Don't be naive

***

"Hahhhh… Fortunately, that guy wasn't too much trouble…" murmured Louis as he drove calmly in his car.

[Seems like it. It's all because you're using the carrot and stick method.]

"Haha, isn't that how it should be?"

[I'm not sure about that.]

Louis turned on some relaxing music on the car dashboard as he pondered recent events.

"I'm feeling a bit conflicted about this…" Louis actually had over 2900 Point Plots that he could use for anything he wanted, such as hacking abilities or similar. However, Louis chose not to use them.

The reason being that he wanted to save the plot points for something else that he could accomplish with his financial power, like hiring hackers or the like, saving as many plot points as he planned to buy something else, namely combat power.

He still felt somewhat traumatized by what had happened before and didn't want it to happen again, with the high risk of him getting killed in the process.

Moreover, he was very confident that the triads would seek revenge and send more people with deadlier weapons to hunt him down.

He could ask for help from the authorities, but he didn't want to do that for now because he didn't want to expose himself to the public, which he thought would be quite bothersome if it happened.

"Well, it's not like I'm powerless. It's just that I can't do whatever I want freely because I'll be monitored by anyone who sees me…"

Besides, according to Louis himself, hacking and maintaining hacking itself also consumed his time extremely.

If you don't believe it, you can ask your friends who know about it!

"Hahhh… that would be quite bothersome…"

Besides, he could use the energy, plot points, and time he had to find other targets and harvest them.

"Isn't that much more enjoyable…?"

[Of course!]

Sreszzzzz…

As he drove while listening to the sound of rain pouring outside, Louis couldn't shake off the uncomfortable feeling still lingering within him. Although he seemed to handle Hao Shen easily, he couldn't be careless. The world he operated in was full of dangers, and trust was a currency he couldn't spend recklessly.

"Sigh, besides my closest people, I can't trust anyone…" he mumbled, gazing calmly at the sky.

[It's not because you can't, but because you simply don't want to trust others, isn't it?]

Pondering the System's words, Louis fell silent for a few moments before chuckling lightly. "Well, you're right. I don't want to bother trusting people I don't know."

[Isn't that how it should be? If you were too naive and trusted too many people, I doubt you'd have survived until now.]

Listening to those words, Louis just drove his car more calmly while playing music leisurely.

But in that tranquility, he suddenly smiled faintly and said lightly, "Forget about it. Oh, by the way, wasn't today quite enjoyable? Today, you could say it was pretty important, too?"

[Indeed, quite important. But you handled it with skill as usual, didn't you, Host?]

"Haha, you flatter me, System. But hey, it has to stay interesting, right?"

[Of course. Otherwise, life would be boring. So, what's our next agenda?]

"Well, I have a few options in mind. But first, let's enjoy the journey, shall we?"

[Okay, let's do that.]

***

"Miss Lily~! Can you open the mansion gate for me?" Kenzaki stepped out of the car and spoke through the door viewer outside the gate.

The device remained silent for a moment before the sound of sizzling oil, as if frying something, filled the air, followed by a soft girl's voice from the door viewer, "Just a moment, I'm cooking."

"Okay!"

Shortly after, a girl opened the door, and when Kenzaki saw her, he found that she wasn't Lily, but a black-haired Chinese girl.

With a slightly forced smile, Kenzaki asked hesitantly, "I'm sorry… but who are you? Where's Miss Lily?"

"Ah, my name is Wang Yilan, I'm Lily's friend! She's currently cooking food for her boyfriend. So, you can tell me what you want to say~!!"

Hearing that, Kenzaki understood the situation. Then, he explained, "Ah, I see… earlier, Boss Louis just went to the showroom and bought a new car for himself. There, he also bought a car for Miss Lily. The car is right behind me." He pointed backward with his thumb and continued, "… And I was assigned by him to bring this car here because he has an event elsewhere."

Wang Yilan, upon hearing that, froze for a moment as she turned to look behind Kenzaki and saw the car itself with her own eyes.

Silence—

She remained frozen like that for a few moments before she screamed and ran inside, "Lily!!! Your boyfriend bought you something very luxurious-!!!"

Seeing that Wang Yilan had entered and chatted with Lily for quite some time made Kenzaki grin helplessly. "How long am I going to stay silent waiting here?"

Nevertheless, he still felt somewhat confident about Louis's gift.