Super Spender

Chapter 149 - 149: 145: The Other Side of Finn Lewis

“This road was only built a few years ago. Do you remember that village-to-village road construction project? Without it, these would’ve been gravel roads.” , Finn Lewis gestured towards the narrow, two-lane highway outside the window.

Fishy Wells subtly nodded in agreement. Despite the unfamiliar environment, everything was so familiar. Even the smell of the earth outside the window shrouded her in uncanny familiarity. It seemed as if her family lived a thousand kilometers away, but the environment was similar, albeit in worse condition.

“Do you understand why I brought you along?”, Finn Lewis asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I understand.” Fishy Wells nodded, despite her outfit worth well over a hundred thousand, and her undersized underwear cost her several tens of thousands, her heart had never changed. Inhaling the air from outside the window, she suddenly felt a strange sense of contentment.

“Can’t figure it out?” As they moved from town to the village, it wasn’t very far. Fishy Wells fell silent and Finn Lewis countered with a smile.

“No.” Fishy Wells shook her head.

“To tell you the truth, I made that sum of money, in other words, I exchanged my technical prowess for shares in the Fruit Company, all in less than two months.” As Finn Lewis lit a cigarette and inhaled, the familiar sensation left him unsure of why he felt the need to share this. Perhaps it was the nostalgia he was feeling for his hometown, or maybe it all just felt unreal. Even he wasn’t sure if this recent turn of events was but a dream.

“Long-term task activated, do you accept?” A voice chimed in.

Finn Lewis choked on a lungful of smoke, causing him to cough violently. He cursed under his breath at the absurdity of the situation. Despite his surprise, he wasn’t bothered by the addition of a new task. Swiftly, he picked up a Bluetooth earpiece lying nearby, tossed his cigarette out the window, and put the earpiece in his ear. “Olivia, connect to the system,” he commanded.

“The call has been connected,” came the reply from Olivia, followed by the sound of Fishy Wells listening attentively.

“What is it?” Finn immediately asked after putting on the headset.

“Long-term task, Don’t Forget Those Who Dug the Well When You Drink the Water: Develop the area centered around your hometown into the world’s largest economic hub. The reward is 100 million points, which can be used to exchange for any one item.” The system voice boomed.

“Are you joking?” Finn Lewis couldn’t help but reply. He had no objections to developing his hometown, in fact, he had even planned to do so, but could anyone tell him how he was to transform a small, relatively underdeveloped town in Legacy City into the world’s largest economic center?

“Accept or decline?” the system voice disregarded any and all empty words. “Accept!” Although this left Finn with not just a severe headache but a toothache as well. Granted the long-term task didn’t carry any time limits, so accepting it was fine. However, he questioned if he could live long enough to see its completion. Could a single person accomplish such a monumental task over such a large area?

Despite his doubts, the rewards were tempting. Not to mention an item worth tens of billions, even the one billion federal coins were colossal. Simply put, it was the equivalent of earning 1 trillion federal coins. Furthermore, the reward included what seemed to be a simple term but held great significance if Finn remembered correctly, something about a ‘Universal cruiser’. He could have exchanged it immediately upon completion of the task.

However, given the time estimated for the task’s completion, Finn accepted the task since it was light-hearted and didn’t come with any time constraints. After accepting it, he put it out of his mind. It wasn’t easy to build an economic hub, it wasn’t merely a matter of sheer will. Perfect timing, right location, and cooperative people were necessary.

The call ended, and he was almost home. His home was only 3 km away from the town. Despite the road conditions not allowing high speeds, the distance wasn’t long and they arrived within ten minutes.

It was early July, the busy farming season was about to begin. Finn drove into the village, with hardly any people around. As they reached home, they noticed the main door was open but locked. Looking at the brick and tile houses, Fishy Wells was caught in a whirl of emotions.

The main door was quite old, made from welded iron pipes, its red paint had almost faded, revealing rusted, red-brown iron pipes. The yard was paved with red bricks, which appeared neat, but beside the cool room was a pile of straw for feeding the sheep and mules.

There were a dozen chickens leisurely strolling around the yard. A significant rooster with a vibrant red crown watched both visitors intently. The yard’s dog was barking frantically until Finn shouted at it after getting out of the car. The dog quieted down.

All this gave Fishy Wells a strong sense of dissonance. She just couldn’t reconcile the person who drew her a monthly salary of several hundred thousand with the scene before her.

“They must be out in the fields, I’ll call.” Finn excused himself to Fishy Wells, retrieved his mobile phone from his pocket, and sat down on the steps under the eaves.

The call was answered quickly, a rugged male voice came from the mobile phone. “Finn?”

“Dad, it’s me. I’ve returned. Where are you? There’s nobody at home.” Finn hurriedly asked.

“You’re back? That was quick. Didn’t you just call before leaving?”

“I can’t explain now, I’ll come to the field to find you.”

“Don’t. You must be tired after the journey. The keys are by the cool room window, reach and you’ll find them. We’ll be back by noon after we finish work. We just left not long ago.” Finn’s dad advised him.

“I know the way myself. I’ll head your way now,” Finn insisted.

“Alright then. We are at South Sands. We’ll be cropping the wheat here early as it’s turned yellow already,” Finn’s father informed.

“Alright, see you shortly,” Finn replied before hanging up.

“Let’s go. They’re in the fields.” Finn gestured to Fishy Wells to get in the car, and drove off to South Sands. On the way, he turned to see Zoe, the little one had dozed off yet again..