Chapter 81: The Favour

The morning sun hit the windows of the penthouse, as Rick stood in his private kitchen effortlessly dicing a slab of leftover Wagyu beef for a casual mid-morning snack.

​He moved with the fluid precision of a true culinary master, his pitch-black Shadow-Forged Cleaver turning into a dark blur, separating the marbled meat without making a sound against the heavy wooden cutting board.

​Just as he tossed the premium cuts into a hot iron skillet to sear the fat, his phone vibrated on the counter, displaying a call from Dr. Elena Vance.

​Rick let out a low, entertained chuckle, wiping his hands on a clean towel and answering the call, fully expecting the strict surgeon to beg him for another raw session on her mahogany desk.

​"Morning, Doc," Rick answered lazily, his deep voice carrying a dominant, teasing edge. "Are your thighs still shaking from yesterday, or are you calling to book another private appointment in my bed?"

​"Rick, shut up," Elena whispered through the speaker, though a soft, breathy sigh betrayed the fact that she was blushing heavily on the other end of the line. "I am actually calling because I need a massive favor from you, and it has absolutely nothing to do with... that."

​"I am listening," Rick replied flatly, taking a piece of the seared Wagyu directly from the pan and popping it into his mouth, letting the rich flavors coat his tongue.

​Elena hesitated for a brief second, taking a nervous breath, clearly uncomfortable with bringing her personal family drama to her new master.

​"My grandfather is hosting his eightieth birthday banquet tomorrow evening," Elena explained softly, her tone laced with suppressed frustration. "My family is incredibly traditional and stubborn, and ever since I called off my wedding with Liam, they have been breathing down my neck non-stop."

​"They are pressuring me to settle down," Elena continued bitterly. "They even invited the son of a close family friend to the banquet, trying to set us up, since they think I am getting too old to be single and focused on my surgical career."

​Rick let out a dark, mocking laugh, leaning his broad back against the kitchen counter, finding her predicament highly entertaining.

​"I can’t say I disagree with them, Doc," Rick teased crudely, chewing his food slowly to emphasize his point. "You are definitely getting up there in age, so maybe you should just listen to your elders and spread your legs for this family friend before your eggs dry up entirely."

​"Rick, shut your mouth and listen to me!" Elena scolded fiercely, her voice cracking with embarrassment and sheer annoyance, though she lacked any real bite to command him. "I am being serious right now! I need you to come to the banquet with me."

​Her voice dropped into a vulnerable, pleading register. "I need you to attend as my official boyfriend, just to shut them all up and make that annoying suitor back off."

​"You want to parade me in front of your traditional relatives to kill some flies?" Rick asked smoothly, crossing his arms, realizing this was a classic setup for some highly entertaining face-slapping.

​"Please, Rick," Elena whimpered softly, abandoning her strict Ice Queen persona to beg him. "I will do absolutely anything you want later... I just cannot deal with their nagging alone."

​"Wear that tight black dress that shows off your heavy cleavage," Rick commanded ruthlessly, leaving no room for negotiation, "And make sure you wear the crotchless panties underneath, since I might get bored dealing with your relatives."

​Elena gasped softly through the phone, her breath hitching wildly, as the sheer vulgarity of his demand sent a massive electric shock straight down her spine, making her inner walls spasm with a sudden rush of wetness.

​"I... I will," Elena stammered obediently, her pride melting into a puddle of mush. "Thank you, Rick. I will pick you up tomorrow at seven."

​Rick hung up the phone, tossing it back onto the counter. He knew he was walking straight into a den of traditional snobs who would undoubtedly try to look down on him, since they likely expected Elena to show up with some wealthy heir or successful doctor rather than a man who appeared to be a simple kitchen cook.

​Rick knew he could not show up empty-handed to an eightieth birthday banquet for a traditional family patriarch. Bringing a cheap bottle of wine or a basic watch would only give the annoying flies ammunition to bark at him, and a true dragon never gave face to lesser beings by acting like a peasant.

