Chapter 602 - 380: Dark Rose (Part 2)
"To ensure food ends up in the mouths of those who truly need it, the simplest way is to throw it in the trash and dirty it—as dirty as possible—because someone near starvation will eat anything, and certainly won’t mind whether it’s clean or not."
Dongdong nodded instinctively, clearly resonating with Su Mo’s last words.
After a moment of silence, she asked perplexedly, "But if she wants to help the homeless, why bother to beat around the bush? She could donate money to the foundation herself, or get those bosses to donate instead."
Su Mo laughed briefly: "Foundation? You donate a million to the foundation, and guess how much actually reaches those in need—barely ten thousand?"
"As long as there’s enough profit, those parasites will dare to do anything. No matter how much you donate, in the end, only those who profit from it will get fattened up."
"Besides, she’s a busy special commissioner with hardly enough time day-to-day. She can’t afford to focus on tracking these things intricately. So, she exploited ’eating,’ a physiological activity everyone must perform."
"Now, as you can see, the ones spending money are those bosses, and the food ends up in the mouths of the homeless, with no exploitation, no deductions, and without occupying any work time or energy—completed directly from top to bottom."
"A hundred dishes per meal, assuming each one can keep five starving people alive, a single meal would save five hundred people. Stretch this over a month, a year, ten years, and do the math on that."
Dongdong listened and was somewhat lost, evidently not realizing the depth behind it.
She was silent for a long time and muttered softly, "So, according to you, this Luo is a good person?"
Su Mo couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly.
It’s far beyond just being a good person.
Among all the characters appearing in the game "Dawn," if Su Mo had to choose the kindest person, he wouldn’t choose the righteous Shangguan Li nor Fenrir, who battles at the frontier.
He would choose Luo.
Luo was born into a noble family; three generations above were all high-ranking officials in the upper court. She herself holds an important position, mediating among various major forces in the upper court, simultaneously working for the three giant corporations, everywhere representing their interests.
Yet no one would imagine this extraordinarily loyal upper court official, not even those senior managers of the giant corporations, is actually a revolutionary at heart.
Regardless of Shangguan Li, Fenrir, or anyone else, they indeed have their bright ideals, yet they still retain emotions that influence their decisions due to personal feelings.
Take Fenrir, for example, this bold assault on the Heaven-Reaching Tower is truly exhilarating, but objectively speaking, it’s irrational.
What good is it to destroy the Heaven-Reaching Tower? In this world, the "Heaven-Reaching Tower" is far beyond just one; even if New Moon City’s Heaven-Reaching Tower is reduced to ashes, a new one will rise soon after, changing nothing.
Fenrir did this purely to fulfill Troy, to give Hibell hope for survival.
But Luo is completely different; she is kind to the point of being described as "cruel."
Luo doesn’t love her family, colleagues, friends, nor any individual—she doesn’t even love herself.
She loves humanity as a whole.
For the future of humanity, she would sacrifice anything.
In the original plot of "Dawn," to rise in position and further penetrate the heart of the giant’s authority, Luo poisoned her biological parents without any hesitation, casually killed childhood playmates with whom she had decades of association.
Being a companion to such a person is both beautiful and dangerous.
Beautiful, in that if you share the same ideals, you’ll never worry about her betrayal.
Yet dangerous, for she can sacrifice anything for that ideal, including you as a companion.
This is Luo, a thorny rose silently blooming in the darkness, extremely kind yet extremely ruthless.
What is the reason for Luo’s recent actions in New Moon City? Frankly, Su Mo doesn’t know. The current situation has long deviated far from the original plot development.
But one thing is indisputable: in Luo’s calculations, the actions she took aim to crush the giant corporations, all for the future of humanity.
As for why suppressing the righteous would be related to defeating the giant corporations? What exactly is the grand scheme she’s plotting? Su Mo still can’t fathom it and needs further observation.
"Ring... ring..." At this moment, the phone rang.
Su Mo picked it up; it was KK calling.
"Boss, the intelligence department reported the upper court’s convoy is heading towards us. When are you coming back?"
