Jonathan Black set down his wine glass, looking puzzled. "I think it's pretty good, actually. This was my cousin's idea..."
"Nonsense!" Jill Young waved her hand like she was swinging a knife, decisively declaring, "You're the cousin—he's your older cousin! Wait, no, now I just remembered our trip to the gay bar with Senior Brother..." Jill clutched her head and groaned, "That title is ruined! Now every time someone says 'older cousin,' I just think of that peach-eyed chubby guy!"
After a moment, she finally let out a long sigh, putting the matter to rest: "Anyway, he and I are twins, so he's definitely older than you. You're the youngest!"
"I..." Jonathan, who always liked to argue with Jill about seniority, finally deflated and nodded reluctantly. "Fine, you're the big sis, he's the big bro, and I'm the youngest..."
"Hahaha, don't look so down! There's still Little Geng and Cheeky Derek—they're even younger. Next time you meet those two, you can enjoy the thrill of being the big brother!"
"You mean Sophie Soo and Derek Soo?" Jonathan nodded with a smile at first, then his expression grew a little wistful. "It's just..."
"No 'just' about it! We'll find a chance to introduce you to them—actually, I'm in the same boat, I still need to introduce myself too." Still wrapped in her grudge, Jill suddenly kicked off her blanket and sprang onto the sofa, clapping Jonathan on the shoulder like a bossy big sister. "Don't overthink it, it's no big deal! You really think those two little rascals could turn the world upside down?"
"Hmm..." At the mention of this, Jonathan suddenly looked nervous. He kept up a calm exterior, but it was clear he cared a lot—"siblings" had never been a happy word for him. "What should I... do?"
"With your looks, Little Geng the beauty addict definitely won't reject you. As long as she doesn't, it's easy! You..." Jill suddenly grinned slyly. "You better beg your 'big bro' for help. Little Geng only listens to her 'big bro'—once he speaks up, everything's sorted!"
Jill kept emphasizing 'big bro,' which left Jonathan helpless, but he didn't dwell on it and pressed on, "What about Derek Soo?"
"Cheeky Derek is even easier to handle. The guy’s got that baby-face bottom look, and sure, he’s a rascal, but his biggest plus is he’s soft-hearted—he’d never turn you down. Oh, and if you really want to win him over: just dump a few terabytes of adult films on him and he’ll fold like a cheap suit."
Jill’s eyes suddenly lit up, like a lightbulb flicked on above her head. She bounced over, excited: "Hey, you’ve got all this clout now—why not open an Adult Film Museum? I met this writer named Feminist once, she had a collection that’d make your jaw drop. If you had half of what she did, Cheeky Derek would be on his knees worshipping you as a god!"
"Uh... alright, I’ll give it a shot."
That one nod from Jonathan? It brought him a world of nightmares. He didn’t have the time to hunt down all those videos himself, so he handed it off—big mistake. He should never, ever have let Glasses Girl do the job! Her taste in certain genres is... let’s just say, unique. After that, rumors about Jonathan’s secret hobbies started swirling around Eternal Night Holdings Group...
"Alright, deal." Jill stood up, stretched, and yawned. "Whew, getting sleepy again... Oh, right, we got way off track. That ‘Tianyi’ thing you mentioned—what’s up with that?"
Jonathan looked a little proud: "My cousin—uh, I mean, older cousin—uh, Yang Qi—uh, anyway, before Teacher Yang left, he mentioned it to me. I thought it was a cool idea, so I talked it over with Bobby and Charlie, and we decided to throw all of Eternal Night Holdings Group’s resources behind it."
"Yeah, I vaguely remember that..." Jill thought for a second. Teacher Yang did call Jonathan once.
Jonathan picked up his tablet and swiped through a bunch of images, explaining seriously: "The financial crisis right now is like nothing we’ve ever seen, and Eternal Night Holdings Group is taking a hit too—all four of our main businesses are suffering. Good thing we’ve got Little Dingdang, so profits aren’t too bad. But we all agreed it’s time to shake things up—some of our industries are heading for a dead end."
"Especially the entertainment biz. These days, nobody cares about showbiz. It’s like a living thing—without an audience, it just dies. Lose the spotlight, lose everything. Funding’s dried up, bankrupt celebrities are everywhere. Yesterday you’re living large, tomorrow you’re flat broke. That future’s right around the corner, so we’ve gotta find a new breakthrough."
Jill walked over to the big floor-to-ceiling window. The bedroom was at the top of a skyscraper, overlooking huge swathes of Hong Kong. It was November, just a little chilly, but the mood was heavy. Even the glamorous Victoria Harbour looked bleak—far fewer people were renting yachts, and the luxury boats just bobbed there, lifeless, like a bunch of floating corpses.