​Right as Rick crossed his arms to think of a suitable item, a sharp, mechanical chime echoed inside his skull.

​[Ding!]

[Quest Triggered: The Patriarch’s Tribute!]

[Objective: A true apex predator never arrives empty-handed. Acquire a heaven-defying gift to present at the Vance family banquet to firmly slap the faces of the arrogant snobs trying to claim your woman!]

[Rewards: +1500 Mischief Points, +2% Chef Occupation Progress!]

​Rick read the glowing blue text floating in his vision, swiping the interface away with a swift mental command, because the system was practically handing him free progression points.

​He walked out of the kitchen and dropped onto the leather sofa in the living room, pulling up his digital empire portfolio on his phone, scrolling through the list of massive corporations he held power over.

​His eyes landed on the ’Imperial Jade Hotel Group’, the massive conglomerate that owned the legendary mountain hot springs where he had pounded Elena just a few days ago.

​Since his recent culinary milestones had pushed his personal ownership of the Peninsula Hotel to exactly seventy-five percent, he legally controlled the Peninsula’s subsidiary investments, giving him a massive forty-two percent voting stake in the Imperial Jade empire, making him their supreme, undisputed boss.

​Rick found the emergency contact number for Cheng Shuang, the acting CEO of the Imperial Jade Group, tapping the screen to initiate the call, fully prepared to exploit his corporate authority.

​The phone rang exactly once before it was frantically answered.

​"H-Hello?!" a panicked, sweating voice echoed through the speaker. CEO Cheng Shuang had clearly seen the caller ID and nearly suffered a heart attack, knowing this specific number belonged to the phantom billionaire who could erase his entire career with a single word. "Is this... Mr. Smith? The supreme shareholder?"

​"It is," Rick stated flatly, keeping his voice dead and emotionless, entirely refusing to offer any polite corporate greetings.

​"Boss! It is an absolute honor to hear your voice!" Cheng Shuang practically wept through the phone, his tone dripping with unadulterated groveling, acting exactly like a loyal dog eager to please its master. "I have been reviewing the quarterly reports to present to you, as our profits are soaring, and..."

​"Shut up, Cheng," Rick interrupted ruthlessly, cutting through the CEO’s pathetic rambling, having zero patience for corporate bootlicking. "I am not calling to discuss numbers, since I need something specific from your personal collection."

​Cheng Shuang went dead silent for a fraction of a second, swallowing hard, realizing the supreme boss had been monitoring his private life.

​"Anything you need, Boss," Cheng stammered quickly, desperate to prove his loyalty. "My life is yours."

​"You recently acquired a very specific, highly classified antique at an underground shadow auction," Rick demanded lazily. "I need it delivered to my penthouse by tonight."

​Cheng Shuang let out a sharp, ragged gasp, a massive wave of hesitation washing over him, knowing exactly what Rick was talking about.

​"You mean... the Luminous Void Orb?" Cheng asked, his voice trembling with a mixture of reverence and sheer panic. "Boss, that item is a priceless national treasure from the ancient dynasties! It is a flawless, unblemished crystal artifact that possesses a clarity defying all mortal logic, as the elders say it carries immense fortune and wards off evil spirits!"

​Cheng rambled on, his voice picking up speed as he desperately tried to explain the value of his prized possession. "I spent over thirty million dollars securing it, as it is the absolute crown jewel of my entire existence! The way it catches the light, it looks like a trapped star, and..."

​"I don’t care about its history, Cheng," Rick cut him off coldly, his deep voice carrying a suffocating, lethal weight that instantly silenced the CEO’s desperate praising. "I need a gift for an old man’s birthday banquet tomorrow, and your shiny rock fits the bill."

​Cheng Shuang felt his soul practically leave his body, realizing the supreme boss was going to casually give away a thirty-million-dollar ancient dynasty artifact as a simple birthday present, treating it like a cheap box of chocolates.

​But Cheng was a shrewd, calculating businessman, and he knew that offending a god-tier billionaire over a piece of crystal was akin to courting death.

