WEF - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Only the Poor Rob

Ning Dali stared sternly at the refrigerator.

She had only just opened her mouth to give Shadow some warning in advance, to lay the groundwork, when Shadow imperiously raised one finger.

[Shh!] appeared on Shadow's face.

All at once, the shadows of everything around them began to move. They peeled away from their original positions and turned into a pitch-black curtain that wrapped around Ning Dali from the ground up, leaving only her eyes exposed.

The curtain tightened. It caused no harm, but it left her unable to move.

Helplessly, Ning Dali could only watch as Shadow reached out and tore open the freezer door.

White vapor billowed out.

The freezer compartment had three drawers, and every one of them was crammed full.

Shadow pulled at one drawer with stiff movements. Whether she was too shocked or too careful, the first pull did not even budge it.

Not a single word appeared on Shadow's face. In unusual silence, she exerted more force, lifted the first drawer out with both hands, and set it on the floor.

The first drawer held dumplings Ning Dali had wrapped herself, along with glutinous rice balls, steamed buns, sticky rice cakes, and scallion pancakes she had made.

Seven or eight vacuum-sealed sausages and strips of bacon, along with frozen corn, peas, garlic, and chopped scallions, had been wedged into the gaps between the staples.

Shadow turned her head to look at Ning Dali, who had been wrapped up like a black mummy. Though there were no eyes to read, the turn of her head said everything.

Next, Shadow pulled out the second drawer.

It was the thickest and heaviest of the three. Everything inside had been wrapped in white plastic bags and stacked one after another, roughly twenty or thirty bags in all.

Shadow opened the bags and inspected them one by one.

Meat, meat, still meat.

Without opening this refrigerator, Ying would never have known what an ignorant person she was.

With so much meat, she could tell only that one piece was lean and another fatty... Identifying more precisely which cuts the meat came from, or which animals it belonged to, was well beyond her knowledge.

The food blogger silently moved the meat aside once more, then silently looked at Ning Dali again.

Finally, it was the third drawer.

It looked messier than the first two because the shapes of the things inside were too irregular.

Shadow took out two cut pieces of hairtail, two plucked chickens, a packet of frozen shrimp, three packets of chicken breast, and some dried seafood.

[You.] appeared on Shadow's face, then vanished almost at once.

Shadow spun in place twice before she could organize her words.

[Where did this come from?]

After the question appeared, the curtain around Ning Dali loosened enough to reveal her mouth and let her speak.

Ning Dali took several deep breaths before saying, "If I told you I stole it, would you believe me?"

Shadow did not say whether she believed her. She stared at Ning Dali thoughtfully for several seconds, then took a brightly glittering crystal from her pitch-black body and crushed it.

[I will ask you questions. You may answer only "yes" or "no".]

Ying was an experienced interrogator. She knew the art of language well. Some people could turn black into white without ever telling a lie, so she never gave them room to wriggle. She intended to control the rhythm of the interrogation herself.

What she asked, she would judge for herself.

[Were you an Extremist Eater before?]

Shadow did not ask what faction Ning Dali belonged to now. The refrigerator had already proved where she stood; she was now, without a doubt, a member of the Restraint Faction. But being one now did not mean she had always been one.

Ning Dali wanted to shake her head, but a mysterious force controlled her. She could only open her mouth and answer truthfully: "Yes."

She had indeed been a member of the Extremist Eaters.

Back when she had been in prison, they were expected to eat every last bite they were given. There was no thought of saving food for the next day, and if they had not finished within ten minutes, the guards would deliver two electric shocks.

Judged by the standards of an Extremist Eater, their entire prison was practically the definition of one.

The answer did not make Shadow angry. Instead, she felt that her suspicion had been right.

She had known it... She had known that such perfect musculature could not be merely the effect of an ability! Only the fools at Fertile Base would have been fooled so easily.

Past an Extremist Eater, now a member of the Restraint Faction, there had to have been some change to cause such a drastic transformation.

What could have happened? For some reason, she had obtained food she could never finish, understood the importance of sustainable development, and turned her coat.

She had some sense after all.

[Have you completely cut ties with those Extremist Eaters?]

"Yes." This time, Ning Dali answered at once.

She had transmigrated. In this lifetime, she would probably never see those prison friends again. If that was not a complete break, nothing was. She dared say no one had ever separated from them more completely.

[Did you become an Extremist Eater of your own free will?]

Shadow asked her final question.

A Truth Crystal could ask only three questions. It would receive the truth of every answer, and none could be wrong.

Shadow fixed Ning Dali with a sinister stare.

So long as she had joined the Extremist Eaters of her own free will, even if she had turned her coat now, Shadow could...

"No," Ning Dali said as tears spilled down her face.

Shadow: [...?]

What had she heard? Why was the answer not what she had expected?

After answering the third question, Ning Dali felt the invisible restraints holding her loosen. Seizing her chance, she hurriedly blurted, "Someone did this to me! They forced me!"

If I had not run into a lunatic who chopped people up and an utterly unreasonable tycoon, how would I have ended up in prison? How would I have become a so-called Extremist Eater?

