The Heartless Alpha Just Wants to Follow the Plot - Chapter 63

“Draft an IOU (I owe you) for her. List the exact amount the Old Master spent on the shares, then have her sign and fingerprint it. Make sure she knows she has to pay it back later.”

Pu Ying stared at her, utterly dumbfounded. “…”

“An, an IOU?”

Su Mo replied with an air of absolute righteousness. “Of course. If you borrow money, you write a promissory note. It’s only natural.”

Pu Ying opened her mouth to argue but hesitated.

“Don’t go soft on her just because she’s young,” Su Mo continued. “Business is business.” She bit her straw, her gaze turning pensive and slightly melancholic. “I’m not even charging her interest. Sigh. I suppose I’m just too soft-hearted after all.”

Truly, there weren’t many good people left in the world like her.

Pu Ying: “…”

She gave Su Mo a long, complicated look before finally sighing. “I’ll make sure she signs it. Don’t worry.”

Lately, Su Mo hadn’t breathed a word about interest especially regarding Qiu Fu’s debts which had led Pu Ying to believe Su Mo had undergone a personality transplant and decided to become a saint. It seemed she had reverted to her true self for Tan Ya. Clearly, Su Mo had immense faith that the girl would succeed.

She wondered just how far Tan Ya’s studies had progressed. Had she met Su Mo’s expectations?

When Pu Ying arrived at the apartment, she sent Jiang Xi and Kevin away. The moment she pulled out the IOU, Tan Ya felt a cold realization wash over her: Su Mo had given up on her. She was being cast out.

Tan Ya lowered her head, a self-deprecating smile touching her lips. “She still won’t come to see me. You didn’t keep the promise you made me, either.”

Pu Ying hadn’t expected the girl to remember that. After a moment of silence, she said, “I keep my word. The time just hasn’t come yet, has it?”

“What you need to do now is study hard and secure your position within the Tan Corporation. We can’t help you with that. Your uncle is behind bars, but his wife and nephew are still out there. They will come for you at any moment.”

Pu Ying despised that kind of “family.” Having grown up alone, she knew exactly what she had to do to survive. To her, relatives like those were worse than having no one at all.

“If you continue to let them suppress you without fighting back, Su Mo might truly stop caring about you altogether.”

Pu Ying saw the reflection of her younger self in Tan Ya’s eyes—the same hidden turmoil she had learned to mask long ago. Now, she handled everything related to Su Mo with professional calm, having outgrown the age where emotions dictated her every move.

“She likes people who are useful to her, Tan Ya. If you stay weak, you have no right to stand by her side.”

With that, she sent the digital IOU to Tan Ya’s device. “Think it over.”

Before leaving, she added one last thing: “She said, she hopes your differentiation goes smoothly.”

Tan Ya gripped the hem of her clothes. Su Mo is worried about me?

To become someone useful to her? Is mastering the stock market not enough?

Tan Ya looked at the IOU. The debt amounted to over 200 million. This wasn’t a few thousand Star Coins, it was 200 million.

If she signed it, she would be burdened with massive debt. But if she didn’t, the company wouldn’t truly be hers. She would have no agency. As Pu Ying said, she would be a shadow, hiding behind Su Mo forever, never to be noticed.

Once her mind was made up, Tan Ya signed her name. If Su Mo was brave enough to give her the money, why should she be afraid to take it? Su Mo was the one taking the risk as the creditor; Tan Ya was just the debtor.

Receiving the signed document, Su Mo gave her terminal a satisfied tap. Excellent. That’s more like it.

Suddenly, the System appeared, its voice timid: 【Host.】

Su Mo didn’t want to deal with it. Everything was a mess, her missions were in shambles, who had time for a System?

【Host.】 it called out piteously, desperate for a glance. 【Host. Host.】

It kept calling until Su Mo, annoyed beyond measure, finally snapped.

【What? Speak up or shut up. I’m busy.】

Even after being scolded, the System didn’t dare retaliate. It spoke haltingly: 【Host, although the missions are chaotic and the timeline of this world’s main branch is ruined, the revised missions based on the path we’re taking still need to be completed.】

Su Mo: 【Get lost.】

The System choked. 【Host.】

【Don’t call me that. I’m not your host.】 Su Mo rolled her eyes. The plot was unrecognizable; the System had some nerve asking her to complete missions now. What missions? She didn’t have any!

【Host, you can’t change it,】 the System urged. 【It’s better to just do the tasks. Maybe once they’re finished, the storyline will clear up again?】

It couldn’t contact the Overlord System and was stuck in this world with Su Mo. As long as she didn’t finish her tasks, it couldn’t leave either. Su Mo wasn’t the only one craving normalcy; the System wanted an exit strategy just as badly.

Su Mo turned her head away, pretending to be deaf.

