Mutual Needs and the Desire to Dominate

Lin Li and his wife moved into their new home.

It was a mansion worth thirty million dollars. The three-story villa had over a thousand square meters of living space, along with a large garden and swimming pool. The annual property tax alone cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and with maintenance and staff expenses, maintaining such a mansion cost over a million dollars a year.

Lin Li's account balance had shrunk by nearly a tenth because of it, but he did not care much. After all, this stemmed from his own desires rather than the pretense of the past, and money was merely a tool for satisfying one's desires.

Besides buying the villa, Lin Li also gave Perini a large sum of money, allowing her to pay off the mortgage she had been carrying and even leaving her with plenty of spare cash to buy luxuries she had once only been able to admire from afar.

With money paving the way, Lin Li easily won over the mother and her two daughters. Now, even if he went out fooling around with other women, Galina might not care. As long as she could enjoy this upper-class lifestyle, it did not matter to her how many mistresses Lin Li had.

The pleasure born of the desire to reproduce was fleeting in the end. They had merely met at a nightclub and had a physical relationship. Perhaps during that night at the hotel, Galina had truly fallen in love with him in her happiness and sincerely wanted to become a loving couple with Lin Li.

However, people ultimately lived within society, and in a capitalist society, an individual's status depended on the money they possessed rather than intangible emotions. Once passion faded and reality returned, the lasting pleasure brought by money easily overwhelmed everything else.

Lin Li stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows on the third floor of the villa, watching Galina sunbathe by the pool. She was discussing the latest bespoke fashion brands with the daughters of wealthy families she had recently met, while wondering where to go for skincare treatment that afternoon.

To avoid falling out of favor, she needed to make herself more beautiful. She did not want Lin Li to truly abandon her. Without this source of money, her glamorous life would be gone forever. Just imagining gaining it and then losing it made her feel incomparable pain.

Abu read Galina's thoughts and said to Lin Li with some indignation, "This woman took advantage of you, yet she treats you as a tool for maintaining her social status. Just a few days ago, she was love-struck like an idiot. The moment she got money, she became this snobbish."

Lin Li replied, "No, she still loves me very much. Every morning, she kisses me affectionately and makes me breakfast. When I finish work, she hugs me and massages my shoulders. No matter what she thinks inside, on the surface she is a very good wife. That is enough."

"Human hearts are fickle. How could anyone love another person for long? Feelings between people can only last for a time. Only the desires of the individual self can persist indefinitely, and money is the best tool for fulfilling one's own needs. She simply loves herself more."

Turning and heading downstairs, Lin Li picked Galina up and kissed her goodbye intimately. On the surface, they were filled with love and passion like every newlywed couple, yet deep down, each was merely a small part of the other's life.

At its core, this marriage was a transaction in which each got what they needed. Lin Li gave up money that was unimportant to him and experienced the emotions of getting along with another person.

Galina seemed to have gained everything without effort and gotten an enormous bargain, but in truth, every thought and emotion she had was nourishment for Lin Li to understand the world and expand his will.

Lin Li went to the children's welfare home where he had lived as a child. Since leaving this place, inheriting his foster parents' property, and accumulating a vast amount of wealth, he had donated nearly ten million dollars to the welfare home. His name was engraved on one side of the renovated building, and nearly all the orphans here had grown up looking at his portrait.

The idle security guard immediately opened the gate upon seeing the young tycoon's car. Lin Li got out, and his superhuman hearing allowed him to form an image of the children playing in the open space behind the building hundreds of meters away.

When the welfare home staff saw Lin Li, they hurried over. A white woman in her thirties said, "Mr. Lin, we didn't expect you to come today. We haven't arranged for the children to—"

Lin Li raised a finger. The woman stopped speaking, and the two quietly walked around the tall building. The children on the lawn were playing games. Some had obvious physical defects, with deformed hands or faces unlike those of ordinary people. Several children hid off to the side, staring blankly at the ground. They had autism similar to what Lin Li had suffered from as a child.

Some children with congenital heart disease or spinal disorders could only remain indoors. Their frail bodies did not permit intense exercise.

Of course, not all the children had physical defects. There were also children whose bodies were perfectly healthy. Their parents had abandoned them for various complicated reasons, such as bankruptcy, unemployment, accidental death, or imprisonment for crimes.

It could be said that every child here had a pitiful background and a miserable childhood.

Yet when several transparent tentacles extended from Lin Li's neck and read these children's thoughts, he found that their painful experiences had not brought them the understanding that came from shared suffering among the weak. Instead, they had brought malice toward those even weaker and an intense desire to become strong.

The healthy children had formed a circle. Most of their parents had been unable to raise them due to bankruptcy or crime, and here, they held the highest status. Only healthy children had families willing to adopt them, just as Lin Li once had.

