195: Chapter 192 The One Thing You Absolutely Shouldn't Do

However, before he could speak, Li Changsheng had already opened his mouth.

"Mr. Zhou, I don't know what you want me to do, but the situation is what it is. Either you help me settle these matters, or you let me return home or go to another country to lay low for a while."

Li Changsheng spoke plainly; his request was simple. Since you wanted to treat this as a transaction, then they would proceed according to a transaction.

You help me solve my troubles, and I’ll do some work for you—though whether I want to do it or not depends on my own will.

Li Changsheng was clear on this point, and at this moment, Zhou Guoli understood as well.

He had snapped out of his dazed state and, after a brief moment of contemplation, said, "Killing so many armed personnel, all of whom were wearing military-grade protective gear..."

"Regardless of who those people were—whether they were from M Country or were mercenaries—you won't be able to leave this country now, at least not through any official channels."

"Fortunately, this isn't an economic crime. Otherwise, I'm afraid you wouldn't even be able to leave through unofficial channels."

As he spoke, he let out a soft breath, and a look of genuine relief actually appeared on his face.

Li Changsheng found this quite strange.

"Mr. Zhou, are economic crimes in this place really more serious than murder?" Li Changsheng found it difficult to understand this nation.

"No, no, no!" Zhou Guoli shook his head repeatedly. He organized his thoughts for a moment before continuing, "Let's put it this way."

"There are three things in this world you must never do: first, you cannot ban alcohol in Russia; second, you cannot deal drugs in Xia Country; and third, you cannot evade taxes in M Country!"

"If you get involved with any of these three things in their respective countries, the consequences are extremely severe."

"Especially the tax department of M Country. To give a simple example: as long as you are on this soil, no one can evade taxes—not Gang members, not those fierce bandits from Mexico, not the arrogant ideologues of various stripes, nor government officials or even the President. If you dare to evade taxes..."

"In a heartbeat, you'll be in prison. If you dare to resist with violence, you'll be eating lead."

"There was once a classic case of a criminal syndicate that neither the police nor the FBI could do anything about. They investigated for a long time but couldn't find any evidence of their crimes."

"In the end, the legal departments of M Country were helpless and could only ask the IRS (short for the tax department) to step in."

"After the IRS took over, they very honestly followed procedure and just focused on auditing the books. As for whether the Gang boss had murdered anyone, they didn't care at all."

"They even sent an agent to go undercover in the organization for three years, finally obtaining a ledger with the Gang boss's personal signature, which confirmed the fact of tax evasion."

"With that ledger, the IRS thoroughly investigated the Gang, arrested nearly a hundred middle and high-level members, and charged them with a combined total of 25,000 years in prison."

"Before he died, that Gang boss left three famous iron rules for those who followed, which are regarded as gospel by all Gang members in M Country: 1. Heavy machine guns are more useful than submachine guns. 2. Pay your taxes to the federal government on time. 3. Always wear a 'small umbrella' before doing the deed."

Listening to Zhou Guoli's narration, Li Changsheng was secretly amazed.

This was quite absurd. Murder was so serious, yet it was considered nothing here.

Furthermore, the famous FBI had no deterrent power here at all; instead, it was a tax department that was so heavy-handed.

"Isn't that similar to the West Depot?" Li Changsheng couldn't help but complain.

"Yes! Exactly, that's what it means." Zhou Guoli smiled and then shared another anecdote. "By the way, besides M Country's tax department..."

"That company called Disney, which specializes in making princess animations, also has the most formidable legal department."

"It's said that even if you are stranded on a deserted island, as long as you draw the image of their company's mouse in the sand, you'll be rescued very quickly—and you'll also receive a court summons."

Uh...

Hearing this, Li Changsheng also smiled. He had heard of this; besides that company, there was also the one known as the 'Nanshan Bichengke' of Tencent, as well as Nintendo from Japanese Faction.

"However, in my view, you should be quite safe for now. At least you haven't provoked the IRS. As for the FBI, those fools... er, it's not that I look down on them."

"But if they had even half the standard of the IRS, their efficiency would increase several times over."

"Moreover, based on your description, even if they investigate, they will first look into those Gang members. First, they'll check the origins of those mercenaries."

"Then they'll check the owner of that car... By the way, those few who escaped—they didn't catch your face on camera, did they?"

Zhou Guoli inquired.

Li Changsheng thought back and shook his head.

"No! I can be certain. Although I can't guarantee they didn't have hidden recording equipment, I can guarantee that even if those people had devices on them, they didn't catch me!"

Li Changsheng was very certain of this because he hadn't shown his face many times. He only showed it once when he first rushed out of the car, and then again when he used the Lions Roar Skill.

But at that time, he was facing them from the side, and his movements were extremely fast. Unless the other party was carrying professional equipment capable of capturing high-speed dynamic objects...

But clearly, such equipment is mostly quite bulky.

"Actually, it wouldn't matter much even if they saw your face. This isn't back home. To be honest, their surveillance equipment here is just so-so; it's not very widespread. Naturally, it's impossible for them to form a comprehensive Skynet System like ours."

Zhou Guoli had a look of indifference. It was clear he really looked down on the efficiency of the police here.

And this was indeed the case. After all, when some foreigners committed crimes in Xia Country, they thought it would take the police a long time to catch them, or that they might not be caught at all.

As it turned out, they were committing a crime ten minutes ago, and ten minutes later they were being fitted for a pair of silver bracelets.

"Regardless, you should stay here for a few days. I'll use my channels to help you gather some information," Zhou Guoli said after a moment's thought.

Li Changsheng simply nodded in response.

He didn't have any reason to distrust Zhou Guoli. If the man had other motives, there was really no need for him to be acting here.

As for the channels he mentioned, Li Changsheng figured they were likely not simple.

"Mr. Zhou, you might as well tell me first exactly what you want me to do!"

Li Changsheng decided to lay everything out in the open.

"Calling me 'Mr. Zhou' is too formal. Call me Brother Zhou. I'm not much older than you; I'm twenty-nine this year," Zhou Guoli said with a chuckle.

Li Changsheng looked the man up and down with a strange expression, thinking to himself that he certainly looked like he was in a hurry to age! That hairline and that weathered appearance...

However, he didn't care. People in this line of work were all quite calculating.

"Actually, I just want you to take a few people back with you when you return home. It's very simple."

"Very simple?"

Li Changsheng didn't believe it. Ever since he learned this guy's identity, he maintained an attitude of only believing about thirty percent of what he said.

"I'm afraid these 'few people' are not simple at all, right?"