Chapter 696

Surrounded?

By who? Hung Hing? Tung Sing? Was this going to be some full-blown gang war with the local equivalent of movie gangsters showing up to settle things in the street?

Evenson had to admit, there was a certain thrill to the idea. Everyone had their phase where they watched too many action movies and imagined themselves in the middle of some grand showdown. As long as he wasn’t the one who had started the trouble, he was perfectly happy to sit back and enjoy the spectacle.

"Why are you getting ready to fight?" Clea grabbed Lily Grant just as she was about to charge outside. At the same time, Clea slipped the Sling Ring onto her finger and prepared to open a portal. "What’s the point of fighting people like this? Let’s just leave."

"You want me to run away without a fight?" Lily yanked her arm free and slammed her palm onto the table. Her face flushed, the veins in her neck standing out. "What kind of boss would that make me?"

"Exactly, exactly..." Evenson nodded along, doing absolutely nothing to help. "Your senior disciple is a person of some standing. If she runs away like this, where does that leave her reputation?"

Then he turned to Lily.

"And you, too. Since when does the boss do the chopping while the underlings handle negotiations? That’s backwards. You send the muscle to deal with the muscle and the boss sits down to talk. If you charge out every time something happens, where’s the dignity of a leader? Right, apprentice?"

"Hmph."

Lily dropped back into her seat, arms crossed and expression sour.

She had built her reputation with her own two hands. Leading from the front wasn’t something she was about to apologize for. The whole "let the underlings fight while the boss negotiates" philosophy had never suited her.

Still, she had only just taken Evenson as her master. She hadn’t learned anything from him yet, and openly defying him this early would probably be a bad idea.

Not long afterward, the restaurant doors opened again.

"Haha... Senior Sister Lily, you really are difficult to find."

A man wearing sunglasses and a suit stepped inside with a strained smile. The bulging veins in his hands and the way he carried himself made it obvious he had some martial arts training.

Two more men followed him.

Both wore black clothes and masks, each carrying a sword on his back.

Evenson stared.

Who wore ninja outfits in broad daylight?

Was subtlety simply not a thing anymore?

He clicked his tongue and looked away. Modern gangsters were getting increasingly theatrical.

And yet...

That outfit looked strangely familiar.

"I wondered who it was."

Lily’s body had been tense the moment the men entered, but when she recognized the leader, she visibly relaxed. Apparently, she didn’t consider him much of a threat.

"So it’s the Hand’s Kim Doyu." She leaned back. "You really grew a pair, didn’t you? Coming here looking for trouble with me?"

The Hand?

Evenson’s disappointment was immediate.

Not Hung Hing. Not Tung Sing.

Still, the name rang a bell.

"Heh... Sister Lily..."

"Don’t call me that. You’re not worthy." Lily waved him off before he could finish. "What do you want? Spit it out."

"Fine. Boss Lily certainly doesn’t waste words."

Kim Doyu gave her an insincere thumbs-up.

"I’ve been watching you for days. Today, you finally ended up alone, and I got the perfect opportunity. Don’t blame me for taking advantage of it."

Taking advantage?

Clea covered her forehead.

How did this guy manage to walk straight into the barrel of a gun with his eyes open?

Couldn’t anyone enjoy a meal in peace?

"As long as you hand over the entire White Rose Barbershop territory," Kim Doyu continued, "I’ll turn around and leave. I won’t lay a finger on you."

Lily laughed coldly.

"Quite the demand. You pack of stray dogs and broken-backed scavengers actually have the nerve to bark at me?"

Kim Doyu’s expression darkened.

She had hit a nerve.

"If you refuse, Boss Lily, then don’t blame me for getting rough."

"Hold on."

Evenson tapped the table twice.

"The Hand, right?"

It finally clicked.

The Hand was simply what the organization was known as here. No wonder Lily had called them strays and broken dogs.

The Hand had once wielded enormous influence throughout the East. But after 1949, their power had been systematically dismantled. What remained had been forced to survive on the fringes.

After 1997, things had become even worse. Their local operations were barely hanging on.

Fortunately for them, the Hand still possessed considerable influence overseas. With support from abroad, they had managed to avoid disappearing entirely.

The local bosses had tried to crush them more than once. Every time they wiped out a group, another batch arrived from overseas.

It was like fighting mushrooms.

Cut them down and they kept growing back.

Eventually, everyone had simply gotten tired of dealing with them and let them remain.

"Who are you?"

Kim Doyu had noticed the two foreigners the moment he’d entered, but he hadn’t paid them much attention. In his mind, Lily was the only real threat.

