Chapter 497: Tang Kun's ambition, Shen Anyu's happiness!
Tang Kun's mouth was wide open, lost in wild fantasies.
Delivering a single order of pork hock rice had somehow rewarded him with a brand-new Rolls-Royce Phantom, a machine worth well over two million. The sheer absurdity of it sent his mind reeling. If he just delivered a few more orders, wouldn't his life skyrocket to the stratosphere? The possibilities spun in his head, a dizzying carousel of future glories. He envisioned sprawling villas with panoramic views, garages overflowing with gleaming luxury cars, sleek yachts cutting through azure waters, and an endless parade of beautiful women fawning over him. He would have it all. The world would be his oyster, and he would finally shuck it.
"Yaoyao, don't you worry," he muttered to himself, his voice thick with a newfound, unearned confidence. He pictured Zhou Luyao's face, the one that had looked at him with such cold dismissal. "No matter how many women I, Tang Kun, have in the future, you'll always be the most important one. The one who holds my heart. Just wait. I'll deliver a few more takeout orders, and the success I achieve will be so blinding, so magnificent, it will burn your eyes."
But beneath the bravado, a knot of resentment still tightened in his chest. Zhou Luyao's ruthless breakup hadn't just bruised his ego; it had shattered his heart. He had devoted himself to her, worshipped the very ground she walked on, only to be cast aside like trash. Yet, she was his goddess, the sun his pathetic world orbited. He knew, deep down, he could only forgive her. But not yet. No, first, he had to make her grovel. He had to make her chase him, beg for his forgiveness, and win him back. It would be a real-life version of those 'chasing-husband crematorium' novels he'd read online, where the scorned male lead rises from the ashes and the regretful heroine must go through hell to earn back his love.
[Akarin's Note: "Chasing-husband crematorium" (追夫火葬场) is a popular Chinese webnovel trope/genre. It typically involves a female protagonist who mistreats or dumps the male protagonist, only to desperately regret her actions and go to extreme lengths to win him back after he becomes successful and indifferent to her.]
The mere thought of that scenario sent a wave of ecstatic delight through him. A giddy, triumphant laugh escaped his lips. His future was no longer a bleak, empty road; it was a golden path paved with vindication. Reinvigorated by this fantasy, he felt a surge of energy course through his veins, ready to tackle his deliveries with the fervor of a zealot.
While Tang Kun was enthusiastically working overtime, pedaling his rented electric bike at full throttle through the city streets, Shen Anyu was also pushing a machine to its limits. The Rolls-Royce Phantom—the very same one that existed only in Tang Kun's feverish daydreams—screamed as it devoured the winding mountain road. The engine, a marvel of precision engineering, roared like a caged beast finally unleashed. Tires squealed in protest as Shen Anyu masterfully drifted through hairpin turns, the chassis of the luxury sedan pushed to the absolute edge of its performance. The smell of burning rubber and hot metal filled the cool night air. For him, this wasn't just driving; it was an expression of absolute control.
Even as he carved a perfect line through the treacherous mountain pass, a part of his consciousness was elsewhere. He monitored Tang Kun's situation through the subtle feed of a nanometer-sized surveillance robot. On a virtual screen in his mind's eye, he saw the pathetic figure of the so-called Child of Destiny, hunched over the handlebars of his cheap e-bike, a foolish grin plastered on his face. The contrast was almost comical. Shen Anyu, a king in his chariot of steel and leather, and Tang Kun, a jester on his rented nag. He paid the feed little mind, however. The time wasn't ripe.
'Let him be smug for a while,' Shen Anyu thought, a cold, predatory smile gracing his lips. 'Let him soar on the wings of his newfound System. I'll allow him to touch the sky, to believe he has reached the pinnacle of his pathetic life. And at that precise moment, when his ego is at its most inflated, I will give him a taste of the deepest, most absolute despair. I will crush him, his hopes, and his System in a single, decisive swoop, and plunder everything he has.'
