17: Chapter 17 Life is like a play, all about acting skills

The street—

Before getting into the car, for the sake of Katas's safety, Karl still had things to do. This was to prevent Zhang Shan from harming Lord Katas.

Karl rubbed his hands together and looked at Zhang Shan with a smile.

"Mr. Robinson, according to the rules, we must search you and your bodyguards."

Zhang Shan smiled upon hearing this. With the strongman around, how could they possibly find the four-dimensional storage cabinet?

"Go ahead and search."

Zhang Shan was not carrying any firearms or weapons on his person, at least not openly.

Several of Karl's subordinates collected the mobile phones of Zhang Shan's group, as well as the pistols belonging to Zhang Yi and Zhang Er, to "keep them in safekeeping."

"Please." Karl extended his right hand, gesturing for Zhang Shan to get into the car.

However, the car used to "invite" Zhang Shan this time had been specially modified.

It was a Lincoln Navigator full-size SUV, with a Modern Yacht theme.

The glossy black exterior looked identical to the original, but the interior was a completely different story.

A black partition prevented those in the two back rows from seeing the view through the front windshield, and the side windows had been replaced with one-way glass.

With such a configuration, the luxurious SUV, with its imposing exterior, had been turned into something akin to a mobile prison.

Anyone sitting inside would only feel incredibly stifled, dull, and bored.

Zhang Shan stepped one foot onto the car's running board and turned back to smile at Karl.

"What a 'polite' invitation. This is my first time accepting an invitation like this; it's truly interesting."

Faced with Karl's silence, Zhang Shan didn't say anything more. Before long, a motorcade of three SUVs slowly drove toward Katas's old mansion.

People always want to align themselves with those in high positions of power; they can do so through their own strength, or they can learn to be a "bootlicker."

Karl preferred the latter; as long as one licked hard enough, one could reach the realm of borrowing power from a tiger to intimidate others.

Along the way, Karl lived up to his nature as a bootlicker, never failing to mention "the honorable Mr. Katas" every few sentences. He truly took bootlicking to the extreme.

Zhang Shan, on the other hand, looked displeased, like a decent woman forced into a car against her will. Apart from glancing at Karl a few times, he remained silent.

In reality, Zhang Shan was not focusing on the interior of the car at this moment, but was busy making detailed arrangements for the upcoming plan.

Calming his mind, the mall exchange interface appeared before him. Zhang Shan didn't need to move; he could browse the interface conveniently just by using his thoughts.

At the same time, Zhang Shan used his brainwave communicator to contact Zhang San, whom he had sent out earlier.

"Have you found Moriarty?"

"Yes, Boss, he is right across from me."

At this moment, Zhang San was sitting upright in the room where Zhang Shan and Moriarty had first met.

Moriarty looked slightly nervous, while Mona, standing beside him, appeared indifferent.

"Pretty fast." Zhang Shan genuinely admired the speed of his legion leader's actions.

"Yes, though the security guards at the entrance of The Emperors Place Bar might have to welcome some new faces soon."

Zhang Shan communicated with Zhang San while browsing the mall exchange interface.

Under the non-lethal weapons category, he unsurprisingly found a series of options.

"Tear gas, super adhesive, super corrosive agent, chemical incapacitant, shoulder-fired sticky foam..."

Even as a world-class assassin who had used all sorts of weapons during years of missions, Zhang Shan suddenly felt like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden. He couldn't help but marvel at the power of the system.

This was because many of the weapons inside were still at a classified level in various countries, with very few in existence.

Unless one encountered an assassination mission involving a head of state, it was unlikely they would appear.

Zhang Shan browsed through them one by one, looking for weapons suitable for tonight's operation plan.

"Super noise wave bomb, hmm, this is good."

[Super noise wave bomb is a new type of sound interference weapon that emits specific high-intensity noise upon detonation. It is powerful and easy to carry. The strong sound waves emitted by the bomb reach up to 172 decibels. In addition to the loud sound, it can paralyze the hearing and central nervous system of personnel within a certain range, causing the targets to fall unconscious for up to 3 minutes. It has a timer device. Exchange price: 1000 exchange points.]

"Zhang San, ask Brother Moriarty if he's interested in coming to Katas's old mansion tonight to host a grand fireworks party together?"

Sitting across from Zhang San, Moriarty's first reaction upon hearing the words of the strange old man was disbelief.

Could this be a trap set by that old fox Katas?

How could this Robinson be so bold?

Does he think he is the American Iron Man?

But thinking about it from another angle, if Moriarty's forces didn't join up with the powerful Mr. Robinson tonight, it would be equivalent to pushing away a powerful backer. It would be difficult to rely on Zhang Shan in the future.

Even worse, Robinson might team up with Katas to deal with him.

The clothes on Moriarty's back were already soaked with cold sweat.

He felt as if he had been pushed onto a tightrope—death on the left, death on the right.

"Is that all your ambition amounts to?" Zhang San said, mimicking Zhang Shan's tone.

In normal times, Moriarty would have ordered his men to chop Zhang San into pieces and feed him to the dogs for such a contemptuous tone.

However, today, this sentence ignited a fighting spirit that had disappeared for many years.

The local tyrant had been hibernating in the comfortable Saint Jacques for many years; if he didn't move now...

He was afraid that any random Sipanya bull from outside could come and trample all over him.

The all-black SUV sped along the winding road at 90 kilometers per hour.

Not knowing if an hour or two had passed, Zhang Shan arrived at his destination.

Karl got out of the car and opened the door for Zhang Shan. He secretly exhaled, thinking that this Robinson was really good at holding his tongue—he hadn't said a single word the entire way.

When Zhang Shan stepped one foot onto this medieval fortress, which had been built with all of Katas's hard work, it was equivalent to breaking a hole in this steel bastion.

At the very least, the coordinates of this building were now nakedly exposed on Moriarty's map.

"Zhang San, have you received the location data sent by the strongman?"

"Yes, Boss. Moriarty's forces are also secretly approaching."

Feeling Katas approaching from the distance, Zhang Shan looked up, but continued to put on an expression like he was there to collect a debt.

"Mr. Robinson is truly as heroic as the rumors say. I admire you."

Katas, thinking he was condescending to do so, started the conversation.

"Mr. Katas is the same. Your actions match your appearance; your hospitality is just as devoid of warmth as your exterior."

"I even thought these cars were hearses taking me to the execution ground!" Zhang Shan added.

Zhang Shan looked like an Eldest Young Master who had been slighted, slightly arrogant, yet within reason.

"Hmm? Karl?! Didn't I tell you to po! lite! ly! invite Mr. Robinson?"

Poor Karl took a few kicks from Katas; whether as a bootlicker or a punching bag, Karl played the role vividly.

"Alright, alright," Zhang Shan said slowly, as if an Eldest Young Master who had vented his anger. "A little appropriate punishment for these little brothers is enough. We big brothers should go and talk about serious business first. Don't always fuss so much over these irrelevant people."

Karl silently rolled his eyes behind his back.

*Pah*, you little trash, just watch how I, Lord Katas, deal with you.