Chapter 207: This Isn't About the Money, and the Capture

Hatred is a peculiar emotion; it can drive a person to do terrible things they could never have imagined themselves capable of.

Moreover, hatred cannot be resolved in any way. Not only does it not fade with the passage of time, it brews and ferments within the heart amid guilt and remorse!

Those who claim they want to dissolve hatred with time and love—more often than not, their true aim is not actually to dissolve the hatred, but something else entirely.

That is merely their high-sounding excuse; they need it.

Not much time had passed, and the deathbed screams of his nephew still seemed to echo in his ears. The assistant's emotions were in heavy turmoil.

He lowered his head, pressed both hands onto his thighs, trembling slightly. Hatred gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake; every day was torment for him!

Only by slaying that bastard with his own hands could he free himself from the cage of remorse and embrace life once more.

Lans sat there. Catching a Jimmy was child's play for him—not difficult at all, but…

"Twenty thousand is a lot, but it's not what drives me to do this," Lans said. He didn't refuse outright, but gave him a reply he found hard to understand.

The assistant looked up at Lans. He didn't know what those words meant, and tried to read something else on Lans's face.

There was nothing—no expression like "I'm not satisfied with your price" or "Did you forget to give me a little extra." Lans simply looked at him calmly, and that calm gaze revealed not the slightest flicker of emotion.

He knew something crucial was still missing, but what was it?

His mind, having worked under Qiaobafu for so long, had fallen into a faulty way of thinking: "I can give you more money, my savings…"

Lans raised a hand and waved it dismissively. "That's not why I'm doing this for you. Anyone can give me money, but I won't necessarily do anything for them."

The assistant was bewildered, and in pain. He clutched his head in both hands. "I don't know!"

Lans said softly, "No, you do. Find it. Say it…"

He didn't know how long it had been, but the assistant's mind, stiffened by years of monotonous work, finally loosened a little. From some rumors he had heard, he found what he believed Lans wanted.

Instinctively, he felt it was somewhat laughable, but very quickly, it no longer seemed laughable. Instead, an indescribable feeling arose, as if…

He didn't know how to describe it. Perhaps the believers of God in ancient times felt this way too—that sacred sensation of being enveloped and illuminated by warmth and light.

He rose from beside the sofa, walked to a spot not far from Lans, and lowered his head. "Mr. Lans, please help me get justice. I beg you."

In that instant, the assistant's heart—which had been wrapped in unease, restlessness, anxiety, hatred, and remorse, every kind of negative emotion—suddenly went still. For his nephew, he had done everything within his power.

A smile appeared on Lans's face. "I will get justice for you!"

He paused as he spoke. "In a few days, he'll appear before you. Go home now and get some proper rest. Everything will be all right."

The assistant left. Since his nephew's death, his steps had never been this light, and a smile even appeared on his face.

When he walked out of the house, a ray of sunlight fell on him at just the right moment, making his whole body feel warm and cozy!

He drove back to the office by the bank. The moment Mr. Qiaobafu saw him, he asked, "Did Lans agree?"

The assistant's expression was slightly odd. He couldn't help comparing Mr. Qiaobafu with Lans, but after the comparison, he felt the gap between the two of them was growing ever wider.

He really shouldn't be thinking this way, but he… simply couldn't help it.

He nodded. "Mr. Lans has agreed to our request. Jimmy will appear before us very soon."

Mr. Qiaobafu punched the air. "Excellent!" He, too, hated Jimmy intensely. Jimmy often came to extort him, and he wanted to vent his anger as well!

He immediately signed a check for twenty thousand and handed it to him. "Have someone deliver it. I've covered your share—this is what I owe you."

The assistant was silent for a moment, then nodded. He knew what Mr. Qiaobafu's words meant. If not for his own compromise, his nephew might still have died, but at least not because they had been betrayed.

Being shot because he was no match for Jimmy, and being tortured to death after being betrayed by his own kin—those were two entirely different things.

But whether it was ten thousand or twenty thousand, neither sum could ever fill the crack in his heart.

The assistant went home first thing. Although Mr. Qiaobafu had covered his share, he still wanted to give Lans something.

He opened the safe and solemnly took out a box from within.

The box contained many pieces of jewelry, the most eye-catching of which was a ruby ring.

Half of it was ruby, and the other half was gold. The clear, translucent ruby meant it could fetch at least fifty thousand, perhaps even more.

For the assistant and his family, this ring held extraordinary significance, because it had been bestowed by a noble.

It had originally been a nobleman's worn ring. Because his ancestor had performed outstandingly as a deer hunter in the hunting grounds, the noble had bestowed it upon his ancestor.

Passed down from generation to generation, it had transformed from a valuable ring into a symbol of the family's heritage.

But today, he felt the time had come to send it away—to someone more worthy of it!

