Roman Holiday

  After returning from the Song He Lou, Yi Chen seemed to have changed into a different person, being depressed and unhappy all day long. What was even more unbearable for Fei Li was that Yi Chen would spend his entire days cooped up in Chekhov's computer room, clumsily typing away at the keyboard, searching for who-knew-what.

  It's unfair to say that Yi Chen is a computer idiot, at least he knows how to use the mouse. However, even going online was something Fei Li had to teach him hand in hand. Afterwards, Yi Chen drove Fei Li away, and it's unknown what exactly on the internet attracted him.

  Then, something unexpected happened to Jester. Yi Chen also didn't know when he had ordered a lot of books, many history books, from the most ancient primitive people to the Iraq war that occurred a few years ago, everything was included.

  Kane walked in with a large stack of books, kicked open the hidden door leading to Chekhov's computer room, and Jest threw up a small dagger, leaning lazily on the sofa cushion, saying: "It's all over, the boss has changed sex, can't he just go to college?"

  Fiona gave him a cold look and picked up a fashion magazine to flip through it.

  "Sally suddenly spoke up, stuttering and a bit timidly: 'No, the boss is familiar with what those Chinese people said, that period of Chinese history... The boss wants to find an excuse to turn against the Japanese.'"

  Fiona put down the magazine in her hand, Jester almost got stabbed in the eye by a dagger that fell from the sky. The two of them stared at Sally with their eyes wide open and mouths agape. Sally looked at them with some alarm, subconsciously hugging herself tightly.

  Jester pounced on her, grasping Sally's cheeks and staring at her non-stop, muttering in his mouth: "Damn God, look, look, Sally spoke up voluntarily... Oh my god, she can even analyze what the boss is doing. But this way, isn't it too incompetent for me? How can this be?"

  Ferris gave Jester a kick, sending him yelping in pain as she quickly jumped away. Ferris gently grasped Sally's shoulders, smiling encouragingly as she said: "That's it, Sally, that's it. You have to learn... well, as the boss says, you have to learn to live with things as they are now. Remember, you're Sally, one and only in this world, and we truly like you. We genuinely care for you."

  Sally stared blankly at Feri, and two tears finally rolled down slowly. Her heart, like a stone in the desert, slowly cracked open a gap. The long-closed soul, due to Feri's words, slowly opened up.

  Cain walked out just in time to see Sally's tears, he was stunned for a moment, and then, on the face of this iron man, a happy and joyful smile gradually emerged.

  Seven days later, Easy Dust crawled out of Chekhov's computer room, drank several cups of coffee quickly, and wolfed down a large stack of small pastries. He said vaguely: "Kane, find me someone, a Chinese person studying at university in London, a young Chinese person, I want to ask him some things... Hmm, give him an hourly wage of ￡500, just say I want to hire a home tutor."

  Cain nodded in response. The door opened and Phil and Goll walked in, saying respectfully: "Boss, the Manchester matter has been taken care of."

  Yi Chen quickly wiped the corner of his mouth, revealing a strange smile: "So, our steel factory is completely finished? What great news, dear, our first legitimate business has gone bankrupt, it's really wonderful... Those damn Russian financial experts, they really know how to get things done, even if they have to cover their tracks, they don't need to sacrifice our own business, do they? But anyway, he's gone, and we've made a lot of money."

  Phil shrugged his shoulders and said to Yicun: "Unfortunately, boss, our steel plant still exists."

  "What? We still have that steel mill? What's going on?"

  He snorted in disgust and said, "Because our steel mill has so many workers, the local government gave us bankruptcy protection, saying that we can't let our bankruptcy affect Manchester's social stability. At the same time, those unlucky bastards who bought our steel mill stocks dumped them, some idiot bought those worthless papers, and then he became the largest shareholder of the steel mill."

  "Ah, God, okay, tell me, how much more of my hard-earned money do I have to waste on this damn factory?"

  "Here, take a look at this," said Phil, pulling out a document. "You still own 10% of the steel mill, making you the second largest shareholder for now. As for the financial stuff, it's all Greek to us, but supposedly according to those Manchester officials, we won't lose too much, so we didn't want to waste any more time and just signed the papers."

  Yi Chen didn't take the file, furrowed his brow and said: "And our lovely Mr. Ouf? That lovely high-ranking rogue, ah wu wu wu wu?"

  Gore smiled: "We moved his sister to a high-end nursing home in Birmingham, and he's eternally grateful to us. Then, he properly expressed his good wishes for me to enter the Ru place council."

  "Alright, so it's all about the money. With enough money, you can get into any place, including the city council. Phil, take care of this matter. Get in good terms with Mr. Oaf, that means getting in good terms with the Dark Assembly, just thinking about it gets me excited. Alright, let that rundown steel factory continue to operate, I've lost interest in it already. Let's get to something more interesting, Mr. Cain, you should have gathered some information by now."

  Cain nodded and revealed a hint of a cold smile.

