Chronicles of an Interdimensional Drifter

Qi Ling'er nervously bit her lip, avoiding her brother's eyes. Her brother had always been incredibly perceptive about such details.

In a weak voice, she tentatively said, "Auntie came by again earlier."

Their aunt was their father's younger sister, the only blood relative the siblings had left in this world.

This aunt, who grew up with their father and received substantial financial help from him for her wedding and house purchase, had always been kind to the siblings. However, after their father's death, she and her husband unhesitatingly swindled the orphaned siblings out of their rightful insurance money, using their position as legal guardians.

To this day, Siegfried still remembered kneeling at their doorstep with his little sister in his arms, begging their dear aunt to show some mercy for their father's sake and at least take care of young Ling'er.

The result? Siegfried got beaten up by his older cousin.

Seeing her brother's prolonged silence, Ling'er continued, "It's still about the letter of understanding..."

"Impossible," Siegfried cut her off immediately. "Dad helped them so much back then. Half the money for their house came from our family. And what did they do? Turned on us in an instant, stole our money, and even tried to take this house from us!"

Siegfried's voice grew increasingly louder until he was practically shouting.

He rarely displayed such intense emotions anymore, but whenever he thought about these past events, he couldn't suppress the pent-up anger.

Ling'er shrank back a little. She had anticipated her brother would get angry at the mention of this, but she still mumbled, "It's just writing a few words, after all. Uncle could get a reduced sentence, and we could receive a hefty compensation. Isn't that good?"

Siegfried glanced at her, somewhat amused. "What? You've been bought off by a bit of dirty money?"

"It's not like that~" Ling'er pouted. "Dad only had one sister, and she's our only blood relative left. When I saw Auntie today, she looked so much thinner. Brother, about the past..."

"Just let it go?" Siegfried finished for her.

His sister nodded.

"Huh, how magnanimous of you," he scoffed.

Three years ago, their uncle had been implicated in a fraud case. Among the eight suspects in the public trial, for some reason, only their uncle had extensive and conclusive evidence against him, leading to his conviction as the mastermind.

The day before the sentencing, the court received an anonymous email. It contained a statement and evidence about how the suspect had illegally appropriated the insurance money of an orphaned sibling pair three years prior.

After verification, the court immediately decided to combine the charges, sentencing the mastermind to return all misappropriated property, pay compensation for emotional damages, and serve a 25-year prison term.

Given their aunt's family's financial situation, they couldn't afford such a large compensation. They barely managed to gather enough for the siblings' compensation by selling their property. As for the compensation for the fraud victims, it seemed unlikely they could repay it even in their next life.

Their aunt, who used to live a life of luxury without needing to work, now resided in a nearby low-rent apartment. With Siegfried's "forgiveness" and help, she was now working as a diligent employee in the company's electronics factory, starting early and finishing late each day.

Siegfried picked up his knife and fork again and began cutting his pizza. He understood what Ling'er meant.

His sister was truly a kind-hearted and innocent girl. Siegfried didn't dislike this innocence; on the contrary, he hoped she could always maintain this purity.

However, throughout history, kind people have always been more easily taken advantage of. And Siegfried absolutely refused to be on the receiving end of such treatment.

He wouldn't do anything unethical, and if someone was truly in dire straits, he wouldn't hesitate to offer help. But if anyone dared to exploit his kindness, he had no qualms about showing them what true desperation meant.

"First of all, your uncle brought this upon himself. Fine, even if I forgive him, will the victims he defrauded let him off? And what about their idiot son, who used our money to become some kind of junkie and ended up in rehab? Their current predicament is entirely of their own making. What does it have to do with us?"

Ling'er listened obediently, initially wanting to say something more, but ultimately just nodded, "Mm, karma will get them."

"Heh..." Siegfried couldn't help but let out a cold laugh at her words.

"Ling'er, do you know why I didn't send Auntie to prison along with Uncle back then?"

Thwack!

The dinner knife pierced right through the pizza in the paper box. He lifted the slice, dangling it before his eyes, his brows furrowed in a cold, mocking smile.

"I just wanted to watch her cry."

The ending theme of the anime started playing on the TV, and the temperature in the entire dining room seemed to drop.

Ling'er's eyes flickered, and she swallowed hard.

Her brother had never been a gentle person, even as a child. He was arrogant, precocious, and vindictive. Since their parents' passing, these traits had only become more extreme.

"Heaven won't help you seek revenge. In this world, good people don't always get rewarded, and bad people don't always get punished. 'Karma will get them' is just wishful thinking of the weak. The truth that has stood the test of time is that it takes a villain to deal with another villain."

Siegfried put the pizza slice in his mouth and tugged hard, stretching the white cheese into long strings.

"Eat your food."

His sister, chastised, hung her head silently, tears welling up in her big eyes.

Only then did Siegfried realize he might have gone too far. He coughed and changed the subject.

"Ahem, let's not talk about this anymore. Your brother is getting a raise soon. How about we go to Disneyland this Sunday and have some fun?"

Ling'er's cute little ears perked up, and she immediately raised her head. "Really? Really? Can I bring Ah Hu and Ah Bao along?"

Chen Hu and Chen Bao, commonly known as the Tiger-Leopard brothers, were tall guys nearly 1.8 meters despite their young age. They were... minions that his sister had recruited at school, responsible for escorting her to and from school.

"Sure, bring them along. You can invite your little girlfriends too."

"Yay~ Big brother is the best!"