Lans was somewhat surprised when he received the ring, but he accepted the gift graciously.

Regardless of its monetary value, first and foremost it is not money. The value of a gift lies not in its own worth, but in the sentiment behind it.

Lans accepted the assistant's gift and casually slipped it onto his finger.

Having taken the man's gift, Lans was certainly going to get to work. Soon Boton received Lans's instructions, and certain people on the streets began to fan out.

Boton himself even went to the harbor district to gather information.

He had recently built a small reputation in Jingang City's underworld. He always took the initiative to inquire about all sorts of matters, then compiled and handed them over to Mo Lisi.

Mo Lisi was now essentially the Lans family's "intelligence chief." He had many familiar faces in the Imperial District; people were willing to chat with this young man who had grown up on the streets.

So it was easier for him to obtain information, and Lans handed all of this over to him to handle.

With Boli's death in the "gunfight" and the Brotherhood's core members scattered, the Brotherhood, which had once run rampant and domineering in the harbor district, overnight seemed to have… ended its reign.

Instead, the Red Dog Gang began rapidly expanding its territory.

But the harbor district was too large. Before the Red Dog Gang had occupied even half of it, several new street families began to rise, each staking out their own spheres of influence.

What had been a relatively simple harbor district suddenly became complicated, with five or six new forces appearing alongside the Red Dog Gang.

None of this, however, had anything to do with Jimmy, because Jimmy was preparing to run.

If one were to ask whose life was most affected by Boli's death, then undoubtedly the senior cadres of the Brotherhood had taken the hardest hit.

Boli had been the foundation of their foothold in Jingang City. Without Boli, the Brotherhood would never have grown to its present scale.

Jimmy and some of the senior cadres all knew that Boli had a powerful figure backing him, but they didn't know who.

A gang with a powerful backer and a gang without one were two entirely different things.

But no matter what, now everything was finished!

Jimmy planned to flee to Creek Valley City first, then continue north...

Only he didn't know whether the Hazardous Materials Bureau was still chasing them like a mad dog.

Just as he was observing the street through the gap between the curtain and the window, the sudden sound of a key made him tense up. He took his gun in hand and stood behind the door.

As the door was pushed open, a woman walked in.

He yanked the woman into the house, nearly pulling her off her feet. Jimmy quickly poked his head out and looked both ways down the hallway, then finally relaxed and took the safety off.

He closed the door, looked at his furious girlfriend, and had no intention of apologizing. "Was anyone following you?"

His girlfriend stood with her hands on her hips, questioning him. "Shouldn't you apologize first?"

"You not only hurt me, but you almost made me fall. You have to apologize."

Jimmy was a bit impatient. "Fine, I apologize, happy now?"

"Now tell me, was anyone following you when you came back?"

His girlfriend was still very angry, because she felt Jimmy's apology wasn't sincere — an insincere apology was the same as no apology at all.

But she also knew Jimmy's terrible temperament to some degree. While picking up the food scattered on the floor, she said huffily, "Yes, there were a lot of people following me."

"Fuck!" Jimmy immediately shoved his girlfriend aside and rushed to the window to look outside. The street that had seemed fine moments ago now looked like every single person on it was abnormal!

His girlfriend watched the food she had just picked up get knocked back onto the floor again, and she was starting to lose it. "Are you fucking brain-dead?"

"That's our food for today and tomorrow!"

Food?

Jimmy couldn't care less about that!

He strode over to his girlfriend, grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her to the window. Pointing at the few people on the street, he asked, "Come here, tell me who followed you back..."

"That one who walked into the phone booth — is it him?"

"And that one reading a newspaper on the side of the road — who the hell reads a newspaper on the street? Is he following you back?"

His girlfriend raised her arm and broke free of his grip. "Have you completely lost your mind?"

Jimmy was still extremely tense. "You just said a lot of people were following you!"

His girlfriend wore an expression that said it was the most natural thing in the world. "When have I ever gone out without people following me?"

"They just want to fuck me, isn't that perfectly normal?"

"Fuck!" Jimmy cursed viciously. "You're fucking sick!"

His girlfriend wasn't about to take it from him either. "I don't know which one of us is actually fucking sick!"

"I'm fucking done with you!" She flung the things in her hands aside, turned around, pulled open the door, and left — leaving only Jimmy and the empty room, along with potatoes rolling around on the floor.

Staring at the tightly shut door, Jimmy cursed a few more times before slowly crouching down to pick up the food.

He had to leave.

He told himself that if things kept going like this, even if he wasn't sick, he'd be driven to the point of going crazy.

The fear of death kept him in a constant state of tension — any subtle change in his surroundings made him feel like Director Dell's people had already appeared around him.

He had seen Polly in the newspaper — that face, pieced back together by the medical examiner over an hour, still missing parts — and it gave him nightmares every night.

