Someone curiously turned over his cards and was shocked, "Nine points! He actually chose to stop playing!"
"This old guy must have a screw loose...he’s already lost several thousand US dollars. He finally got a great hand but chose not to play."
The guests all found this man’s actions puzzling.
Old Jack stepped out of the bar, found his old battered pickup truck in the nearby parking lot, fetched a gun wrapped in oil-paper from under the seat, and tucked it at his waist.
Starting the vehicle, he floored the accelerator and drove away from the street, heading to the agreed-upon spot in the suburbs.
Allen Zhang and Jason drove to the deserted gas station, sitting in the car, watching the busy traffic, the pedestrian flow was higher than usual today, making it impossible even to consider shooting here.
Even if the other party was a ruffian, they wouldn’t dare to stir up trouble so openly.
After waiting for a while, they saw a pickup truck driving in from a distance, pulling up inside the gas station.
Old Jack got out of the vehicle and headed straight for the Jeep, knocking on the window. The window rolled down, and he saw the two people seated inside.
"Don’t move, buddy." Allen Zhang said with a slight smile, produced a handgun, and pointed it at him through the window, while Jason in the passenger seat was holding a submachine gun.
Old Jack’s face showed no expression; even with the gun barrel pressed against his chest, he remained unfazed and simply said, "Listen, buddy, if you’re trying to threaten me, extort some money, then you might as well shoot now! Because I’ve already spent all that money, I don’t have a single cent left, I never leave much of an exit for myself when I work, and I’m not scared easily. If you’re planning to hand me over to CIA, I have the means to escape and then take harsh revenge on you! I promise you’ll never live in peace!"
His fearlessness was befitting of Old Jack, a ruffian with many years of experience who was unshakable in such a minor situation.
Allen Zhang watched him with admiration, stowed his phone, "I was pondering whether to just kill you, assume your identity to balance the books for the casino, and take that huge amount of money and split it with my men or hand you over to the CIA to be dealt with and sentenced! But I’ve realized the latter has almost no benefit for me; I’m not American, why should I help them maintain law and order? They don’t pay me a cent, and they even tax me."
"Even if I take care of you now, the casino may not choose to cooperate with us upon catching wind of it," continued Allen Zhang.
"So you want to join the business?"
Old Jack frowned, puzzled, "Where did you get the intel? I’ve never told anyone, was it Old Eric? Or the vault’s manager?"
He couldn’t understand why his seemingly perfect plan would leak information at a crucial moment, exposing the scheme to others. Such a breach was a serious taboo in the industry! The deal was essentially ruined!
However, it seemed these people were also after the money, and as long as it was about money, it was easy to talk.
"I can cooperate with you. Let’s do this deal together," Old Jack immediately spoke up, "We are all out here to make money, everything is negotiable with money, right?"
"But I’m more concerned that you will go back on your word and stab me in the back later, just like that CIA investigator. You like double-crossing, don’t you?" said Allen Zhang.
"You don’t understand the truth of the matter," Old Jack replied gravely, "That guy threatened me with my wife and child, demanding more money, he even wanted to kill me and climb the career ladder with the merits! Initially, we only made 500,000 US Dollars from that deal; it was all agreed that the three of us would each take a 30% share, with the remaining funds for equipment expenses. But in the end, they turned on me for real, leading to my friend dying on the run! That damn traitor was greedy; he wanted not only the money but also my life! I had no choice but to fight back and kill him!"
"CIA is like that, you’re essentially bargaining with a tiger. How could you possibly have a good ending by working with them?" Allen Zhang came to a realization after hearing the truth from him, though he knew not every word might be the truth.
For instance, he concealed from his current friend the fact that he killed a CIA agent. But Allen Zhang wasn’t interested in these things, the past was past.
"Why did you come back into the fray after finally living a peaceful life?" Allen Zhang asked, "Isn’t it nice to live out your life quietly?"
"It’s all for money. In this society, you can’t do anything without money! I have done my homework beforehand and confirmed that there was no risk to this deal. It’s just an internal struggle between the owners of the casino and the shareholders; it doesn’t involve any official power. I decided to do this last deal before retiring," replied Old Jack candidly, "If you also want to join this business, fine. But you must prove your value!"
"How about our intelligence network?" Allen Zhang inquired.
"Impressive." His background was dug up by others, what else could he say?
Certainly, more capable than those buffoons at the CIA!
The CIA itself is full of internal strife, split into multiple factions, infested with corruption, and in competition with the FBI for achievements.
Many people can be bribed with money, since everyone ultimately needs to look out for themselves. If you don’t make the best of high positions, isn’t that wasting resources?
"I can work with you, but you must destroy the evidence that’s against me, and do not trouble my family!" Old Jack said earnestly, "We’ll split the profits according to the contribution; whoever contributes more, gets a larger share. I need at least 300,000 US Dollars!"