Later, while Zhou Luyao was sound asleep in his bed, blissfully unaware of the cosmic games being played around her, Shen Anyu focused his mind and directed his will towards the distant delivery boy. He initiated an appraisal. As expected, the Destiny Plundering System responded instantly, its power cutting through space to analyze his new target. The appraisal was a success, and a detailed profile of Tang Kun materialized in his mind.
…
[Name: Tang Kun]
[Age: 23]
[Background: "Takeout Tycoon: Just Delivered a Pork Hock Rice, Rewarded with a Million-Dollar Cadillac?" Child of Destiny. After simping for the goddess Zhou Luyao for over a decade, he was ruthlessly dumped. Misfortunes never come singly; he also suffered a car accident. At his lowest point, Tang Kun awakened the Takeout Tycoon System. From the very start, delivering a single order of pork hock rice directly rewarded him with the latest Cadillac. From a humble delivery driver, Tang Kun will begin a legendary rise to become an urban tycoon. The goddess Zhou Luyao, who had actively broken up with him, will also come to regret it immensely…]
[Cultivation: Battle Scum]
[Ability: Takeout Tycoon System]
[Personality: Simp, Lecherous, Overachiever]
[Akarin's Note: The raw text uses "Lick Dog" (舔狗), which I've translated as "Simp." It also uses "Roll King" (卷王, juǎn wáng), a modern Chinese slang for someone who is hyper-competitive to the point of exhausting everyone around them, which I've translated as "Overachiever" in this context.]
[Items: Cadillac…]
[Associated Heroines: Zhou Luyao… (Over a hundred in number, but other destiny values are too sparse to count)]
[Destiny Value: 500,000+] (Growth-type Child of Destiny, low-to-medium development potential)
…
Shen Anyu processed the information, his fingers drumming lightly on the steering wheel. "It seems he's a pure urban tycoon, with not much destiny value and limited development potential…" he murmured, pinching his chin in thought.
The analysis was disappointingly straightforward. A Child of Destiny's value was directly proportional to the upper limit of their extraordinary abilities. Long Hao, a Rebirth-investment type, had an absurdly high ceiling; his ability to see the future allowed him to manipulate global markets and politics, granting him a starting destiny value in the tens of millions with even more room to grow. Even a brute like Ye Linyuan, the Sword God, had a fixed ten million, a reflection of his potential to reach a level above a Martial God. Wei Yunteng, the black-tech academic, had a lower initial value, but his potential to revolutionize science gave him immense room for growth.
Tang Kun, however, was a different story. A pure urban takeout tycoon. His System was a one-trick pony designed for accumulating wealth in the mortal world. The upper limit was painfully low. Unless, of course, it was a System that allowed him to deliver takeout across the myriad realms. Shen Anyu scoffed internally at the ridiculous thought. But no, this was just a cheap, mundane version. At his absolute peak, Tang Kun would be nothing more than a super-rich magnate, a man with a large bank account and no real power to threaten the world Shen Anyu operated in.
'In Long Hao's future memories, Qi Fan becomes the world's richest man. Tang Kun's influence seems even less significant; he's just a glorified delivery mogul. If it weren't for the novelty of his 'takeout' gimmick, he probably wouldn't even make a name for himself.'
"This Child of Destiny is a bit of a good-for-nothing," Shen Anyu complained to himself. He was even weaker than Qi Fan, the very first Child of Destiny he had eliminated. He was only marginally stronger than Lin Xiang, that pathetic youth from the campus angst storyline. Even if this Tang Kun developed to his absolute apex, all it would take was a single command from Young Master Shen to crush his entire empire.
There was absolutely no reason to spend precious destiny points to devour the Takeout Tycoon System. It would be a colossal waste. The only way it would be worth it was if it were some heaven-defying System capable of interdimensional delivery. Imagine delivering takeout to Pangu and being rewarded with his cosmic axe, or to the Three Pure Ones for the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation, or to Sun Wukong for the Seventy-Two Transformations. Now that would be a System worth plundering.
