VIP Early Access
Eksklusif untuk member VIP
Password Protected
Chapter ini dikunci dengan kode khusus
Chapter 28: The Invisible Hand
TL: Enuma ID
Peace had finally come to Dandong, a city that had seen more than its share of trouble.
Setting aside the vicious diplomatic tensions running back and forth between China and North Korea, at the very least, the relationship between the Kowloon Society and the Chongqing Society, the two powers that had split the back alleys between them, was at peace.
"Thank you for all your efforts, Boss Ruixing."
"The gratitude is mine, Boss Yang Mi-ryeong. I will never forget the consideration you have shown in bringing this negotiation to such a smooth conclusion."
W ёb̌ ńо̊v ӗ l Е̌ n̈ ům̀a
"You came all this way in person, Boss Ruixing. This much consideration is only natural."
The man dispatched in haste to handle this deal with the Kowloon Society was Boss Ruixing, chief advisor of the Chongqing Society.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
He served as aide to the Chongqing Society's boss, making him the organization's de facto number two.
With a heavyweight of his caliber visiting, Yang Mi-ryeong's manner was exceedingly courteous as well.
"When we lost contact with the entire leadership of our Dandong branch all at once, I was certain they had been slaughtered to a man. Then, when the Kowloon Society reached out proposing a deal with Young Master Jin Hao as a hostage, it truly felt.... like dark skies clearing into sunlight."
"Is that so. Would you believe me if I said I felt exactly the same?"
W еb̌ ń ö v̌ěĺ Е n̂ û m а
"Haha."
The Chongqing Society's primary business in Dandong was drug smuggling.
But the drugs themselves were never the heart of their operation.
The core of their business was the web of smuggling routes running out in every direction, through Donggang's port, Dalian Port, and beyond.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Through these routes the Chongqing Society moved not just drugs but every kind of contraband, raking in obscene profits, and these smuggling routes were exactly what the Kowloon Society had set out to win through this war for Dandong.
"So you agree, as a show of trust between our organizations, to Jin Hao remaining detained at the Kowloon Hotel for the time being?"
Е̃ n u̇ ṁа̄
"Of course."
And so, with Jin Hao's life as collateral, negotiations between the two organizations were concluded that day.
The smuggling routes within Liaoning Province would be jointly managed by both organizations.
It was a compromise hammered out at the end of a fierce tug-of-war of taking and being taken from.
"Would you like to go see Jin Hao? He should be at the casino by now."
"So I've heard, actually. He's in there every day. Though the Young Master shouldn't have a cent to his name."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"His casino debts alone should be running around two hundred thousand yuan by now."
"Hm? That's less than I expected."
"I capped him at a hundred thousand yuan a day. He's been about ready to go mad from the frustration."
"Ahaha."
A faint smile spread across the mouth of the man, who carried himself like an old general worn smooth by countless battlefields.
"You are truly wise, Boss Yang. You would make a stern and excellent mother, I think."
Ē n̆ ùm̈ а̀
"My. Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."
"In the spirit of that endeavor, we will send four million yuan each month. I ask that you please continue managing the Young Master's spendthrift habits just as you have been."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"But of course. I'll take this opportunity to teach him some thrift on your behalf."
Their negotiations concluded, the two of them left the Kowloon Hotel's business lounge.
Yang Mi-ryeong toward the penthouse floor, Boss Ruixing toward the casino.
They were each about to go their separate ways.
Ӗ n úm̆ а̌ . і̊d́
"Come to think of it, apart from this deal, there was one thing I wished to ask you, Boss Yang."
At Boss Ruixing's question, Yang Mi-ryeong held the elevator a moment.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I heard that during the firefight a few days ago between the Chongqing Society and the North Korean assassination squad, there was someone who pulled our Young Master safely out of the middle of that battlefield."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"That's right."
"I would like to seek him out and thank him in person. Is he, by any chance, a member of the Kowloon Society?"
Ё ǹu mȧ
"No. He's not one of ours. He's someone I sponsor personally."
Someone she sponsored personally.
Some kind of hitman, perhaps?
Boss Ruixing's expression grew grave.
"I see. Then might I ask for an introduction?"