Su Mo thought: What’s meant to come, will come.
Whether it’s fortune or misfortune, it can’t be avoided. So, it’ll be challenged head-on.
Su Mo replied: "Understood, I’m returning now."
...
During Luo’s visit to New Moon City this time, many people around Su Mo were arrested. Thus, he couldn’t drop his guard, personally reviewing various documents within the Mercenary Corps to ensure there were no potential incriminating loopholes.
Luo’s visit tonight, Su Mo didn’t make any special arrangements, lest she realizes she’s being monitored—such actions are too unlikable—so the whole building remains as usual.
Su Mo drove faster than Luo’s convoy, returned to the building first, and then came down to greet them as they arrived.
Luo entered the hall and proactively extended her hand to Su Mo: "Director Su, I’ve long admired you. You’re much more handsome than in the photos."
Su Mo humorously replied: "I just have a common face, Miss Luo, no need to praise lavishly. Would you like a late-night snack? The chefs are here, all ingredients are prepared; I can have them make a table as per specifications?"
Luo smiled slightly: "No need, dinner was quite filling, just a cup of tea is fine."
Upon hearing this response, Su Mo felt a slight relief.
Like most leaders, Luo carries thick armor, speaking politely and graciously with everyone—it’s nearly impossible to deduce anything from her words.
But from the transmigrator’s God-like perspective, it’s not difficult to gauge what Luo thinks of someone by her attitude towards "hosting an invitation.
According to normal social interaction, if someone lets you host an invitation, it indicates you have mutual benefits.
If they don’t let you host, giving zero face, your relationship is just so-so.
But with Luo, it’s the opposite.
If she gladly accepts your invitation, letting you spend while hosting a large banquet, then in her mind, your impression is likely mediocre.
If she wants nothing, preventing you from extravagantly hosting, that indicates she has a favorable impression of you.
With such foresight, Su Mo felt somewhat comforted; he smoothly suggested: "Then let’s move to the tea room for a chat."
The group moved to the tea room, where Su Mo and Luo sat face-to-face at the tea table, with others standing around.
KK played the role of a little steward, helping make tea.
Luo glanced at KK and asked: "From the frontier?"
KK froze momentarily, instinctively looked down at his chest, for a second thinking he was still wearing the identity-revealing "dog tags."
"Seems like he is," Luo said with a smile, "The tags aren’t worn anymore, but certain small gestures in action are difficult to change."
"Director Su, with such abundant resources, not hiring a professional steward but keeping a small frontier person by your side, indicates you share life-and-death camaraderie."
Su Mo didn’t intend for KK to respond; figures of this caliber aren’t something he can handle with his limited experience.
Su Mo smiled and took over the conversation: "KK was with me before my rise. Having endured those hardships together back then, there’s no way I would abandon him upon gaining success."
This is the truth, also a means to boost favorability with Luo on this topic.
Luo propped her chin with her hand, her smile turning mysterious: "So, he’s your important companion."
"Chen Zhengde," she called.
The Martial Artist who previously injured Shangguan Li stepped forward, his eyes intentionally or unintentionally glanced at KK.
The tea room fell silent, with only the boiling water sound, creating a somewhat repressive atmosphere.
Luo smilingly observed Su Mo for a while before slowly saying: "I see plenty of game machines in the neighboring arcade room. Have your people compete with KK, to see the gaming skills of those under Director Su."
KK was a bit bewildered, using his gaze to query Su Mo.
Su Mo nodded at him.
One by one, people left, leaving Su Mo and Luo alone in the tea room.
Luo watched Su Mo pour her tea and teased: "Director Su, you’re quite composed; all your companions have been arrested, and upon seeing me, you don’t even ask about the situation."
Su Mo put down the teapot, shrugging: "What’s the use of asking? You wouldn’t tell me anyway."
Luo raised her eyebrows, smiling: "How do you know if you don’t ask."
Su Mo: "Alright, then tell me, why arrest them."
Luo leaned forward slightly, getting closer to Su Mo, her golden eyes hiding a dangerous glint: "Because we’re uprooting all of you, including you."