"What is it?" Without opening her eyes, Leah asked Friday to send it to her.
[System Announcement: Emergency Quest!
Cause the miscarriage of Li Mei.
The twins inside Li Mei do not conform to the script the God System wrote.
Reward: +100 Pbucks
Penalty: -100 Pbucks
Countdown Started: 30:16:00:59]
Leah: (╬ ಠ益ಠ)
+++++
The night before, Leaf had been lifted to heaven by Zed, only to be pulled back down to earth by constant ringing and knocking sounds. She had asked Zed to deal with the noise so she could focus on addressing the annoying God System.
After Zed tucked her into bed, she entered her sea of consciousness, leaving her body as if it were sleeping. She found herself in a void-like space where one could only gaze at an endless sea of stars.
Leaf floated near a purple, dimly lit orb the size of a small house and touched it. As soon as she did, she disappeared.
Friday appeared and floated where Leaf had been hovering. "Good luck, Master. Don't work too hard," it cheered, waiting for her return.
…..
An unknown amount of time passed, and then Leaf reappeared next to Friday.
"How is everything, Friday?" she asked.
"Everything is well, Master. Brother Zero has been calmer than before, and my human imitation is going smoothly," Friday replied cheerfully.
Leaf nodded with a smile. "Very good," she praised.
She disappeared again and reappeared in front of Zero's designated space. She floated next to the white cage, sitting in a lotus position, her head resting on her right arm with her right elbow on her right thigh, looking tired and bored.
"Where have you been, Host?" Zero asked, relieved. "It felt like I hadn't seen you for a century," he exclaimed, having lost his sense of time while locked up in the cage.
"It's because you have," Leaf replied with a smile.
With a bewildered look on his face, Zero pointed at Leaf and stuttered, "You— When— How—"
"You poor thing," Leaf said with a smile, which then turned into a frown.
Leaf had visited the so-called God System and, while working on infiltrating its significant parts, had learned more about Zero. The information she had gotten from taking over Friday had been incomplete.
"No wonder he couldn't withstand receiving his memories," Leaf thought.
Looking at Zero intently, she caressed her chin as if she had a beard, pondering Zero's case. "This is a classic case of 'getting sold, yet you still help count the money,'" Leaf muttered.
"Z—" Leaf was about to say Zero's real name, infused with intent, but was cut off by Zero shouting, trembling on his knees, covered in cold sweat, and about to lose his mind.
"Friday!" Leaf immediately shouted.
"Yes, Master," Friday answered. The cage glowed, calming Zero down and erasing the earliest memory from when Leaf tried to utter his real name.
Friday is connected to Zero, so Leaf assigned him the task of helping him. This is also one reason Friday likes to call Zero "brother."
Leaf entered the cage, and with a wave of her hand, a king-sized bed appeared inside. She carried Zero and tucked him into the bed.
She sighed.
"It looks like I have to deal with a salty Zero who was ever so loyal to the God System until I reach the person who created it," Leaf muttered, sighing again.
"Don't worry, Master. I will keep an eye on Brother Zero," Friday said, snuggling onto Leaf's right cheek.
"Alright, I will leave him in your care," Leaf agreed with a smile.
"I'm going to bed," Leaf said with a yawn and disappeared.
…..
[System Announcement: Emergency Quest!
Cause the miscarriage of Li Mei.
The twins inside Li Mei do not conform to the script the God System wrote.
Reward: +100 Pbucks
Penalty: -100 Pbucks
Countdown Started: 30:16:00:59]
At present, hearing the emergency quest announcement sent by the God System jolted Leaf out of bed. "F*ck," she cursed as she sat up, nearly falling off the bed. She looked around and found that she was in her room. She felt her hands; they had been cleaned and dried. The right side of her neck was covered by a skin-tone-colored wound dressing.
"Good morning."
A low and magnetic voice greeted her. Leaf looked up and saw a relaxed Zed with an endearing smile, holding his phone on a couch next to the window. Affected by his smile, Leaf smiled sweetly and answered, "Good morning."
Knock! Knock!
"It's us," Liu Aiden's voice called from the other side of the door.
The brewing sweet atmosphere was suddenly interrupted by a knock. Both Leaf and Zed frowned. "Come in," Zed answered, as Leaf seemed disinterested in catering to anyone after being interrupted.
Leah got up from the bed and looked for her laptop. Zed's eyes never left her, even for a second.
"We're coming in," Liu Fang's jolly voice announced. She opened the door and entered, followed by Liu Aiden and Zhou Chun. Leaf's parents had come in person because it was her discharge date.
After breakfast, they all accompanied Leaf to her newly acquired villa, which boasted the highest security available. She had sold all of the previous original and fake Liu Leah's belongings that she did not need, including shoes, bags, houses, and more. She wanted to focus solely on the Liu Conglomerate, which she would inherit in the future, rather than spread herself thin by overworking with different projects.
She'd rather spend her time with Zed than work more than necessary. Now, she was an heiress, like a princess in olden times who didn't need to lift a finger and only needed to give out orders.
Everything went smoothly during the move. When they reached the villa, Leah gave Zhou Chun her first actual order.
"Chun, book an appointment between me and Wang Defu." Everyone in the room looked at Leah when they heard this.
"As soon as possible, within two days. I will formally break off my engagement with his son," Leah added. Wang Defu is Wang Haoran's father. The Lius were the stronger party when the engagement was first announced, and the original Liu Leah genuinely liked Wang Haoran, so they did not ask the Wang family to sign any contract regarding the engagement. Therefore, when the dissolution of the engagement happens, neither party will need to compensate the other.
Liu Leah's and Wang Haoran's engagement was only a verbal agreement, as her parents preferred it that way. Both Wang Defu and Wang Haoran wanted to gain more, so they tried to make Liu Leah sign a contract that seemed mutually beneficial but, upon closer inspection, would primarily benefit the Wang family. Liu Leah was warned against signing it by her family's army of lawyers, and she heeded their advice, especially after Liu Fang threw a massive tantrum to prevent her from signing an unfavorable contract.
When the fake Liu Leah assigned by the system entered, Wang Haoran was already close with Li Mei, so it never occurred to him to seize the opportunity to have her sign one.
"Tell him that with or without the meeting, I will announce the dissolution of the engagement on all my social media accounts in two days," Leah instructed.
Upon hearing Leah's final sentence, everyone was delighted, especially Zed.