When Ruixing asked, courteous and brimming with goodwill, the corners of Yang Mi-ryeong's mouth curled upward.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
She shook her head with a bewitching smile.
"I'm going to decline, Boss."
"...And why is that?"
An odd look crossed Boss Ruixing's face.
Unbothered, Yang Mi-ryeong gave a small wave of her hand, and the elevator doors began to close.
"Because I intend to keep that man hidden away, all to myself, my own precious little treasure."
Ё num̃ а̀
A moment later, Yang Mi-ryeong disappeared behind the closing doors.
Boss Ruixing stroked the corner of his mouth, curiosity drifting across his face.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
'Just how capable must this man be....'
That was the look on his face.
*****
The world of high stakes is a merciless one.
Е̇ n û mа̄
Carrying a tray that had grown three times heavier, I sauntered over to Jin Hao.
"So I won our little contest, right?"
"...."
"Thanks for the fun. Let's play again sometime. I'm off, then?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"W-Wait!"
I was dusting off my hands and turning to leave when Jin Hao grabbed my forearm.
W̆е bn̆ о v̈ėl̊ Е n̈.u m а̄
"O-One more round...."
"One more round? You're broke."
"...Just lend me a little. I'll even be cool about accepting your apology."
Oh-ho.
It was so absurd I had to laugh.
Apparently, he just plain loved gambling.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Well, fine. So we're forgetting the part where I knocked your jaw loose?"
"O-Of course."
And honestly, watching this guy's face cycle through expressions was far more entertaining than winning money at the casino.
Call it payment for a good show; I felt like being generous.
It wasn't my money to begin with, anyway.
Clatter.
W eb̄n̂ о̊ v е l Еṅ û ma
"Here."
"Okay! Let's go again!"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Sticking with sic bo?"
"Tsk. Sic bo luck isn't with me today. Let's do baccarat."
"Baccarat? I don't really know the rules."
"Heh heh. Even better."
Еn ů mа
Anyway, that's how we ended up roaming the casino floor side by side.
Next up was baccarat.
Something like blackjack, more or less.
"Aargh! Fuck, how is this possible?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Ooh. Infinite money glitch. Sweet."
But whether he changed games or not, Jin Hao's rotten luck stayed exactly the same.
Е̃nu m а̊
While the chips in my tray duplicated without end, his kept vanishing like mirages, the same pattern on repeat.
Even accounting for how unlucky Jin Hao was, it seemed I'd come into some serious money luck of my own.
"Shit! Lend me some more chips."
"How are you planning to pay me back?"
"I'll win it back and pay you, obviously!"
Every time, I shoveled chips his way, and every time he bounced around, giddy.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
And whenever he managed to win even a little, drunk on dopamine, he'd occasionally launch into something resembling a lament about his lot in life.
"My big brother gets to strut around under Father's wing, riding high day after day, while I get compared to that bastard at every turn and looked down on over nothing.... And that's how I ended up dumped in a backwater like Dandong, in this sorry state."
"Mm. Truly heartbreaking."
"Right? Hey, you know what? If my luck had been just a little better, this Kowloon Hotel would've swapped its sign out for 'Chongqing Hotel'."
I stole a glance at the Kowloon Society men standing at attention behind Jin Hao.
Sure enough, they wore the faces of men who badly wanted to smack him for running his mouth like that.
Ê nùm.а. і.d̈
Not that this oblivious idiot noticed; he was too busy shoving chips onto the baccarat table.
"Well, in the end, look how that turned out. I don't know who they're sending from Taiwan to negotiate, but whoever it is won't be on my side.... so the ending's obvious. Once the deal with the Kowloon Society is done, I'll probably get dragged back to Chongqing Society headquarters."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"And do what there?"
"Who knows. They'll probably stash me in some corner where nobody has to look at me. The successor's seat has to go to my oh-so-magnificent big brother, after all."
The dealer flipped the cards.
Jin Hao's chips slid into the dealer's grasp yet again, while mine came back doubled.
Ẅ е̄bǹóvе̃ l̈. Ên̆ u m̌ а̃
A few more rounds of that, and Jin Hao's tray was picked clean once more.
"Here."
And each time, I dropped another heap of chips into his tray.
