Chapter 17
There was no one else in the vault, only a few surveillance cameras with lights on. The resolution of surveillance cameras was quite low for that era, and they couldn't pick up any sound. In an era when surveillance cameras weren't common, few people realized how powerful they were.
When the three of them entered, they were first dazzled by the gold. Noble rubbed his eyes and then looked at the money. Little Asian didn't see gold often, and rarely used it, so it didn't have that tangible feeling. But the banknotes were real, bundled up in piles, with both Japanese yen and US dollars. ICE dropped two bags over. Jesse, seeing this kind of grand spectacle for the first time, was a bit flustered. He waved his hands in the air a few times as he took the bags, almost dropping them. ICE had already started loading the bills, and Jesse followed suit and took a stack. Suddenly, it occurred to him, "Which is more valuable, gold or money?"
Noble scratched his head and thought for a while: "It should be gold..."
There was no school in Little Asia. Jesse and Ice were both illiterate to varying degrees. They could write a few words, but they had no idea about math formulas. Noble, having graduated from junior high school, was surprisingly the most educated of the three.
ICE and Jesse, trusting Noble, began to transfer the gold bars.
After the three of them finished loading, they carried their bags upstairs, trying to maintain a composed expression. ICE even stopped to check with the person at the door to confirm the amount they were taking. The cash was counted by the wad, the gold bars by the bar. After they counted everything, they let them go. The mixing of cash and gold bars in transactions was perfectly normal, so they didn't raise any suspicion.
The three of them walked out, but not far away, Ice saw Robin coming from a distance. He looked aggressive and was obviously heading towards them. He frowned and said, "Run!"
/
Jesse didn't expect to run away with such a bag - it was too conspicuous, and there was an 80% chance that he wouldn't be able to escape from this damn place, but he was unwilling to lose it, not to mention that it wouldn't increase his success rate much.
Most importantly, they had a plan from the outset for what to do if they were discovered, with countermeasures to each situation. And then there was a key thing ICE relied on—he said there was a sealed secret passage inside Katsuya's group that led to the outside. It was there before Katsuya's group entered Little Asia, and they simply sealed it off when they arrived. Using this secret passage, they could escape.
Sirens blared across the sky, and as more and more people gathered, he didn't wait any longer. He pulled out his lighter, and the flame flickered. Chaos is where opportunity lies. The small flame, fueled by the wind, grew larger and larger. By the time it was visible enough, Jesse had vanished.
The three of them weren't together, but their minds were connected. A busy member of Katsuya's team was just beginning to painstakingly pour water on one area when they heard a shout from another. Multiple fires were raging at the same time, and Katsuya's team couldn't call the fire department to put them out. Little Asia, a no-man's land, was a place where every loss was worth every gain. If the police didn't come looking for you, you couldn't expect the fire department to come either. So, it would be some time before the fires were extinguished and Ryuichiro Wakatoru was furious.
When Jesse found the secret passage, the entrance was no longer sealed. He knew that someone from ICE or Noble had already left, so he quickened his pace, praying that he could leave safely before encountering the enemy.
/
On the other side of the secret passage, the drain cover on the ground was pushed open. It hadn't been maintained in so long that spiderwebs formed around it, and there was a foul, unidentified mixture of smells. Noble apologized sincerely to the spiders in his heart, then exerted force with his arms to push the cover open. The rusty iron cover creaked, and Noble emerged from within.
It felt good to be on solid ground. He threw the bag full of gold bars to the ground.
The place he emerged from was pitch black, without any light, and he couldn't see anything clearly, nor did he know where he was. He had been running all the way through the secret passage. He hunched his back and took a breath, then he heard the movement from the secret passage again.
One, two... dark shadows emerged from the secret passage.
They asked tentatively, "Noble?"
Noble said, "Hmm," and then said, "Let's go."
/
They gathered at Jesse's safe house. ICE's identity was completely exposed in Katsuya's group. Noble's side was a mixed bag, and going to Bernie was afraid of causing trouble for him. In the end, they could only go to Jesse.
They gathered the stolen property and ICE said, "The ship will leave at 6 p.m. this afternoon." He had already made arrangements.
Noble said, "I'll go get Xiaohua."
"Be careful," Ice said. He was exhausted. He had been busy with Katsuya's team during the day, and now it was almost dawn when he finished his work.
Noble turned and was about to leave. He turned without hesitation. Jesse suddenly had a bad feeling, but he didn't know where it came from. He grabbed Noble's arm and said, "I'm going with you."
"I'll go by myself," Noble said. But Jesse was adamant, and he couldn't persuade him. After all, legs were on people's bodies, and he couldn't just knock Jesse unconscious and run away.
/
The moment Noble pushed the door open, his foreboding realization came true. The club, perhaps misjudging its target's height, flew upwards. Noble ducked, allowing the blow to narrowly miss his head. He stepped back to steady himself. Before the man could recover and strike again, he kicked him in the stomach. Their distance was so close that the man couldn't dodge, and he took the blow head-on, stumbling and falling.
The man had been blocking the doorway, obscuring the view inside. As he fell, Noble, still immobile, looked up to see several men gathered in a circle. The man in the middle snorted coldly and raised his cannon, aiming it at him.
And from behind, some people gathered around.
A few years from now, this kind of scene might just be a warm-up for Noble and Jesse, but right now, it was enough to push them over the edge. They always had the courage of a newborn calf, but in the face of the firearms that were the crystallization of human wisdom, their fear instincts were awakened.
Facing the dark wooden entrance, Noble and Jesse raised their hands. The man who had been knocked down earlier stood up in pain, raised his stick, and hit them on the back of the head.
What was Noble thinking in the last moment before he fainted?
Things have changed, and this time I've failed. For and Xiaohua...how are they doing?
...Oh, if I had known earlier, I shouldn't have let Jesse come with us even if I had knocked him out.
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