Infinite wealth In A New World-Chapter 450: Come With Us

She kept walking through the freezing sludge, the wind biting through her thin rags. She passed a narrow, dimly lit alleyway and paused. Her stomach gave a violent lurch as the faint smell of roasted meat and cheap tobacco drifted out.

​She took two steps back, retreating from the main street, and stared deep into the alley at the four men sitting on overturned crates around a small trash fire, smoking and eating.

​"Sir... Do you have any food, or money? Even if it’s only one copper coin," she begged, staring at them, her voice barely a croak over the crackling fire.

​The four men stopped talking. They looked at one another, their faces hardened by the harsh reality of the First Realm’s slums.

​One of them, a heavily scarred, muscular man, waved his hand dismissively at her, not even bothering to make eye contact.

​"Get out of here brat! We don’t have anything for you!" he snapped, his voice rough like gravel.

​"Ah, sorry," she quickly apologized in fear, her survival instincts kicking in. She shrank back into the shadows and ran away, her bare feet slapping against the icy cobblestones.

​"Hey. Why do you have to scare her?!" the slim man in the group grumbled at the muscular man, tossing a half-eaten crust of bread into the fire.

​"Huh? She is too young for any evil thoughts! She’s just a rat," the muscular man said, while the rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement.

​"Are you three fools?" the slim man spat, his eyes gleaming with a sudden, predatory greed. "Of course, she is small now, but that doesn’t mean she will remain that way. Think about it! If we take her with us, we can benefit."

​He placed his cheap cigarette between his cracked lips, took a long drag, and exhaled a thick cloud of grey smoke.

​"One of those rich guys from the inner city might even gain a liking to her, and we will earn big money," he said, his mind already calculating the profit of human trafficking.

​He casually raised his head to the sky to blow another ring of smoke, and froze. For a split second, he saw a dark, imposing figure standing perfectly still on the slanted, snow-covered roof of one of the adjacent buildings, staring down at them.

​"Huh?"

​He blinked, rubbing his eyes, and the figure was gone. Just falling snow and empty rooftops.

​"Did you guys see that?" he yelled, pointing his trembling finger at the roof.

​The three followed his gaze, squinting through the gloom, but saw nothing but the dark silhouette of the chimneys.

​"What are you saying now? Is that smoke getting to you?" the third man asked with a frown, swatting at the air.

​"Forget that. It must be my imagination... Let’s just get going. We must not lose sight of her," The slim man yelled, his greed overriding his paranoia. He quickly rushed out of the alley into the freezing street, the other three reluctantly kicking out the fire and following behind.

​__

​After walking for several minutes without any sign of the little red-haired girl, the four men grew frustrated, their boots crunching loudly in the fresh snow.

​"Where did she go?" the slim guy asked in confusion, scanning the empty, shadowed doorways.

​"This is truly a waste of—"

​"—Wait, that’s her!" the muscular man yelled, pointing a thick finger ahead.

​There, sitting on a low, stone branch carved into the side of the small, ornate bridge—the very bridge that segregated the Commoners’ District from the wealthy Inner City—was Regina.

​She sat completely still, eating a large, slightly stale loaf of bread, a small, genuine smile playing on her frostbitten face. Someone had finally shown her a shred of mercy.

​"She got food," the slim man groaned, facepalming himself. "This will be hard to convince her now," he added, his plan hitting a snag. A starving child was easy prey; a fed one might ask questions.

​"Come on, getting food now doesn’t mean she will get it tomorrow. Come on," the fourth man—the quietest, but arguably the most cunning of the group—said, taking the lead and walking forward with measured steps.

​He stopped directly in front of Regina, blocking her view of the wealthy district. The sudden shadow caused her to raise her head toward the four imposing figures. Her smile vanished instantly.

​"Um... What is it?" she asked, her voice trembling as she held her precious bread tightly against her chest, ready to run.

​"Don’t worry, kid," the fourth man said, his voice surprisingly soft. He got down on one knee to stare face-to-face with her, putting himself at her eye level to appear less threatening.

​"When you asked us for help earlier... we were frustrated due to something else, and my friend here lashed out at you. Sorry for that," he apologized with a small, practiced smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

​"Anyway, we are here to help you." He slowly placed his hand in his heavy coat pocket and brought out two gleaming gold coins. In the slums, two gold coins were a fortune.

​"We will give this to you..." He stretched his open hand toward her, the gold catching the dim light of the streetlamps.

​Regina blinked, her wide eyes staring at the money on the man’s rough palm. She knew absolutely nothing of the four men before her, but her desperate mind did the math. That money could feed her for a whole week, maybe two if she managed it perfectly. She swallowed the dry bread in her mouth and looked cautiously up at them.

​"Why... Why are you helping me? What do you need?" she asked, the harsh lessons of the streets making her deeply suspicious of sudden generosity.

​"Oh, you are a very smart girl. But don’t worry, we don’t need anything from you." He stood up slowly, holding the coins between two fingers, stretching them closer to her face.

​"Take it, we just want to help."

​Regina stared at the men, trying to read their hardened faces, then back at the gold coins. The cold wind howled around her, biting at her exposed skin. After several seconds of agonizing hesitation, her hunger and desperation won out. She raised her trembling, bruised hand and took the cold metal coins.

​’Caught her,’ the man thought with a hidden, triumphant smile.

​"I am sure this will only take you for a week at most. But what will you do after that? Continue begging in the snow?" he asked, his tone laced with calculated pity.

​"Uh?" Regina looked up at him in confusion, clutching the coins tightly.

​"You do understand what I mean, right?" he asked softly, letting the reality of her bleak existence sink in.

​Regina stared at them, then down at the coins in her dirty hand, and finally at the half-eaten bread. She knew that what he said was the absolute truth. Winter was just beginning; she wouldn’t survive another month on the streets. She looked back up and asked the question that would seal her fate:

​"What should I do then?"

​"It’s simple, all you have to do is come with us..." He stretched his large hand toward her, an open invitation to a new life.

​"I promise you. From now onward, you will only live a good life. You’ll never go to bed hungry again, and you’ll be warm. Think about it... This is a one-time opportunity."

​Regina stared at the offered hand, lost in thought. The wind whipped her red hair across her pale face. She lowered her gaze to the bread in her hand—a temporary fix—then at the gold coins—a brief reprieve.

​After some seconds, the cold seeping into her very bones, she nodded her head in defeat.

​"Ok. Thank you, Sir."