He didn't want to end up like that one day; the shadow of death lingered over him constantly.

He went to the kitchen, washed the potatoes and the other food, then chopped them up haphazardly and dumped everything into the pot...

Meanwhile, after Jimmy's girlfriend had finished throwing her fit, she left the apartment she was renting.

As Jimmy's girlfriend, she didn't actually have a proper job either, because Jimmy could get money and give her a little of it, which was enough to live on for a long time.

At the same time, as a girl who had been exposed to Jimmy's social circle and environment, it was also hard for her to spend her time the way ordinary girls would — going to the library or the concert hall.

The place where she spent her time was on the street.

She went to a nearby street where she knew some familiar faces. Some young people had gathered there, and when they saw the girl, they waved. The girl jogged across the road to meet them.

"Have a hit!" A young man held out the cigarette dangling from his lips. The girl said "thanks," then took a deep drag.

She leaned against the roadside railing and stretched her body backward. Although the weather wasn't that hot yet, people weren't wearing as much as they did in winter.

Young people were a group that liked to show off their individuality, and the Federation was currently encouraging distinctive personalities too, so most young people didn't wear much.

She stretched her body, showing off her curves, and soon two young men had sandwiched her between them.

These young people belonged to "block families" in their formative stage — they knew each other, and regularly gathered and hung out in a fixed spot, but so far hadn't gotten involved in criminal activity.

The day one of them opened with "I've got a great idea to make money," a low-level block family would be born.

But for now, it still needed some time to ferment.

"Why haven't I seen you out lately?" A young man in his early twenties reached out and put his arm around her waist.

The girl gave him a sideways glance. She knew this guy was dying to get into her pants — he'd begged her several times already, and she'd never agreed.

"You'd better take your hand off. If Jimmy sees it, he'll chop your paw off."

It wasn't that she was particularly faithful to Jimmy — she had just had a fight with him and was in a bad mood, and didn't feel like flirting with anyone.

The young man was shameless though, and instead tightened his hold. "He's not necessarily a match for me."

"But he's got a gun!" the girl added.

The young man's movements froze. Then the girl broke free of his arm and went to stand with the other girls.

Both young men were a bit frustrated — guns really were terrifying to them!

If they didn't deal with Jimmy, they had no way of getting with this girl, and that was something they didn't want to see.

"I heard the Lans family people are looking for Jimmy."

A big guy said softly. As if to steel the resolve of his companions, he added, "They promised a thousand bucks to whoever finds him."

The other guy hesitated. "Can you be sure Jimmy's at her place?"

The two young men said nothing. They looked at each other, saw something in each other's eyes, and then exchanged their thoughts through nods.

"Let's go buy a pack of cigarettes," one of them said.

None of the others refused, because if they bought cigarettes, the rest could also have a smoke.

The two young men quickly left the area, running, sprinting off in another direction.

This was where the harbor district and the imperial district met; they sometimes wandered over to the imperial district side to take in the grandeur of the Lans family, so they knew where to find these people!

No more than two days after the word went out that Lans was looking for Jimmy, someone claimed to know where Jimmy was.

Boton sat in a chair at a roadside open-air café, stirring a cup of coffee — this was already the fifth cup he had refilled.

If he hadn't paid for two cups and wasn't a member of the Lans family, the owner would probably have already told him to get lost.

Two underlings arrived with two panting young men in tow. "They say they know where Jimmy is."

Boton had already acquired a faint, intangible aura befitting a gang officer. Without looking up, under the café owner's disgruntled gaze, he dropped three more sugar cubes into his coffee cup and kept stirring.

The clinking of the spoon against the cup went on without pause. "Do you know the price of lying?"

Only then did he look up. The two young men nodded rapidly. "We know, we didn't lie — Jimmy's girlfriend is our friend."

"She usually hangs out with us all the time, but these past few days she barely comes out, and she even brought up Jimmy on her own, saying he has a gun."

Boton's stirring paused for a moment, then he picked up the cup and drained it in one gulp. He pulled out five cents and set it on the table. "I'm going to make a call."

"If you weren't lying, and we find Jimmy…" He patted the two young men on the cheeks. "Then you're rich!"

The news quickly traveled along a clear "route" from Mo Lisi's side to Elvin, and then reached Lans's ears.

He immediately sent people to bring Jimmy in. Hyram took on the job — mainly because he enjoyed training newbies and instilling his theory that "a pistol's accuracy is never as useful as a submachine gun."

He had told Lans before that he hoped to put together a submachine gun squad — that would really be something!

A little over ten minutes later, three cars stopped in the back alley of the apartment building where Jimmy lived. They had come in through the alley entrance at the rear of the building, specifically to avoid being spotted by Jimmy.

Hyram shoved the magazine in, pulled back the charging handle, and with a sweep of his coat the trench coat hid the submachine gun slung at his side. "Move out!"