Devil Capital System

CHAPTER 17 — The Nest

Gavin walked slowly along the campus pathway with his phone pressed against his ear. Several shopping bags were still hanging from his hands, swaying lightly with each step.

The night air felt colder now.

“Olivia...” Gavin frowned slightly. “What exactly did you mean earlier?”

Several seconds of silence passed before Olivia’s voice finally came from the other side of the call.

“Gavin, if your goal is simply to start a business, then everything is fairly straightforward. We choose an industry, find a good location, and start investing.” Her voice remained calm as usual. “But if what you want to build is your own network, then that becomes a different problem.”

Gavin stayed silent as he continued walking, waiting for Olivia to continue.

“We need information,” Olivia finally said. “We need to know which networks are beginning to weaken, who’s fighting who, who’s losing money, and who’s becoming desperate. In Northgate, some of the people I’ve already met are willing to dig into things like that. We’re currently keeping an eye on several smaller networks that seem unstable to see whether there’s an opportunity to acquire them.”

Gavin’s pace slowed slightly. “How long?” he asked.

“That’s difficult to say.” Olivia paused briefly before continuing, “But I’ll do everything I can.”

Gavin’s expression shifted slightly. Unlike Olivia, he didn’t have much time.

There was still the System’s Monthly Mandatory Spending requirement.

Although the System placed no restrictions on how he spent the money, it required that one hundred million dollars of his spending possessed actual capital value.

And if he failed to meet the requirement, the problem wouldn’t simply be a drop in System Stability. The System itself could shut down, and David would die after being judged as lacking sufficient competence.

While Gavin was still occupied with his own thoughts, Olivia suddenly spoke again.

“Gavin, don’t you study at Riverton University?”

“Yeah.” Gavin frowned slightly. “Why?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Olivia paused for a moment. “But if you have some free time, maybe you could gather some information there too.”

Gavin frowned again. “What kind of information?”

“I can’t answer that specifically,” Olivia replied. “But wealthy kids usually talk a lot. Sometimes they discuss family businesses, investments, internal problems, or conflicts between families without realizing that the information itself actually has value.”

Gavin suddenly froze, and his footsteps stopped immediately.

He stood there silently for a few moments before slowly turning his head toward a massive silhouette standing beyond the trees of the nearby park—the towering main building of Riverton University.

“Gavin, I’m not asking you to walk up and question people directly,” Olivia said, pulling him out of his thoughts. “I just—”

“Alright, I get it,” Gavin cut her off. “And I think... you’re right.”

For a moment, Gavin thought he heard the sound of Olivia breathing softly on the other end of the line, almost as if she were smiling.

“Good...” Olivia finally said.

“By the way, where are you right now?” she suddenly asked. “Didn’t you say earlier that you were coming back to my place?”

Gavin lowered his head and looked at the paper bags hanging from his hands.

“Oh, I have plans with my friends,” Gavin replied as he started walking again. “I’m going to meet them.”

“Let me guess,” Olivia immediately said. “Adam, right?”

Now it was Gavin’s turn to smile because he hadn’t expected her to remember what he mentioned the previous night.

“Yeah. Adam...”

“Alright.” Olivia replied, “You already know the password to my apartment. You can come back anytime.”

“So have fun.”

“Olivia.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“Gavin, you don’t have to—”

Beep!

Gavin ended the call without hesitation because he already knew what Olivia was going to say next.

He stood there for quite a while, staring at the large gate ahead of him.

“Alright...” Gavin muttered. “I guess I need people with big mouths right now.”

“And I think I know exactly where their nest is.”

Then he started walking again.

---

Not long after, Gavin finally passed through the gate. But as he continued walking, he noticed a girl sitting by the roadside several meters ahead with two large bags and a pile of other belongings beside her.

Since the area was fairly quiet, Gavin hesitated between continuing straight ahead or taking a small detour.

He was slightly worried the girl might think he was approaching her to flirt with her—or worse, Gavin might end up getting accused of trying to rape her.

Refusing to get involved in trouble that could've been avoided from the beginning, Gavin decided to slightly change his direction.

“Hey, you. Can you help me?”

But unexpectedly, the girl called out to him instead. Gavin turned around before instinctively looking around to see if there was anyone else nearby.

“Hey, I’m talking to you.”

Gavin hesitated for a moment, but since she was the one who called him first, he slowly walked over.

“Yeah?” Gavin finally asked. “Need something?”

The girl immediately smiled in relief and nodded quickly.

“Well...” she said, “I just got here, and I’m carrying too much stuff. Can you help me bring these?”

“Are you a new student here?”

“Yeah. I’m Chloe. What’s your name?”

Gavin accepted the greeting and introduced himself. “I’m Gavin.”

“Nice name,” Chloe replied with a smile. “So, Gavin... would you mind helping me carry these to my dorm?”

“Which one?”

Chloe frowned slightly, but Gavin was already paying attention to the way she was dressed.

“Okay... alright.” Gavin nodded. “I think I know which one.”

“Thank you.”

“No need.”

The university was huge. It wasn't strange for someone who had just arrived there to get lost.

As they walked, Gavin didn’t speak much. Chloe herself mentioned that she had just transferred to the university and would officially start classes tomorrow.

About fifteen minutes later, they finally stopped in front of a dormitory building with large letters across the top: SouthBlock

“Gavin, thank you. I’ll repay you someday.”

“There’s no need.” Gavin shook his head. “It’s not a big deal.”

Chloe simply smiled and nodded. But suddenly, her eyes widened as if she had just remembered something.

“Gavin... do you have a VantaHub account?” she asked.

Gavin frowned slightly, but apparently Chloe misunderstood his reaction.

“Oh, of course you do. You're a student here after all,” Chloe quickly said. “Gavin, what’s your account name? I—”

She never finished her sentence because at that moment she heard Gavin’s phone vibrate.

She simply smiled and nodded after Gavin gestured that he needed to answer it.

“Yeah?”

“Oh, right, right... I’m already here,” Gavin said while turning around and walking a short distance away.

“Yeah, I’ll be there soon...”

“Five minutes. No more than that!”

The call ended.

Gavin turned back around. But instead of walking toward Chloe again, he started walking backward while raising his voice.

“Alright then, Chloe! Welcome to the university! I’m leaving!”

Chloe simply watched him leave with a smile.

This was new for her.

Normally, guys would become fascinated by her appearance and start thinking of all sorts of tricks just to keep talking to her a little longer.

But Gavin...

He had actually looked reluctant even to look at her, and now he clearly had no intention of staying any longer because he genuinely turned around and left without hesitation.

Chloe could only smile as she watched Gavin walk faster and faster before turning a corner and disappearing.

“What an interesting guy.”