​"I will not buy it from you," Rick continued smoothly, dropping the ultimate corporate nuke right onto the CEO’s head. "But if that orb is sitting on my desk by sunset, I will personally back your seat as CEO during the upcoming board restructure, and I will fully fund your new coastal resort expansions without a single question."

​The sheer magnitude of the offer hit Cheng Shuang like a speeding freight train. A thirty-million-dollar rock was nothing compared to the unwavering backing of the majority shareholder, since Rick’s promise would cement Cheng’s legacy and power in the corporate world for the next decade, making him a true king of the industry.

​"It will be there, Boss!" Cheng shouted hysterically, his voice cracking with pure joy, abandoning his love for the antique in a heartbeat. "I will have my most elite security team escort the Luminous Void Orb directly to your penthouse this very second! Thank you, Boss! Thank you for giving me this immense face!"

​Rick smiled, a dark, greedy expression taking over his features, satisfied with the flawless transaction, as he hung up the phone and tossed it onto the sofa, proving once again that true power meant never having to spend a single dime of his own money to get exactly what he wanted.

​He spent the rest of the afternoon refining a few secret recipes in his private kitchen, preparing his culinary arsenal for the upcoming International Culinary Summit, until the heavy double doors of his penthouse chimed loudly just as the sun began to set. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

​Rick walked over and opened the doors, finding Marcus Hale, the Peninsula’s VIP manager, standing nervously in the hallway, flanked by four massive security contractors wearing tactical gear.

​"Boss," Marcus bowed perfectly at a strict ninety-degree angle, gesturing to the contractors who held a heavy mahogany box secured with a digital biometric lock. "CEO Cheng Shuang sent his personal guards to deliver this package directly into your hands, as he stressed it is a matter of absolute life and death."

​"Leave it on the desk," Rick commanded lazily, pointing toward the living room.

​The guards carried the heavy mahogany box inside, placing it carefully on the glass coffee table, before they bowed deeply and quickly exited the penthouse, leaving Rick entirely alone with his new prize.

​Rick approached the box, noticing the biometric lock had been pre-programmed to accept his fingerprint, clicking open with a soft, mechanical hiss the second he pressed his thumb against the scanner. He lifted the heavy wooden lid, as the dark velvet interior was illuminated by the object resting in the center.

​It was the Luminous Void Orb, and even Rick had to admit it was a breathtaking piece of ancient craftsmanship.

​The crystal was perfectly spherical, roughly the size of a grapefruit, but it possessed a strange, mesmerizing depth, as if smoke and starlight were trapped directly inside the flawless glass, catching the ambient light of the penthouse and reflecting a haunting glow across the room. It radiated a subtle, ancient aura that commanded immediate respect, making it the perfect weapon to slap the faces of any arrogant snobs who tried to look down on him at the banquet.

​Rick snapped the mahogany box shut, locking the thirty-million-dollar treasure away, as a ruthless, highly villainous grin crept across his sharp jawline.

​He raised his left hand, pulling back the cuff of his plain black t-shirt to reveal the heavy diamond watch strapped to his wrist, checking the time. Right as he lowered his arm, the system interface flashed to life again, projecting a new string of text directly into his line of sight.

​[Ding!]

[Quest Triggered: The Alpha’s Banquet!]

[Objective: You have secured the ultimate tribute! Now, attend the Vance family gathering and assert your dominance! Do not let the traditional snobs or the rival suitor look down on you, as a Culinary Emperor bows to absolutely no one!]

[Rewards: +3000 Mischief Points, +5% Chef Occupation Progress, & The Ultimate Face-Slapping Title!]

​Rick read the glowing prompt, casually cracking his knuckles, feeling the immense, heaven-defying power coursing through his system-enhanced body.

​He checked his Chef class progression, noting that he was steadily climbing toward the next massive milestone, and with this ancient artifact in his possession, he was fully armed for war.

​"Let’s see just how loud these frogs can bark," Rick whispered lethally to the empty penthouse, entirely ready to walk into the gathering tomorrow night and crush whoever dared to cross his path.