Chapter 293 - 181: Donuts Are So Delicious
Elizabeth let out a little laugh, her slight drowsiness instantly vanishing.
"Mmm..." Her voice on the other end of the line turned languid. "So, brave Knight Li Wei, did you call me this late at night specifically to comfort the princess being bullied by an evil dragon?"
’Oh, my God, he must have seen how down I was about the Skull and Bones Society thing, so he’s putting on this little act to cheer me up.’
’This feeling of being quietly cared for... it’s actually quite wonderful.’
Li Wei glanced at Don Quixote, who was watching him with an approving gaze, and knew he had to keep playing along.
"Yes, Princess," Li Wei recited dryly. "I heard that your path was blocked by an evil wizard. I have come to swear my loyalty to you and, by the knightly virtue of compassion, to clear all obstacles from your way."
"Haha," Elizabeth said, rolling over. "Since Sir Knight is so loyal, what kind of reward will you want after you’ve helped me solve my problem?"
[You have completed the quest: Write a Letter to the Princess (Compassion)]
[Reward: Free Attribute Point +0.1 has been distributed.]
Seeing the system prompt flash across his vision, Li Wei let out a long sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Don Quixote, hearing that Li Wei had "upheld the virtues of a knight," gave a satisfied salute with a hand to his chest. Then, with his eyes closed, he continued his patrol around the house, rustling and clanking in his suit of scrap metal.
"Um... okay, my uncle’s gone now," Li Wei said, rubbing his brow in embarrassment. "Sorry, Elizabeth, for waking you up so late in such a bizarre way."
"Because my uncle just walked away," he explained helplessly. "He’s a serious sleepwalker, and whenever it happens, he thinks he’s a knight from the Middle Ages and forces everyone around him into these weird roles. Just now, he insisted I console a princess in distress, so..."
The other end of the line was silent for two seconds.
"Oh," Elizabeth said. "So... um... you were just doing it to complete a task for your uncle?"
"Sorry," Li Wei said. "Anyway, let’s talk about something serious. I’ve already had someone start looking into the Skull and Bones Society matter."
For some reason, Elizabeth’s voice suddenly cooled, returning to that all-business tone.
"Thank you," she said politely. "Are there any leads?"
"I asked Sebastian for help," Li Wei said, walking to the window and looking out at the neon lights of New York late at night. "He has a buddy named Brad, who happens to be a senior at Yale University and is in charge of this year’s tapping ceremony for the Skull and Bones Society. Sebastian said he’s going to get him drunk at a party tonight and should be able to pry some information out of him."
"Okay," she replied flatly. "Thank you."
"Yeah," Li Wei said. "Get some rest."
"Good night."
Then, completely out of character, Elizabeth rudely hung up before Li Wei could say good night back, leaving him wondering what had just happened.
But when he asked about it the next morning, Elizabeth was back to her usual enthusiastic self.
She insisted that she had been too sleepy the night before and had accidentally hung up on him.
That afternoon, at New York MetLife Stadium, Li Wei faced off against the New Orleans Saints.
The hype surrounding Li Wei’s games was steadily climbing, and the Giants were now showing signs of becoming the number one favorite team in the league.
Data analysis showed that whenever Li Wei was on screen, viewership ratings would spike.
Furthermore, the moments Li Wei was on screen had the highest percentage of female viewers, leading the other 31 teams in the league by a landslide.
By the evening, Li Wei had once again defeated the New Orleans Saints without any suspense, securing an excellent 4-0 record, the only undefeated team so far.
[This week, you led the Knight Legion to victory against the fanatics from a foreign land. Their clumsy combat skills were as fragile as their faith. False gods create false believers; what they say and what they do are two different things. In this week’s tournament, you have practiced the virtue of "Soul".]
[Free Attribute Point +0.1]
Analysts and the media had stopped trying to judge Li Wei’s individual skill and technique; instead, they were all speculating on just how many more games he could win.
"I’m betting he goes undefeated, buddy," Joe Buck said with conviction. "To be honest, I’ve already placed a bet on the Giants going 17-0 in the regular season."
"I hope your brain has sobered up from its hangover, Joe," his partner Troy retorted sarcastically. "You know, in the almost 100-year history of the NFL, a team has only gone undefeated in the regular season five times. The last time was the Patriots in 2007, with a 16-0 record... How much did you bet?"
"I didn’t bet much, Troy, just 1,000 USD," Joe Buck said with a laugh. "But the odds are fantastic, a full 1:45 return. That means if the Giants are still winning when they face the Washington Commanders at home again on January 9th, I’ll pocket 45,000 USD before taxes."
