The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

170 Backfired

Although he wasn’t sure what Black’s real goal was, Marcel was quite relieved to know that there was someone who could help him defeat the Creeper who had been the main reason they were forced to recruit members from the martial arts studio. If indeed the Creeper was successfully overthrown, then Marcel has no other reason to increase the number of his members. That way, he didn’t have to come into a fight with Jita Kyoei and Calvin Lee’s group again. And most importantly, he could lower the deposit rate for Redvalley residents.

***

Rachel saw a large black GYM bag whose zipper was open. Inside the bag were piles of banknotes with large denominations. She blinked in disbelief and looked at Emma again.

Emma smiled at her friend who still looked dumbfounded, “We paid the fees for creating a fake website and hacking with that money. Even what’s in this bag is not half of the total money I still have at RJC headquarters. Just imagine what we can do with that kind of money.” Emma said.

Rachel shook her head in disbelief, “Creeper got this much money by scamming people?”

Emma nodded, “Most of them are school kids. I’ve learned that they have several branch groups, and all the money from the business is deposited in accounts that we’ve drained. Let alone depositing to the central Creeper, I’m pretty sure, now they even have to ask for an injection of funds to the centre to keep the groups on Greenvalley Street afloat.”

“I’ve asked my grandfather about the conditions there. At the company where my grandfather worked, there were at least seventy people who were victims of scams. And that was only the employees he knew. If I pull other companies in the Chingsu District together, I believe the number of victims is in the hundreds.” Rachel explained.

Emma nodded, “I think all this money will be enough to pay for their demonstration in front of the Creeper headquarters.”

“That will work, Emma. After all, they have the right to say that they are aware of the scamming practices of the lending service. Indeed, they haven’t had the courage all this time because they’ve only moved on their own. But if there are at least fifty people who dare to voice their opinion, I’m sure hundreds of others will follow. Creepers won’t be able to avoid this.” Rachel seemed to chuckle.

.....

“Then, we must prepare to return to disguise in Chingsu District,” Emma said.

***

Chingsu District, Creeper Headquarters.

Lee Mu Fei, or Afei, looked mad. Both of his eyes were reddened. He couldn’t believe that Oscar could be scammed through an online game link.

So far, Afei had often warned Oscar not to gamble. But Oscar always ignored him on the pretext that he used his own money to carry out such a dangerous game.

To Afei, gambling games were dangerous. It was a game that his father used to play so much that their family was in huge debt and made Afei’s childhood life miserable. He got to see his mother and older sisters working hard in the fields in their village. As the eldest son, Afei went to the city to find money to pay off the debts his father left before running away with another woman. It was his past that made him the Lee Mu Fei he was today.

“Gambling is no different from drugs. It will make you addicted and ruin your life.” Afei mumbled a little at the words his mother always used to tell him and his siblings.

Gambling was something Afei really hated. Now, he hated it even more because it got him and his group into trouble.

Deep down, Afei had the suspicion that Oscar was lying to him by saying that he had been scammed by a game website. After years of knowing Oscar, Afei could tell that the man had a very difficult time controlling his lust. He had that lust for eating, drinking liquor, women, and .. last but not least, gambling.

Afei still remembered when his father no longer had the money for him to take to a nightclub for gambling. He was like a hungry dog ??that was willing to scavenge trash cans, even eating carrion to fill his stomach and relieve his hunger. At that time, his father had almost sold his own daughter to get money. From there, Afei’s mother continued to say that when a person was addicted to gambling games, he would be willing to do everything to be able to continue playing.

“That must be the only reason,” Afei growled himself.

Suddenly, the door of the sharp-eyed man’s office was knocked from outside. After shouting ‘Come in’, a man in a security uniform, who was his assistant, opened the door with a look of fear on his face.

“What is it?” Afei asked with furrowed brows. He realized something was wrong just from looking into the assistant’s eyes.

“This is Oscar, Commander. He’s asking for an injection of funds for the members’ lunch at Greenvalley.” The assistant said after taking a gulp.

“Funds? He still has the nerve to ask after he’s stolen my money? What about the deposit for this week?” Afei asked angrily.

The assistant shook his head slowly with his face down. Even though it was not his fault, he was very scared because he knew the leader was furious, “He said he would not deposit because the money was gone, Commander. Many of our members also complained because they were victims of a scam committed by people who hacked Oscar’s social media accounts and borrowed some money from them.”

Afei snorted in annoyance, “That man is a troublemaker. What happened to him?”

The assistant man shook his head again, “Oscar said, he is confused about how to fix this because his group’s men still have to work as usual to collect money again. Oscar’s men look restless for fear that they won’t get paid. Otherwise, they’ll go on strike.”

Hearing his assistant’s explanation, Afei clenched his fists tightly until they turned pale. He was so done with what Oscar did, “I’m not going to inject money for him. He’ll have to sort it out himself.” He replied. Then he gave the assistant a stern look, “I want you to investigate what Oscar has been doing for the past six months.. no.. the past year. And also investigate this scam matter. I suspect Oscar is lying and really uses the money for gambling. That way, I’ll have a reason to kick him off the Creeper.”

“Very well, Commander.” The assistant bent his back. Then he remembered something and lifted his face again, “Pardon me, Commander, then what about the deposit for the Black Hole we have to make at the end of this month?”

Afei was silent at the question. He let out a long sigh as he raised his hand to massage his dizzy forehead, “If we really don’t have enough money to pay it, sell one of Creeper Greenvalley’s branch bases. Tell them that it’s a policy that I made directly. And, increase the loan interest for the employees. If there’s anyone who can’t pay, feel free to take it from their monthly salary at the factory, even if it means their entire salary for the month.”

“All right, Commander!” The man replied again.

***

Emma’s eyes stared at the layer of ice on the swamp beside Chingsu District. It appeared that the flow of water under the ice sheet indicated that the ice would soon melt and could no longer be their foothold. That meant, they would have no more secret paths to enter the Chingsu District area.

“For now, we can still get through it, but maybe the story will be different in the next week or two. We’d better make good use of this time.” Rachel said as she had finished hiding their motorbike at the usual place.

Emma looked at Rachel and nodded, “We’re moving now.”

Finally, the two girls entered the Chingsu District area and they already knew what to do. It was bribing the guards so they could roam there, even into the territories of companies other than where Rachel’s grandfather worked. Of course, it would cost them a fortune.

Rachel was in charge of managing the area of ??the paper factory where her grandfather works. Meanwhile, Emma was tasked with going to the factory location of other companies. The two girls split up to complete their mission in time.

Despite wearing a uniform from another company, thanks to the bribe, Emma was allowed to enter the territory of another company with the excuse of approaching her boyfriend who worked in a different company from her.

‘Isn’t it what is called a backfired? They are the ones who enforce the system of bribes, but in the end, their own system that allowed intruders to easily enter their territory.’ Emma laughed inside.

What Emma and Rachel did was stir up some of the employees who seemed brave and liked by the others. It was certainly not hard to find them out because people who were liked in an environment would look stand out from the rest.

In just an instant, the girls in disguise had already affected many workers. They said that their father was a victim of a scam as well. And they explain how the Creeper trapped its victims.

“If we continue to remain silent, the situation will not change. Can a company still run without employees? They can suppress one employee, but can they still do it if hundreds of employees protest? Would they still bother? Would they report hundreds of people to the police? Would they be willing if there was a production shutdown for days because the workers went on strike?” Emma said to the five middle-aged men who were standing around her.