Back in New York, Zhang Jie finally enjoyed a few days of peace.
Every day, he would wake up naturally, go to John's house to feed Hades, the dog, and check if there were any signs of outsiders visiting John's apartment.
Unfortunately, there were still no clues.
He couldn't reach him by phone either.
Then he would go to the Shooting range to practice with his Pistol.
But what annoyed him was that the progress of [Shooting Lv3 (35/100)] not only didn't increase but also dropped by 3 points, becoming 32/100.
"Fuck!" Zhang Jie stared at the panel, gritting his teeth.
He tried various Shooting stances, even blind Shooting with his eyes covered, but the proficiency seemed to determine that his training "lacked practical significance," and the proficiency decreased instead of increasing.
[Combat Lv2 (97/100)] was also stuck; no matter how much he furiously attacked the sandbag, the progress bar remained motionless.
"Indeed, without the stimulation of life-or-death situations, training alone can't break through the bottleneck."
He sighed, put away his Pistol, and decided to give up for now.
As soon as he returned to his apartment, Mrs. Schneider blocked the doorway.
"Zhang!" The Old Lady stood with her hands on her hips, her eyes sharp, "You haven't paid this month's 'noise pollution fee' yet!"
"Noise pollution fee?" Zhang Jie looked bewildered, "I didn't throw a party."
"You're 'thump-thump-thump' hitting a sandbag in your house every night!" Mrs. Schneider said self-righteously, "You've scared my cat into having heart problems!"
"..." Zhang Jie was speechless but still pulled out his wallet, "Fine, how much?"
"200 US dollars!"
"200?!" Zhang Jie's eyes widened, "You might as well just rob me!"
"300!" Mrs. Schneider sneered, "Bargain again, and I'll raise it to 500!"
"..." Zhang Jie conceded and obediently paid the money.
The Old Lady counted the banknotes with satisfaction, then suddenly leaned in mysteriously: "By the way, have you struck it rich recently?"
"What do you mean?" Zhang Jie frowned.
Mrs. Schneider narrowed her eyes: "I heard you're considering buying a car?"
"..." Zhang Jie was speechless, "You're well-informed."
Although his savings were still $135,214, Zhang Jie knew very well that in a place like New York, money disappeared faster than bullets.
He decided to upgrade his equipment first:
glock 34 upgrade: extended magazine (+4 rounds), custom suppressor, night sight upgrade.
Bulletproof suit: two custom-made suits, Kevlar lining, combining comfort and protection.
Tactical dagger: replaced with a lighter, sharper model, easy to conceal and carry.
"With the right equipment, I can live longer."
Zhang Jie looked at the bill, and although it pained him, at least his sense of security improved.
After the equipment was sorted, Zhang Jie finally decided to solve his transportation problem.
He was tired of taking the subway and tired of having to steal or hijack a car for every mission.
It was time to buy his own car!
He went straight to a black market car dealership in Brooklyn and found Deshawn, a well-known local Black brother.
"Yo! Zhang!" Deshawn grinned, revealing a mouthful of gold teeth, "What brings you here?"
He was completely familiar, in fact, he remembered every assassin who worked in this area clearly.
After all, this line of work involves contact with all sorts of people, and Deshawn did quite well in this regard.
"Buying a car," Zhang Jie went straight to the point, "I want something cheap, but not too bad."
"Ha! Then you've come to the right person!" Deshawn patted a yellow Chevrolet camaro next to him, "Just arrived, 16th-hand car, but the engine has just been replaced, absolutely durable!"
Zhang Jie walked around the car and found that there were still unpatched bullet holes on the car door.
"...This car has been through a gunfight?"
"Small problem!" Deshawn waved his hand, "The previous owner was a tough guy, but unfortunately, he had bad luck."
"How much?"
"Friendship price, 8000 US dollars!"
It's a 16th-hand car, not even original paint, and you're selling it to me for 8000 dollars? You might as well point a Pistol at my head and tell me to give you the money.
Zhang Jie sneered: "3000, not a penny more."
"What?!" Deshawn's eyes widened, "Brother, this makes me feel worse than being robbed!"
He had never seen such a bargaining method?
Coming in and directly slashing it in half, then trying to cut another 1000, what kind of bargaining is this?
This is practically a dragon-slaying blade.
"7500, no less." Facing someone like Zhang Jie who didn't play by the rules, Deshawn didn't have many good options.
"3500, no more."
"Fuck!" Deshawn was frantic, "At least 5000!"
Heaven and earth, I've never seen anyone bargain so fiercely.
Your bargaining method makes me want to pull out my Pistol and shoot you in the head to see what's inside.
"4000, cash, deal now." Zhang Jie pulled out the banknotes and waved them.
Damn it, hell, how can there be such a bargaining method?
Although my cars are not exactly legitimate, your bargaining method squeezes my profits to the extreme... Hell, you must be Satan!
But the cash Zhang Jie pulled out and waved in front of him was too tempting.
Deshawn stared at the money, struggled for a few seconds, and finally collapsed, holding his head: "Fine! You win! But next time you have to buy me a drink!"
Make a little less, so be it. Damn it, why are all Asians so shrewd?
"Deal." Zhang Jie grinned.
Zhang Jie took the keys from Deshawn's hand, jumped into the car, and then started the yellow Bumblebee. The powerful roar instantly echoed through the parking lot.
Nice, it's still the one I like, still that feeling.
"Oh, and remember to get the paperwork done for me," Zhang Jie said to Deshawn with a smile, knowing he could do it. Driving a car without paperwork felt unsafe.
"500 dollars!" When he said this, Deshawn even sounded a little unsure, afraid that Zhang Jie would cut him again.
"Deal!"
With that, Zhang Jie floored the accelerator and drove away in the camaro, leaving Deshawn alone in the wind.
Wait?
You bargained so hard before, why aren't you bargaining now?
I was already mentally prepared for you to bargain.
How can you not bargain anymore?
Come back! Hey!
When Zhang Jie drove the yellow camaro back to the apartment, Mrs. Schneider was watering flowers at the door.
The Old Lady looked up, and the watering can in her hand dropped to the ground with a "clatter."
"Holy shit!" She widened her eyes, "Zhang! Did you rob a bank?!"
"I bought it." Zhang Jie locked the car calmly.
"Bought it?!" Mrs. Schneider rushed over, walked around the car once, then suddenly lowered her voice, "Did you take on some 'big job'?"
"..." Zhang Jie was speechless, "Old Lady, have you been watching too many gangster movies?"
"Hmph!" Mrs. Schneider pouted, "I used to be involved with gangs when I was young! This car of yours clearly has a story!"
Zhang Jie was too lazy to explain, waved his hand, and went upstairs.
Mrs. Schneider, however, looked at Zhang Jie's back, then at the yellow Chevrolet camaro parked in the yard, and mumbled, "Hmm, I should make him pay the air cleaning fee, parking fee, and land occupation fee as well."
Back in his apartment, Zhang Jie checked his savings: $78,563.
It doesn't last long!
Buying the car cost 4000, and equipment upgrades cost almost 50,000, his savings visibly shrinking.
"Economic crisis..." He rubbed his temples.
It seems he needs to take on a new mission soon.
----------------------------------------
If you'd like to follow the story earlier than the public release, come join my Patreon:
👉 patreon.com/TripleCrown07
There, you can read up to 40–50 chapters in advance, enjoy exclusive content, and help support me to keep releasing chapters more regularly.
Thank you so much for your support and for being part of this journey! ❤️