Naomi tilted her head at him, her big eyes blinking nonstop like a curious cat staring at something very interesting and mysterious.
Negut shook his head, not wanting to say anything more.
At that moment, Naomi took out her phone, opened a photo and held it up in front of him, smiling as she said, "You still aren't jealous even after seeing this?"
In the photo, Lilith did not have the horns and wings she had now, nor the blood-red eyes. She still looked a bit immature, like a young eagle that had just grown up, but she already carried a strong and determined aura.
However, in that photo, Lilith was pinning a man against the wall, in a suggestive pose exactly like when she had pinned Negut to the wall.
The man in the photo had blond hair and a masculine, Western-style face.
Although he was quite tall and well built, he was still easily pushed against the wall by Lilith. Yet there was no displeasure on his face. On the contrary, that handsome face showed a hint of enjoyment, as if he really liked the feeling of being pushed against the wall like that.
Their bodies were very close, almost touching, and their faces were less than 20 centimeters apart, a distance that clearly suggested Lilith was about to kiss the young man.
Looking at the photo, Negut felt a small stab in his chest, but only for a moment. The feeling disappeared almost immediately.
His gaze turned puzzled as he looked at Naomi. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Hehehehe…" Naomi laughed slyly, then explained, "That's Aldric, Nedaric's big brother. He is an Awakened at rank S. Although he is far inferior to Lilith in terms of strength, he has enormous potential. On top of that, his family background is extremely powerful. People call them the perfect couple."
"However… ah!"
Naomi did not finish the sentence but instead let out a sigh. Negut's curiosity surged to the limit; he forced himself to stay quiet, not even daring to breathe too loudly, and listened carefully.
She continued, "Although Lilith is very strong, her conditions for breaking through are quite harsh. She needs a Blood Lotus, but it only exists inside a Saint-rank trial, so…"
Even if Naomi did not say the rest, Negut already knew exactly what had happened next. It was that same worn-out scenario: the male lead ignores danger to search for the Blood Lotus for the female lead, only to go missing in the process.
The female lead, devastated by grief, then looks for a replacement. Later, the male lead returns, not only alive but also stronger than before after breaking through.
But the male lead misunderstands, thinking the female lead has fallen in love with someone else, so he decides to abandon her. When the female lead realizes he is still alive, she begins to pursue him instead.
And he… Negut… was exactly the fuse that would ignite this cheap romance story that he had already seen countless times on the internet.
Cheap as it was, stories like that always made readers feel satisfied and excited, which was why that type of trope never died.
Naomi laughed and said, "Lilith is still looking for signs of Aldric even now. Negut, you really aren't jealous? The woman you love is actually…"
"Hold on! Hold on!" Negut hurriedly cut her off, frowning at her in confusion. "Which of your eyes sees that I'm jealous?"
Naomi's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him.
Negut sighed inwardly. He had long since stopped feeling anything for what people called love.
In the second world, even though he was carrying out the God's mission, saying he did not feel anything for those women would be a lie.
On the contrary, he genuinely liked them, genuinely wanted them to have a good life. Otherwise, he would not have been willing to bear all of their physical defects so they could have a happy ending.
But that was also exactly why he had completely shut his own emotions away.
Back then, he realized just how cheap love truly was.
No matter how much he helped them, he could not get even one warm glance from them, nor a simple word of thanks in return.
On the contrary, they felt that everything he did for them was only natural.
While they struggled in agony against their terrible illnesses, he had to sell his own blood to earn money for their treatments, yet they never once thanked him.
But just because the male lead gave them a single slice of cake, they treated it as love, as the warmest ray of sunlight in the world.
At that moment, Negut realized that he was nothing more than a meaningless supporting character in their love stories.
And at that same moment, he understood that love could betray you, but power and money would not.
Back when he was still alive on Earth, he had a family too. But when they found out he had cancer, his parents abandoned him outright and disappeared without a trace.
Without money for treatment, he suffered in pain until he died. When he reached the second world, even though he no longer had to endure the torment of cancer, the pain in his heart was the one thing that could never truly be erased.
Now, this was his second chance. If he still chose to believe in love, to believe in Lilith, then he really would not even be as good as a dog.
He decided to put his faith in the only two things that could help him live well in this world: Power and Money.
That was also why, even though his leg had not fully recovered yet, he still wanted to take part in the Newbie Challenge. Only then could he start walking down the path of an Awakened.
Only then would he be able to see the light of the future waiting for him.
However, he was not an ungrateful bastard and would not forget what Lilith had done for him.
Back to the present, Negut simply shrugged, looked at Naomi and smiled casually. "Naomi, let me ask you a few questions."
Naomi tilted her head at him, then nodded with a curious smile.
Negut began, "Right now, am I better off than when I was still living with the Sterling family?"
Naomi nodded lightly. "Much better."
"Exactly." Negut chuckled. "Not only do I get special care from you, but Lilith also gave me an amazing prosthetic leg like this. On top of that, she gave me a lot of money."
"So then… Naomi, I have money, I have everything I want. The only thing I do not have is the love of someone I have never even met before. Do I really need to be jealous?"
"Ack!" Naomi scratched her head. She felt that what Negut said made a lot of sense, yet at the same time did not make sense at all, though she could not quite tell where the problem was.
Negut laughed and said, "I am doing great right now. Even if I end up as her secret lover or she throws me away like trash, I already have what I wanted. Why would I be jealous?"
Naomi frowned, feeling that everything she had just done was like punching a soft pillow.
Negut then tried to stand up. His body wobbled a little and Naomi hurried over to help him, but he stopped her.
He steadied himself, then said, "Instead of being stupidly jealous, I would rather believe in myself. I believe in power and in money more."
Looking at Negut's confident and slightly greedy smile, Naomi laughed as well. She clapped him hard on the shoulder.
Smack!
"Ack!" Negut felt a stab of pain and immediately shouted, "Are you crazy? Why did you hit me so hard?"
"Hahaha… Nothing, I just think you are really interesting." Naomi replied with a grin.
Negut: "…"
"I have something really great for you." Naomi said as she pulled out a small square chip, with a magic symbol on it that glowed faint gray.
"I searched for a long time and found this. It suits you perfectly." Naomi said, then operated on her tablet for a moment.
Ting!
At that moment, the bracelet on his wrist flashed red. He quickly opened it and saw that it was a message Naomi had sent him.
She smiled and said, "Take a look. I am sure you will like it."
Negut was a little confused, but he still opened it. Right after that, his eye lit up and he hurriedly asked, "This… you are really giving this to me?"
"Hehehe… So? Surprised? Happy? Excited?"