Chapter 302: Yamete!

"Mr. Hale, welcome to our home."

Mr. Adams’s gaze briefly passed over his son before settling on Luca.

Luca was a little flattered. he had not expected someone with that kind of political standing to greet him so personally.

"Thank you, Mr. Adams. You can just call me Luca."

"Alright. You two chat for a while. I have a meeting to attend."

Mr. Adams picked up his suit jacket from the back of a chair and slipped it on before heading for the door.

Luca watched him leave.

’No wonder he’s a big shot. He has meetings even this close to lunchtime.’

Compared to that, Luca still preferred his own lifestyle.

Eat whatever he wanted, drink whenever he felt like it, watch adult swims, and otherwise do whatever caught his interest.

’Now that’s a good life.’

Once Mr. Adams had left the room, Luca relaxed a little.

"Harvey, I’ve got to say, your dad’s presence is terrifying. A state-level bigshot really is something else."

Harvey gave him a strange look.

"Are you misunderstanding something?"

"What?"

"My father is only a deputy director-general."

Luca blinked.

"Only?"

"The person you’re thinking of is my uncle."

Harvey leaned back against the sofa and continued explaining.

After the previous patriarch of the Adams Family passed away, the family had entered a relatively quiet period. Fortunately, Jay Adams had been transferred back to Capital City from New Orleans and successfully secured a position within the department, allowing the family to maintain its influence.

Jay’s promotion had also benefited Harvey’s father, who had risen from the division level to the department level.

The Adams Family might have been quieter than before, but its influence had never disappeared.

They were certainly not a family that just anyone could afford to provoke.

Luca finally understood.

’So I thought I was sitting in front of a minister, but he’s actually a deputy director-general.’

The thought barely crossed his mind before he wanted to smack himself.

’What the hell is wrong with me lately? Have things been going too smoothly that I’ve started looking down on a deputy director-general?’

Before meeting Mr. Adams, the highest-ranking official Luca had ever personally encountered had been a local township-level official.

A deputy director-general in Ashford would already be comparable to a deputy mayor.

And this was Capital City.

There was an old saying that officials serving in the capital were practically half a rank higher than their local counterparts.

Luca suddenly felt that his earlier confidence had been a little excessive.

...

Capital City, Crescent Security Solutions Branch

Yor Shinobu sat alone in a cramped room.

The only window was small and positioned high on the wall, offering her little more than a narrow glimpse of the sky outside.

She stared at it blankly.

"Miss Shinobu, your time is almost up."

Captain Rico pointed toward the hourglass sitting on the table.

Only a small amount of sand remained.

His tone was perfectly calm.

To Yor, however, every word sounded like a death sentence.

She had spent the entire time trying to understand why Luca was targeting her.

Didn’t Luca care about making money?

Didn’t he understand how much profit cooperating with the Sato Family could bring him in the future?

Why would he throw all of that away?

The final grains of sand slipped through the hourglass.

Captain Rico glanced at it.

"It seems Miss Shinobu has made her choice."

He stood.

"So don’t blame me for what happens next."

The door opened.

A burly, bald man stepped inside, a watermelon knife hanging loosely in his hand.

Yor’s face immediately went pale.

"Yamete!"

The Japanese word escaped her before she could stop herself.

She was so frightened that she had even fallen back into her native language.

"Didn’t Mr. Hale say we were supposed to wait until three o’clock?"

She clearly remembered Luca’s instructions.

Starting from noon, one of her fingers would be cut off every three hours if she continued refusing to cooperate.

According to the hourglass, it wasn’t even one o’clock yet.

Captain Rico chuckled.

"Heh. Miss Shinobu really is naive."

He walked around the table and leaned forward, both hands resting against its surface.

"Have you ever wondered why Mr. Hale specifically said one finger every three hours?"

Yor’s lips trembled.

"No... I don’t know."

Her eyes were already filling with tears as she shook her head.

Rico smiled faintly.

"Then count the joints on your fingers."

Yor’s eyes widened.

Her breathing became uneven.

So that was what Luca had meant.

’Three hours...’

It wasn’t about giving her a chance to endure.

It was enough time to go through each joint.

The thought made her stomach twist.

She couldn’t even imagine how long she could survive such pain if she continued refusing to speak.

Rico raised three fingers.

"You have three seconds."

Yor stared at him in terror.

"Three..."

"I’ll talk!"

Her voice exploded through the room.

She had no intention of waiting for him to finish counting.

In front of the camera, Yor squeezed her eyes shut.

A mixture of fear, humiliation, and resignation crossed her face. She had finally broken. There was no other choice.

She began telling them everything she knew.

...

When Captain Rico’s people sent the documents over, Luca was sitting in the living room with the Adams family, casually watching television and chatting.

His phone vibrated on the coffee table.

He picked it up.

As expected, the message contained the information Yor had provided.

Luca glanced through it before looking toward Mr. Adams.

"Mr. Adams, my people managed to obtain some information regarding the Sato Family’s activities in Capital City. Would you like to take a look?"

"Sure. Send it over."

Mr. Adams took his glasses from his wife and picked up the tablet resting nearby.

A few moments later, he opened a folder containing a long list of names and began comparing it with the information Luca had just sent.

He went through the list carefully.

After a while, he removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Most of them match."

He let out a quiet sigh.

"We can finally close the net."

Luca’s expression changed slightly.

So that was what had been happening.

Akari Sato and the others had been under government surveillance almost from the moment they entered Capital City.

Where they went. Who they met. What they did.

The government had already been keeping track of almost everything.

’No wonder their efficiency is this ridiculous.’

Luca suddenly understood why the government agencies had been able to move so quickly. They weren’t starting from scratch. They had been watching the Sato Family all along.

"Uh... so you were already preparing to close the net."

Luca scratched his cheek.

"Then I guess I was doing unnecessary work."

"Haha. Not at all."

Mr. Adams smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"If you hadn’t given us that complete list, there would probably have been several important people hiding in the shadows who managed to slip through our net."

His eyes held genuine admiration as he looked at Luca.

The young man was not even half his age, yet he had already demonstrated an unusual ability to get things done.

Mr. Adams could probably guess how Luca had obtained some of the information.

There had undoubtedly been a few methods that weren’t exactly respectable. But that wasn’t what mattered. As long as the objective was achieved, there was little point dwelling on the details.

...

After dinner, Luca politely declined Harvey’s parents’ invitation to stay the night. Harvey accompanied him outside and walked him down the mountain.

By the time they reached the car, Harvey was struggling to hold back his laughter.

"Haha! Luca, you’ve really done the country proud. Keep it up! And hey, there’s nothing wrong with liking Japanese women."

"What are you talking about?"

Luca’s face turned red.

"Isn’t my Arabella great? Isn’t Vivienne amazing? Isn’t Naomi sweet?"

He folded his arms and snorted.

’With that many beautiful women around me, what does Yor Shinobu even have to offer?’

Harvey’s expression became increasingly bitter. He could only watch helplessly as Luca climbed into the car with a smug smile.

Under Harvey’s envious, jealous, and resentful gaze, Luca sat back comfortably and drove away.