NOVEL NEXT 70 Finally some introductions [2]
Chapter - 70
"You know what, folks? We've been going back and forth about money, cash, women, and whatnot, but here's the kicker and I realized that just now," Rick, in the middle of this intense showdown, dropped a bombshell of a point, "I messed up the old man's plan, and I don't even know who you people are!"
Hearing Rick, the girl and the old man were like, "Wait, what?!" They were totally baffled by Rick bringing this up in the middle of this crazy situation.
But what really ticked off the old man was that Rick was actually right. All that bullshit and the old man even did not know why the boy would meddle.
"I mean, yeah, I get it, what I did might've been a tad rude, but that's how the cookie crumbled," Rick said with an innocent shrug.
The girl was the first to react, her voice tinged with uncertainty, "Uhh, I don't think it's the best moment for that chat. We have to figure out how to get out of this mess first," she suggested, sounding unsure.
The old man, equally taken aback, added in a vehement outburst, "You, kid, are you nuts? What's with this nonsense? You wrecked everything for me, and now you want to have a chat? What a load of baloney!"
Rick, adopting an air of innocence and surprise, responded, "Whoa, whoa, simmer down! I figured, why not have a little chit-chat while we're stuck here? It's not all about the moolah, right?"
The old man, his frustration unabated, lashed out in annoyance. "It's not about money? Then why the fuck are you here? You nutcase, go away and give us some peace."
And for once, the girl couldn't agree more with the old man, 'He's got a point! You're a total loony.' The girl thought.
Rick, undeterred and still with a hint of humor in his voice, pressed on. "Well, you could say I'm not your typical negotiator. But hey, it's all about building bridges, right?"
The girl began, "You, you absolute... grrr! I can't even find words for how much you are..."
"Hey girl... You're like, super ungrateful, you know. If this old guy is so awesome and righteous, maybe I should just hand over your butt to him? I will get some easy money and I won't have to worry about saving that nice ass of yours." Rick broke the girl's small bubble of arrogance. He was, somewhat annoyed by the accusations being hurled at him.What he said was all in good faith.
"And you old coot," He directed his words at the old man, "You can kiss your dream of fucking this bitch goodbye, I ain't handing her over to you now. Now get going and get busy with your hand. Shoo... Shoo..."
Rick shut both the old man and the girl down in one shot. But as soon as he finished talking and realized what he'd said, he felt his cheeks burning with embarrassment. On one hand, he was doing what they wanted, but at the same time, he was also flipping them the bird. He suddenly felt like an idiot. But he wasn't going to let it show on his face. He was gonna act all shameless about it.
The old man, caught off guard by Rick's response, was momentarily flustered. A sly smile crept onto his face as he attempted to defuse the situation. "Calm down, my friend. Let's not get carried away. I think it's about time we get to know each other."
Rick raised an eyebrow at the sudden switch in the old man's attitude but decided to play along. "Oh, now you feel chatty? Okay, old man, let's hear it."
With a fancy air, the old man started, "I'm Garret, a guy with lots of cash and influence. You've seen my... uhh, business skills, and I promise you, there's more where that came from. In this world, they know me as 'The Depra'..." But suddenly, his smug look faded, and he looked a bit awkward.
"The Depra? What kind of name is that?" Rick narrowed his eyes and looked at the old man, "C'mon spill it."
"The... They call me the... The Depraved Old Sage."
"Fucking knew it... I fucking knew it. There is no way the world would not know about a dirty old guy like you chasing after a girl your grand-daughter's age." Rick nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the old man's confession. "But... Hey... Hey... listen up. It's okay, I'm not judging you. No one is. Alright? Being a pervert is no big deal."
"Just be a woke, liberal pervert and everything will be okay," Rick spoke with seriousness, "I am a conscientious pervert, you see. I only ogle responsibly and with eco-friendly intentions. I recycle my dirty thoughts and use organic fantasies! Something like this."
Rick turned to the girl with a twinkle in his eye, like he was up to something. Before she could even introduce herself, he just had to butt in. "I'm taking a wild guess here — You've got that icy, poker face going, pretending like nothing fazes you. You're definitely not an Emily or Karen..."
"Evelina, am I right?" Rick whispered, grinning.
"You... How do you know? Who are you?" Suddenly the girl who had started to feel a bit comfortable and secure around Rick took a few steps back, trying to make some distance between them, "Who sent you?"
"Easy there. One more step, and you'll be joining the boneless club like those other guys," Rick warned the girl and made sure she stayed inside the shield's barrier. And hearing him, the girl did stop.
"From your moves, I'm pretty sure I nailed it," Rick said, but didn't bother explaining more. He just clapped his hands and rubbed them together like he was getting ready for the main event. "Now that we've got the pleasantries out of the way, let's get back to business."
In fact, it was the system who told him the name of the girl.
ust like how it clued him in on Amanda and the gang earlier, the system spilled the beans on the girl's name. Her full name was none other than "Evelina Bloodthrone." And the system didn't have a whole lot of dirt on her, except for one tidbit – her Carnal Calibrator was sitting at a respectable score.
