UE Ch37: Cooperation

Silence here.

As a result, there was silence over there as well.

Charlemagne thought Ning Zhuo was considering the price, weighing the pros and cons.

He was willing to give him some time.

First, this was a life-and-death matter.

It would be rash for Ning Zhuo to agree without a second thought.

Second, all the forces under Charlemagne were being investigated. In the short term, the only help he could find was Ning Zhuo.

He had no choice but to take the gamble.

Fortunately, Charlemagne had rich experience.

When he was at the lowest point of his career, he had once bet everything on hiring a group of mercenaries, which turned out to be a huge success.

He had won once, so why couldn’t he win again?

Third…

Charlemagne shifted his gaze to the file about Motobu Takeshi, which had just been retrieved.

Motobu Takeshi, 38 years old, the only son of Titan Corporation’s CTO, Motobu Ryo.

The file showed that this Mr. Motobu had been engaged in the business of trafficking se-xual resources for a long time.

He would perform mechanical modifications on living humans based on the client’s tastes until they were completely transformed into beings incapable of self-control, “customizing” “Barbie dolls” that would satisfy the clients.

The charges were absurd, and the sentence even more so.

Two years and six months.

The reason given was that he had certain mental issues.

What exactly was the problem was hard to say, but in general, it was a type of mental illness that didn’t affect his daily life when he was normal, but when it flared up, he would become addicted to perverse scientific experiments and couldn’t extricate himself.

After a year of treatment in a psychiatric hospital, Motobu , now in better health, was sent to the first prison of the Atber district.

He only needed to serve a symbolic two-and-a-half-year sentence before regaining his freedom.

Time flew by, and in two months, he would be released.

Charlemagne didn’t feel sorry for killing such a person.

Ruiteng Corporation controlled vital resources and had an air of superiority. Despite his multiple attempts to approach them, Ruiteng remained arrogant and indifferent, so he had no connection with them.

If Motobu died, the situation would become even more chaotic.

At that point, no one would pay attention to him, and he would have more time to clean up the mess.

Having been with “White Shield” for so many years, Charlemagne was skilled in various technical methods.

He was sure he could sever any connection between this matter and himself.

Even if Ning Zhuo wasn’t very skilled, failed in the murder, and got caught on the spot, he wouldn’t know who his real employer was.

At that time, the one who would suffer would be Ning Zhuo, the one who would end up in prison would be him, and no one would trace it back to him.

…

Ning Zhuo’s silence was because he had heard Charlemagne’s voice, lost in thought.

He remembered that distant winter day.

His right arm had been shattered at the shoulder. After recovering from serious injuries, he carried a knife and breathed out warm air as he returned to Yunmeng District to search for Charlemagne’s old residence, only to come up empty.

Then, Ning Zhuo saw Charlemagne on a public screen in Yunmeng District, covered with fine, dense snowflakes.

At that time, Charlemagne had successfully been reassigned to the “White Shield” headquarters in the Atber district, gaining fame, reputation, and a network of connections with interest companies.

He looked handsome and charismatic on the screen, full of energy.

As a special guest on the “Justice Show,” he eloquently read out his father’s name, praising him as a “pitiful victim in the dark struggle” and “his most precious subordinate.”

During the program, Ning Zhuo almost vomited violently by the trash bin on the street, throwing up until even clear water was gone.

After throwing up, Ning Zhuo found a stall on the roadside and ordered a bowl of noodles.

He mechanically swallowed large mouthfuls.

He needed to grow up quickly.

In sociological terms, the Atber district was a dead zone, a place that “Hai Ning” couldn’t even enter, but perhaps “Ning Zhuo” still had a chance.

That day, he sat across from a small square screen, watching Charlemagne’s interview video while eating the largest meal he had had since his injury.

That day, the mercenary group “Haina” took shape and acquired its first member.

At the beginning, “Haina” was merely a handy tool for Ning Zhuo to achieve his goals.

Ning Zhuo had little capital to work with, and when it came down to it, his only asset was his life, which had managed to survive after years of fights.

Later, more people were picked up, and the “Haina” base gradually became livelier.

But the admiration, longing, and reverence they had for Ning Zhuo far exceeded his expectations.

He didn’t know how to handle this surplus of emotion.

Ning Zhuo’s nature had long been eradicated through repeated life-or-death training, and he was naturally slow when it came to matters of emotion.

He only knew that, since he had used these tools, he had an obligation to maintain them.

Being a mercenary was a life-and-death business.

It wasn’t like street thugs mindlessly venting or gang territory disputes.

Mercenaries had no stance, no personality, no morals—they were slaves to money, vanguards of profit.

In this world, if someone specialized in a certain skill yet chose to become a mercenary, surely they had their reasons?

Ning Zhuo couldn’t offer his tools anything more, so helping them fulfill their wishes, calming their anger, and settling past scores—perhaps that was something he could do.

Their hatred became Ning Zhuo’s hatred.

Gradually, Ning Zhuo’s revenge list grew longer, and the chips he could use increased.

Many years later, he finally got an opportunity.

Or rather, this was an opportunity Charlemagne had handed to him personally.