[Akarin's Note: Pangu is the creator god in Chinese mythology. The Three Pure Ones are the highest deities in the Daoist pantheon. Sun Wukong and his Seventy-Two Transformations are from the classic novel Journey to the West. The Pangu Axe and Immortal Slaying Sword Formation are legendary divine weapons from Chinese myths and fiction.]
"However, I have no desire to deliver takeout," Shen Anyu chuckled, the idea striking him as utterly absurd. The Great Villain of Destiny, running around delivering noodle soup? What a joke.
'My current balance is over twelve million destiny points. I'll keep a reserve of ten million. That's a solid safety net in case I need to devour a more suitable System or purchase an emergency item from the mall. That leaves two million to play with. I'll do two thousand consecutive draws.' His eyes gleamed with anticipation. "I hope I get something good, like a Child of Destiny Positioning Card."
That was what he craved most right now. Finding a Child of Destiny was like discovering a gold mine of destiny points. A divine-grade positioning card would be even better, capable of locating a target with a value exceeding ten million. Unfortunately, such a useful item couldn't be bought directly from the System mall; the shop was limited to pills, weapons, guards, and other mundane resources.
He reviewed his current list of targets. According to Long Hao's memories, there were six potential leads. The Jing River Corpse Fisher, the Southern Border Goddess, and Jiangbei Master Chen were still under covert investigation by his intelligence network. The Ghost Talent college student, Wei Yunteng, and this Takeout Tycoon, Tang Kun, had already been encountered. That left Zhao Hao, the number one wilderness challenge streamer, who was currently deep in the primeval forests of Shennongjia, with no known date of return.
For a moment, it felt like he was running out of prey. Aside from the Sword God Ye Linyuan and Xu Ping'an, the fake young master with the Damage Reflection Aura—both of whom were completely under his thumb—Shen Anyu had no other Children of Destiny to actively hunt. It wasn't that he disliked enjoying a life of leisure, but the lack of targets meant a lack of destiny points. He needed to grow stronger, faster. The thought of encountering a more powerful, unknown Child of Destiny in the future kept him sharp.
Ye Linyuan would be dealt with soon enough. The plan was already in motion. After he finished conquering the Goddess Doctor Murong Jieyu and also secured the alluring Fairy Pei, he would spring his trap. For that, Shen Anyu had already concocted a wicked and unscrupulous scheme.
As for Xu Ping'an, the Child of Destiny with the Damage Reflection Aura, he was diligently and loyally working for Shen Anyu's Dark Shadow Society, completely fooled by the charade. He was a useful pawn, one Shen Anyu would keep in reserve for now. Of course, that Damage Reflection Aura of his was a bit of a bug. Although Xu Ping'an couldn't initiate an attack, his defense was nigh-invincible. He reflected all damage, making him incredibly difficult to kill by conventional means. A problem for another day.
Shen Anyu pulled the Rolls-Royce over at a scenic lookout. He stepped out and went to a small, secluded restroom facility. He turned on the tap, the cold water splashing against his skin. He washed his hands meticulously, a ritualistic cleansing. Rubbing them together to build a bit of warmth and friction, a thrill of anticipation ran through him.
"Good luck to me," he whispered to his reflection, his eyes burning with predatory intent. "Let's get a Child of Destiny Positioning Card."
He returned to the car, settled into the plush leather seat, and closed his eyes.
"Thousand consecutive draws. Activate."
As the thought formed in his mind, his consciousness was instantly flooded with light. A thousand rays of variegated color exploded before his inner eye, a silent, breathtaking detonation of possibility. It was like a private fireworks display, a celestial nebula of rewards blooming just for him. The vast majority of the streaks were a mundane, common white. A small portion pulsed with a promising purple hue. A very small, tantalizing number shone with the brilliant sheen of gold. And then, there was something else. A single, mysterious, and awe-inspiring seven-colored glow, radiating a power that dwarfed all the others…
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