Now that this foreign man had casually identified his organization, however, Kim Doyu couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

The Hand inspired fear overseas. Anyone who knew about them usually treated the name like a loaded weapon.

Yet this man sounded almost bored.

Could these two foreigners be leaders of some overseas organization?

And if so, how powerful?

Kim Doyu hesitated.

But only for a moment.

He had already antagonized Lily, and letting her walk away now would be suicide. Besides, word had come from overseas that the Hand’s revival was approaching.

He still had powerful backing.

If he could seize the White Rose territory and present it as a contribution to the organization’s resurgence, perhaps he could finally rise through the ranks.

"I don’t need to know who you are," Evenson said casually.

He pulled out his phone and set it on the table.

"Tell me who your boss is."

"That would be me."

Kim Doyu cupped his hands politely.

Evenson scratched his head.

"Did you not hear me, or did you just not understand me? Who are you working under? Which Finger?"

Kim Doyu froze.

The Five Fingers.

The Hand’s five leaders were known collectively by that name. Even the organization’s name came from the old image of five fingers joining together to form a hand.

"Well?"

Evenson frowned when Kim Doyu remained silent.

"You’re operating in this part of the world. So is it Madam Gao? Maybe Murakami?"

Still nothing.

"Bakuto, perhaps? The French guy? Wait, don’t tell me it’s Sowande." Evenson shook his head. "Alexandra? Does she even have time to deal with your little turf war?"

Evenson had dealt with the Hand before. Afterward, he’d had Black Widow dig into the organization.

He hadn’t gotten every detail, but he knew exactly who the Five Fingers were.

Kim Doyu was sweating now.

"These people..." he stammered. "Who are they? I don’t know any of them."

He genuinely didn’t.

Kim Doyu was only a minor figure within the organization. He knew his superiors were connected to the Five Fingers, but their actual names and identities were far beyond his pay grade.

Evenson stared at him.

"What a waste of a performance."

He had been expecting to show off a little.

Instead, he’d discovered that the other guy wasn’t even qualified to appreciate it.

"Talking to people at your level is exhausting."

Evenson felt annoyed.

Kim Doyu felt terrified.

He might not know the identities of the Five Fingers, but he wasn’t blind. This man had casually listed their names one after another as though he knew them personally.

Was he a senior member of the organization?

Or someone with direct connections to its leadership?

"Fine."

Evenson sighed.

"You’re useless. Fortunately, I can check myself."

He looked down at his phone.

"Madam Gao, you’ve got the answer, right? And don’t tell me these guys were freelancers. That excuse isn’t going to work on me."

Kim Doyu’s face went pale.

What the hell?

The moment Evenson had recognized the Hand, he’d called Madam Gao.

He hadn’t said a single word to her.

He had simply called her number and left the line open.

Gao had recognized the caller ID.

There was no way she could simply hang up.

And the longer she listened, the worse things became.

On the other end of the line, Gao was internally cursing her luck.

She had spent days carefully smoothing things over, doing everything she could to make sure Evenson viewed her favorably.

And now one of her own idiots had decided to provoke him.

Had these fools finally gotten tired of being alive?

"I thought you said you had a signal jammer!"

Kim Doyu stared at Evenson’s phone in confusion.

"I did. I brought the latest equipment specifically to prevent anyone from calling the police."

Evenson shrugged.

"Military-grade phone."

Kim Doyu blinked.

"What?"

"The twins gave it to me. U.S. Air Force tech."

Evenson smiled faintly.

"Apparently it’s an 8848."

Whatever that meant, Kim Doyu’s signal jammer clearly hadn’t received the memo.

A moment later, an old voice came through the phone.

It sounded tense, cautious, and desperately determined to remain composed.

"I have the results. This... this must be a misunderstanding. I assure you, I’ll give you a satisfactory explanation. Please rest assured."

Kim Doyu nearly stopped breathing.

Who was on that phone?

Was that one of the Five Fingers?

Before he could ask, the phones of the two masked men beside him rang.

They answered.

Listened.

Nodded repeatedly.

Then both men looked at Evenson.

Their expressions had changed completely.

"We’ve been ordered to withdraw."

They turned to Kim Doyu.

Then they left.

Just like that.

Lily stared after them.

"That’s it?"

She couldn’t understand it.

These people had deliberately cornered her. Someone willing to make that kind of move should have been prepared to burn every bridge behind them.

Yet a few words from her new master had sent them running.

"Done?" Evenson put his phone away. "This isn’t over."

He picked up his chopsticks and calmly took another bite of food.

"If I know Madam Gao, she wouldn’t stop at simply ordering them to leave."

He was right.

