Sander"s eyes sparkled while he held his mobile phone. He knew what Gus Gilles"s ident.i.ty was, and he didn"t have much trust in the ruthless gang leader, but Gus Gilles"s words piqued his interest nonetheless.
He did love money, but he liked being the highest-ranking official of labor camp 1319 more. He was sure that being the top dog in the prison was equivalent to a steady stream of fortune that would enter his pocket.
"I"ll go." After careful consideration, Sander finally gave Gus Gilles his answer.
Noon of the next day.
In a remote neighborhood in Bat Yam, there was an inconspicuous café where Sander met Gus Gilles, who arrived ahead of him. After dismissing the two trusted aides who had been following him for years, Sander sat alone across from Gus Gilles. He lit up a cigarette and asked, "Mr. Gilles, I"m a candid man and l love to have dealings with similar people. What matter do you want to meet me about?"
"Don"t worry, Warden Sander. I was looking for you for a good reason," replied Gus Gilles with a smile. "Though it"s not me who wants to meet you today, as I"m just a middleman between you and the said person."
"And this said person is?" asked Sander with slightly creased brows.
"It doesn"t matter much who is, honestly. What matters is that he can give you what you want." Gus Gilles shook his head and said, "For instance, power and fortune."
Sander fell into silence, but his curiosity was piqued even more. Who was that person; what was his purpose and objective? He had already prepared for danger when he went out this time. He decided to only agree with the opposite party temporarily if their demand was too excessive. If the worst came to the worst, he would just leave the café and go back on his words later.
"I"m not late, am I?" Tang Xiu greeted in fluent English after he arrived soon after.
Gus Gilles immediately stood up and introduced him, "You"re not late, Mr. Tang. Let me introduce you to the Vice-Warden of labor camp 1319, Mr. Sander. Mr. Sander, this is Mr. Tang, the person who plans to cooperate with you."
Tang Xiu reached out and shook hands with Sander, then gestured for them to sit down. He took a seat next to Gus Gilles and smilingly said, "I"m sure Warden Sander must be very curious as to why I want to meet you. It"s very simple. I want to make a deal with you."
Sander looked at the Oriental young man with gleaming eyes as he asked, "What deal, exactly?"
Tang Xiu didn"t hurry to answer, but instead raised his arm to quickly make a gesture to Mo Awu who came from the distance carrying a briefcase. When he put the briefcase on the table, he opened it, showing it full of stacks of US bills.
"There are one million dollars here, Warden Sander. It"s all yours, no matter if we can agree or not today. Just consider it a gift upon our first meeting."
Sander"s expression changed. One million dollars was not a large sum of money to him as he had more than 10 million USD himself, but he was impressed by Tang Xiu"s move nonetheless. As he was about to speak, his eyes inadvertently glanced over at Mo Awu"s face.
"Impossible!" Sander abruptly got up from the sofa with eyes gleaming. He was fl.u.s.tered and horrified as he stared at Mo Awu.
"It"s been a long time since we last met. Isn"t that right, Warden Sander?" said Mo Awu with a smile. "Have your injuries been all right? I thought the Death G.o.d liked you and would take you away, though."
Sander glared at Mo Awu and chilling killing intent oozed out of his teeth, "That was the wrong guess. The Death G.o.d never likes me and with my good luck, I can still live up till now. But I still clearly remember the dagger you used to leave the stab wounds to the left of my chest back then. If it wasn"t for my heart being positioned slightly different from other people"s, I would"ve probably died by your hands."
"We were also trying to survive, sc.r.a.ping along the line of life in those years, and you were our enemies." Mo Awu smiled and said, "But now, my Boss wants to make a deal with you, so we are enemies no longer! I, for one, love the saying that all hustles and bustles in the world are nothing if not for profits. There"s no eternal enemy in the world, only perpetual interests, don"t you think so?"
"What I currently want to know the most is, how big is this reward?" replied Sander in a deep voice.
Tang Xiu waved to Mo Awu, motioning him to wait while speaking with a smile, "I didn"t expect that Awu and Warden Sander would share some history together. Well, with no fists exchanged, none would get acquainted, right? As for the benefits and how much you"ll get, I must say that it will depend on how much courage you have."
"Speak clearly, please," asked Sander after taking a seat again.
"No. What I can tell you now is that as long as you have enough courage, our deal can reach the hundreds of millions, then add dollars after the millions." Tang Xiu shook his head.
Hundreds of millions in US dollars?
Sander"s heart beat faster, and the anger on his face gradually dissipated. After more than five seconds, he was widely grinning as he spoke, "Mr. Tang, isn"t it? Tell me more about our cooperation."
"I want to buy inmates from labor camp 1319. Quite a lot of them, in fact," said Tang Xiu. "The number… well, the minimum number of inmates I wanna buy will be in the three digit range."
"Hundreds of people?"
