After a long, comfortable bath, Rovel erged from the steam-filled room, casually wiping his damp hair with a towel as he reached for his phone. The screen lit up, displaying five missed calls. Two were from a contact simply labeled "Family Head," and the other three were from Yuki.
With a dismissive glance, Rovel bypassed the calls from the Family Head and tapped Yuki's na to call her back directly.
The phone had barely completed a single ring before the call connected, and Yuki's sweet, lodic voice chirped from the other end.
"Big Brother~! Why didn't you answer my calls!" Her words were laced with a playful pout.
"Sorry, I was in the shower. Left my phone on silent in my room and didn't hear it," Rovel explained, the sound of the towel rustling through his hair audible over the line.
"Silent? Pfft..." Yuki couldn't stifle a giggle. Behind her, listening in on speakerphone, the Family Head's expression grew even grimr.
"Ahem, anyway, Big Brother," Yuki coughed lightly, her tone shifting to one of mock seriousness. "I called you this ti to discuss so very important business."
"You have important business for ? Well, in that case, I suppose I'll listen seriously for now."
Rovel's skeptical tone was enough to make Yuki feel a little deflated.
"What kind of image do you have of in your head?! I know I can be a little ditzy around you, but I take important matters seriously!" she protested.
"...For example?" Rovel prompted, his doubt evident.
"For example," Yuki declared, puffing out her chest with pride, "when it cos to seducing you, Big Brother, I'm very serious!"
"Cough, cough!" A series of heavy, disapproving coughs erupted from sowhere near Yuki.
Hearing the sound, Rovel's voice took on a note of genuine concern. "Yuki, did your asthma flare up?"
"My asthma was cured ages ago! I'm a perfectly healthy girl now!" she replied with a beaming smile.
"Good. In that case, rember to stay away from anyone with bad lungs. The air around them can't be fresh. It'd be terrible if you had a relapse," Rovel warned sagely.
"Cough... cough cough cough!" The Family Head nearly choked on his own breath, his coughing fit growing more violent.
"You're so an, Big Brother," Yuki said, a knowing glint in her eyes as she glanced back at the fuming man behind her. He gestured impatiently, signaling for her to get to the point.
"Alright, alright. I really do have sothing to tell you. This afternoon, the Funahiki Family from the Far East tried to get in touch with you. When they couldn't, they went to the Zhou Family instead."
"The Funahiki Family?" Rovel's mind instantly made the connection. "This is about what happened in 'Honkai,' isn't it?"
If his mory served him right, the arrogant player Raiden i had disintegrated into a cloud of dust had the surna Funahiki.
"Yeah. The Funahiki Family has a lot of influence in the Far East. Their main base of operations in 'Honkai' is in Changkong City, which just so happens to be where you chose to descend..." Yuki paused, her voice suddenly dripping with a deep, simring resentnt.
"By the way, Big Brother, when exactly did you hook up with a level 31 local? And such a beautiful one, at that! Judging from the photos those people sent over, that girl—Raiden i—must have at least a D-cup, right?"
"Who pays attention to that sort of thing at a glance?" Rovel rolled his eyes.
"Even if I can't compare to her, I'm a C-cup! And you can touch mine whenever you want! Compared to so untouchable girl in the world of 'Honkai,'I should be more than enough to satisfy a total'Oppai-alien' like you!" Yuki vented, her expression a mask of grief and indignation.
"First, I am not an 'Oppai-alien.' Second, I have no desire to touch your chest," Rovel rejected her flatly, his tone unwavering.
Yuki recoiled as if struck by a physical blow, her spirit visibly crushed.
"Wha... what... Don't tell ... Big Brother's desires are no longer satisfied by just breasts? Do you... do you want to possess my entire body?" She hugged herself tightly, her face a perfect picture of sha and outrage.
"What kind of corporate-level leap in logic is that?! And what do you an, 'entire'? I haven't done anything to you in the first place!" Rovel was left speechless by her train of thought, the dormant roasting spirit within him beginning to stir.
"Have you already forgotten, Big Brother?! What about what happened five years, two months, and thirteen days ago!" Yuki suddenly grew animated, rattling off the date with startling precision.
"?" Rovel could only respond with a silent, ntal question mark.
"Back then, we were playing hide-and-seek, and we accidentally fell down together! To protect , you grabbed my waist! And then, when you helped up, your ring finger accidentally pinched my... sniffle..." Yuki's voice cracked, and she put on a tearful performance worthy of an award, making it sound as if Rovel had truly committed so heinous act against her.
"Hey, are you so kind of historical revisionist now? I rember playing hide-and-seek, but I have absolutely no mory of the rest of that story," Rovel argued, a sliver of doubt creeping into his mind. Could he have really, accidentally...
"Your ring finger... pinched my... hair! And it pulled so hard it hurt!"
Yuki's grand reveal left Rovel's brain blank for a solid three seconds.
"Cough, cough!" The Family Head coughed again, a sharp reminder for Yuki to get back on track. They had wasted enough ti on this nonsense.
"The Funahiki Family hopes that you, Big Brother, can lead that woman, Raiden i, to help them kill Death Soldiers. In exchange, so of the Zhou Family's industries in the Far East will receive their full support," Yuki finally stated the true purpose of the call.
"I refuse," Rovel said instantly, without a mont's hesitation.
"Okay, I'll pass that along for you!" Yuki showed no intention of trying to persuade him. Just as she was about to end the call, the Family Head, no longer able to tolerate the farce, snatched the phone from her hand.
"Rovel Suou, do you have any idea what you're doing?!" the man's voice, sharp and angry, crackled through the speaker. "The Funahiki Family would be an imnse asset to our developnt in the Far East! All you have to do is take that NPC to help them kill a few Death Soldiers. Is even a simple task like that beyond you?"
"First," Rovel began, his own voice dropping, "my na is Fang Ruobai. I don't want to keep having this conversation. Second, what does your developnt in the Far East have to do with ? It's none of my business."
"This is your duty as a mber of the Zhou Family! Our blood flows through your veins; you will do as I say!" the Family Head roared.
"You've been sitting in that chair for so long your brain has gone soft, hasn't it?" Rovel retorted, his words sharp as ice. "Why do you think the Funahiki Family would offer their support just for killing a few Death Soldiers? What they're really after is Raiden i, isn't it?"
"So what if they are?" the man shot back, unabashed. "A small sacrifice in exchange for enormous benefits! If we can gain a foothold in the Far East, the Zhou Family's power will rise to an entirely new level!"
His words were, as always, about money and power. In his eyes, those were the only things that were eternal; everything and everyone else was expendable.
Therefore...
"Again," Rovel's voice was exceptionally cold now, devoid of even a trace of anger. "None. Of. My. Business."
He had long ago seen the so-called Zhou Family for what it was. He wasn't the least bit surprised that the Family Head could spout such callous rhetoric.
That was precisely why he had spared no effort to get Yuki away from them.
Because in a world like that, no one could say for sure when Yuki herself might beco the next bargaining chip to be sacrificed for profit.
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