Starting from South America, speeding through the world

Chapter 114 The Director and the Fool

Five o'clock in the morning.

The lights in the room were on.

Everyone is in their own place.

"Do you understand what I just said?" Zhou Yi asked.

His voice was not loud, and his tone was steady, yet it left no room for argument.

No one answered.

Mikhail sat stiffly in the middle chair.

His Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his gaze sweeping across the middle-aged man's face before lowering again.

His two bodyguards remained kneeling, their hands behind their heads, their guns piled in a corner, magazines removed.

The person on the left was swaying slightly, possibly due to the cold hardwood floor, or perhaps because they were on the verge of a mental breakdown under the threat of death.

Zhou Yi sighed, gripped the trigger, and took two steps forward. "Benjamin, do you understand?"

The middle-aged man swallowed hard and said hesitantly, "I understand."

“Very good.” Zhou Yi walked to the window, leaned out halfway, and confirmed that the angle with the opposite rooftop had not changed.

“Let’s begin,” he said. “Don’t force me to fire.”

“Especially you—Mikhail.”

Upon being suddenly called upon, Mikhail instinctively stood up.

The chair beneath me emitted a screeching sound.

He quickly stopped what he was doing, stood still, and his lips twitched slightly.

"Take half a step to the right." Zhou Yi ignored him and brandished the gun in his hand.

Mikhail did as he was told, numbly.

“Be natural,” Zhou Yi said. “You’re here to ‘discuss the handover terms,’ not to attend a funeral.”

Staring at the dark muzzle of the gun, Mikhail tried to force a smile.

Zhou Yi sized him up for a few seconds, then turned to the bodyguards kneeling on the ground, "Get up, stand behind him, be serious, don't break character."

The two exchanged a glance and hesitantly got up.

Zhou Yi nodded in satisfaction, gestured towards the window, and then retreated to the blind spot by the wall.

Ten seconds later, he walked back to the center:

"Okay."

"Next group, Mikhail, sit down."

"Benjamin, hand him the file."

"Don't make your movements too deliberate."

Several people changed positions.

Mikhail's fingers were still trembling; he nearly dropped the document when he received it.

"Be careful," Zhou Yi reminded him. "You're not a hostage."

"You are a businessperson who makes choices."

"."

"."

Ten minutes later, Zhou Yi said "perfect," gestured outside again, and drew the curtains.

At this point, Mikhail finally made up his mind to speak.

“Listen, Farhad,” he said in a low voice, trying to sound less frightened, “there is no hatred between us.”

“You are a smart man, not entirely belonging to Igor, and have been doing your own thing in the shadows.”

Zhou Yi stood there, his expression inscrutable, seemingly with no intention of responding.

Mikhail took a deep breath and continued to persuade him, forcing a smile: "That's precisely why we should cooperate."

"I have three nuclear warheads, real and intact."

“If you’re willing to help me get Igor on my side, I can give you one, or even two, or whatever you ask for.”

He approached Zhou Yi step by step, his expression gradually becoming sincere.

"You are an ambitious and capable person."

"Me too."

"we--"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Yi interrupted him.

"Sit back."

Mikhail stood still, not doing as instructed, but instead went a step further, spreading his arms wide.

"Calm down, let me finish." He slowly approached, his voice growing increasingly urgent. "I can give you anything you want, we don't need to—"

"I told you, sit back down."

Mikhail seemed not to hear him at all and continued to move forward.

"If we join forces, we can turn the entire Black Sea upside down!"

"You don't have to stand by Igor's side as a—"

He suddenly reached out and tried to grab Zhou Yi's arm.

Almost simultaneously, he roared:

"Kill him!!" The two bodyguards standing not far away suddenly turned around and pounced on the pile of weapons placed by the door.

"Bang! Bang!"

Gunshots rang out continuously, almost without pause.

The body crashed to the floor instantly.

Zhou Yi took a half step back, turned his head, and looked at Mikhail, who was standing there stunned.

"Kneel down."

"I...I didn't mean to betray—I just—"

"Kneel down."

Mikhail could say nothing more, so he raised his hands and knelt down.

The room fell silent again.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

The next moment, a teenager peeked in, a camera hanging around his neck.

"I--"

He was about to speak when he caught sight of the corpse on the ground.

He froze, his eyes widening.

"Give me the stuff."

Zhou Yi walked over.

The color drained from the boy's face instantly.

"Good boy."

Zhou Yi took the camera, smiled, and checked the photos inside. "The composition is good."

Then, she turned to look at the middle-aged man.

"Come here and tie him up."

The middle-aged man was stunned. "What?"

“This child cannot leave now.”

As he spoke, he pulled handcuffs from his pocket and threw them over.

The middle-aged man instinctively caught it, hesitated for a moment, and then walked towards the boy.

Mikhail's expression was complex, his eyes darting around, as if he hadn't given up yet.

“You really don’t need to,” he said in a low voice.

"Shut up."

Zhou Yi didn't even look at it, and casually tossed out a sentence.

At this moment, the boy finally couldn't hold back his fear and burst into tears.

"I don't know anything, I'm not one of them. I thought you were making a movie."

“You know my sister, Fahold? I really don’t know anything!” The boy struggled, trying to resist.

The middle-aged man's movements were a bit too exaggerated, revealing the black wires hidden under his clothes.

"Click" sound.

The metal latch is closed.

"Close your eyes, Nikolai."

The boy cried until he nearly fainted, but under the threat of death, he could only bury his face in his arms.

Zhou Yi raised his hand and patted the middle-aged man on the shoulder.

"Well done, Benjamin."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's face lit up with joy, but when he heard the next sentence, it all turned into despair.

"Goodbye."

"boom."

The gunshot was short and sharp.

The bullet pierced the back of his head, his forehead hit the floor, and blood trickled down his nose.

Mikhail was so frightened that his whole body trembled, and a fine layer of cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

Zhou Yi stopped in front of him, looking down at the man.

"What a son of a bitch and an idiot," he couldn't help but exclaim.

“If you behave well enough, I wouldn’t mind letting you live a few more days.”

"Even if it's just in case—if something unexpected happens to Igor, we might need you."

Upon hearing this, Mikhail looked up abruptly, as if grasping at the last straw.

"I was wrong, I'm sorry."

"Give me a chance to beg you."

Zhou Yi raised his gun and pressed it against Mikhail's forehead, gently pressing down.

"No, no. I'll do whatever you say."

"boom."

The body collapsed.

(End of this chapter)