Sander"s pupils contracted. He couldn"t help but tremble, tempestuous waves ricocheting in his heart and fear filling his eyes as he stared at Tang Xiu. One must know that each convict in labor camp 1319 was a ruthless, wicked, and evil person—a heavy offender who had acted multiple times.
Sander"s pupils contracted while his body couldn"t help but be stunned. His heart was filled with turbulent waves, and Tang Xiu"s eyes were full of fear. It is important to know that the prisoners in labor camp 1319, each of whom is a wicked person, are the villains who have been shot many times. What is it; why would the young man buy so many prisoners? Is he going to form a terrorist organization?
"I…," Sander was at a loss on how to reply—or really, he didn"t dare! Money was a good thing, more so that the more than 100 million USD was an astronomical sum for him. Yet, he had to be alive to spend them, didn"t he?!
By observing Sander"s expression, Tang Xiu could tell what his thoughts were. A charming smile appeared on his handsome face as he said, "I know that you"re afraid, Warden Sander. But the selling of inmates would not only not implicate you, but it will also pave the way for you to become the highest-ranking officer of labor camp 1319. So, what do you think about such an outcome?"
Sander"s eyes lit up and he inquired more, "You have a way to achieve that?"
"I"ll send someone to kidnap Augustino before we have our deal set in motion," said Tang Xiu with a smile. "Then you can use his name to trade with me. After the transaction is over, immediately report to the government and I"ll send my men to evacuate Augustino, change his appearance, and become a runaway fugitive. Augustino then will die in a fierce battle. Dead men tell no tales; they leave no traces nor witness of what has happened."
"Making Augustino take all the blame—a scapegoat?"
Countless thoughts swirled inside Sander"s mind. The more he thought about it, the brighter his eyes were. After a long while, he finally voiced his last concern, "How can I believe that you have this ability? Augustino loves money, but he"s also very cautious and prioritizes his life more. He usually brings at least a few experts to protect his safety whenever he goes out."
Tang Xiu pointed to Mo Awu nearby and smilingly said, "What if I tell you that I brought a group of experts when I came to Bat Yam this time and their strength is similar to Mo Awu"s? What do you think? Do you think I can do it?"
"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d, huh…" Sander cursed inwardly before he finally nodded and said, "That man of yours is particularly strong. I know his strength since I fought him once."
"Alright, let"s make a good plan of action then…" concluded Tang Xiu with a smile.
****
Time fleeted by and two days had pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye.
Inside the labor camp 1319, Augustino was resting comfortably on the soft sofa, enjoying the service of a blonde beauty, while Sander took a file and placed it on the table in front of him.
Augustino casually took it and glanced at the file a few times. He grabbed a pen and signed his signature. He then threw the doc.u.ment to Sander and said, "A total of 13 people; you"ll handle all of them! Keep in mind to cross-check their situation first. If you find their hands stretched out took sticky, do inform me at once."
"I"ll do it right away." Sander nodded.
Augustino stopped Sander, then pulled the drawer out took out two stacks of bills. He threw them to Sander and said, "Give these $20,000 dollars to our men as their share and tell them to work well. As for your share, it"s already in your account."
Sander nodded with a smile and headed out of the office. His expression turned cloudy after he came outside. Every time he got his share, it was only $50,000 at the most. Comparing to Augustino, who received hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, it couldn"t even be compared.
Such an amount of money… isn"t it just a sum given to a f.u.c.king beggar?
Sander cursed inwardly and glanced around. There was no one in the corridor at this time, so he took a pen out of his pocket and quickly added a name to the list of 13 prisoners—Richard.
10 minutes later, he appeared in the room where the 14 prisoners had just been sent. He watched the 14 of them being tortured on the iron fence. His eyes finally fell on Tang Xiu, and then said to the guard next to him, "Take this Richard out and put him in room number 18. The rest should go in the back cell."
The prison guards immediately released Tang Xiu"s handcuffs and took him out of the room.
A young black man among the 13 inmates shouted, "Hey, dude! Why did you put him in cell 18? Do you want to make f.u.c.king money out of him? How much? $10,000 dollars, $100,000 dollars? I got money too. Just put me with him in cell 00018."
"Shut the f.u.c.k up, d.a.m.n blacky!" Sander angrily shouted back with a change in complexion. "The inmates in cell 18 are those who got sentenced for at least 200 years. I can kick you there if you wanna die quickly."
"Hiss…" the young black man gasped and instantly shrunk.
Tang Xiu stopped and turned to look at the black young man and suddenly asked, "What crime have you committed, buddy?"
"Mind your f.u.c.king business." The black youth stood ramrod and cursed.
"Tell me what his crimes are," Tang Xiu looked at Sander.
Sander lifted the doc.u.ment and read it, "Saptanshu, set fire to destroy 16 stores and burnt nine people alive. Robbed jewelry stores, killed three people and severely injured four more in the process… broke out from prison twice, separately from…"