Chapter 70: Live-in Lover - Part 34 (Violence)
[RETURNER FANTASY SYSTEM]
[Returner Curse – Damage Transfer]
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Like the One-Minute-Man that Jeff used on Trud to ruin his pleasure time back at the Mountain Nest Hotel, Damage Transfer is another curse from the list of Returner Curse that Jeff can invoke on his targets.
In this case, Jeff transferred all the damage he received from the constant beating onto Trud, Henry, and Francis, at a ratio of 35:30:30. Obviously, Trud received the largest share.
As for the remaining 5 percent, Jeff decided to keep it for himself, leaving a few bruises—especially on his face—so Kris and Marc wouldn’t get too suspicious about his sudden recovery, even if his family, especially Jess, might get worried and ask what happened.
Jeff could have transferred more damage to Trud, but upon seeing how pathetic he already was—with just a sprained ankle and an arrow piercing his leg—Jeff thought he might actually die from the pain and injuries.
It wasn’t that Jeff suddenly felt pity for Trud, especially after he threatened to hurt his family, including Jess and her mother.
If Jeff were the only one involved in this operation, he would have killed Trud right here and now. But he had no choice—he needed Kris and Marc for his plan to complete Quest 13 of the Returner Fantasy System.
With his friends involved, he couldn’t risk them being arrested for murder if the truth came out.
Trud could still come after him and Jess if he didn’t dispose of him right away, but Jeff already had an idea on how to deal with him after seeing the reward for Quest 13.
Besides, killing was too light a punishment for what Trud had done to Jess in Jeff’s timeline—and what Trud planned to do in this one.
Perhaps making Trud suffer even more would be more fitting.
Either way, Jeff could cook that plan for another event. What mattered now was finishing the current one.
After a while, Marc and Kris returned.
"Did you piss on them, Jeff?" Marc asked, noticing the pool of liquid on the floor. As tall and well-built as Jeff and Kris, he easily dragged the three bastards he’d come to get outside, all at once, like a sack of trash.
"Now that you mention it, I kind of want to."
"Did you two piss on them?" Kris followed up, asking the same question as he came down the stairs carrying three large duffle bags.
"If that’s what you two want, then let’s do it."
After gathering the six unconscious bastards and changing their minds about humiliating them further, Jeff, Kris, and Marc sat in a circle on the floor to inspect what Kris had found inside the warehouse.
While Jeff opened the first bag, Kris and Marc stared curiously at him, wondering why he didn’t seem to be in pain anymore—even the bruises on his face and arms, visible under his shirt, looked like they had faded.
"Well... this is unexpected—and actually kind of tempting," Jeff said, surprised at the contents of the first bag.
Kris and Marc’s suspicion about Jeff’s injuries was quickly forgotten when they saw what was inside.
A lot of money.
Kris hadn’t opened the bags earlier when he found them, but he remembered another with the same weight. He hurriedly unzipped the second bag, and as suspected, it also contained stacks of cash.
By their estimate, the total amounted to around twenty million dollars.
"How about a five-million-dollar split?"
—"Huh?"—
Kris and Marc were both stunned by Jeff’s words. After all—
"You do realize this might be illegal, dirty money, right?"
"And probably marked bills."
"Illegal and dirty, yes. But marked bills? Probably not."
Considering how idiotic Trud, Henry, and Francis were, they’d have been caught long ago if the money were marked. It was likely from Trud’s illegal dealings. And even if some were marked, Jeff had an idea on how to launder it.
Five million for each of them, another five million to distribute among the Iron Rod Legion—whom Jeff had asked to look after his house and family these past few days because of Trud’s threat.
Whatever was left, Jeff would set aside for future use. After all, Trud wasn’t the only shit bastard he needed to deal with.
Setting the money aside, Jeff opened the third bag and found more concerning items.
Guns, ammunition, drugs, a logbook, and a laptop.
"Drugs, ransom notes, even porn... this guy is rotten trash," Marc muttered, flipping through the logbook of Trud’s illegal transactions.
As for the laptop—
"I guess they’re not complete idiots—they set a password," Kris grumbled, trying to access it.
"That won’t be a problem," Jeff said, grinning smugly as Kris and Marc looked at him with doubt.
Being a software engineer who had regressed twelve years from the future, encoding an advanced encryption program capable of unlocking and cloning any computer system was a simple overnight task for Jeff.
Though still doubtful, Marc took Jeff’s laptop—the one Jeff had bought on his date with Jess—that he’d been carrying in his backpack. He handed it to Kris, and the encryption-cracking and cloning began.
"It’ll take some time, so how about we start wrapping up?" Jeff suggested, standing excitedly and forgetting to act injured. But Kris and Marc didn’t notice, too distracted by thoughts of money and Jeff’s advanced software skills.
Following Jeff’s instructions, they hauled everything useful out of the warehouse, along with the trash—and, of course, the dogs locked in the back room.
Marc drove Trud’s van and parked it farther from the warehouse.
Kris dragged Trud and his men into the van.
Meanwhile, Jeff siphoned the van’s gasoline into the empty gallons he found inside.
By the time they were done, the encryption and cloning of Trud’s laptop had finished.
Jeff, Kris, and Marc checked its contents—and discovered the most disturbing things they had ever seen. Profiles and videos of all the women who had fallen victim to Trud and his men.
Some were missing women they’d seen on the news. Others were girls they at least knew by name. Worst of all, there was someone the three of them personally knew.
At that moment, Jeff, Kris, and Marc all decided—Trud and his men hadn’t suffered nearly enough.