Aboli had changed into the new dress Louis had just bought her.
A white dress was reaching her calves, with a simple V-lined sailor collar. The waist was cinched with a thin belt in the same color, and on her feet was a slightly worn pair of Martin boots.
Louis truly couldn't understand her. She had the means to live a wealthy life, yet instead of enjoying it, she insisted on going out and dressing like some poor soul.
Aboli kept staring at Louis. Whatever he said, she only nodded, looking so obedient it was as if she were a little angel.
Standing off to the side, the shop owner couldn't help but chuckle.
"Louis, since when did you turn into a mother hen?"
Louis glanced at the thick-bearded man before him and replied flatly, "I'm a rooster."
"Hahaha!" The shop owner burst out laughing, then looked toward Aboli again. He had no idea where Louis had picked this girl up from, but her looks were flawless besides being a little thin.
People like her, in a place like Zone 10, could only end up as prey for scum.
After giving Aboli a long string of instructions, Louis left—he had his matters to attend to.
It wasn't until Louis's back had disappeared entirely from the shop's doorway that the owner turned to Aboli, his expression serious.
"Since you're here, you'd better work hard. Louis already told you that."
He tossed an apron toward her, but Aboli didn't take it. The apron brushed against her before slipping down to the floor.
The shop owner narrowed his eyes, but Aboli waved her hand dismissively before he could speak.
"I'm not working."
Her face was now a mask of ice, devoid of any emotion. The way she looked at him wasn't even like she was looking at a living person.
The shop owner was a burly man, nearly two meters tall, yet that gaze made him involuntarily take a step back.
When he came to his senses, he immediately frowned and snapped in anger,
"Fine, get out. I'll call Louis. Does he even know what you're like? Talk about repaying kindness with ingratitude!"
He turned to head toward the counter to get his phone.
But he couldn't move.
Aboli had grabbed his hand.
He felt it—like being gripped by bare bone. A shiver ran down his spine as he turned back, coldness and disbelief mixing on his face.
A pale, ice-cold hand clutched his wrist, blue veins standing out, joints jutting sharply. The fingertips were pressing so hard they seemed about to pierce his flesh. The pressure was unimaginable, as though his wrist could be crushed at any moment. And worse—he couldn't even pull free.
Just what in the hell was this girl?!
The shop owner's eyes widened. Shock aside, his anger still surged.
"You little bitch!"
He raised his other arm—his cybernetic arm—which suddenly shifted into a sharp blade, stabbing straight toward Aboli's face.
He didn't care. He could apologize to Louis later. Besides, this girl wasn't normal, and Louis didn't realize it. Louis would thank him for killing her.
But the expected scene of blood splattering never happened.
Aboli's other hand had caught his cybernetic wrist, the sharp blade hovering just a few centimeters from her eyeball.
Her cold, silvery irises seemed to flicker faintly, carrying a strange, mechanical, merciless aura.
Bang!
The shop owner's cybernetic arm was crushed barehanded by Aboli!
Even though the mechanical limb no longer felt pain, the shop owner's eyes widened in disbelief at what had just happened.
He tried to struggle free, but Aboli didn't give him the chance.
She gave his body a light kick, sending him flying backward. Sparks and arcs of electricity flared from the cybernetic arm still gripped in her hand, flickering erratically.
Clang! Bang!
Aboli tossed the cybernetic arm to the ground, then began walking toward the shop owner, who was now rolling on the floor.
His eyes widened further. Fear and panic made him lift his gaze, his pupils trembling, cold sweat streaming down his head—whether from pain or terror, he didn't know.
He wanted to speak, but facing those silver eyes, every sound seemed stuck in his throat. His mouth opened, but no words came out—only a dazed, frightened expression as he tried to push himself backward with his legs. Both of his arms had already been destroyed.
"Wh–what do you want?!"
At last, he swallowed hard, gathering every bit of courage to shout.
Aboli leaned down, her silver eyes narrowing slightly.
The shop owner suddenly felt like a massive, ice-cold blade was pressed against his neck.
Damn it—where did Louis even find this thing?! Does he have any idea how dangerous she is?!
No normal human could crush a cybernetic arm with their bare hands.
Aboli seemed completely unmoved by his pitiful, terrified state. She lifted a finger to her lips, tilted her head slightly, and let out a soft shhh.
The shop owner's eyes went wide. It was as if he'd found a lifeline in certain death.
"Of course! Of course! You've worked so hard today!" he blurted out.
Sorry, Louis—but my life's worth more than my pride.
He squeezed his eyes shut, and only when he heard her footsteps growing distant did he finally release the breath he'd been holding. His heart was still pounding with lingering fear—he'd honestly thought he was going to become another corpse added to Zone 10's tally today.
Louis had no idea what had happened in the café. And even if he did, he would probably pretend not to know and wish the shop owner good luck.
Right now, he has a more important business to handle.
Louis sat on his bed, a computer in front of him.
Everything he did had to be done in this cramped little apartment on that bed—something he had long grown used to.
His computer was a discarded relic dug out of a landfill by repairers. Only a pathetic fourth-class citizen like him would still be using this. It didn't even look like it belonged to this era—pathetically outdated.
Still, it was enough as long as it could connect to the internet.
Louis logged in and navigated to a private website.
In the original story, the main characters formed a gang, and Aboli's subordinates were fiercely loyal and devoted to her.
More importantly, in these non-romantic stories, most of the subordinates—or anyone who even knew the female lead—would eventually fall for her charm, secretly love her, and never dare confess or, if they did, be firmly rejected.
Perhaps the author was an adult, and adults didn't like making choices—catching them all was far more satisfying. Still, such things didn't align with community guidelines, so leaving the beautiful female lead single was the safest bet.
The first step to ensuring my survival: Your subordinates are my friends!
Yes—if I became friends with the female lead's future subordinates, when she eventually recruited them, maybe one of them would remember me and say, "Oh, Louis? He's my friend. We can be on the same team!"
Perfect. If I could shed the "mother hen" label and become a comrade instead, that would mean safety!
Of course, nothing was ever that easy.
To become the subordinate of a lunatic, you naturally had to be a lunatic yourself. But lunatics came in all sizes—big ones and small ones. For now, Louis would look for the big ones first. No problem—the biggest lunatic was already with him anyway. Heh.
After cracking through five layers of encryption, Louis successfully logged into the site.
Back in his old world, he had learned plenty of hacking skills, good enough to make a decent living. But the tech in this world was far more advanced, forcing him to start from scratch. The only lucky break was that there were no language barriers.
Still, no matter how smart he was, it had only been a week. He was a total amateur. He'd only gotten in because the original novel described these encryption sequences.
His memory was always helpful.
The chat window exploded with messages when he logged in—dozens of lines flashing by rapidly.
Only five people were typing, yet their speed was terrifying.
They probably thought he was a newcomer. Sorry to disappoint—I'm just an intruder trying to cozy up to your boss.