The other children surrounded them as if they were stars encircled by the moon, while they lorded over the physically disabled children. Their healthy bodies gave them a strong sense of superiority among the children and made them more cheerful and confident.

The leader was a ten-year-old blond white Little Boy with a handsome, likable face. He threw a ball hard, striking a boy on the outer edge and knocking him to the ground. The other children could not help laughing at the sight.

He pulled the child he had knocked down to his feet and said with a smile, "I accidentally threw the ball off target. I'm really sorry. Are you okay?"

But his thoughts said, This new kid actually dared to report me to the caretakers last night for taking things from those idiots. I need to teach him a proper lesson.

The black-haired boy on the ground rubbed his reddened leg and glared viciously at the handsome blond boy before him. Yesterday, he had seen this guy snatch snacks from the autistic children and make the disabled children pay protection money, forcing them to offer up their best snacks every day.

However, his report had been useless. The autistic children could not communicate at all, while the children tormented by illness had long been cowed into submission by the blond boy and his little group. No one dared to speak up.

In fact, some of the staff vaguely knew about it, but they did not care. These healthy children looked far more lovable than those annoying freaks. They could take care of themselves and did not require much effort.

Besides, once these healthy children were adopted, the staff could receive a considerable gratuity. Almost no one would adopt those freaks. They would eat and drink for free at the welfare home for the rest of their lives. They were practically parasites.

The Little Boy endured the pain in his leg and forced out a smile. His father had just been imprisoned for intentional assault. Without a guardian, he might have to stay here for ten years. He did not want to be robbed of his food again like yesterday, stripped naked and thrown onto the bathroom floor to be toyed with. He needed to fit in with the children who held "power."

"I'm fine. I'm happy to play games with you. Let's continue."

The blond boy became even happier upon hearing that. He was the leader here, and the caretakers all liked him. No child could resist him.

However, he did not see the gloom hidden in the black-haired boy's eyes. Rubbing his swollen, reddened calf, the boy clenched his fist as a hate-filled voice echoed through his mind: One day, I'll make you taste this too. I'll tear that hypocritical smiling face of yours to pieces.

At that moment, Lin Li stepped out from the shadow behind the building. The children immediately stopped laughing and playing when they saw this important figure appear. The blond boy led his companions forward and greeted him politely. "Hello, Mr. Lin. It is another bright and sunny day. Your presence is more dazzling than the sun in the sky."

The female staff member standing nearby nodded gently in approval at the Little Boy's performance. She had heard Lin Li's story. Supposedly, he had also been such a cheerful and polite good child when he lived at the welfare home. Perhaps this Little Boy could grow into someone just as outstanding in the future. If that happened, the welfare home would receive more funding to take in those pitiful children.

Lin Li suddenly extended his right hand, gently stroked the Little Boy's golden hair, and said warmly, "Pierre Andrade, come with me. I want to talk with you alone."

"Ah, yes, sir." Andrade replied in surprise. He had not expected this wealthy man to remember his name, but in the next moment, he became excited. Perhaps his life was about to become different.

Andrade excitedly followed Lin Li toward the bushes by the distant wall. The other children watched them with envy. Only the most conspicuous child could receive the adults' attention and gain the most affection.

As Andrade looked at Lin Li's back, countless thoughts raced through his mind. Is he going to adopt me? No, Mr. Lin isn't even thirty yet. He wouldn't want a twelve-year-old child already. Maybe he has noticed my talent and sees his own shadow in me? Maybe he'll let me receive the same elite education and train me to be his assistant? They say he holds an extremely high position at Infinite Game Company. Maybe I can become an executive at that big company someday too?

In the mere hundred-meter walk, countless thoughts had passed through Andrade's mind. Lin Li took in every one of them from the child behind him. Without turning his head, he said:

"You steal food from autistic children. You make disabled children offer you snacks. You attack the new child to maintain your authority. You maintain a sunny facade to please the adults."

Andrade's thoughts were thrown into complete chaos by those words. He had not expected Lin Li to know about what he had done. In that instant, all his fantasies vanished. Exposed, the blond boy looked at the figure before him, his blue eyes revealing anger and killing intent.

"You want to kill me to cover up your secret?"

Andrade's pupils widened again. Anger and killing intent transformed into fear. Even though he held the power to dominate the children in this small welfare home, he was ultimately only a child.

Lin Li's voice rang out. "You want to kill me to cover up your secret. That means you know those actions are wrong. You know you are wrong, yet you still choose to hurt others for your own benefit."

In the ten-year-old Andrade, Lin Li sensed the pure desire of an individual to dominate others. Stealing snacks, humiliating newcomers—he did not love those sickeningly sweet snacks all that much. He simply enjoyed the pleasure of standing above others.