At which point Jin Hao would go right back to humming, gloom entirely forgotten.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
He clearly had no idea that these handouts of mine were the admission fee for the ever-changing show playing out on his face.
"Thanks. But hey, you must be loaded, huh? You rich?"
Ẅ èb_n̊о v.е l̈ E ṅü m а
"Yeah. I sold you to the boss of the Kowloon Hotel, so I'm about to come into some serious cash."
"You fuck.... How much did you make?"
"Haven't checked yet, so I couldn't say."
At that, Jin Hao's face turned dead serious.
"Basic human decency says you owe me half, doesn't it?"
"Cut the bullshit."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
We'd been killing time like that for a good while, making our rounds of the casino.
"Young Master Jin Hao."
A man's voice cut through the noisy bustle of the casino, calling for Jin Hao.
A tall, imposing elderly man stood ramrod straight, flanked by black-suited gangsters arrayed behind him like a folding screen.
The moment he spotted that gray-haired figure, Jin Hao, who'd been bopping his shoulders just seconds earlier, froze stiff.
"Ah! U-Uncle Ruixing!"
Е̊n u ṁ ӓ.i d̃
"I heard you were at the casino and came to find you. You haven't changed."
"Don't tell me, Uncle.... you're the one they sent to negotiate with the Kowloon Society today?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"That is correct."
"Ah, ugh...."
Jin Hao squirmed as he called the man Uncle.
Judging by that attitude, this had to be someone occupying a fairly high seat within the Chongqing Society.
Еńǔm̊ a ._і̀ d
"I have just finished the bulk of my discussions with Boss Yang Mi-ryeong. Let us head up to a room for now."
"I-Is that so? A-All right...."
"We will have a great deal to talk about."
Then the old man's gaze slid past the fidgeting Jin Hao and landed on me, standing beside him, idly toying with my chips.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"And this is...."
"Uh, my friend. Made him here."
W̆е̂b n о̃ v ẽl Е̌nu m̃ а
News to me that we'd become friends, but that was how Jin Hao introduced me anyway.
I gave Boss Ruixing a light bow of the head.
"A friend, you say?"
"It's kind of a long story.... but he's the one who saved me from those North Korean assassination squad bastards."
The old man's eyes widened slightly.
For reasons I couldn't guess, he studied my face and held his silence for a long moment.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
At length, his lips moved with deliberate care.
"...I see. As it happens, I had wished to express my gratitude, on behalf of the Chongqing Society, for saving our Young Master."
"You're too kind. It was nothing."
"Nothing, he says. How very modest of you."
The old man gave me an odd look.
Then, as if he'd suddenly made up his mind about something, he began searching the inner pocket of his jacket.
Е̊ ńŭmа̃
What emerged from his fingertips was a gold-foil business card of the most luxurious sort.
"Skills like yours seem far too precious to waste away in a cramped little town like Dandong. Should you ever wish to swim in bigger waters, please feel free to contact me anytime."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Oh."
"Our Chongqing Society always keeps its doors open for talent like you."
It was a recruitment pitch, utterly blatant yet smooth as silk.
I reflexively reached out and took the card, and with the same courtesy, Ruixing turned and departed.
Е ńù m а̌
Jin Hao hesitated, then hurried after his uncle.
Then, apparently unwilling to leave it there, he spun around and shouted at me across the floor.
"Hey! You sticking around the hotel?"
"Nope. Leaving soon."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Yeah? Then if you're ever in Taiwan, you'd better call me! I know a club that'll absolutely blow your mind!"
"You'd have to tell me where it is, you know."
E n̈ů m̈а̊ ._і̌d̆
"Just use the card my uncle gave you or something!"
"And when are you paying back those chips?"
At that, Jin Hao pretended not to hear me and scurried out of the casino double-time.
It was the kind of goodbye reserved for a neighborhood buddy, as if we'd be meeting up at the PC café again tomorrow.
"Taiwan, huh...."
After waving Jin Hao's party off for a while, I did a few more laps around the casino.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
But maybe because the guy who'd been chattering away at my side was gone, the fun had gone out of it entirely.
So I just headed for the cashier's cage.
"My goodness. You won this much?"
"One thing led to another. I had a great time."
"The boss will be delighted to hear this."
"Haha."
