62: Chapter 62 Tracking Marcus, Gaining Evidence at the Casino

Upon learning that Marcus was hiding money, Lin Chen immediately sent Li Wei to tail him.

He tapped his fingertips rapidly on the tabletop, and his internal Doubao AI projected Marcus's real-time location onto a virtual pop-up window.

A red dot appeared in an old alley on the south side of the Slum District.

Lin Chen looked up at Li Wei, his tone crisp and imbued with unquestionable composure: "I've marked the location for you; it's over in the South Alley. Follow him closely, don't get discovered, and focus on filming him spending money and recording what he says."

Li Wei had already tucked the small, second-hand cassette recorder into his inner jacket pocket.

Hearing this, he nodded immediately and reached up to pull the brim of his baseball cap lower, his exposed eyes full of alertness: "Don't worry, Brother Chen. My legs are nimble, and I've never failed at tailing someone. The recorder is ready too, I guarantee I'll get everything recorded clearly."

"Don't be reckless. If he meets someone, stay back. Just film and record, don't approach." Lin Chen added, tapping the corner of the table. "The Wild Scorpion Gang is watching us right now. If you get exposed, we'll both be in trouble. If you lose him, just pull back—safety first."

"Got it!" Li Wei made an OK gesture, grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the table and shoved it into his pocket.

He lifted the blue cloth curtain of the Grocery Store and slipped out with light footsteps.

Before leaving, he specifically looked back to confirm no one was tailing him before walking quickly toward the South Alley.

Lin Chen stood by the window of the Grocery Store, watching Li Wei's figure disappear at the alley entrance.

He rubbed his fingers along the window sill twice and called upon the Doubao AI again, instructing it to continuously update Marcus's location while monitoring the movements of nearby Wild Scorpion Gang members.

On the pale blue pop-up window, in addition to Marcus's red dot, two faint yellow dots were hovering nearby.

Clearly, gang members were following Marcus, which actually saved Li Wei quite a bit of trouble—he just needed to follow behind the yellow dots.

Li Wei walked along the base of the wall in South Alley. The concrete road underfoot was riddled with potholes, collecting last night's rainwater that splashed up in tiny droplets when stepped on.

From afar, he saw Marcus's figure. The guy was wearing a garish, floral shirt, unbuttoned to reveal a thick gold chain around his neck.

He was puffing on a cigar, swaggering along in front, kicking a soda can by the side of the road from time to time, and cursing under his breath—he clearly looked to be in a foul mood.

Li Wei lowered his cap brim and followed twenty meters behind Marcus, turning into an even narrower alley.

The entrance hung with a dilapidated car wash sign and looked deserted, yet Marcus raised his hand to push open a tin door behind the sign and stooped to walk inside.

Li Wei crept over quietly and peered through a gap in the tin door. Inside was actually an underground casino.

Water stains on the concrete floor reflected the flickering incandescent lights, and the smell of smoke mixed with alcohol and sweat surged out all at once, stinging the nose.

Inside, it was noisy; the crisp sound of dice hitting porcelain bowls, the clatter of mahjong tiles, and the shouting of gamblers made one's ears ache.

A few crooked wooden tables were set in the middle, surrounded by people.

In a corner, a trash can was piled with crumpled betting slips and empty liquor bottles, and a torn pool table hung on the wall, looking completely chaotic.

Li Wei looked left and right, confirmed no one was paying attention to this side, then gently pushed the tin door open a crack and slipped inside sideways.

He stood still against a concrete pillar by the wall, exposed the microphone of the recorder from his pocket, aimed it at Marcus, and pressed the record button.

Marcus swaggered up to the gambling table, slapped his hand onto it, and pulled out a stack of green dollars, throwing them in front of the dealer.

His voice was very loud, cursing in English with a Mexican accent: "Exchange for five hundred in chips! Damn it, I'm going to win back what I lost today!"

The dealer was a tall, thin Mexican man. He glanced at the stack of dollars and deftly exchanged chips for him, quipping: "Marcus, your luck hasn't been very good lately. You still dare to come and play?"

Marcus grabbed the chips and crowded toward the dice table, tossing a few out casually, only to lose in one go.

He kicked the stool fiercely, his face turning livid: "Damn it! Lost again! What the hell is going on!"

The casino owner walked over at this moment. He was a sturdy man with a full beard, a scorpion tattooed on his arm, and was indeed a peripheral member of the Wild Scorpion Gang.

He patted Marcus on the shoulder, his voice lowered, yet it was still clearly captured by Li Wei's recorder: "Take it easy, kid. You haven't paid back the two hundred dollars you borrowed from me last time. I heard you still owe the gang money you haven't handed over, yet you dare to come here to the casino to squander money?"

Upon hearing this, Marcus's expression changed, but he remained stubborn, stiffening his neck and pushing the man's hand away: "Who cares! I have a way! It's just a little money, I'll pay it back in a couple of days. I'll explain things to Julio myself; you don't need to meddle in my business."

"Explain?" The bearded boss sneered, leaning against the table.

He picked up a cigarette from the table, lit it, and exhaled a puff of smoke. These words, as spoken, became the key foreshadowing Li Wei needed to capture: "You better really have a way. I've heard that Julio has been auditing the accounts of his subordinates lately, especially those responsible for collecting protection fees. Anyone found hiding or embezzling funds will get their legs broken at the very least, or be thrown into the sea at worst. You'd better be careful about that mess you're in, or you'll get caught."

Marcus's eyes clearly panicked for a moment. He picked up the beer on the table and took a big gulp to cover his embarrassment, muttering: "Let him audit. I didn't hide that much, he won't be able to find it."

Although he said that, his hand was subconsciously clutching the chips tightly, clearly lacking confidence.

Over the next half hour or so, Marcus lost more and more as he gambled. The five hundred in chips quickly bottomed out.

He was so angry that he slammed the remaining few chips onto the table, cursing and accusing the dealer of cheating, but he didn't dare to actually cause trouble.

After all, this casino was a peripheral establishment of the Wild Scorpion Gang, and he didn't have the guts to run wild here.

Seeing that Marcus was about to leave, Li Wei quietly pressed the stop button on the recorder, tucked it back into his inner pocket, and while Marcus was busy cursing, slipped out of the tin door along the base of the wall.

He walked quickly to a payphone at the alley entrance, inserted two coins, and dialed the temporary number Lin Chen had given him.

As soon as the call connected, he lowered his voice and spoke quickly: "Brother Chen, I recorded him talking about owing money. It's clearly recorded that he owes the gang money and hasn't paid it back, and is still squandering money at the casino. Also, the casino boss said that Julio is currently auditing the accounts of the gang's subordinates, specifically looking for hidden funds."

"Well done." Lin Chen's voice came from the other end of the line, still composed. "Don't come back yet. Continue following him, see where he goes next, and report if there's any situation."

"Received!" Li Wei hung up the phone, tucked the coins back into his pocket, and quickly hid back at the corner of the alley entrance, his gaze fixed tightly on that tin door.

Less than two minutes later, Marcus walked out, cursing. His floral shirt was wrinkled, his hair was messy, and he looked furious.

He kicked a trash can at the alley entrance before swaggering toward the outside of the alley.

Li Wei followed behind him, still maintaining a twenty-meter distance, watching Marcus turn into another secluded alley.

This alley was a dead end in the Slum District with only one exit. Li Wei thought to himself that it was bad.

Just as he wanted to follow up, he saw Marcus's figure come to a halt.

Marcus had just turned into the alley entrance after leaving the casino when he was blocked by two Wild Scorpion Gang underlings wearing black hoodies.