NOVEL WEB Chapter 145: Live Haul
A soft knock echoed through the quiet suite.
A young attendant entered and bowed slightly toward Yelena. "Lady Red… the Patriarch has sent a ship for you. It's waiting at Dock Seven."
Yelena gave a small nod. Her face was unreadable again—back to that well-trained calm.
She stood up.
Xavier didn't say anything. He just watched.
She turned toward the exit, heels clicking on the polished floor. But right before stepping through the door, she paused.
Then, without a word, she turned back, plucked a folded napkin from the table, and threw it at Xavier's face.
It landed square on his chest.
She gave him a long, silent glare—not of anger, but something stranger. Something warmer. More dangerous.
And then she was gone.
Xavier raised a brow, unfolded the napkin.
There, printed in red lipstick, was the outline of her lips… and a number scribbled beneath it.
He chuckled, then stuffed it into his jacket pocket.
"…Guess I'll be the one calling now."
He stood up, adjusted his cuffs, and walked out the door. The official from earlier was already waiting.
"I want to meet Ethan and his group," Xavier said.
The man hesitated for a breath—but then nodded. "This way."
They walked through a long corridor of steel and silence. Down a lift. Past two armed guards. Then finally, into a holding room with reinforced glass and a pressure-locked door.
Inside, five men sat frozen.
Ethan's team.
Their confident swagger from earlier was gone. They looked pale, shaken, defeated. One of them was sweating bullets. Another had his head between his knees. One was muttering to himself.
They all looked up the moment Xavier walked in.
And they froze.
The door locked behind him with a soft hiss.
They had bet their life on the game, and Xavier had won. If he wanted, he could kill them at any moment and no charges would be pressed on him.
Xavier didn't say anything to them. He didn't even look at the others. His eyes went straight to Ethan, who sat in the center—silent, blank-faced, but with a tremor in his fingers.
"You look like shit," Xavier said casually.
No answer.
He stepped closer, slow.
"You really thought you could mess with me like you did in the academy?" he scoffed. "You bet your life, Ethan. All of you did. And guess what? You lost."
He let his words hang in the air.
"I could gut you all right here and walk out clean. That's the beauty of high-stakes, isn't it?"
Still, Ethan said nothing.
Xavier leaned closer, his voice quieter now. Meaner.
"Funny thing is… I'm not even gonna kill you." He smiled, leaned in near Ethan's ear.
"You're mine now."
"My slave."
He stood up straight, whispered the final nail.
"And one day… when you least expect it, Ethan—
I'm going to kill you."
He turned, walked toward the door, and knocked twice.
The lock clicked open.
None of the five men inside dared to breathe until Xavier was gone.
Xavier stepped out of the casino like a king returning from war. The city lights greeted him, buzzing neon and blinding gold. He hopped onto his custom black bike, kicked it into gear, and tore through the streets like a damn storm.
The plan was simple—get back to Nexus Tower. Long ride, maybe an hour if he didn't push the throttle to max. But barely ten minutes in, he sighed and let the bike glide to a stop.
"…Tired already," he muttered, staring ahead at the traffic.
That's when he spotted it.
A glowing board loomed above the skyline just a few blocks away—"LYNX AUTOMOTIVES: Galaxy's Finest Self-Drive AI Cars."
Now that was tempting.
He turned the bike toward it without a second thought.
The guards near the showroom gate eyed him with suspicion. His entrance wasn't subtle—a dusty bike and a lone rider wasn't exactly showroom material.
But then they saw his jacket. His boots. The watch.
And when one of them squinted closer—his eyes widened.
"Wait… is that…?"
Too late. Xavier was already inside.
The showroom had that pristine, glassy look. Polished floors, ambient lights glowing off ultra-sleek vehicles parked in perfect rows like museum pieces.
An employee rushed over, wide-eyed. Mid-thirties, in a black uniform with silver trim.
"Sir—! Are you—are you the Xavier? From the god of money?! The one who—"
Xavier gave a faint smile. "Yeah. I'm here to buy a car."
The man almost forgot to breathe. "Absolutely, sir! I'll show you around right away!"
But Xavier held up a hand, pulled out his phone, and with one tap—he went live.
10.3M viewers.
And counting.
The chat exploded.
"HE'S LIVE!"
"XAVIER IS DOING A CAR HAUL WTF!"
"BRO'S TOO RICH TO EVEN TEST DRIVE!"
"GIVE ME ONE TOO (T_T)(T_T)"
Xavier scrolled through the wild comments as the camera caught the rows of shiny vehicles. Fans spammed car models, reviews, AI comparison ratings, even performance stats.
Within minutes, three names kept rising to the top:
LYNX GhostRider X9
LYNX Valkyrie Prime
LYNX Solarion GT
He put up a poll on stream. "Alright, folks. You decide. Whichever gets the most votes, I buy. No test drive. No regrets."
The votes poured in like rain.
Sixty seconds. Over eight million cast their vote.
GhostRider X9 won by a landslide.
"Alright then." Xavier looked at the employee. "I'll take that one. Fully loaded."
"Yes, sir!"
The man nearly sprinted toward the backroom.
While waiting, Xavier leaned on a velvet-cushioned sofa. One of the showroom hosts brought over a tall glass of chilled citrus-fizz with glowing ice cubes. Another placed a dessert tray near his armrest.
His stream was still blowing up.
"HE DIDN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE PRICE"
"BRO JUST SPENT 20 MIL LIKE HE'S BUYING GUM"
"This is literally free marketing—he should get that shit for free!"
"HE DIDN'T EVEN ASK FOR A FREEBIE WTF"
The employee returned, panting slightly. "Sir, I've just added all the top-tier accessories and AI enhancements—on the house. As a gift."
Xavier raised a brow. "Didn't ask for it."
"We know. That's why it's sincere."
He nodded and looked back at the stream.
"Well, looks like I just got a free upgrade."
The comments exploded again.