Guo Da Statham

Meng Zu got up at eight in the morning. After washing up, he stood at the door, drinking milk as he looked toward the Smiths' house next door. The two of them had already taken care of everything last night. The killers' bodies and vehicles had long since disappeared, and the police who had come to ask questions had also been sent away.

Looks like they went to get revenge. Seeing John and Jane carry two large packages out of the house, load them into their car, and drive away, Meng Zu guessed as much.

After all, they were both assassins who had now been placed on their own organization's bounty list. If they did not strike back and make the organization revoke the bounty, they could forget about having peaceful days ahead.

At ten o'clock, Meng Zu arrived at the company. Yang Hai handed him a file and said, "Brother Zu, do you think we should take this job?"

Meng Zu took the file and opened it, then curled his lip. "Twenty thousand dollars to investigate evidence of her husband cheating? Forget it. These jobs take too much time. I don't feel like doing this kind of work lately. Outsource it to another private detective."

Meng Zu handed the file back to Yang Hai and said, "There are more and more of these jobs now. When Uncle Yang comes back, discuss it with him. We can hire a few more private detectives for the company and let them handle this kind of work."

Yang Hai chuckled. "I was thinking the same thing. Brother Zu, what do you think is going on with these rich people? Don't they usually like playing around separately?"

Meng Zu said disdainfully, "What else could it be? They want more assets in the divorce settlement. Think about how many years of hard work that saves them."

Private detective jobs involving adultery investigations could easily anger the client's husband or wife, especially when the clients were wealthy. Those people would often retaliate against the private detectives afterward. Meng Zu and the others had encountered it several times, but after Meng Zu paid them a visit, beat them up, and pressed a gun to their foreheads, the company had gained some notoriety among the rich. Retaliation became much rarer after that.

Today was another lazy day. Meng Zu and Yang Hai spent the entire day playing games at the office. After work that evening, Meng Zu drove to Manhattan.

Meng Zu drove to a street in Clinton District called Happy Street. It was not far from New York's famous Hell's Kitchen. At night, countless Black people, Irish Americans, Italians, and Russians formed gangs and poured onto the streets. Manhattan's most chaotic district began another of its hottest nights.

The moment Meng Zu's car drove in, countless hidden eyes locked onto it. Only after the car stopped in front of a bar called Hot Rose did those ill-intentioned people look away. The first thing people living here learned was who they could not provoke and where they could not cause trouble. Otherwise, they would not live to see the next day's sun.

Hot Rose was a place in Clinton District where trouble was universally forbidden. It was Manhattan's only mercenary bar. Being so close to Hell's Kitchen, it could not stand without real strength. Moreover, none of the mercenaries who came here were easy to deal with. Many people now sleeping at the bottom of the sea had already provided the answer.

The two burly men guarding the entrance saw Meng Zu and greeted him. "Good evening, Meng Zu."

"Good evening, Rand, Dave."

Meng Zu casually tipped them ten dollars each, then pushed open the door and entered the noisy bar. Many muscular men and scantily clad, tattooed women drank and bragged together.

Someone noticed Meng Zu enter and raised his glass in greeting. Meng Zu smiled and nodded in response before walking over and sitting directly at the bar.

Two bartenders were arranging bottles behind the counter. One of them was the mixologist. He wore glasses and looked to be in his thirties, an average-looking white man with neat, clean clothes. He set down the cup in his hand and asked, "What'll you have?"

"A whiskey."

The bartender quickly placed a glass of whiskey in front of Meng Zu and said with a smile, "You haven't been here in a while. I thought something had happened to you."

Meng Zu took a sip and smiled. "Randy, that joke isn't funny at all."

The bartender in front of him was Randy Austin, the owner of this bar. However, he liked mixing drinks, so he worked as a bartender himself. Mercenaries who came here to accept jobs could only get assignments through him. Although Randy looked ordinary, Meng Zu's adoptive father had told him while he was still alive that the man before him was anything but simple. He should have been over sixty years old. He had once been a mercenary for thirty years, only opening this mercenary bar after retiring.

He looked like he was only in his thirties despite being over sixty. Meng Zu suspected that the guy might have injected some legendary super serum from Marvel, which was why his aging had slowed.

Randy looked at Meng Zu and asked, "So what kind of mercenary job are you here to take today?"

At that moment, someone came and sat beside Meng Zu. Meng Zu turned to look and saw a familiar face. He was Guo Da—no, Jason Statham, who looked somewhat like Guo Da Statham. Meng Zu greeted him, "Good evening, Frank."

Frank smiled back at Meng Zu. "Good evening, Meng Zu. Randy, give me a vodka."

"Frank, I remember you never drank this stuff. Are you in a bad mood?" Meng Zu asked curiously.

Once the drink arrived, Frank picked it up and took a large gulp. His voice was somewhat heavy as he said, "I'm planning to go back to Paris. I'm leaving this line of work for good."

"Leaving? Then what are you planning to do afterward?" Meng Zu could not help being surprised. The man before him was Frank Martin, a retired special forces soldier. After leaving the military, he became a mercenary, though he chose to work as a courier. Not an ordinary courier, but an underground courier who delivered packages specifically for criminal figures.

The packages delivered by underground couriers like him were all things that could not see the light of day. Criminal figures would usually post jobs at mercenary bars when looking for couriers, so that if anything went wrong, it would not lead back to them. Some couriers could not resist opening the packages to see what was inside, but they always ended up sleeping at the bottom of the sea.

Frank was an expert in this field. For years, he had followed three rules: first, once he accepted a delivery, he saw it through to the end; second, he never asked about his clients; third, he never opened packages without permission. That was precisely why he had lasted so long in this business.

"I'll probably go work at an auto repair shop. Maybe then I can live a peaceful life." Frank's words carried deep exhaustion. It seemed he had been through quite a few unpleasant things lately.

Meng Zu and Frank had known each other for several years, and Meng Zu had some understanding of Frank's skills. Seeing how disheartened he looked, Meng Zu felt like recruiting him. "An auto repair shop? Frank, that would be such a waste of your talents. Oh, right, you know I own a detective company. We're short on people lately. You can come work as a private detective for us."

"A private detective? Forget it. Private detectives get dragged into trouble too easily." Frank naturally did not want to return to Paris just like that, and he was somewhat tempted, but after thinking it over, he still refused.

Meng Zu understood Frank's concerns and smiled. "Don't worry. You can choose which jobs to take at our company. If you think one suits you, take it. If not, you don't have to accept it at all. Besides, the pay for our jobs is pretty good."

Randy spoke up to support him. "Frank, Meng Zu's detective company does have a bit of a reputation. Its word of mouth is quite good. Besides, the company was founded by Meng Zu's father and his partner after they retired from being mercenaries. It might really suit you."

Frank wavered. He fell silent and began to think. Meng Zu did not rush him, giving him time to consider. After thinking for about a minute, Frank finally made his decision. "All right. I'll come by tomorrow and give it a try."

Hearing that Frank had joined his company, Meng Zu could not help feeling pleased. He extended his right hand to Frank. "Frank, welcome aboard."

Frank reached out and shook Meng Zu's right hand, a smile appearing on his face. "Meng Zu, I'll be relying on you from now on."