Free Web NovelChapter 260: Chapter 263: The System Seems a Bit Strange
"..."
Renee Sinclair’s heart skipped a beat. A cold, numbing sensation shot from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
"...Why would I lie to you?" She furrowed her brows, deliberately putting on an impatient act. "Hey, this isn’t just your mission. What reason do I have to deceive you? If the mission fails, the System will erase us both. Neither of us can escape!"
"Heh heh." The mechanical female voice let out a cryptic chuckle.
"I hope the Host is truly aware of that."
Renee Sinclair shot it a glare. "...What kind of bullshit is that? This mission is about my own life, so of course I’m aware of what’s at stake!"
Mechanical Female Voice: "Mmm, since the Host is aware, then I am relieved."
"Hm?" Renee Sinclair narrowed her eyes slightly. "Somehow, your tone doesn’t sound very relieved to me."
Mechanical Female Voice: "Whatever meaning you perceive depends on your own state of mind. When the Host’s confidence is lacking, you will naturally read another layer of meaning into what you hear."
"..." Renee Sinclair started the car.
’What’s with all that mumbo jumbo... I can’t understand a word of it.’
"Oh, right, can we start our third transaction now?"
Mechanical Female Voice: "Does the Host wish to borrow favorability points from me in exchange for information again?"
"That’s right. I need to borrow five favorability points to get one piece of info, but that info can earn me ten favorability points from Felix Preston! This is a guaranteed-profit deal. Why wouldn’t I keep doing it?"
"Fine." For once, the mechanical female voice didn’t say much else, readily transferring the five favorability points.
"Host, the favorability points you borrowed have been credited to your account. Please check to confirm."
Renee Sinclair checked her system inventory and saw that the favorability points had indeed arrived. She immediately spent them.
"System, I want the details on those thirteen people."
Mechanical Female Voice: "One favorability point can only be exchanged for the details of one person. Host, please select the five people you most want to investigate first."
"Tsk..." Renee Sinclair was not pleased. "One favorability point for just one person? I have to say, you Systems are way too stingy."
The mechanical female voice sounded helpless: "Host, I did not create the exchange rules for favorability points. There is nothing I can do."
"Fine." Renee Sinclair conceded. "Five it is, then. I’ll carefully pick out the five people once I get home."
Mechanical Female Voice: "Understood."
Renee Sinclair felt there was something off about its tone, so she couldn’t help but ask, "Hey, why do you sound so formal today?"
Mechanical Female Voice: "I am not. The Host is overthinking things."
"Is that so?" Renee Sinclair was skeptical.
Mechanical Female Voice: "Yes."
"...Alright." Renee Sinclair had a ton of things on her plate and couldn’t be bothered to think about it any further.
「Meanwhile, at the Quincy residence.」
Fiona Dalton had already showered and changed into a fresh set of clothes.
Cecilia Quincy was sitting in the living room, pressing ice to her face.
"Hiss... It hurts like hell!" She winced at her reflection in the mirror, and the more she looked, the more she wanted to cry.
She loved her face more than anything; she spent millions on it every year, at the very least. But today, Lynn Preston and Hannah Sutton had left such ugly handprints on it!
"Damn it!" Unable to stomach the humiliation, she finally snapped and cursed, "Those two little bitches, how dare they do this to me! Just wait until I get the chance, I’ll have both of you disfigured! I’ll turn you into the ugliest monsters in all of Aethelburg!"
"Cecilia."
Fiona Dalton came down the stairs and hurried to Cecilia Quincy’s side, looking at her face with pity. "How is it? Does it still hurt?"
"It hurts!" Cecilia Quincy looked up at her, her lip trembling before she burst into tears. "Mom, my face hurts so much! It’s covered in slap marks from those bitches! I look so ugly!"
"You’re not ugly." Fiona Dalton took the ice pack from her and gently applied it to the marks on her face. "Cecilia is the prettiest girl in all of Aethelburg. No one can compare."
"But these slap marks are so ugly!"
"It’s alright, these marks will fade soon," Fiona Dalton soothed her gently. "If Cecilia really can’t stand it, then Mom will take you to a beauty salon and have them take care of it for you, okay?"
"...Forget it." Cecilia Quincy thought for a moment but rejected Fiona Dalton’s suggestion.
"In a situation like this, how could I possibly be in the mood for a beauty salon? Mom, my brother... he doesn’t actually like Charlotte Shaw, does he?"
At the mention of this, Fiona Dalton felt as disgusted as if she’d swallowed a fly.
"Sigh..." She sighed, her face clouding over with worry. "Although your brother hasn’t directly admitted it, I can guess from his frequent silences that it’s probably true."
"He really has, as the rumors say, fallen in love with his own sister."
"...What?!" Cecilia Quincy was horrified and shot up from the sofa.
Caught off guard, Fiona Dalton had the ice pack knocked out of her hand.
But she had no time to worry about that, sighing nonstop. "Sigh... No wonder. No wonder Willow still refuses to find a partner even though he’s in his thirties. I’ve introduced him to so many excellent young women, but he ignores every single one."
"I thought he was just career-focused, waiting for the Quincy Group to become more established before considering marriage. I never would have imagined that he’s been in love with his own sister all this time."
"But-but that’s not okay!" Cecilia Quincy stomped her foot in anxiety. "Even though Charlotte Shaw has been taken back by the Shaw Family, everyone in Aethelburg knows she used to be my brother’s sister! If the fact that my brother likes her is confirmed, he’ll be branded as incestuous!"
"And Dad will never let him get away with it!"
"That’s why I’m so worried! That boy has shut himself away in Veridia and won’t tell the family anything. I want to ask him about it, but I don’t even know how to begin."
"What other way is there? Just ask him directly!" Cecilia Quincy snatched her phone from the sofa, found Willow Quincy’s WeChat, and immediately placed a voice call.
"This is a huge deal, we have to handle it seriously! Mom, Charlotte Shaw’s disappearance is causing a huge stir right now. If the special investigation team really traces it back to my brother, the Quincy Family is finished!"
"This..." Fiona Dalton dug her nails into her palm, genuinely frightened by her daughter’s words.
Cecilia held the phone, waiting for Willow Quincy to answer. The moment his "Hello?" came from the other end, she decisively shoved the phone into Fiona Dalton’s hands.
Fiona Dalton put the call on speaker and forced a smile as she spoke, "Hello, Willow? It’s Mom."
"Mom?" Willow Quincy’s voice was tinged with confusion. "Why are you calling me from Cecilia’s WeChat?"
Fiona Dalton looked at Cecilia Quincy and made up an excuse, "My phone died. It’s charging upstairs."
"Oh." Willow Quincy didn’t seem to suspect anything. "Mom, didn’t you just call me? Why are you calling again so suddenly?"