So I had been forced into it? Forced? How on earth was that possible?

Shadow's mind went blank, and once again she was painfully aware of her own ignorance.

How could anyone in the world force another person to eat like an Extremist Eater? Huh? Does that even make sense?

"Do you still have that crystal? Get another one. I'm afraid you won't believe what I'm about to say," Ning Dali blurted out in a rush. "They locked me up, tortured me, and kept me from contacting anyone outside. When I got away, I felt completely disconnected from the world. There are so many things happening outside that I know nothing about. I'm practically an idiot when it comes to common sense. You have no idea how helpless I felt."

Shadow: [...]

"I've been trying to find a way to get away from them. Every single second I was with them was agony!" Ning Dali declared firmly. "Their evil deeds would take me three days and nights to recount!"

Shadow: [...]

Seeing that Ning Dali was about to continue, Shadow hurriedly produced another word.

[Stop.]

Ning Dali reluctantly closed her mouth.

Even so, her desire to pour out everything was still visible in her eyes.

Shadow tried to seize control of the questioning again.

She reached out to one side, and the unconscious "friend" in the front passenger seat flew over to her.

[She is an Extremist Eater.]

Shadow knew this woman. She was a fugitive Extremist Eater whose ability was [Can't See Me]. Because she could turn invisible, she cast no shadow, which made her very difficult to catch.

But Ning Dali had said she had completely cut ties with the Extremist Eaters. How did this woman explain herself? How had she come to be in this vehicle?

Shadow felt she had found a new angle for the questioning.

"She came to rob me of my food, and she meant to kill me too." Ning Dali killed the rest of the interrogation with a single sentence.

Even though Shadow did not need to breathe, she felt the suffocation of being unable to draw air.

She had casually killed the Extremist Eater she had only just caught. Seeing not the slightest trace of pain on Ning Dali's face, Shadow instead felt a little pain in her own heart.

How could she be so utterly without flaw?

[Why did you cause trouble in my comments today at noon?]

Here it came at last. Ning Dali took a deep breath and delivered the answer she had prepared long ago.

"Because I was too afraid. I was worried that if everyone saw my muscles, they would all come to kill me."

"I had to get as many people as possible to know me and explain where my muscles came from. Only then would I be safe."

"You are the most influential person I have ever met. Everyone else is several levels beneath you. No one is nearly as popular or dedicated as you, and not one of them updates their videos on schedule every day."

After flattering Shadow, Ning Dali quietly waited.

Shadow immediately took out a second Truth Crystal and crushed it.

[You may answer only "yes" or "no".]

[Is everything you just told me true?]

So I could still play this game? Ning Dali raised an eyebrow inwardly and calmly answered, "Yes."

At her answer, Shadow's chest heaved violently, and the murderous impulse struggling inside her finally died.

As a member of the Restraint Faction, she could not violate [The Law].

Moreover, she was the great King of Shadows, ruling over five Bases. Every move she made drew the world's attention, and she should be setting an example.

Ning Dali was a member of the Restraint Faction now, and she had not joined the Extremist Eaters voluntarily in the first place. By every moral and rational measure, Shadow could not kill such a person.

But if she was not going to kill, what had she come for? To inspect someone's refrigerator?!

She had also wasted two Truth Crystals! They were expensive!

Shadow regarded the disassembled refrigerator and the heap of meat with a thoughtful expression.

She pointed at the meat.

[You do not have the strength to protect this food.]

Ning Dali had known from the moment she saw Shadow that she would not be able to keep her meat.

All she could think about now was drawing Shadow's full attention to herself, using any means necessary to get the woman sent away as soon as possible, and then blowing up the RV.

As for the food, ha...

Ning Dali sneered inwardly and was just about to speak.

[Sell?]

Huh?

Huh?

Sell?

Could we actually trade? Is she not going to rob me?

Ning Dali's shock was too naked, too obvious. Shadow held back again and again before finally losing her restraint and kicking Ning Dali out.

"Clang!" Ning Dali crashed through the front windshield and went flying.

She landed on the ground first, then the RV ran over her.

The shield on her dimmed by the faintest amount. The kick looked merciless, but compared with the two smacks she had just taken, Ning Dali knew Shadow had shown mercy.

Shadow floated out of the RV at a leisurely pace.

Behind her, the RV was bound tightly in black shadow, while a black curtain carried the food out from inside it.

[Only the poor rob, and I am rich.]

Shadow floated up to Ning Dali and let her open her eyes wide for a good, clear look.

For someone of her caliber, anything that money could solve was a small matter. It was impossible that she would damage her image over a little money.

What robbery? Looking down on whom?

[I am not only buying your food.]

A comic-book smile appeared on Shadow's face, as though she had found something entertaining.

She reached out and made a light gripping motion.

"Bang!" The RV, held tightly in Shadow's bindings, instantly exploded.

Two seconds later, the entire vehicle was burning fiercely.

[I am buying your car too.]

[Name your price.]

As a Base Lord, the richest person in the world, even asking about the price would count as a loss!

Ning Dali was stunned. "..."

Previous Table of Contents Next