Trade Secrets

DING!

[+100 DP]

[Host has visited the human consciousness for the first time! Bonus DP will be rewarded]

[+500 DP]

David was awoken by the system's notifications. After confirming that he was in his room in the real world, he read the notifications one by one, and his eyes lit up. "The mind island really is the consciousness!"

He remembered the series of questions he had asked the woman in the dream. He hurriedly got up, got dressed, and went to the woman's place. It was still early in the morning and he wanted to confirm a few things before that woman woke up and before Natasha arrived.

Breaking into the woman's apartment was an easy thing for David. After entering her apartment and seeing that the woman was still deeply asleep, he breathed a sigh of relief. He then silently went to her dresser and took out one of her bras.

'28B!' he thought in glee. The next thing he did was search the woman's handbag. He took out her social security card and cross-checked it with what the woman had said in the dreams and, as expected, it matched!

There was only one thing left to do. He took the woman's debit card and rushed toward the nearest ATM. Once he put in the pin that the woman had told him in the dream, David saw money being dispensed from the machine. He nearly jumped in excitement, but soon calmed himself.

He went back to the woman's apartment and returned her debit card as well as the $100 he had just withdrawn. He didn't care if the woman found out that someone had used her card, as the money had magically appeared in her handbag. He then immediately returned to his apartment across the street.

Once inside, he couldn't stop pacing around and kept repeating, "It's true! It's true!"

Suddenly, he stopped in his steps and thought with excitement, 'With this ability, I can become an even better detective than Batman! But who the hell wants to be a hero of justice? Hmph, to hell with that!'

His lips suddenly curled up into a smirk. "This is perfect for making money…."

...

Over the following days, in his free time, David monitored various multi-millionaires on Wall Street.

Natasha, who was present in his shadow most of the time, was absolutely puzzled. She didn't know why the boy would decide to suddenly stalk rich people out of nowhere, but she didn't voice out her opinions. Her duty was to protect him, and she would diligently carry out that duty.

After more than a week of constantly monitoring and analyzing his prey, David had finally decided on his target. And tonight he was going to visit his dream.

Just as Natasha left his shadow and was about to give him privacy for the night—just like she did every night—David stopped her and seemingly casually asked, "By the way, Natasha, how much money do you have on you right now?"

Natasha flatly asked, "Mr. Watson, are you in need of money?"

David awkwardly coughed. "Not in need… but I wouldn't mind temporarily borrowing some."

Natasha faintly smiled. "How much do you require?"

"I think I should be fine with ten—" David began but was suddenly cut off by Natasha.

"Ten million?" Natasha asked without batting an eye. "Consider it done."

'MOTHERFUCKER!' David screamed in his heart. But on the surface, he kept a stoic face. He was going to ask for only ten thousand, but this woman actually said ten million like it was nothing.

He was frozen stiff for a few moments, then he calmly nodded. "Not bad. If everything goes according to plan, I'll return it to you within a few months."

"No problem at all." Natasha nodded, then faded into the shadows and disappeared.

After making sure that she had indeed left, David panted heavily. "These crazy rich wizards!"

...

David found himself standing on a wide, empty street in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. It was one of the wealthier neighborhoods in the borough. Currently, he was looking at a skyscraper that had very lavish exteriors.

The residence of the target he had chosen was in the building before him, and the reason the street was empty was that David was in the dreamworld!

He entered the tall building and made his way to the 46th floor. After entering his target's apartment, he was fortunate to find that there were indeed white orbs floating atop the bed.

"Hmm… looks like the guy and his wife are both dreaming," David mumbled, then entered one of the dreams. He realized that he was actually inside his target's wife's dream. And much to his dismay, he realized that the wife was actually dreaming of another man!

David stepped out of the wife's dream and returned to the dreamworld. In his past travels, he had learned the way to exit a dream; all he had to do was simply will it.

He looked at the other white orb and immediately entered it. David arrived at a luxurious swimming pool and saw a couple swimming naked. Once again he was flabbergasted. "This guy's dreaming of another woman!?"

In the end, he only shook his head in amusement and walked toward the gray barrier in the distance. Just like last time, he entered the barrier and landed on the ground below. The moment he landed, he dashed toward the center of the island.

A few moments later, the sinister ramblings started attacking him, but he continued running and ignored the pain. Soon, a large mansion came into view and his steps grew quicker.

About a minute later, he entered the mansion and the rambling stopped. After catching his breath, he muttered, "So the ramblings from the sea of collective subconsciousness can't affect me in this place…."

He looked around the mansion in wonder. "Looks like the structure at the center of the island is different for everyone…. Perhaps it reflects the truest self of the person?"

David began touring the luxurious mansion and soon entered the master bedroom. The floor was made of gold and there were stacks of hundred-dollar bills piled up in all corners of the room.

Atop the bed in the center of the room sat a brown-haired, middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed beard, wearing gold-colored silk pajamas. David walked to him and immediately asked, "What's your name?"

"James Axelroad Jr.," the man mechanically replied.

"What's your profession?"

"CEO of SmartCap Hedge Fund."

"Do you love your wife?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Cause she's cheating on me."

"And are you cheating on her?"

"Yes."

David rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Hypocrite."

The next moment, his eyes lit up as he finally decided to ask the important question, "Now, tell me the trade secrets that are going to make you money in the near future."

James began divulging his company's most tightly guarded secrets without any hesitation at all.

"Pear Tech Inc. is soon going to acquire the leading AI research and deployment company, WisdomAI…. That will boost the stock prices for WisdomAI…. The stock price for the leading GPU manufacturing company, Nevart, is expected to surge…."