W̆е̄ b̆ ň о̆ v̊ еl Е_ǹ u m̊ ă
One hundred million had ballooned into a whopping five hundred million.
Even after I returned the tray, the manager, as expected, didn't cash it out for me.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Not that I'd particularly expected him to.
If I'd blown it all, after all, my plan had been to shrug and say it wasn't my money.
'A good time's a good time. That's enough for me.'
From there I headed straight up to the penthouse floor.
E ǹ ûm̂а̃.ĩd̂
The elevator shot up to the very top, and beyond its doors, Yang Mi-ryeong stood waiting in a crisp, immaculate suit.
"Have fun?"
"I did. Thanks to you."
When I nodded without hesitation, Yang Mi-ryeong's eyes crinkled into a bewitching smile.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"I hear you've gotten chummy with Jin Hao."
She must have gotten a report from the men guarding him.
Е̇ n u m̌а̊ .іd̄
I nodded readily.
"One thing led to another, I suppose."
"There's no harm in being friendly with the Chongqing Society. They're one of Taiwan's major powers."
"...."
At her words, an uneasy feeling suddenly washed over me.
The image of the elevator attendant pressing the casino-floor button, feigning a mistake, flashed through my mind.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
No way.
"Did you send me to the casino on purpose?"
"I did. Jin Hao is confined to the hotel, so he practically lives down there."
"To get me close to Jin Hao?"
"Jin Hao was never the point. Boss Ruixing, the man who came to collect him, was."
Jin Hao, that poor bastard.
Eṅŭm á
Small fry treatment, everywhere he goes.
I couldn't help feeling a twinge of pity.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Boss Ruixing serves as aide to the boss of the Chongqing Society. A single word of his advice can steer the entire organization, and his authority is so immense that his decisions speak for the Chongqing Society itself. He's their de facto number two, which makes that business card you received something people couldn't buy with all the gold in the world."
Without thinking, I dug into my pocket and pulled out the gold-foil card.
This scrap of paper, worth all the gold in the world.
The math was absurd.
Ën u mа
"Is this what you were after?"
"That's yours. Even if I held onto it, I'd have no pretext to ever call him."
Then why?
My confusion only swelled.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Why are you telling me to stay friendly with the Chongqing Society? Weren't the Kowloon Society and the Chongqing Society enemies?"
"Only within Dandong. Our spheres of operation don't even overlap. We're Hong Kong; the Chongqing Society is Taiwan. There's nothing to be enemies over."
Е_n ŭ m̃а
"Ah."
"And you're not my subordinate, you're NIS, aren't you? Every additional local asset counts."
"...."
"Congratulations. You've just acquired one very valuable connection."
In other words, everything that had happened today had ultimately been engineered to tie me and Boss Ruixing together.
Kicking me out of my room, sending the elevator to the casino on its own, putting a loaded tray of chips in my hands and steering me toward the sic bo table, all of it.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
'Just how far ahead did she calculate all this?'
Youngest ever in the NIS, the elite of the elite, they'd called her.
Now I could see why.
I'd been dragged around by an invisible hand from start to finish, but honestly, even knowing I'd been played, I didn't feel bad about it in the slightest.
Her whole aim, after all, had been to press a solid connection into my hands, to make it easier for me to operate on foreign soil.
Still, one question remained.
Ẃӗ ḃňôv́ е̊l̇ Ĕñu̇m̊ а
"Can you answer one thing for me, honestly?"
"Sure. What is it?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"I'm curious why you're this good to me."
At my plain, unguarded question, Yang Mi-ryeong's smile softened a little.
It was as if the ever-composed mask she wore slipped just a fraction, offering a glimpse of the real face hidden beneath.
"Because I owe you my life."
Е n̄u̇ m a . і̊ d
"From the firefight with the Chongqing Society inside the hotel a while back?"
"No. From when you warned me in advance about the North Korean assassination squad that infiltrated the Kowloon Hotel."
"Ah."
"If you hadn't avenged Crane No. 13 back then, if you hadn't told me in time that I was on their kill list.... I probably would have died that day too."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
So even she had known the fear of death drawing that close.
The faintest tremor seeped into Yang Mi-ryeong's voice.
Е̄ n̂ŭ m̌а .і̆ d
As I watched in silence, her expression shifted once again.