[
Name: Evelina Bloodthrone
Age: 28 years
Carnal Calibrator: 35/100
Romance Radar: 00/10
]
Seems like the fact that Rick showed up to save the girl had done a little magic trick on her.
With a mischievous glint in his eye, he directed his attention to the old man, Garret, and cut straight to the heart of the matter. "Now, old man, I'm pretty sure I heard you mention 'women,' and not just 'woman.' How many are we talking about?"
Garret, a bit thrown off by Rick's no-nonsense approach, had hoped to dance around the topic and squeeze more intel out of his mysterious counterpart. But Rick's laser focus on the negotiation left Garret with no wiggle room.
Garret, sporting a bit of a frown, was in a bit of a pickle. He had tossed in "women" as a bargaining chip, and now he had to spill the beans. He hesitated for a moment and then let out, "Well, when I said 'women,' I meant... a significant number. You could take your pick. How does that sound?"
"A 'significant number'? You can do better than that, old man. Let's put a number on it. Is it ten? Twenty? A hundred? A thousand?" Rick leaned in, looking all cheeky and excited, and kept pushing, "Sounds like a real bash. You throwing me a harem, or what?"
Caught off guard by Rick's playful interrogation, the old man was stuck. "A harem? Well, I guess we could arrange something like that. More than you can imagine."
"More than I can imagine? Now, that's a wide range, old man. How about you narrow it down? We're here to talk business, after all." Rick was persistent.
Garret, stuck between a rock and a hard place, felt the pressure of the negotiations and the sheer absurdity of the situation. He kept tiptoeing around the details, saying, "It's a... substantial number, like I mentioned. You'll have to take my word on it."
Rick, clearly not in the mood for vague answers, decided to give the old man a little nudge. "Trust? In a negotiation like this, pal, it's all about the nitty-gritty. So, how about you toss out a number, and we can roll with it."
Garret, seeing that his attempts at mystery weren't flying, chose to go with the straight goods. He took a deep breath and, sounding a bit exasperated, said, "Alright, alright! We're talking about fifty women. Happy now?"
Rick, finally getting a solid number from Garret, couldn't help but laugh. "Fifty women, huh? Now that's an offer, old man. But remember, I've got some pretty high standards." 11:26
The old man, now feeling a bit relieved that he'd given a clear answer, let out a chuckle too. "High standards, huh? Guess you don't know me."
"I don't."
"..."
Having sorted out the terms of the old man's deal, and leaving him speechless, Rick now turned his gaze toward Evelina, looking all hopeful and intrigued. He was itching to see what she'd come up with as a response to the old man's wild proposal.
With a twinkle in his eye, Rick asked, "Alright, lady, what's your move? Fifty women is a hard act to follow. What's your offer?"
'All fucking men are the same,' Evelina cursed as she saw the smile on Rick's face. But on her face, there was a playful smirk plastered. She was quite proficient in masking her emotions and pull up a fake smile, "Well, Rick, I might not match up to fifty women, but I can definitely stir the pot."
"How about a hundred men? Does that tickle your fancy enough?" Rick couldn't help but laugh at Evelina's unexpected comeback. "A hundred men, huh? Now that's a bold move. It looks like we're in the market for bulk deals here," Rick said, glancing over at the old man.
"Old man... The girl is all yours, so..."
But the girl's smirk turned into a panicked expression as she quickly stopped Rick, covering his mouth.
"Seriously, are you that petty?" The girl looked at Rick, complaining.
Rick just gave a casual shrug, still sounding all cheeky. "Hey, why not? Life's too short not to have a little fun, even in the weirdest of situations." Evelina sighed and, after a moment's thought, decided to throw out her counteroffer, "Alright, how about this? I can offer you access to the most exclusive and secret societies in the world. Access to power, knowledge, and connections beyond your wildest dreams."
Rick's eyes widened with surprise, and his grin stretched even wider. "Secret societies, huh? That's got me intrigued. But, Evelina..."
Rick, despite being intrigued by the secret society offer, couldn't help but shake his head with a grin. "Secret societies and all that? It's definitely impressive, but it's not exactly my scene. What am I gonna do with secret handshakes and hidden agendas? The old man's got the upper hand for now. Unless..." "Unless what? "Evelina's curiosity was tickled, and she leaned in to catch what Rick had cooking.
Rick's expression took on a sly, lecherous quality as he continued, "Unless you're willing to offer yourself as part of the deal."
As he spoke, his gaze not-so-subtly traveled down to Evelina's chest, as he looked at her big, voluptuous breasts and clicked his tongue in appreciation, "You see, with assets like those, I'm pretty sure we could strike a pretty sweet deal."
Slap!
It didn't even take a breath after Rick's words left his mouth before the forest echoed with a resounding slap, Evelina's outrage loud and clear.
"You scum."
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[A/N: Do vote, leave a comment, send me golden tickets and bring up some gifts. Also, don't forget to read my other story, 'The Devil's Harem'.]