A Farcical Deal

On a speeding train, inside one of the cars.

The phone rang.

The man in the suit picked it up, answered it, then handed it to Max, who was reading a newspaper beside him.

"This isn't what we agreed on, Yinsen," Max said as she took the phone. "Our deal was for you to be here and trade with me face-to-face."

"Please forgive my discourtesy, Ms. Max," Yinsen said from the other end of the line. "To ensure my own safety, I have to do this."

And then...

Right there on the train, they began their transaction.

The blond man seated behind Max rubbed his forehead.

He was Zhou Yi. He was merely wearing a fake human-skin mask at the moment, disguised as an ordinary tourist.

Zhou Yi felt rather helpless and... amused. Countless snarky remarks were bubbling up inside him, the kind he simply had to let out.

You people...

Weren't you being a little too brazen?

You were just going to start a deal in a public place like this?

There were ordinary people all around you—passengers!

You were really going to conduct a deal with no soundproofing and no secrecy measures whatsoever?

Zhou Yi was utterly dumbfounded.

Was a ten-million-dollar deal really this casual?

Couldn't you at least book a whole compartment?

Were you that strapped for cash?

Although he was already tearing into them mercilessly in his mind, Zhou Yi showed nothing on the surface. He still looked listless and half-asleep.

Meanwhile, Max and Yinsen's genuinely broad-daylight illegal transaction continued.

Zhou Yi eavesdropped while mocking them in his head.

Yinsen said, "The list disk you want is under your seat, stuck there with a piece of black tape."

Wonderful. A list of every CIA agent was stuck under a train seat with a piece of black tape.

At that, Max reached beneath her skirt... beneath her seat, felt around, and pulled off a disk. She handed it to the suited man beside her to verify its authenticity.

Wonderful. Right there on the train, in full view of everyone, they opened a computer to verify the CIA agent list without even trying to conceal it.

"I truly want to see you in person and thank you properly, Yinsen." When the list was successfully unlocked using the key Max had obtained earlier and one CIA agent after another appeared on the computer screen, Max could not help smiling.

"I only want to see the ten million, and Job," Yinsen replied.

"I'm willing to pay ten million for this. You've earned it, Yinsen," Max said. "The ten million dollars are in the baggage car, luggage rack number three, in a silver briefcase. The combination is 314."

Wonderful. She had just announced the location of ten million dollars and the password out loud, without even considering lowering her voice...

"What about Job?" Yinsen asked.

"I'll tell him where you are. Once he knows you have the money, he'll naturally come looking for you. Someone like him could sell all of you out for one million dollars. What wouldn't he do for ten million?" Max said.

"Then our deal is concluded," Yinsen said. "Have a pleasant journey."

"You too."

After hanging up, Max immediately signaled for her subordinate to begin transmitting the list to her organization.

But the moment her subordinate did so, a warning appeared on the computer—

No signal

"What's going on?" Max asked with a frown.

"There's a problem with the signal. I can't transmit it," her subordinate answered.

"I have eyes. I can see that," Max said speechlessly. "I'm asking why this is happening! Is there a problem with the signal generator's battery?"

"Impossible!" Her subordinate shook his head. "This definitely isn't a battery issue!"

"Then hurry up and find out what it is. We'd better send the files before we enter the tunnel!" Max urged.

Zhou Yi turned his gaze toward Luther, who was seated beside him on the left.

Luther was operating a computer as well. He entered a string of code, and then... a line of words appeared on the screen: "Interception successful."

Zhou Yi gave him a thumbs-up in his heart.

Why didn't you just go sit across from Max and type it out?

You were intercepting someone's signal from a meter away, somewhere they could see with a single turn of the head?

Zhou Yi covered his forehead.

No, he really could not watch this anymore.

He felt like his intelligence had been insulted.

Zhou Yi stood and walked over to Max. Lowering his head, he looked down at her.

"..."

Max and her subordinate both looked at Zhou Yi. After the two sides stared at each other for two seconds, Max hesitantly asked, "Sir? Is there something you need?"

Max was extremely wary now. Although the man before her looked exhausted and did not seem like an agent or police officer, why had he suddenly come over and stared at her like that?

"You're being far too loud," Zhou Yi said, squinting blankly. "I'm very sleepy right now, understand? Quiet. Please keep quiet!"

"Uh..." Max froze, only responding after a long moment. "O-Okay?"

"Hmph. No manners!" Zhou Yi expressed his disdain in a standard London accent, then returned to his seat.

Max exchanged a glance with her subordinate.

"What are you looking at me for?" Max lowered her voice. "Why aren't you transmitting it already?"

This farcical deal finally entered its final act after Zhou Yi's interruption.

After a while, Zhou Yi muttered that his stomach was uncomfortable and headed toward the restroom.

"Calling me rude when he's just a fake proper Britishman, a fake gentleman. Pah!" After Zhou Yi left, Max rolled her eyes and muttered quietly.

The prickling sensation on her back, the feeling that she could not sit comfortably no matter how she positioned herself, finally vanished. She glanced at her subordinate, who was still checking the program, and urged him again, "Hurry up!"

Zhou Yi walked right past the restroom and headed toward the baggage car.

At this moment, Yinsen, Jim, and Claire were facing off inside the baggage car.

More precisely, Jim was threatening Claire and Yinsen with a gun.

It had to be said that, as a cuckold, Jim was quite competent. He had successfully sent his own wife, Claire, over to Yinsen's side, and then... Claire had begun leaning slightly toward Yinsen.

Still, it was not surprising. Jim was old and past his prime, while Yinsen was strong, fit, and handsome. The gap between them could not be bridged. If not for the money, Claire would probably have clung to Yinsen's arm long ago.

During this period, Claire had spent a great deal of time with Yinsen. And because Yinsen had obtained intelligence from Zhou Yi and had more or less guessed that Jim was the mastermind behind everything, he no longer felt any psychological burden. However Claire seduced him, he accepted it.

A few days ago, Yinsen and Claire had even genuinely confessed their feelings to each other.

And it had not been the first time.

Their time together over the past few days had led to this—just moments ago, Yinsen had worn a human-skin mask and disguised himself as Jim to meet Claire. Claire had even suggested that they not kill Yinsen, but take the money and leave together.

One could imagine Claire's complicated feelings when Yinsen tore off the mask.

They were simply beyond words.

Immediately afterward, Jim entered the baggage car with a gun and aimed it at the two of them.

Feel the wrath of a cuckold!

Just as Jim was about to shoot Yinsen and Claire—

Knock knock knock!

Someone knocked on the baggage car door.

PS: The second update will come during the day. I need to revise the draft~

Good night, everyone!

Go to bed early! Good night, good night!