"But wouldn't you know it, after I called WD to confirm that 'Little Ghost' wasn't 'Joker,' you never mentioned our so-called collaboration again. Then, WD told me that 'Joker' was trying to contact the outside world using the methods they gave me."
You stopped contacting me because you got what you wanted, which is my contact information from WD, right?
After saying all this, Chuanliu looked at him quietly.
Zhou Zheng still had some doubts and said, "If I'm not mistaken, WD should have already investigated me. They should have told you that I'm not the 'Joker,' right? Why are you still thinking in that direction?"
Chuanliu said dismissively, "They are them, and I am me."
The best way to conceal your true actions is to use another obvious action to attract the audience's attention.
This is a classic "misleading" trick in magic. I'm a magician; I won't be fooled by that. At least, I won't exclude you "A"s from my considerations.
Zhou Zheng nodded, which was taken as tacit agreement with Chuanliu's words.
WD Investigation Bureau's approach was flawed from the start. They were drawn to Zhou Zheng's apparent identity as a banker, so their investigation focused on his experience as a banker. No one would have imagined that a renowned banker would be involved with arms dealing.
Chuanliu added, "In playing cards, the Joker is best at deception. The Joker represents a figure named Thiel, a legendary figure from 14th-century Germany. He was a vagrant skilled at manipulating people's minds, and many people across Europe were deceived by him."
You're a cunning fellow, just like Till.
I know that since you're looking for ways to contact the outside world, it proves that if you can connect with the outside world, you have the ability to leave the island. Therefore, by cooperating with you, I can also achieve my own goals.
Chuan Liu's words lingered in Zhou Zheng's mind.
The name "Joker," spoken by someone else after many years, carries a different meaning now.
He couldn't help but feel grateful to the WD Investigation Bureau for allowing him to discover such a pleasant surprise in his boring life.
Zhou Zheng's thoughts drifted back many years to the past, carried by Chuan Liu's words.
——
Zhou Zheng's ability to become a prominent banker was actually thanks to his parents. Both of them were financial tycoons who raised him from a young age, hoping that he could transcend social classes and become an aristocrat.
They took him to various high society events, and in addition to his basic courses, he learned countless subjects such as programming, piano, horseback riding, golf, tea ceremony, and aristocratic etiquette. Zhou Zheng's childhood was spent with all sorts of teachers.
His parents almost never gave him affirmation, encouragement, or companionship; they rarely even smiled at him.
His parents taught him that to become a superior person, one must stop at nothing.
Gradually, Zhou Zheng began to wear a mask that allowed him to present a different image to different people.
In fact, with Zhou Zheng's intelligence and emotional intelligence, he was only one step away from becoming a member of the aristocracy and fulfilling his parents' highest ideal for him, but he did not take that final step.
Instead, he used his exceptional mathematical abilities to become a renowned banker.
This was considered as him taking over his parents' job, but his parents were extremely disappointed and never spoke to him again.
However, what they didn't know was that long ago, Zhou Zheng had already been cultivating his own power in Q country, using various resources he had privately interacted with to become a secret arms dealer.
During secret transactions, his code name was "Joker," and what represented him was the "King" of playing cards.
One day, Zhou Zheng received news that an organization called WD Investigation Bureau was looking for clues about "Joker". He then investigated this organization and learned about the existence of "Paradise Island" for the first time.
The WD Investigation Bureau, a big data collection organization, operates under the guise of "advocating peace," yet it indiscriminately takes the lives of suspects in countries like P and L. Although the WD Investigation Bureau itself is not a military organization, its sheer size and resources are enough to make Zhou Zheng wary.
He knew that the WD Investigation Bureau was looking for him to seize the arms resources in his hands, and if the WD found his forces first, they might hypocritically issue some kind of "international arrest warrant" for him, frame him, and then send him to Paradise Island to imprison him forever.
So he decided to play the first card.
Banker Zhou Zheng violated industry regulations and broke the law due to improper operations.
As expected, the WD Investigation Bureau took the initiative to find him. He had already explained everything about his departure to his confidants, and then naturally went to Paradise Island.
According to his calculations, by the time he left the island, his forces would already have the resources to confront the WD Investigation Bureau.
After arriving on the island, he quietly observed everything that happened there and began to plan how to make contact with the outside world.
All seemingly unrelated events, without any apparent signs, often have underlying patterns.
This is what statistics and probability taught him.
At the same time, because he received a relatively light sentence, his status when he arrived on the island was not high; he was just a "4 of Diamonds".
He understood that money and status were both essential for living on this island.
So he began to cultivate his network of connections on Paradise Island by any means necessary, just as his parents had told him since childhood.
Zhou Zheng has a unique personal charm; anything he says is easy to believe.
His ability to calculate people's intentions has earned him the support of many along the way.
For example, Liu Xingxing is one of them.
Liu Xingxing arrived on the island in the same batch as him, and he spotted her immediately.
He had seen news about Liu Xingxing, the legendary "Black Widow," a figure who struck fear into the hearts of wealthy people in the banking industry.
Logically speaking, someone like Liu Xingxing, who has seen countless people, should be the least likely to be fooled.
But Zhou Zheng felt that he was the easiest to control.
After Zhou Zheng and Liu Xingxing arrived on the island together, they, being "Cubes" themselves, faced difficulties from the official "Cube" residents. Whenever someone heard about Liu Xingxing's identity and tried to bully him, Zhou Zheng would stand up for him.
For someone like Liu Xingxing who believes she has seen through human nature, there is only one way—to use sincerity.
He protected Liu Xingxing and treated her like his own brother, asking for nothing in return.
After being beaten and injured, Zhou Zheng held Liu Xingxing's hand tightly and told her that he would never let her live by selling smiles again.
Liu Xingxing was moved to tears.
See, that mask of his is so useful.
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