"Better to be a pampered dog in peaceful times than a regular person in chaos. The chaos is coming—soon even dog owners won't have time for themselves, and we might actually end up shoveling poop for a living." Jill Young nodded. "This new direction is actually pretty good. This business has to be a combo of Chosen One power and regular folks' hustle to really take off. We're ahead of the curve—Jack Ma's just gonna be left staring! But, man, all these cringey bits are impossible to ignore!"
"I think it's great!" Jonathan Black looked innocent. "See, SkyEase sounds just like 'heaven's will'—so coming to SkyEase is like following fate! My Chinese is pretty sharp, right?"
"Yikes..." Jill instantly hugged her arms, rubbing them up and down. "That joke was ice cold..."
"Wait, there's more! There's meaning behind it!" Jonathan couldn't help but keep going. "Stuff for Chosen Ones is hard to price, so at first, we'll probably have to barter. Bartering's the oldest, most traditional kind of deal. So for Chosen Ones, trading is literally 'SkyEase'!"
(This chapter isn't over yet ^.^, please click next page to keep reading!)
"Brr, it's getting colder, crank up the heat!" Jill kept rubbing her hands, making a face like she’d just bitten into a lemon. "Okay, whatever, but what's up with your 'SkyEase 5G'? Makes zero sense! After ripping off Ganji.com and Tmall, you just had to copy China Telecom's 4G too?"
"5G stands for five core fields—and also the five founders." Jonathan counted them off. "Five people: me, Teacher Yang, Maggie Monroe, and of course, Her Majesty the Queen—that's you. Down the line, I want to invite Jasper Xiao to join up, then we'll have the full five. See, no matter the platform, without a user base it's a joke, and you need credibility and fame to keep users around. For Chosen Ones' business, you also need real muscle, or it's all just talk."
Maggie Monroe’s a Fated One, Teacher Yang, Jill Young, and Jasper Xiao are all legends, and Jonathan Black’s no slouch either. Put these five together and you’ve got a dream team.
"Alright, alright, 5G it is—beats calling ourselves the Birdman Squad. Anyway, where's Maggie?"
"No news yet." Jonathan shook his head. "I've sent my best people to keep tabs on the area where Maggie disappeared, but unlike you, Her Majesty, she hasn't come back for ages. Still no sign of her."
"Oh, I see." Jill couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Facing Teacher Yang's official girlfriend in her current state, she really had no idea what to do. Just saying hello would be a challenge.
She imagined: "Hey, honey, you're back! What's wrong, don't recognize me? It's me, your boyfriend... uh, girlfriend? Anyway, don't make such a fuss, it's just a personality swap. Can't handle even this? And you talk about true love? Forget it, we’re done!"
Or maybe: "Hello, sister-in-law! Uh... or should I say, little sister-in-law? I can't even tell if I'm your older or younger sister-in-law, but anyway, I know everything about you two. That's right, no need for Big Moe to describe it, I just know! Like, I know exactly how your lips feel when you kiss, how your fingers intertwine when you hold hands, where you're ticklish and sensitive when you cuddle—I've got all the details! And if you two do anything else, I'll know that too—maybe I'll even be the observer, hope you don't mind?"
——————No matter what, it's just weird!!
Good grief, with this special twin situation, every simple relationship suddenly gets bizarrely complicated! Lucky for me, Maggie's not back yet—future problems can wait. For now, I'll just play ostrich and keep my head down.
As for Maggie's safety, there's no need to worry. According to the info from the Golden Twin Sigil, Fated Ones have top-level access inside the Axis of Worlds. Extending or shortening travel time is no big deal—way easier than for us twins. If Maggie hasn't returned yet, she must have unfinished business.
And as for safety in another world, that's not much of a concern either. Anyone who's mastered the Brahma Chakra is super perceptive and always gets a feeling for things—danger's pretty much impossible. If there's anything to worry about, it's what happens after coming back to Earth. How much of a splash will a Fated One make in the Chosen Ones' world? Just look at how the Black Death Emperor is treated and you’ll get the idea.
Good thing Maggie awakened with only us around, and everyone’s lips are sealed. Right now, the Chosen Ones Forum still doesn’t really know what a Fated One is—most people think the Black Death Emperor is the Fated One. And that silent, unbeatable guy won’t bother to explain, so he’s just carrying all the blame.
But there are so many weirdos in this world, Maggie’s secret is bound to get out sooner or later. So before that happens, I’ve got to be ready for anything.
On a personal level, I've got to be strong enough to hold up the sky.
As a team, we've got to be solid enough to shake the earth.
So what if the whole world’s watching? My girlfriend’s a goddess in the sky, and I’m the king on earth—shielding her from storms and cutting down any jerk who dares covet her. Anyone who tries, I’ll wipe out—no discussion needed!
Alright, suddenly I'm fired up!
"Alright, Jonathan, let’s get down to business. I want to take full, total control of this city in the shortest time possible. Every industry, every group, whether local tycoons, officials, or foreign diplomats—I want everyone here to respect me, no exceptions!"