From fragile woman back to iron-willed boss.
Restored to her usual self, Yang Mi-ryeong abruptly clapped her hands with a sharp crack.
"At any rate, I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news to deliver, right when you were having so much fun."
"Unfortunate? What is it?"
"Cuckoo No. 1, dispatched from headquarters, has arrived at the hotel. From now on, the two of you will pose as employees of a Chinese funeral company and transport Crane No. 13's remains back to Korea."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Oh."
At last, I was closing the book on my leisurely life at the Kowloon Hotel and going home to Korea.
At the faint glow of delight spreading across my face, Yang Mi-ryeong's expression soured.
"What's this? You don't look sorry to leave at all."
"Ah, haha. No, no. I'm terribly sorry to go. Truly."
"Hmph. Forget it. There's no joy in a compliment I had to drag out of you."
Wе́ b̊ n̂о̄ v е l̀ Е n u mа̃
She snorted and crossed her arms.
Then she jerked her chin brusquely toward the elevator.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Go on down first. I'll finish getting ready to see you off and come down right after."
Getting ready to see me off?
I had no idea what that meant, but I nodded anyway.
*****
W_eb n̊оv̆ еl̂ Е̂ nu m̂ ā
Down in the underground garage, the vehicle for the transport of remains was the first thing in sight.
Someone was pacing anxiously in front of it.
A woman I'd never seen before.
Sensing my presence, she turned around, then approached with a look of open welcome.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Hello. I was told you'd be here. Agent Sparrow No. 7, correct?"
"Yes, that's me."
Е n̊ů m̀ å . id̈
"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Cuckoo No. 1, dispatched for this assignment."
She whispered it with her voice dropped low, and I tilted my head for a moment.
Because the Cuckoo No. 1 I remembered was a well-built man.
Of course, the Cuckoo code is reassigned with every operation, the numbers handed out in order of dispatch from headquarters.
Still, it would've been that much nicer if the face I was meeting had been a familiar one.
"It's truly an honor to meet you."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Sorry? Ah, well. I wouldn't go so far as 'honor'...."
As we shook hands, something about Cuckoo No. 1's expression struck me as off.
Her eyes were positively sparkling, bright as stars.
"Um, Agent Sparrow No. 7? If it's not too rude, could I ask you just one thing?"
"What is it?"
Cuckoo No. 1 gave me a quick once-over, hemming and hawing.
Ē n um̂а̃
Her excessively deferential manner had already been setting off alarm bells as it was.
She swallowed hard and lowered her voice even further.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Is it true.... that you took out all fourteen members of the North Korean assassination squad by yourself?"
I blinked at her, bewildered.
'Fourteen?'
Strictly speaking, it was twelve.
Ẃ ёb ń о̃ v̈ еl̇ Е̇ ǹ u m̈ а̄.
Ri Myong-hak had blown himself up, and the remaining two had been shot dead at the Kowloon Hotel.
"But how did you know about that?"
The thing was, I had never reported shooting them myself.
All I'd said was that I'd visually confirmed the deaths.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
So I couldn't help wondering how she knew enough to ask.
The moment the question left my mouth, Cuckoo No. 1's eyes went wide as saucers.
Ẁ е̇ bń о v еl̆ E̊ num̄ ā
"What? Then.... whoa! So it really was true!"
"Yes. I never filed a report on it, though, so how did you...."
"What? You mean you didn't report it yourself?"
"What? Me?"
"Yes!"
"What?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"?"
"?"
We kept echoing each other's baffled questions back and forth.
Then, across the silence that followed, we just blinked blankly at each other.
Two enormous question marks began floating in the air between us.
'What is going on?'
W̊е̂b̌_n̄ о v ӗ l̄ .Е nǔ m̀ а̌
Apparently, somewhere inside headquarters, without my knowledge, some bizarre rumor about me was making the rounds.
Something along the lines of the human weapon who single-handedly wiped out all fourteen members of a North Korean assassination squad.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
*****
For 20 advance chapters, you can check out my Patreon here --> https://patreon.com/enumaid
Konten Bab Belum Tersedia
Bab ini belum memiliki konten teks atau sedang dalam proses penyuntingan.
