"They didn't take a cent, and they burned my money?"
Inside the office, Reyes asked.
"Yes," the manager of the warehouse where the money had been burned said with his head lowered. "He also said... he said that this was only the beginning."
"Ha." Reyes chuckled and walked over to a desk, lightly brushing his hand across several devices on it. "Only the beginning... Heh..."
"Then..." After a pause, Reyes's hand stopped over an alloy object. He snatched it up, turned around, and smashed the manager to the floor with it. "This is our answer!"
To Reyes, subordinates like this deserved to die!
Setting the bloodstained object back on the desk, Reyes ignored the subordinate lying unconscious on the floor with his head split open. He spoke to another security captain in the office, who also had his head lowered. "Clear out every warehouse. Within an hour, I want to see all the money locked away somewhere secure. And once that's done, have everyone start looking for those bastards! I want every one of them on the wanted list. Understood?"
"Understood!"
Very quickly, under the security captain's leadership, Reyes's men sprang into action. They openly carried guns through the streets, yet no one stopped them—or rather, no one dared to. Just as Toretto and the others had expected, they began gathering the cash Reyes had stored in warehouses scattered across nearly every corner of the city, transporting it all to the "safe" location they had chosen.
Everything had gone smoothly with Toretto's plan. This had always been the point: only by making Reyes voluntarily store all his money in one place could they rob it all in one go!
However, the plan ran into a slight deviation.
"Oh," Tej said as he watched one of Reyes's men drive straight into a certain location. "Am I seeing this wrong?"
"I don't think so..." O'Conner's voice was low. "That's... the police station!"
Why could Reyes, the drug lord everyone knew about, store his money inside a police station?
Everyone looked at one another.
"Well, the difficulty just went from nearly impossible to absolutely impossible." Roman switched into complaint mode.
"We proceed according to the original plan," Toretto said, his arms folded.
"What did you say?" Roman was stunned. "Did I hear that wrong?"
"No, you didn't. We proceed according to the original plan... No, we need to make a slight adjustment." Toretto took out his phone, turned, and started walking away as he dialed. "We need more powerful cars."
"Hey, this isn't about whether the cars are powerful enough!" Roman, following his heart, began trying to persuade Toretto to abandon the idea. "Unless you can get us a tank! And it would have to be a tank that's as fast as a sports car!"
"If you're talking about a tank, then no, I can't get one," Toretto said without looking back. "But if you mean a sports car like a tank... I can get one."
"What?" Roman looked utterly dumbfounded.
I was just talking shit, and you can really get one?
And... what the hell is a sports car like a tank supposed to be?!
Roman soon found out where Toretto intended to get that "sports car like a tank."
Zhou Yi, who was inside the ship's cabin and had just done some exercise with Gisele... some exercise involving assembling a sports car together, received a call from Toretto.
"What is it?" Zhou Yi asked.
"Zhou, we've run into trouble," Toretto said. "I need your help."
"Let me guess..." Zhou Yi twisted the key and started the engine. "Where did Reyes store the money? City Hall? A bank vault? The police station?"
"How did you know?" Toretto froze.
"Use your brain." Zhou Yi admired Gisele's long legs as she stepped over the car door and got into the vehicle. "I've always liked to plan before acting, so before coming here, I investigated Reyes thoroughly. A notorious drug lord like him had operated in Rio for so many years without getting arrested and had even become the local kingpin. I definitely don't believe there was no official protection behind that."
"You're right," Toretto said. "Reyes stored all the money in the police station. If we want to carry on with the plan, we'll need more powerful cars."
"Don't worry. Since I saw this coming, I naturally made preparations." Zhou Yi started the sports car and sent Toretto the address of his warehouse. "Come to the warehouse I rented. I'll show you something good."
Toretto and the others quickly arrived at Zhou Yi's warehouse.
By the time they got there, Zhou Yi had just returned from taking Gisele out for a drive. He immediately led everyone into the warehouse.
"A sports car like a tank?" Zhou Yi grinned after hearing Toretto's request. "Come with me."
With that, Zhou Yi led them to two dark gray shipping containers.
"Open them and take a look." Zhou Yi kept them in suspense.
"Just how thoroughly did you prepare..." Toretto had already been shocked by the parts in the opened crates inside the warehouse, but now he knew that what was inside these containers might be the most important thing Zhou Yi had brought this time.
"The more thoroughly you prepare, the more ways you'll have to solve problems when something goes wrong, and the more confidence you'll have," Zhou Yi said. "You know I've always liked doing things that way."
"That's true..." Toretto smiled as he pulled open one of the containers. Then, even with his composure, he could not help shaking his head. "Fuck, you managed to bring this too?"
"What? What is it?" Roman, who had still been stroking the parts inside the crates, hurried over. Once he saw what was in the container, he swallowed hard.
"Are you kidding me?" It took Roman a long moment to recover. "Can someone punch me? I think I'm hallucinating."
At that, Toretto immediately looked eager to oblige, flexing his thick arm, while Zhou Yi also glanced at Roman and slightly moved his arm.
Neither of them actually disliked Roman, but when it came to beating up an asshole... neither would want to miss an opportunity like this!
"Wait, what are you trying to do?" Roman shrank back, feeling a chill rise in his heart. "O'Conner! Save me!"
PS: Every time the author's note is basically a failed author's diary. Why do you all keep pretending not to see it? I'm pointing it out this time!
Failed Author's Diary↓
Today, people in the group suddenly started discussing taxes. I eagerly joined in, only to discover that my royalties were so low I didn't need to pay taxes, while the big shots earned so much that even paying taxes wasn't enough—they had to make additional payments.
Before you continue