Chapter 535: Tell You No Lies
It could be the use of a feint! Michael thought that Clement’s sudden exposure of his ’whereabouts’ must have been to falsely lead his enemies.
It would be difficult for Michael to find him if he’d been in any other place. Therefore, Clement must come to Lake City. Lake City was Michael’s territory, and Clement would easily be caught and intercepted by Michael’s men if he came here.
Then, Clement had put out false information, making Michael think he would be on the flight at 3:20 p.m. In this way, Michael would assign most of his informers and men to this flight. Clement could then take the opportunity to leave the airport without a hitch at another time.
Moreover, Clement must have already arrived. Since Michael would have had many men assigned to the airport, they would have guarded well against Clement’s escape or any disturbances. The greatest likelihood was that Clement had arrived this morning.
Michael had already had the airport surrounded and his informers were also all over Lake City. Michael’s informers would be at their least efficient when they were being transferred to this airport after Michael had received Todd’s call.
Michael clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and controlled his emotions.
"Mr. Lucas..." Mr. York called softly, observing that Michael seemed to be upset "There is no need for so many people to guard the airport," Michael said. "Keep only a few informers and pay attention to the situation there. The rest of our men should investigate Clement’s whereabouts with all efforts around Lake City, especially where Christian is connected. If Christian’s men are not cooperative, make them cooperate as long as nobody dies."
"Mr. Lucas, do you mean that Clement has arrived in Lake City?" Mr. York was a little confused. "But we’ve been here for so long and we haven’t seen him."
"He arrived long ago. If he is so stupid as to wait for us to catch him, he wouldn’t have stayed alive until today," Michael said coldly.
Clement had no business in Lake City. After all, he was involved in gangs, and Lake City was under Michael’s control. Michael had no business with criminals, so the enterprises in Lake City were relatively clean.
When Clement came to Lake City, no one else was looking for him except Christian.
"Yes, I will do it right away." Mr. York immediately went to carry out Michael’s orders.
Michael went to look for the fake Clement who was still in the airport lounge. As Michael walked in, ’Clement’ saw him and immediately yelled, "It’s you again! What are you going to do? If you don’t let me go, I am going to call the police!"
"I have a few questions for you. After answering them, you are free to go," Michael said.
"Why should I answer your questions?" ’Clement’ said disdainfully. He had already been wronged by being detained here, yet Michael was forcing him to answer questions. No wonder he could not be happy.
"Because you’re in my territory. If you don’t cooperate, you won’t be leaving the airport this month, let alone today!" Michael raised his head slightly, the coercion apparent in his tone.
’Clement’ was still a bit perplexed. Although he still did not know what kind of personMichael was, he hardly dared to provoke Michael as the latter could detain him at the airport.
"I’m all ears."
’Clement’ relented.
...
"Have you always been called Clement?" Michael asked.
"What are you talking about? Of course, I have always been called Clement. How could I change my name for fun?" ’Clement’ looked at Michael suspiciously.
"What did you come to Lake City for?" Michael questioned.
"I..." ’Clement’ blinked, hesitating. "I am a tourist. I’d always heard that Lake City is a beautiful metropolis, so I came to visit."
"Do you know what happens if you lie to me?" Michael took a pistol from his men, and loaded it in front of ’Clement.’
’Clement’ swallowed, seemingly becoming a little scared.
What Michael wanted was his fear. The next second, there was a loud bang as a gunshot echoed in the airport lounge. ’Clement’ was so frightened that his whole body had gone limp. Fortunately, the bullet did not hit him and yet, he had broken out into a cold sweat.
Michael had only intended to frighten him as the bullet hit the chair.
"I will give you another chance," Michael said coldly, "What the hell did you come to Lake City for? Did you come here voluntarily, or was someone asking you to do so?"
Michael held a pistol and aimed it at Clement’s head.
"I’ll tell you the truth!" The moment ’Clement’ saw the gun pointed directly at him, he froze up in fear and immediately confessed. "I... someone found me, gave me money, and asked me to come to Lake City. They told me that they had arranged everything for me, that I didn’t need to worry about anything. They would even reimburse me for my expenditures here. Thinking of the money, the free trip, and the reimbursement, I decided to come here."
While ’Clement’ was speaking, Michael carefully studied his expression.
He doubted that ’Clement’ would lie to him. However, to be on the safe side, Michael stepped forward and put the muzzle directly against his head. "Do you know how it feels when a bullet goes through your head?"