"But if Li Wei loses even one game, you get nothing," said Troy. "I still think the Kansas Chiefs will come out on top. Mahomes’s long pass is no weaker than Li Wei’s."
Though Troy said this, he was mentally calculating where he could go after the recording to put down 10,000 USD on the Giants going 17-0 himself.
As for Li Wei, he didn’t get a call from Sebastian until after he got home around 10 PM.
"Buddy," his voice sounded exhausted, "I feel like my head is being fucked by four black dicks at the same time right now..."
Sebastian groaned in agony on the other end, the sound accompanied by rustling fabric as he rolled over. "I partied too hard with that idiot Brad yesterday. The guy drank like two bottles of tequila, and I swear to God he spiked it with something—then he insisted on dragging two strippers into a conga line... I swear I just opened my eyes, and I still can’t tell which way is up."
He paused, seemingly fumbling around for some water, then quickly asked, "By the way, did you win your game today? I don’t even have the energy to watch the sports news."
"Of course," Li Wei said, holding the phone with his shoulder as he walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and twisted the cap off a bottle of cold water. "No question. A total blowout."
"That’s good, that’s good..." Sebastian let out a long sigh of relief. "At least the 100,000 USD I bet on you wasn’t wasted. Fack, your odds are ridiculously low now. Dropping 100,000 USD only netted me 6,000 bucks. That’s not even enough to cover the bottles of Ace of Spades I bought at the club last night. What do the bookies think you are? A guaranteed United States of America Treasury bond? Or the ever-rising stock market?"
"The US stock market can fall, but I feel like it’d be pretty hard for me to lose," Li Wei said, taking a sip of cold water. "Speaking of business, did Brad spill anything useful?"
"For the sake of that 6,000 bucks and Naomi’s number, I’ve got your business handled," Sebastian said, chugging a large gulp of water. His voice sounded a little clearer, his tone more serious. "That little lady Elizabeth’s intuition is spot on. She guessed it completely."
"It was Charles Mellon?"
"That’s right, that pretentious bastard," Sebastian said. "Brad said it last night when he was wasted. Charles Mellon still has a lot of influence in that damned society. He specifically put the word out, gave a direct order not to put Elizabeth Mellon on the consideration list, not even giving her a chance to go through the motions."
"The infighting in the Old Qian Family is truly despicable. I heard he’s her cousin," Sebastian said with a sneer. "He’s almost 30, yet he’s bullying his own 18-year-old little sister. Doesn’t he have any shame?"
"I get it," Li Wei said. "Thanks. I’ll send you her number later."
"I need to go back to sleep," Sebastian yawned. "Have a great night, and get Elizabeth Mellon into bed soon. Good night, superstar."
Li Wei then relayed the information to Elizabeth.
"But there’s no reason," Elizabeth said, confused. "Even though my family is a bunch of unreasonable, rule-breaking bastards who treat kinship like a bargaining chip and can’t wait to stab each other in the back, there’s no need for him to specifically target me over this."
"No, something doesn’t feel right," she said. "I need to look into this."
The next day at noon, Li Wei contacted Mark as usual.
Ever since a Silver Treasure Chest quest had spawned on Mark, Li Wei couldn’t get him out of his mind, calling him from time to time to get together for a meal.
But this afternoon, when Li Wei called Mark, there was no answer.
Li Wei paused for a moment, glanced at his watch, and saw that it wasn’t yet quitting time.
He spun the steering wheel and headed for the United States of America headquarters of Merrill Lynch Securities.
The Ring of All Things Smooth made the first thought that popped into his head be the ground floor of the Merrill Lynch Securities building, so he was certain Mark would be there.
And sure enough.
Outside the Merrill Lynch Securities headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York.
"I’ve been coming here way too often," Li Wei muttered, a grin tugging at his lips. "I’ve almost memorized the map of this area."
A late autumn wind swept through the streets. Financial elites hurried along the sidewalks, their faces etched with a kind of unnatural excitement and the unique arrogance of Wall Street.
But Mark was an exception. He looked like a helpless little chick that had just been manhandled by a brute.
His usually impeccably combed hair was now a mess, his several-thousand-USD suit was draped casually over his shoulders, and his tie was askew.
His hands were buried in his hair, his lifeless eyes staring at the seams in the pavement. Even the screech of a car braking in front of him couldn’t make him lift his gaze.
Li Wei parked his Cullinan in a no-parking zone, pushed open the door, and walked over.
In Midtown Manhattan, police cars were everywhere.
A traffic cop saw a car parked illegally and was about to go make trouble, but when he saw the Rolls-Royce’s Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament, he immediately focused his attention on the donut in his hand, pretending not to see the Rolls-Royce ten meters away.
’Mmm, this donut is delicious.’