Rogers and his companions were already used to this phenomenon and naturally paid it no mind.
Rogers' phone rang. He casually pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at the caller ID while smoking a cigar, and then answered it, holding it to his ear.
"Rogers, you acted too impulsively this time, you know that?"
"Hmm, what's wrong, my precious son..." Rogers clearly didn't care.
"You really shouldn't have chosen New Year's Day to scare Wu Guanxian, because the mayor and his wife were both there that day..."
“I know that.” Rogers shrugged, looking indifferent.
"Among those Chinese, there was a young lady who was the daughter of a high-ranking official in the Chinese military. Thank God, she was unharmed. Now the FBI has intervened in the case, and there's nothing I can do."
Rogers showed no surprise or fear, still puffing on his cigar. He said, "That's something Wu Guanxian should worry about, not me... You know, that damned yellow-skinned pig Wu Guanxian has ruined so many good things! I'm going to make everyone in Chinatown pay for my losses."
"No, no, Rogers, you're mistaken. I don't think Wu Guanxian did those things."
"Who else could it be?"
“Rogers, how did Wu Guanxian’s people know about your affairs? He has never been involved with the underground organization in Dunshipo all these years... I suspect that there is an undercover agent from the Dunshipo Police Department’s Special Investigation Team around you, and that he leaked your information.”
Rogers laughed exaggeratedly, "Hey, what you just said reminds me of a movie called 'Infernal Affairs' that was made in Hong Kong, China."
"Alright, alright, it's not convenient for me here. You'd better go out and hide for a while."
After hanging up the phone, Rogers picked up his glass, took a sip, and then his cold gaze swept across Nicole and Jack's faces.
"Which one of you is the mole? Hmm?"
Nicole and Jack both looked bewildered and terrified.
Those familiar with Rogers know that this nearly seventy-year-old man is ruthless and vicious, killing without blinking an eye. He's also suspicious of even his closest confidants, and many of his affairs remain unknown even to them. Nicole knew. Ten years ago, to eliminate incriminating evidence against him, Rogers even killed four of his trusted subordinates.
Rogers chuckled devilishly: "If I had a traitor among my men, I would chop him up and throw him into the sea to feed the sharks."
It is currently the evening of the second day after the New Year.
The location is a bar on Mas Avenue.
While Rogers and his companions were talking, at a table not far from them, a young man with yellow skin wearing a black trench coat was quietly sipping a cocktail. Perhaps he wasn't used to the strength and taste of the drink, because he frowned slightly, pursed his lips, then put down his glass, lit a cigarette, and looked at Rogers and his two companions sitting over there with some interest.
They're really arrogant. Look at all the customers in the store, they're all keeping their distance and don't dare to come close.
Like most men, Xu Zhengyang was quite interested in and curious about these gang leaders. Especially foreign ones… What puzzled Xu Zhengyang was that in such a highly developed country, the birthplace and starting point of atheism, whether good or bad, official or commoner, everyone seemed to constantly use the word "God," frequently invoking Him and praying for His protection. Hey, what you're doing is putting God in a difficult position.
It's like how, in some places, police officers worship Guan Yu, and so do robbers—it's the same principle.
Whom should Lord Guan protect? That is the question.
Then Xu Zhengyang realized something. That is, so-called religious faith, apart from a few extremely devout individuals, is for most people nothing more than a form of self-comfort hidden deep within their hearts. In other words, they are deceiving themselves.
Or perhaps it's just following the crowd, jumping on the bandwagon—who knows?
It's quite fun.
"Sir, what do you think... should we have them fight each other now?" Wang Yonggan asked, bowing. He was extremely interested in doing this kind of thing and never tired of it.
Xu Zhengyang cursed inwardly. This bastard was originally a vengeful ghost, destined to be thrown into the slow currents of the River of Three Crossings to suffer endless pain. Now, he's gotten addicted to being a ghost messenger. But... Xu Zhengyang really couldn't bear to send Wang Yonggan, this ghost messenger, to the underworld.
"No rush." Xu Zhengyang, a cigarette dangling from his lips, smiled as he looked at the three men, including Rogers, and said in his mind, "Investigate this old guy's background again. He's not someone to mess with. Hmm, you guys deal with him after I leave..."
Although Xu Zhengyang didn't know what Rogers was saying on the phone, he knew what Rogers hadn't said aloud. It seemed he was in cahoots with the FBI, and was an informant. It's just that the state and city police departments didn't know his identity.
This is fucking Infernal Affairs.