Ning Zhuo had to admit that Charlemagne was quite capable.

The operation of making a murderer’s son change his identity and start anew—doing it once wasn’t enough; he could even do it two or three times. Not everyone had that ability.

After “Basil” was executed, Ning Zhuo briefly thought that the real Jin Charlemagne had died.

…Until a series of mutilation and rape cases with similar methods began to appear in Silver Hammer City.

Ning Zhuo hired the “Tuner” and, after some investigation, discovered that Charlemagne’s wife had frequently visited a tea house within the past year.

Charlemagne’s wife did love tea, but spending three hundred thousand at a newly opened tea house to buy a tea cake, only to leave it gathering dust, was too outrageous to be a simple indulgence.

Following the trail of those three hundred thousand, Ning Zhuo investigated further.

The money passed through six hands, with multiple layers of cash isolation, losing more than half in the process.

In the end, a total of 120,000 was transferred in the name of educational funds to a young man named Raskin.

Such a complicated and meticulous transfer process, such lavish treatment of middlemen—if this were handed over to the economic department of “White Shield” to investigate, they could not treat it as solid evidence that “Charlemagne was still spending money to support his murderer son.”

After all, buying tea cakes at a high price wasn’t illegal.

Once Ning Zhuo got the information, he immediately sold it.

Soon, “White Shield” captured “Raskin” again and sent him to death row, offering him yet another “death penalty experience card.”

But this time, he wouldn’t leave alive.

Because someone who looked exactly like Jin Charlemagne would use the green light Charlemagne had given his son years ago, and with the outdated facial recognition system in the police department that had not been updated in years, he would openly enter the “White Shield” headquarters and kill Jin Charlemagne.

The last time, when “Basil” was executed, Charlemagne had hired an outsourced mercenary group to secretly handle the transportation of Jin Charlemagne’s body.

Afterwards, the second-in-command of this mercenary group suddenly conspired to seize power, causing the entire organization to fall into chaos and long-term fragmentation.

Ning Zhuo carefully went through the personnel relations of “Haina” from beginning to end, ensuring there were no unstable factors, then sent signals to other mercenary groups saying, “Haina is currently in a mission gap. If you have any difficult jobs, you can send them to us.”

Next, he just needed a little luck.

Ning Zhuo lay low, waiting like a venomous snake watching its prey.

Until a mercenary group finally found him, asking him to take a “goods transportation” job.

The meeting place and contact person would be notified separately, and the time was set for a week later, on the day of the live broadcast of Raskin’s death sentence on the “Justice Show.”

Under the layers of intricate plans, Ning Zhuo successfully trapped Charlemagne into a corner.

This was why Charlemagne had called Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo timed the silence perfectly. When Charlemagne began swallowing his saliva in silence, he presented his terms: “I want two spots, and I need to bring one assistant with me.”

Charlemagne: “Are they reliable?”

Ning Zhuo didn’t answer directly: “I know who I want to bring.”

Charlemagne didn’t respond immediately but silently assessed the difficulty of the task.

In the past, with his influence, arranging for a few people to get into prison would have been a piece of cake.

But now, Charlemagne was suspended from his position, and the resources he could use were pitifully few.

Now, Charlemagne felt like a once rich man, with power suddenly diminished. He immediately experienced the hardships of having limited resources.

No matter how humiliated or frustrated he felt, he had to swallow his pride.

He coughed softly, silently agreeing to Ning Zhuo’s terms: “You’ll have to cause a bit of trouble. Once you’re inside, I’ll arrange for someone to handle the paperwork quickly. You and your target will be placed in the same cell. A four-person cell.”

Ning Zhuo: “A four-person cell won’t do.”

Though a four-person cell would be easier for a nighttime attack, once the action was taken, it would essentially seal off any escape route.

With only four people in the cell, once Motobu died, Ning Zhuo would be directly implicated.

It was better to dig a hole and bury himself directly than to leave any trace.

Charlemagne was actually testing him.

If Ning Zhuo had agreed without hesitation, Charlemagne would have reassessed the value of the deal.

—Because that would suggest Ning Zhuo wasn’t suitable for this mission.

Only greedy, foolish, or malicious people wouldn’t think about an escape plan for themselves.

Charlemagne silently added a few points to Ning Zhuo’s score: “You’re not living together, and you can still kill him?”

Ning Zhuo spoke carefully: “Depends on the situation.”

Not committing to a definite answer showed he was indeed a clever person.

After a few rounds of verbal testing, Charlemagne felt that a decision could be made: “How much?”

Ning Zhuo didn’t even blink: “Eight hundred thousand. Half paid in advance. Industry rule: if you cancel the order for your own reasons, the deposit won’t be refunded; if we fail to complete the order, the deposit will be refunded in full.”

Charlemagne emphasized: “What if… I insist on completing my task?”

Ning Zhuo didn’t lecture him about how “nothing is certain in this world.”

After a moment of thought, he decisively said: “Then that’s a different price.”

---

Author’s note:

Motobu Takeshi’s crimes can be roughly understood as transforming normal people and sending them to the flower market (pr*stitution).

Support me on Ko-fi