Ignoring her protest, the System issued a notification: 【Emergency Mission: Help Tan Ya survive her Differentiation Period.】

Su Mo: “…”

She had already sent guards to watch over the girl. Why was this a mission now? What went wrong?

【This was a key plot point in the original script,】 the System explained. 【You have to go. Go now.】

Su Mo: “No.”

【If she dies, the mission fails. You will enter a repetitive loop and eventually be erased from this world.】

Su Mo: “…”

Damn it. She really, really wanted to murder this System. The plot and the mission lines were clearly broken, why was this thing so insistent on her following through?

What was the point? WHERE WAS THE POINT?

After venting silently in her mind, Su Mo took a deep breath. 【Do I absolutely have to go?】

【If you don’t, the differentiation will fail.】

The System’s message was crystal clear: if Tan Ya failed to differentiate, everything would reset, and the ending might even be permanently altered.

Su Mo let out a long, weary sigh. She had originally thought she was here to be a wealthy, indulgent cannon fodder socialite; as it turned out, she was actually a multi-functional, cold-blooded tool. Wherever there was a fire, she was the one sent to put it out.

【Now?】

【Right now.】

Resigned to her fate, she climbed out of bed and prepared to leave. Since she didn’t know how to pilot a personal aircraft, she had to hail an automated solo unit. The flight would take all night, and Su Mu spent the journey yawning.

By the time she arrived, she had managed to shake off the fatigue. She headed straight for the elevator and ascended to the target floor.

The guard stationed at the end of the hallway clearly hadn’t expected anyone at this hour. He froze in surprise, only to be promptly knocked unconscious by Su Mo’s swift, heavy punch.

The System gasped. That blow was a bit much.

Su Mo loathed having her sleep interrupted, especially for the sake of this “bullshit” mission. She fought her way inside, her face remaining pristine and free of dust even as she cleared the path.

As she stepped into the living room, a figure seated there shifted. Recognizing the face, Su Mo let out a cold sneer. Overestimating yourself, I see.

In the next heartbeat, the two were locked in combat. Both tacitly avoided using mental power to prevent interfering with Tan Ya’s differentiation in the adjacent room, resulting in a brutal, bone-crunching melee.

Su Mo’s close-quarters combat skills weren’t top-tier; before transmigrating, she had no special training, and this body had been pampered and neglected. As their limbs collided, her arms quickly bruised—a pathetic sight. The pain sharpened her focus, but it also made her strikes momentarily hesitant.

Major Song, however, was a different story. His objective was to take Su Mo down regardless of whether she lived or died. Every move was a killing blow, offering her zero chance of survival.

Thud!

She blocked a side kick with her own leg, their eyes locked in a shared flash of ruthlessness. After a rapid separation, they finally spoke.

“As I thought, you’ve been hiding your true strength.” To fight him to a standstill and even hold a slight advantage meant she must have undergone elite special training. “Senior Su is certainly good at playing the fool while working against the Military behind the scenes.”

Su Mo sneered. “You certainly talk big.”

If it weren’t for Major Song’s sudden ambush, Su Mo wouldn’t have rushed in so recklessly. If she had brought her bodyguards, she wouldn’t have to do this herself. Doing it personally was satisfying, but her hands were throbbing.

“Seize her. Take her away.”

As he spoke, five or six soldiers burst from a side room, surrounding Su Mo in a tight circle. In that moment, Major Song dropped his facade. His eyes gleamed with a sinister, predatory light; this wasn’t an official mission, it was a premeditated act of revenge.

Su Mo was curious, though: what exactly had prompted the System to force her into this trap? She had only mentioned wanting her freedom and not wanting to do missions.

【You really screwed me over this time.】

The System was silent for a moment. 【This was an accident.】 It hadn’t known there would be an ambush of this scale. Su Mo believed the System was innocent of malice, but she redirected her fury toward it regardless. If it hadn’t forced her here, she wouldn’t be in this mess.

“I suggest you surrender,” Major Song said. “I’ve installed a mental power isolator here. Even if you truly possess SSS-grade mental power, you can’t use it in this room.”

Major Song had originally come for Tan Ya, whose recent notoriety had sparked a military investigation. Finding her mid-differentiation was a stroke of luck. He had immediately deployed the isolator to contain the room, ostensibly to prevent a mental riot from affecting the outside world.

Su Mo hadn’t even thought about using mental power. She preferred physical combat; it was a lingering instinct from her days as an actress. She had simply forgotten she possessed it, which was why she hadn’t noticed the shielding device.

A swarm of soldiers lunged at her. Even with the various martial arts techniques the System had uploaded into her mind, she was still a novice in a real fight. It was becoming difficult to cope.

After taking two heavy kicks to the ribs, Su Mo retreated until her back hit the door to Tan Ya’s room. She had nowhere left to run.