Since the FBI of the United States was involved, Xu Zhengyang certainly didn't want any trouble at this time. Once he was safely back in China, he could let things run wild; a few deaths didn't matter. Anyway, none of them were good people!
"Sir, you...you mean you're going to leave us here?" Wang Yonggan said in a panic.
Xu Zhengyang hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Yan Liang can stay here."
Wang Yonggan beamed with joy; he had no desire to leave the City God. In his heart, following the City God was a great honor, and he had the opportunity to make contributions and achieve great things, hoping that one day Xu Zhengyang would speak well of him to the real City God, thus avoiding severe punishment if he made a mistake in the future.
"I will obey your orders, sir!" Yan Liang replied in a measured tone, without the slightest hint of reluctance.
Listening to what Roger and the others were saying through his divine sense was pointless, so Xu Zhengyang got up and walked out, feeling a little regretful. Being a god was often less enjoyable than being human. For example, right now, he really wanted to show off and beat up Roger and the others in public—how cool and satisfying that would be… But as a god, fighting with these people without any other direct reason would be beneath him. Not only would others laugh at him, but he himself would feel ashamed.
This isn't China, so I have my own taboos and worries. That's why I have to pretend to be a lowly soldier under the heavenly gods to fight and struggle.
After walking past Rogers and his group, Xu Zhengyang felt the three of them give him a disdainful look, and Nicole even muttered contemptuously, "Yellow-skinned pig."
These words prompted Xu Zhengyang to instruct Wang Yonggan in his mind: "Make him bang his head against the wall in a bit."
"Respected, my dear and great City God," Wang Yonggan said with a grin, but then he added, "My lord, I believe..."
Xu Zhengyang had already reached the bar entrance. He stopped and thought to himself, "Go on."
"Although someone of your status shouldn't bother with him, but... since he needs to be taught a lesson, he should at least know why... otherwise, it won't be satisfying, will it?"
“That makes sense.” Xu Zhengyang wholeheartedly agreed.
Xu Zhengyang is indeed a hypocrite... Even if he secretly wanted to do something, he needed a way to save face, lest his ghost messengers look down on him. Well, you could call it putting on a brave face. Clearly, Wang Yonggan's words were the best way to save face.
Just then, a young man with yellow skin walked in. He was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a tuft of green hair, an earring, and a silver lip ring on his lower lip. He was dressed in a mismatched manner. The man frowned as soon as he saw Xu Zhengyang, quickly avoided Xu Zhengyang's gaze, and then strode inside.
This kid recognized Xu Zhengyang.
Yesterday at the Imperial Garden Hotel, he had already heard about Xu Zhengyang and Li Bingjie's identities and knew that the person who had the conflict with DiCario was this person. Therefore, he paid more attention to Xu Zhengyang at that time, so he couldn't help but feel uneasy when he saw Xu Zhengyang now.
However, this kid didn't know that Xu Zhengyang knew exactly what he was thinking.
The strange thing is that this kid's attire is too incongruous and eye-catching, and his appearance is obviously Chinese, so Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but pay more attention to his superficial consciousness.
So Xu Zhengyang, who hadn't planned to leave in the first place and was even more determined to chat with Rogers and the others, turned around, smiled, and leaned against the bar, looking at Rogers's side.
The guy with a tuft of green hair ran up to Rogers and his two companions, bowing and scraping, saying a few obsequious words before turning around and pointing at Xu Zhengyang menacingly, saying, "Rogers, it's him, this kid taught DiCario a lesson that night..."
"Oh, really?" Rogers said with a sinister smile, "The boyfriend of that general's daughter from your country?"
“Rugs, I’m from the US. I’ve never been to that poor country that my elders always think about…” Green Hair said in a somewhat disgruntled but ingratiating tone.
Rogers patted Green Hair on the shoulder and said, "Sit down and have a drink."
Green Hair, like a child who had been given a piece of candy by his father who often beat and scolded him, had his beautiful face contorted into a smile as he sat down happily and thanked him repeatedly.
Rogers said, "Jack, go and get a few men to teach that kid a lesson and let him know where he is."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Jack, before he could even stand up, saw Xu Zhengyang smiling and walking towards them.
Rogers glanced at Jack and Nicole with amusement, then tilted his head and took a deep drag on his cigar. He then blew a thick cloud of smoke at Xu Zhengyang and laughed, "Hey, look, this cute Chinese kid, does he need something from me?"
"You're Rogers?" Xu Zhengyang smiled and walked up the mountain, patted Jack on the shoulder, gesturing for him to get up and for him to sit down.