’Clement’ immediately knelt on the ground, crying. Then he said, "What I said is true, I swear. I didn’t lie to you. That guy gave me a million dollars! I don’t want it anymore, I’ll give it all to you. Can you let me go? I’m begging you! I just want to go back to Rheinsville City now."
’Clement’ never thought that it would be so risky to go abroad to travel on his own.
Sure enough, there was no such thing as a free lunch. He was an ordinary guy; with a gun aimed at his head, he would not dare to tell any lies.
These words from ’Clement’ were enough to prove that Michael’s previous assumption was correct. Clement had come to Lake City to look for Christian, but he was afraid of getting spotted by Michael’s men.
Therefore, he’d announced to Todd that he was going to Lake City in advance because he knew Todd would tell Michael. This guy with the same name and nationality as Clement would easily lead to confusion for Michael. It would have been easy to assume that this man was the real Clement.
It was hard to deal with an enemy like Clement, who was clever and cunning. He must be quite a capable big shot in Rheinsville City. But so what? This was not Rheinsville City.
Even if Clement was a tiger, he had to lie on his belly when he was on Michael’s turf.
If he dared to come, he had better be prepared for being unable to leave.
Michael glanced at ’Clement’ kneeling on the ground and knew that he was merely a pawn.. There was no point in embarrassing him.
Michael took a deep breath and said, "You can go now."
’Clement’ looked like he’d received a pardon. He immediately got up from the ground and hurried out, thinking to himself that he would buy a plane ticket to Rheinsville City immediately, and never come to Lake City again.
...
Christian’s assistant stood respectfully in front of him, with his head slightly lowered, and said, "Mr. Lucas, Michael has evacuated his men from the airport."
Christian waved his hand, indicating that he already knew it.
After the assistant had left his office, Christian looked at the man sitting opposite him on the sofa, and took a sip of his coffee.
As he placed the cup back on the table, Christian’s severed finger was quite eye-catching.
"Your trick really worked. It fooled Michael." Christian said to the man, a smile on his face.
Although he was smiling, he could not hide the fatigue. These days, public opinion was driving him crazy.
"It is not easy to deal with Michael. He has been looking for me," Clement sighed; his tone heavy with dread. "In Rheinsville City, I am beyond his reach, so I’m not afraid.
But now that I am here in Lake City, I am quite scared."
"You, Clement, are scared?" Christian chuckled lightly and shook his head.
"No more than others. It’s Michael after all. Isn’t there a saying...putting the cat near the goldfish bowl? I think that describes me now." Clement frowned, thinking for a while before coming up with this idiom.
"Are you a goldfish?" Christian’s smile widened. "Don’t underestimate yourself."
"Anyway, I came to Lake City for you as well," Clement looked at Christian and said, "I have asked you to come to me, but you said you cannot leave. So I came to your turf. My safety now depends on you."
"I have no way to leave Lake City at all. You know, the project I am holding has weighed on all my assets. Now whether it is Michael or the cooperators, they are all watching me very closely. If I leave Lake City without a proper reason, it will definitely arouse suspicion," Christian explained. "But you can rest assured that Lake City is not only Michael’s turf. I can arrange for you to come here safely, and I can naturally send you away safely as well" Clement stretched out his hand to pat Christian on the shoulder and said, "Tell me.
Why did you have to leave our organization? If you hadn’t insisted on leaving, you wouldn’t be stressed out about several billion dollars. If your goal is to make money, you can do it anywhere. It is the ability to make money that only matters. We have never gone through troubles for so many years and stayed in good condition. Did you think that after quitting, you could treat it as if nothing happened? Stop dreaming; we are not clean, not since we’ve stepped into the mafia."
Christian lowered his head slightly and said nothing.
"I’ve always wanted to ask you a question," Clement said.
Christian could guess what Clement wanted to ask.
"Why did you want to leave back then?" Clement wondered. "We all tried persuading you for so long, and yet you insisted. In the past ten years, you have never thought of leaving."
Why? Only Christian knew the reason. He would never tell others why.
"It is all from the past and meaningless." Christian stretched out his hand towards Clement, smiling faintly as he said, "In the future, we will still be brothers."
Clement became even more curious as Christian dodged his question. However, he did not insist upon it. Instead, he offered his hand and to shake Christian’s. "Yes, we will still be brothers."
