Chapter 164: Chapter 164: Wholesale Supply

Chapter 164: Wholesale Supply

Elias pretended to sound vicious.

"Laugh again and I’ll cut out your tongue."

System Theta was not scared at all.

It knew its host was only joking.

Also...

[System Theta: I don’t have a tongue. Hehe.]

Elias narrowed his eyes. "After I retire, I’ll make the Trash Trope Intervention Division build you a body and load your data into it. Then I’ll cut out your tongue."

System Theta froze.

Possibly. Maybe. Somehow...

It felt like its host was serious.

The laughter stopped at once. System Theta sounded ready to cry.

[System Theta: Host, I won’t laugh anymore. I won’t. Please don’t cut out my tongue. Sob...]

Only then did Elias nod in satisfaction.

"Fine. Since your apology sounds sincere."

After teasing System Theta a little, Elias’s mood recovered.

If Liora was not coming to see him off, then fine. She could stay away.

He might be short on money. He might be short on plenty of things.

But backup options?

Never.

Elias dragged his suitcase out of the Blackwood residence while scrolling through his contacts.

Then, after scrolling for a while, his lips pressed together slightly.

Actually...

Maybe he was a little short on options.

Giselle was out. This was not the right time to see her.

Sloane?

Please.

After learning that Elias had temporarily pushed Giselle into her current state, Sloane would not want to deal with him.

Yvonne?

He had practically pressed his warm face against her cold wall, and she had still ignored him. There was no way she would come pick him up now.

Mira?

Probably possible, but she was a miserable working person just like him. It was late. No need to make her suffer more.

Lila?

Give her ten times the courage, and she probably still would not dare meet him right now.

Elias thought for a while before discovering that the only person he could possibly call over was Naomi Vale.

She was probably not asleep. More likely, she was still out playing somewhere. And since she loved watching drama, she should be happy to talk to him.

Elias let out a light breath.

His charm was fine after all.

He called Naomi.

"Then I choose you, Pikachu."

"Hm? What Pikachu?"

Naomi’s voice came through the phone.

"Nothing," Elias said calmly. "Are you free right now?"

He could hear the noise on her end.

He knew that sound too well. It was the specific chaos of a private club at night.

"Wait."

A little while later, the noise on the other end faded. Naomi had probably found somewhere quieter.

"Okay," she said. "Why are you calling me at this hour? Don’t tell me you can’t sleep and want to chat."

Elias smiled faintly.

"What if I said you guessed right?"

"Holy shit," Naomi said, sounding genuinely amazed.

Then she laughed. "Then I definitely don’t dare chat with you. If Giselle finds out, she’ll fight me to the death."

The teasing in her voice was obvious.

Elias thought, as expected of someone who loved entertainment. She even wanted to watch her friend’s drama.

The smile in his voice faded.

He said casually, "If you don’t dare, then forget it. I’ll have someone else pick me up."

Then he hung up.

[System Theta: But weren’t you...]

"Pulling a little," Elias said. "Otherwise it looks like she’s my only choice."

[System Theta: ...]

Was its host this careful and detailed even over tiny things?

It felt like it was about to watch another person fall into his pit.

As expected, Naomi immediately called back.

"Wait. Why did you hang up just like that? I didn’t hear clearly. Pick you up? You need someone to get you? Where are you?"

Elias’s mouth curved, but his tone stayed calm.

Two words.

"Blackwood residence."

The other side went silent for a moment, as if she had frozen.

Then Naomi asked, "Serena Blackwood kicked you out?"

Coming out this late seemed to leave only one option.

Elias’s tone carried a trace of carelessness.

"Watch the wording. She didn’t kick me out. I kicked her aside."

He kicked Serena Blackwood aside.

Naomi seemed to silently correct the wording in her head.

Then she opened her mouth and gave another heartfelt, "Holy shit."

After that, she sounded excited.

"Wait there. I’ll pick you up. Right now."

The call ended.

Elias put his phone away leisurely.

"Got her."

He waited by the roadside for Naomi.

Then he suddenly heard footsteps behind him.

He turned and saw Liora Voss walking slowly out from the shadows in a short blouse.

Her pale arms were exposed to the night air.

Seeing that, Elias asked directly, "Aren’t you cold?"

The sudden concern was familiar and natural, as if nothing strange had happened between them at all.

"Cold," Liora said with a light laugh. "But I came straight out to see you off. I didn’t stop to get anything."

Oh.

She even knew how to play pitiful now.

Elias’s eyes curved into crescents.

"I thought you weren’t going to see me off."

Liora did not confirm or deny it. "Where are you going?"

Elias did not answer.

He only let go of his suitcase and walked toward her slowly. The faint curve at the corner of his mouth looked like a little devil’s smile.

"Was it pretty?"

Liora knew what he was asking.

"It was too dark. I didn’t see."

Elias asked again, "Did it sound good?"

Liora went silent for a moment.

Then she said, "Not bad."

"Only not bad?" Elias’s soft pink lips pushed into a tiny pout, as if dissatisfied. "I’m very confident in my voice, you know. I even studied how to make it sound more delicate and pretty. A woman should not be able to stand hearing it."

For example, Serena Blackwood.

Then Elias’s eyes lifted slightly at the corners, and a faint smile appeared there.

"So was it really not good, or was it because the person making me cry out wasn’t you?"

"It wasn’t me."

Elias paused.

Liora repeated it.

"The person making you cry out wasn’t me, so I didn’t think it sounded good."

Elias’s slightly widened eyes returned to normal.

Then he smiled again.

Softer. Sweeter. More dangerous.

He raised a hand and lightly touched Liora’s face.

"Then let me ask you something else. At that moment, did you... feel anything?"

"Yes."

Liora kept smiling.

She answered every question calmly and truthfully, laying out her thoughts in front of Elias without holding anything back.

The hand against her face moved.

His fingertips rubbed lightly over her skin for a moment.

Elias breathed near her, his voice sweet enough to sound almost intimate.

"So... good."

It was the tone someone used to praise a dog.

Liora showed no anger at being offended.

She only lowered her head and watched Elias’s face in silence.

An angel’s face, hiding a demon’s soul underneath.

And she accepted it gladly.

[Favorability increased: Liora Voss. Current value: 81%.]

Elias’s expression did not change.

The increase was within expectations.

Above eighty percent, even a one percent rise had a weight comparable to five percent before forty.

At that moment, a harsh light broke through the stillness and dark.

Naomi had arrived.