Jack looked up at Xu Zhengyang with some confusion, then looked at Rogers. After Rogers smiled and gestured for him to get up, Jack reluctantly cursed "bastard" and got up to move aside.
Xu Zhengyang sat down casually, took out a cigarette, lit it, and said, "You're Rogers? The gangster boss?"
Of course, Xu Zhengyang spoke Mandarin.
To the green-haired boy's surprise, Rogers understood him and replied fluently in English, "Oh yes, kid, what's up?"
After saying that, Rogers smiled with curiosity and put the cigar in his mouth.
However, Rogers, Nicole, and Jack all felt something was off because the way the kid spoke didn't match the shape of his lips. Of course, normally we don't pay attention to lip movements, but if someone is speaking to you and you perceive our language, but their lip movements are completely different, you'll find it very strange.
Xu Zhengyang leaned back in his chair and said, "Your people have provoked me and my girlfriend, which makes me very unhappy... What should we do if we follow your rules?"
Rogers paused for a moment, then grinned maliciously and said, "Hey guys, did you hear what question he asked me? Well, kid, I'll tell you now, I'll shoot him in the head and kill his whole family... Can you handle that?"
"I'm not as ruthless as you," Xu Zhengyang chuckled. "Then I'll just kill you."
"Damn it, you stupid pig!" Jack roared.
Rogers had already stood up, a cigar dangling from his lips, arms outstretched, and shrugged. "Good luck, kid..." he said.
After saying that, Rogers turned and walked out.
"Good luck," Xu Zhengyang said with a smile.
Nicole and Jack followed Rogers outside, and Green Hair, after a moment of stunned silence, quickly followed.
As they reached the bar entrance, Rogers stopped, turned to Nicole and Jack, and roared, "Damn it, what are you following me for? Go and shove that arrogant brat's mouth shut, break his legs, and make him crawl out of here on his own two legs..."
Just as he finished cursing, Rogers suddenly froze.
He discovered that both Nicole and Jack had pulled out pistols and pressed them against his forehead.
"Bastards, are you all insane?" Rogers glared and cursed, showing no fear whatsoever.
Xu Zhengyang stood up and walked towards the door. When he reached Rogers' side, he said with a smile, "Rogers, remember this: you're in such bad luck because you messed with me, poor gang leader..." After saying that, Xu Zhengyang glanced at the green-haired guy and sneered, "You grew up in the US and this is all you've accomplished? You still have the right to look down on your fellow countrymen? I'm ashamed for your ancestors..."
Xu Zhengyang strode out.
Everyone in the hotel fell silent, not daring to speak. Faced with a conflict between Rogers, the biggest gangster in the area, and his men, they dared not step forward to mediate.
Rogers turned his head and cursed angrily, "You son of a bitch!"
Before he could finish his tirade, a loud bang rang out, and Rogers stumbled and fell in front of the door that hadn't been closed yet. A gaping hole appeared in his thigh, and blood quickly seeped out. This was followed by Rogers's furious cry of pain: "Damn you all..."
Bang bang bang!
Three more gunshots rang out.
Nicole and Jack, their faces contorted in rage and blank stares, completely ignored Rogers's angry curses and resentment, and fired three more shots at Rogers with their pistols pointed at him.
Green Hair was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.
A gasp of surprise rang out inside the hotel.
Jack turned and pointed his gun at the crowd, and the hotel fell silent instantly, except for Rogers, who lay on his back outside the door, yelling and cursing in pain.
Nicole, on the other hand, pointed her gun at the slumped green-haired boy on the ground and fired two shots into his legs.
A piercing scream instantly echoed throughout the bar.
Outside on the street, under Rogers' angry and fearful gaze, Xu Zhengyang hailed a taxi and drove away nonchalantly as if nothing had happened.
Just then, Rogers seemed to hear the voice of the young man from before in his mind: "Rogers, if you don't spend the rest of your life in prison, you'll spend it in bed or a wheelchair. I really feel sorry for you. You shouldn't have messed with me."
Rogers seemed to have forgotten the pain, lying blankly on the ground.
Jack kept pointing his gun at the people inside the store.
Nicole crouched down, aimed her gun at Rogers' right knee, pressed it firmly against it, and fired a shot.
"Ah, you bastard!" Rogers convulsed violently in pain.
Nicole didn't stop. Her expression remained ferocious. She grabbed Rogers' left leg, held him down, pressed the muzzle of the gun against his left knee, and pulled the trigger. Bang!