66: Chapter 66 His underling betrays him, Marcus runs away

Marcus's lackey saw Lin Chen and the other man and immediately ran to find Marcus to snitch.

The scrawny Mexican youth crawled out of the bushes, ripped off his baseball cap, clutched his pager, and bolted toward the depths of the Slum District.

His canvas shoes splashed through muddy puddles, splattering his clothes with mud, but he didn't care to wipe it off.

He panted as he ran, cursing under his breath, with only one thought in his mind: he had to tell Marcus that Lin Chen had found the stolen money.

If his boss went down, he, as a lackey, wouldn't fare any better.

In less than ten minutes, he rushed to Marcus's residence, a dilapidated single room facing the street.

The door was unlocked and left ajar.

He pushed it open, gripped the doorframe, and gasped for air, his face flushed red, his words disjointed: "Brother, it... it's bad! The stolen money has been found by Lin Chen!"

The scene inside was chaotic.

The room was only about ten square meters, with large patches of plaster peeling off the walls to reveal the red bricks underneath.

A broken wooden bed occupied half the room, piled high with dirty clothes.

On the table were empty beer cans and leftover tacos, while scattered dollar bills and cigarette butts littered the floor.

A pane in the window was broken and patched with cardboard, rattling loudly whenever the wind blew.

Marcus was sitting at the table counting money, preparing to scrape together some cash to meet Julio at The Pier.

Upon hearing this, his hand jerked violently, scattering the dollars across the floor, and his face turned instantly pale as paper.

"What did you say?"

Marcus stood up abruptly, knocking over his solid wood chair with a loud crash.

He lunged forward, grabbing his lackey by the collar, his eyes fierce yet panicked.

"Are you sure? Was it that yellow-skinned kid, Lin Chen? How did he find the warehouse?"

The lackey, struggling to breathe, nodded vigorously and pointed toward the East District: "It's absolutely true! I saw it with my own eyes. He and that Chinese fatty went to the abandoned food warehouse together, pried open the hidden compartment in the wardrobe, and took the canvas bag you hid. The money and the IOUs inside were all taken by them!"

"Damn it! That bitch Lily!"

Marcus cursed fiercely, slamming his fist onto the table and causing the empty beer cans to clatter loudly.

He realized instantly that Lily must have leaked the location of the hidden money.

That woman was greedy for money and, as expected, couldn't be trusted.

His head buzzed.

Thinking of Julio's ruthlessness when auditing accounts and the consequences of embezzling gang money, his legs couldn't help but tremble.

It meant either having his legs broken or being dumped in the sea—he couldn't handle that.

"Brother, what do we do now? We're supposed to meet Boss Julio at The Pier at eight!"

The lackey, frightened by his demeanor, shrank his neck and asked in a low voice.

He also knew the gravity of the situation; if Lin Chen took the stolen money and IOUs to meet Julio, Marcus was absolutely doomed today.

Marcus cast a panicked glance around the room, having no intention of thinking about The Pier.

To go see Julio now would be throwing himself into a trap.

He shoved the lackey aside, rushed to the bed, and started ransacking the place, shouting urgently: "Damn it, forget the meeting! Hurry up and pack your things, we're running!"

In a flurry of panic, he shoved the dirty clothes on the bed aside, pulled a black backpack from under the bed, and stuffed the remaining dollars from the table and the passport from the drawer into it indiscriminately.

He even tore off the thick gold chain from his neck and shoved it into the bag.

His movements were absurdly fast, his face filled with terror—there was no trace of the arrogance he usually displayed when bullying the Chinese people in the Slum District.

The lackey stood frozen, watching him scramble in a panic, unable to react for a moment: "Run? Run where? If Boss Julio finds out we've run, he'll definitely send people to hunt us down!"

"Out of the city! Run to the small towns near the Mexican border!"

Marcus swung the bag onto his back, grabbed a switchblade from the table, and shoved it into his pocket.

He turned back and glared at the lackey, his tone urgent and fierce: "If we don't run now, once Lin Chen hands the evidence to Julio, we'll both be dead! We'll go hide outside the city to lay low, and come back after this blows over. It's better than losing our lives right now!"

Shaken awake by his scolding, the lackey stopped being afraid and hurriedly turned to pack his own things.

He scrambled to shove the loose change in his pockets into his bag, not even putting his shoes on properly, and followed behind Marcus.

Marcus reached the door and suddenly stopped, his eyes sweeping gloomily over the broken flip phone on the table.

He gritted his teeth, quickly dialed a number, and sent a message to Julio, his fingers trembling with nervousness.

The content was full of slander: "Boss, that kid Lin Chen is intentionally framing me. He forged the stolen money and the IOUs, trying to sow discord between me and the gang, and he also stole my money. I'm going to chase him now, I'll meet you at The Pier later."

After sending the message, he smashed the phone hard against the floor.

The screen shattered into a spiderweb, completely destroying the evidence.

Only then did he take his lackey, stoop low, and slip out of the residence, sprinting toward the direction outside the Slum District, not even bothering to close the door.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lin Chen and Li Wei were riding a second-hand Jialing motorcycle, rushing toward Warehouse No. 3 at The Pier.

They were ten minutes away from the 7:50 deadline.

The motorcycle wove through the coastal road, the sea breeze carrying a salty, fishy smell.

Li Wei twisted the throttle, and the speed increased steadily.

"Brother Chen, it's only two minutes to The Pier. Should we go straight to find Julio?"

Li Wei shouted, overpowering the roar of the motorcycle.

Lin Chen was just about to answer when the Doubao AI in his mind suddenly popped up a red warning window.

On the pale blue virtual screen, Marcus's location was moving rapidly toward the outskirts of the city.

The red dot that had originally pointed toward The Pier had completely deviated from its course, sprinting toward the Mexican border.

The AI's mechanical prompt sounded clearly: "Detected that Marcus has abandoned the meeting at The Pier warehouse, location is moving toward a Mexican town outside the city, classified as an attempt to flee; simultaneously detected that he sent slanderous information to Julio, falsely claiming to have been framed by Lin Chen with forged evidence, attempting to sow discord within the gang."

Lin Chen's eyes turned cold instantly.

He tapped the virtual window to confirm Marcus's real-time location, without a hint of hesitation, and tapped Li Wei on the back: "Change course! Head out of the city. Marcus is running. Go block him on the only road to the border; don't let this bastard get away!"

Upon hearing this, Li Wei reacted immediately.

He twisted the throttle hard and simultaneously jerked the handlebars.

The motorcycle carved a sharp arc on the road, tires screeching against the asphalt.

It turned steadily and charged toward the outskirts of the city.

He shouted at the top of his lungs: "Don't worry, Brother Chen, I know the roads around here like the back of my hand. There's only one main road out of the city; we'll definitely be able to block him!"

Lin Chen leaned back in the passenger seat, having the Doubao AI continuously update Marcus's location while marking the essential checkpoint outside the city.

On the virtual window, Marcus's red dot was getting closer and closer to the main road, and their motorcycle was also rapidly closing in, the distance constantly shortening.

The sea breeze grew stronger, whipping Lin Chen's hair, but his gaze remained exceptionally steady.

Marcus wanted to run?

It wouldn't be that easy.

Today, he had to make him pay the price for his actions.

The roar of the motorcycle echoed on the road as it sped toward the outskirts of the city.

The trees by the roadside retreated rapidly.

Lin Chen stared at the virtual location in front of him and said coldly: "Floor it, catch up to him!"

Li Wei responded, twisted the throttle to the max, and the motorcycle shot out like an arrow from a bow.

Lin Chen and Li Wei rode off in pursuit.