Chapter 1073: Cooperation? Not a Chance (Patreon)

Feeling the death glare aimed at him, Jack was genuinely innocent this time.

Sure, he’d flirted with and been flirted at by plenty of women—but Park Minyoung, the flat-chested little sister-in-law, definitely wasn’t one of them. That time she got drunk and collapsed into his arms, she was mumbling about Lin Zheling.

Too bad he couldn’t explain that. If he did, Lin would probably risk spending another month in a cast just to beat him to a pulp.

Fortunately, Ma Xidao coughed meaningfully. “Heads up. They’re here.”

Footsteps clanged on the iron stairs leading up the side of the building. Two men—one tall and lean with a ponytail and beard, the other shorter and pudgier—emerged onto the rooftop. The ponytailed man wore a black leather jacket and stood close to six feet; the chubby guy looked ordinary in both dress and demeanor, carrying a large duffel bag.

Jack and Lin Zheling exchanged a glance. They both recognized the ponytailed man—it was the same guy who had wielded the MK46 light machine gun during the street shootout in Manhattan.

“Need to borrow a gun?” Jack asked casually. He had brought a whole arsenal this time, spare sidearms included.

But his offer only seemed to aggravate Lin, who snorted coldly and didn’t answer. For reasons unknown, Jack suddenly felt a little guilty and chose not to press the issue.

Outside, the deal had begun. The two newcomers were trading cash for product. Ponytail even asked about the bruises on the red-jacketed kid’s face.

Then Kang Jintae, no longer able to contain himself, stepped out of the container.

“Bang!”

The crack of a blank round from his service revolver startled everyone on the rooftop.

Though considered a “washed-up” cop, Jintae had experience. Once he realized these weren’t just drug runners but possibly terrorists, he chose to fire a warning shot.

“Police! Don’t move!”

Unfortunately, these guys weren’t the type to be intimidated by a revolver—especially not someone bold enough to spray gunfire in the streets of New York.

Ponytail grabbed the red-jacketed kid as a human shield, while the chubby man snatched up the cash and ducked behind him.

“So it’s you, Lin Zheling? What the hell are you doing here?” Ponytail shouted in Korean.

“The boss said we were shocked to see you in America. Didn’t expect you’d chase us all the way to Korea.”

“Where’s Zhang Mingjun?” Lin demanded, stepping forward.

“Go fuck yourself.” Ponytail shoved the human shield—along with the bag of pills—at Lin and bolted.

Across from the rooftop was an automated parking garage with a car elevator platform—Jack’s Audi S6 was parked just beside it.

Ponytail made a flying leap to the elevator platform. The chubby man followed, barely making it across, nearly slipping due to the weight of the cash-filled duffel.

Lin shoved aside the red-jacketed kid and took off after them. Kang Jintae, older and creakier, didn’t dare try such acrobatics. He simply took the stairs.

Jack, meanwhile, casually strolled to the ledge, casting a warning glare back at the rooftop punks before turning his attention to the action below.

“We’re not going after them?” Ma Xidao asked as he joined Jack at the edge.

“They won’t get far,” Jack replied, chambering a round into his SIG Sauer pistol. He leaned over the parapet to observe.

The chubby man was slower. He had just landed on the elevator platform when Lin caught up to him and tackled him.

The two of them fell together, crashing down onto the roof of the Audi S6 with a deafening bang. The roof caved in. The glass exploded outward in all directions.

The fall was only two stories, and the car roof provided some cushioning—but with Lin’s full bodyweight behind the tackle, the chubby man was knocked unconscious from the impact.

Startled by the noise, Ponytail glanced back, just in time to see the crash. He gritted his teeth and tried to flee—

“Hello?”

The cheerful English greeting from above made him freeze.

He looked up. Jack was smiling and waving casually. Then his expression hardened, and he fired.

Bang!

Before Ponytail could react, pain tore through his knee and he collapsed.

“Zheling! Are you okay?” Kang Jintae had finally made it to the scene, panting, and rushed to the crumpled car.

Jack vaulted over the ledge and used the AC units as stepping stones to drop down the three stories in two light jumps.

Lin grimaced, rotating his still-not-fully-healed shoulder. “Just a scratch,” he grunted.

Jack slapped handcuffs on Ponytail, then pulled off the guy’s belt and used it as a tourniquet around his thigh. He glanced at the others.

“So, we working together? Or you want to split up the captives? Yours looks pretty banged up. Better call an ambulance.”

Lin shot him a look and said nothing. Clearly, cooperation was off the table—which suited Jack fine. It gave him more freedom to apply his own methods.

Moments later, louder clanging echoed down the metal stairs. Ma Xidao thundered onto the scene, huffing.

“Jack, that’s your car, right?”

Jack sighed, already numb to it. He pulled out his phone to make a call.

“I’ll pay for it,” Lin Zheling said, determined to take responsibility. But Kang Jintae yanked him aside.

“Pay for what? You think you can afford it? That car costs at least a hundred grand.”

“One... one hundred thousand?!” Lin stammered, stunned.

“Aish, you don’t even have a hundred bucks to your name. Stop trying to act like a hero. I’ll figure out a way to dump this on the foreign affairs office.”

Apparently, when money was involved, even Kang could stand tall in front of the North Korean officer.

“Forget the car,” Jack said. “So... still not planning to cooperate? If I find Zhang Mingjun first, you might not even live long enough to take him back.”

He tossed out the olive branch one more time—not because he cared about the cooperation itself (the car was embassy property; he could get another), but because he wanted to understand why Lin Zheling had been sent here again.

In a time when North-South relations were still strained, a secret diplomatic operation like this implied significant stakes. Clearly, Zhang held some kind of hidden value.

And from the way Ponytail had immediately recognized Lin by name, it was obvious they had history.

Plus, Jack recalled how Zhang had mentioned Lin’s ex-wife during their brief encounter in federal custody. There had to be a deeper story.

“I’ll find him before you do,” Lin replied coldly, enunciating each word.

By the time local police and paramedics arrived, a convoy of two military Humvees and one field ambulance also rolled in.

A CIA agent in a suit and a U.S. Army captain took custody of the wounded Ponytail, while Lin Zheling and Kang Jintae rode off with the chubby guy in the ambulance.