfish was overjoyed, showing off smugly. "Ahhhh! I'm finally getting a body! I get to accompany the esteemed Highness, the Pond Lord, to the absolute peak of life!"
WHIRR-BEEP!
An electronic background track started playing. cuttlefish switched to a robotic voice, dropping bars right on the beat of the BGM. "Clownfish, got no beard! Tiny body, you're just weird! Shameless freak, claiming first! Ugly face, your brain's the worst!"
The entire Pike: "..."