One of the masked men returned a few minutes later.

This time, he carried a large covered serving tray.

He entered with his back slightly bent, as though approaching royalty.

"Madam Gao asked me to convey her deepest respect. She sincerely apologizes. What happened today was an unfortunate misunderstanding. She had absolutely no knowledge of it beforehand."

Well.

That was one way to wash your hands of the entire affair.

The masked man placed the tray on the table.

"Madam Gao has prepared another dish as an apology. Please accept it."

Evenson’s eyes immediately went to the covered tray.

What was underneath?

It was a big enough platter.

Diamonds would be nice.

Gold bars would also work.

A few stacks of American cash?

He wouldn’t complain.

Honestly, Hong Kong dollars would be perfectly acceptable too.

The masked man lifted the lid.

Evenson’s hopeful expression collapsed.

Inside was Kim Doyu’s severed head.

Evenson stared.

"You gave me a head?"

He looked personally offended.

"Seriously? You couldn’t have made it solid gold?"

Even the name was unfortunate.

Kim Doyu.

Give a guy a name like that and then expect financial prosperity?

Evenson leaned back in his chair, his expression darkening.

The masked man immediately became nervous.

Was one head not enough?

Madam Gao had given very clear instructions. If this offering failed to satisfy Evenson, then every person involved in today’s incident was to lose their head.

"Forget it."

Evenson waved a hand.

What else could he do? It wasn’t as though he could openly ask for money.

"Tell Madam Gao I appreciate the gesture. I’ll consider today’s incident a misunderstanding."

He paused.

"But misunderstandings only happen once."

"Yes. Of course."

The masked man visibly relaxed.

"I’ll deliver your message."

He covered the tray and prepared to leave.

"Wait."

The man froze.

The relief vanished from his face.

"Does Your Excellency have another instruction?"

Inside, he was praying.

Please don’t ask for my head.

"That dish..."

Evenson looked at the covered tray with distaste.

"I’ve had enough of it. The presentation is terrible, and it’s ruining my appetite."

He waved dismissively.

"Take it back."

"Of course!"

The masked man immediately covered the tray completely and backed out of the restaurant, carrying it with both hands.

Once he was gone, Evenson sighed.

"Still, what a waste."

He shook his head.

"If that head had been solid gold, I wouldn’t have returned it."

He rested his chin in his hand.

"These Hand people really don’t know how to treat a guest."

Lily slowly turned toward him.

"You’re calling them discourteous?"

Her expression was incredulous.

"I’ve spent years in this business. I’ve never seen anyone so powerful that a few words from them could frighten an organization into chopping off their own boss’s head and delivering it on a platter as an apology."

Clea immediately puffed up with pride.

"That’s because you haven’t seen what she can really do."

She gestured toward Evenson.

"The Five Fingers of the Hand wouldn’t dare breathe too loudly around her."

Show-off.

Lily turned her face away.

Fine.

Someday she’d find someone even more impressive.

Still...

Her new master’s abilities really were extraordinary.

His strength was impressive.

His connections were even more impressive.

After that, nobody was particularly interested in finishing dinner.

They left the restaurant and wandered down the street to walk off the meal.

Nobody mentioned the bill.

"Well, that was disappointing."

Evenson looked back toward the restaurant.

"I was hoping I’d get to see the big bosses from Hung Hing and Tung Sing start a proper street war. The Hand had to come along and ruin everything."

"What century are you living in?"

Lily gave him a faintly amused look.

"Our line of work keeps up with the times. We don’t solve every disagreement with knives anymore."

She shrugged.

"Things are much more civilized these days. The government wants Hong Kong to be the safest city in Asia, so we have to support the modernization effort."

"The safest city?"

Evenson suddenly stopped walking.

"Not necessarily."

Both women turned around.

Evenson was staring upward.

"Huh?"

Clea followed his gaze.

A massive black aircraft was moving through the night sky, descending rapidly toward the city.

She narrowed her eyes.

"That aircraft... I’ve seen it somewhere before."

Then recognition struck.

"SHIELD?"

She looked at Evenson.

"That’s their aircraft, isn’t it? What are the odds?"

"No mistake."

Evenson pointed upward.

"They installed my teleportation array on that aircraft. I’d know that magical signature anywhere."

His expression sharpened.

"I need to see what’s going on."

Coulson’s team wasn’t some ordinary field unit. They were a specialized operations group.

If SHIELD had sent them here, whatever was happening couldn’t be minor.

And now that Evenson knew something was coming, he couldn’t simply stand around and watch.

This was Hong Kong.

He might as well lend a hand.

Consider it a favor to the city.