873: Chapter 868 Don't Play Tricks

Pei Jue stared at the photograph, his mind racing.

He instinctively wanted to refuse, or perhaps find some opportunity to escape this sudden turn of events.

But when he looked up, he met Shen Yan's eyes, which held no ripple of emotion.

It wasn't like looking at a person, but like looking at a tool—a screwdriver, or a Wrench.

If a tool wasn't useful, it could be thrown into a furnace and destroyed at any time.

Pei Jue shivered.

He knew Shen Yan's methods too well.

That dead rat Franz was still counting liquid nitrogen tanks in the cold storage.

"Why me?"

Pei Jue swallowed, trying to reclaim a shred of the dignity he once held as a CEO.

Shen Yan stood up and smoothed the unwrinkled hem of his suit.

"Because Chen Guangke cannot lie, and Wu Ya cannot act."

"And you, Pei Jue, are a liar to the bone."

"This kind of dirty work suits you best."

Pei Jue felt as if he had been praised and insulted at the same time.

Shen Yan walked to the door, his hand resting on the doorknob, and turned his head to deliver his final words.

"If you handle this well, I'll have the noise-canceling equipment in this office removed."

"If you fail, you'll go to the African Branch Company to mine—real mining, the kind where you bring a shovel."

Pei Jue watched the door close again, his fists clenching and then relaxing.

After a long moment, he took out a bottle of eye drops from the drawer and put two drops into his bloodshot eyes.

In that instant, the decadence and fear on his face vanished, replaced by a sickly shrewdness and cunning.

It was the look of a fox catching the scent of prey.

Since that was the only path to survival, he would play the part of this dog.

...

Two in the afternoon, ten thousand meters in the sky.

Shen Yan's private jet sliced through the clouds, speeding towards the South Seas.

The interior decoration of the cabin was astonishingly luxurious.

Pei Jue, holding a glass of expensive champagne, sat somewhat awkwardly on the leather sofa.

Across from him, Shen Yan was resting with his eyes closed, a cashmere blanket covering his legs.

This silence made Pei Jue uneasy.

Just a few months ago, he was sitting in an aircraft of this caliber, commanding the situation, plotting how to swallow the Shenyan Group whole.

Now, he had to watch the man opposite him just to take a sip of wine.

"Stop shaking your leg."

Shen Yan hadn't opened his eyes, but his voice reached him accurately.

Pei Jue subconsciously pressed down his knee and set the wine glass down.

"Mr. Shen, regarding that Hans..."

Pei Jue cleared his throat and quickly shifted into work mode.

"I just looked into his background."

"Although this person is technically proficient, his psychological resilience is extremely poor."

"If it were just a simple transaction, he might try to hold out for a higher price, as he knows the value of what he possesses."

Shen Yan slowly opened his eyes, looking at him with interest.

"So?"

A habitual, sinister smile curled the corner of Pei Jue's mouth—the signature expression he used when he was a capital hunter.

"So, we can't buy it."

"We have to trick him."

"Or, seize it."

Shen Yan picked up the soda water beside him and took a sip, signaling him to continue.

"What Hans fears most right now isn't lack of money, but being caught by creditors and having his hands chopped off."

"We can pose as his contacts in South America, or... another faction hunting him down."

"As long as he feels that handing the item over to us is his only way out, this deal will be done."

As Pei Jue spoke, a long-lost glint flickered in his eyes.

It was the thrill of weaving conspiracies and schemes.

Shen Yan watched him, feeling no aversion.

This was precisely why he brought Pei Jue along.

In this world, sometimes righteousness and money alone won't work.

You need a dagger coated with poison.

"The method is up to you."

Shen Yan closed his eyes again, his tone lazy.

"I only care about the result."

"Also, don't try any tricks."

"The three million US dollars in your secret account at the Switzerland Bank was frozen by my people yesterday."

The smile on Pei Jue's face instantly froze.

That was his last bit of savings, the last fallback plan he had for himself.

He had even memorized the passwords to those accounts; he had never written them down.

How did this man know?

A bone-chilling cold shot up from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.

Pei Jue looked at the seemingly unguarded man before him, and the small schemes that had just begun to sprout in his mind were instantly crushed to dust.

He wasn't working for a person.

He was working for a devil.

"Understood... Mr. Shen."

Pei Jue lowered his head; this time, he was truly subdued.

Singapore, Changi Airport Terminal 3.

The hot and humid tropical air mixed with the smell of aviation kerosene washed over them.

Next to the crowded duty-free shop, a fat white man wearing a baseball cap and carrying a backpack was anxiously checking his watch.

He was Hans.

He occasionally touched the lighter in his pocket; that was his meal ticket for the rest of his life.

But what he didn't know was that in the coffee shop on the second floor, two pairs of eyes were staring intently at him through the one-way glass.

Shen Yan stirred the black coffee in his cup, his expression calm.

Pei Jue, sitting opposite him, had already changed into a garish Hawaiian shirt, with a frighteningly thick gold chain around his neck.

The current Pei Jue looked like a petty hoodlum who had just stepped off a gambling boat.

"Go."

Shen Yan glanced at the time.

"You only have twenty minutes."

"In twenty minutes, his flight begins boarding."

Pei Jue took a deep breath and adjusted the expression on his face.

The next second, the air of a technology elite was completely gone, replaced by a vulgarity mixed with greed and viciousness.

He stood up, straightened his collar, and turned to walk downstairs.

Shen Yan watched his retreating figure, tapping his fingers lightly on the table.

This was the charm of the game of Monopoly.

You don't need to roll the dice yourself.

You only need to control the people who roll the dice.

Downstairs, Pei Jue had already "accidentally" bumped into Hans.

"Hey, amigo!"

Pei Jue spread his arms exaggeratedly, and fluent English with a South American accent poured out.

"Finally found you. The boss is getting impatient."

Hans jumped back like a startled rabbit, his hand instinctively covering his pocket.

"Who... who are you? I don't know you!"

Pei Jue moved closer, the smile on his face becoming somewhat sinister. He lowered his voice,

"Stop playing dumb. The 'Viper' from Rio de Janeiro says hello."

"Heard you're trying to run away with what belongs to us?"

Hans's face instantly drained of color.

"No... that's not it... I just..."

Shen Yan watched this scene from the second floor, the corner of his mouth curving up slightly.

Pei Jue's acting was so good, it was a pity he wasn't winning an Oscar.

A fox was indeed better used in the wild.

If kept in a cage, it would only wear down its fur.

And on Shen Yan's retina, the system panel popped up again.

[Detecting Host engaging in high-level commercial game.]

[Random Mission Triggered: All's Fair in War.]

[Mission Requirement: Acquire the target item at a cost of less than ten thousand US dollars.]

[Mission Reward: Unlock 'Quantum Encrypted Communication' basic permission.]