  Half a month later, Yi Chen, who had been furious at not finding a suitable home teacher, received a call from Fabio: "Dear brother, I received your request. He has arrived, he is in Rome, accompanied by the senior liaison officer of their department in Rome, I think they have some private matters to deal with... Of course, I don't think that respectable gentleman's behavior of traveling on public funds is commendable."

  Yi Chen smiled: "Dear brother, please prepare the hotel and car team for me. I think I need to go on vacation in beautiful Italy. Enjoying the last bit of warm sunshine on the Mediterranean beach at this time of year makes me excited just thinking about it."

  Fabio burst out laughing: "Dear brother, don't worry, I'll arrange for Milan's best fashion designer to take care of you. Your Miss Phyllis will be absolutely delighted."

  "Alright then, Kane has been in touch with the London police and I think it won't be long before our security company is up and running. The British government needs some reliable, powerful, loyal citizens of the great empire to help them maintain national security, we can say it's a match made in heaven. I think there shouldn't be any more trouble, just need to finalize the license application and approval."

  Fabio burst out laughing in surprise: "Oh God, praise the Lord, this is the second good news I've heard all year."

  Yi Chen naturally knew what the first good news Fabio said was, no more than that he had agreed to cooperate with him. He smiled and said: "So, dear Fabio, you can prepare everything in Rome... By the way, one of my subordinates is very dissatisfied with God, so it's best not to say anything like 'Praise God' in front of him, huh?"

  Fabio exclaimed in surprise: "Really? Alright, alright, I understand. Damn God, so I'll go prepare everything. Do you want to meet with that damn father of mine and my detestable brother?"

  Yi Chen said coldly: "No need, I think I only want to see them at their farewell ceremony."

  Fabio burst out laughing and hung up the phone.

  The next day, Yichun brought a group of subordinates to Rome. Fabio, following Yichun's suggestion, did not meet with him directly but instead sent several trusted aides to arrange accommodations and vehicles for Yichun's group. Feili was extremely fond of the Milanese fashion designers, who in turn adored her. The generous tips Yichun gave them seemed almost excessive.

  Looking at Feli who obviously didn't want to move, Yichen shook his head and said: "Sally, you stay with Feli at the inn, we'll go out and take care of some things."

  A dozen cars straggled along the road, heading straight for the Vatican in the northwest corner of Rome.

  Just outside the Vatican walls, Yichen saw David, accompanied by several robust men in black suits, a beautiful young woman and two children.

  Yi Chen smiled and got off the car, waving at David dozens of meters away with a smile.

  David saw Yi Chen, and also saw the vehicles slowly approaching nearby. His face changed drastically, and he quickly pulled the young woman, bringing the two children, under the cover of several people beside him, got into a car, and the two cars sped away quickly.

  Yi Chen took a look at the Vatican's city wall, then looked at the soldiers of the Pontifical Swiss Guard wearing ancient Roman bronze helmets in the distance, and sighed: "What a pity, I came to the Vatican but can't go in to take a look."

  "Shut up, you bunch of idiots, what's there to see?" Jest's low growl came from inside the car. Two eyes blazing with anger stared fixedly at the Vatican, his fists clenched tightly, teeth chattering 'clickety-clack'.

  Yi Chen smiled and gestured for the other vehicles to follow, leaning against the car door with a relaxed expression. He pulled out a large cigar, lit it, took a deep drag, and pointed as he spoke: "Get used to it, Jester. The hidden power within this can kill you ten million times over... Good heavens, what an intense and sacred aura! I can even feel the terror of this power."

  Jester let out a low growl, gazing forward like a wild beast, as if he couldn't help but charge out.

  "Jester, I'm not sure what you've been through, but it's clear you don't have a good impression of them. That's why I brought you here to play around... Control yourself, unless you have the power to instantly destroy everything in front of you, don't reveal anything that might provoke hostility from the other side. A dog that truly bites never barks, it just bites its opponent's neck from behind."

  Jester slowly unclenched his fists, as if he had just been through a fierce boxing match, and his clothes were all soaked.

  Yi Chen sat back in the car, satisfied, closed the door and urged Phil to drive: "Alright, alright, our Jester has finally grown up a bit. Let's go, Phil, I want to see how Cain and the others are doing... Where are they now?"

  Phil pulled out the radio, started the car and asked Cain, then replied: "A abandoned warehouse of Fabio's family, they caught Mr. David, took them all there."

  "Wow, no wonder it's an elite unit, the kidnapping is done so skillfully and efficiently, in such a short time... I think, Jester, we've found another way to make a fortune, if Cain and his team can kidnap a president, we'll be rich."

  Jester rolled his eyes and leaned back on the couch, lighting a marijuana cigarette.

  The car sped towards the abandoned warehouse reported by Cain, among several dilapidated large houses, a concrete empty space was covered with tall weeds and messy stones, about 20 meters long and wide, enough for some illegal activities.

  Yi Chen tidied up her clothes, slowly got off the car, and walked into the empty space with a relaxed pace. She smiled at David, whose clothes had been torn open, and greeted him: "Look, we really have fate, dear Mr. David."

  David Zhang opened his mouth, looking at Yi Chen with a hint of despair. The five agents behind him struggled to get up, but were knocked down again by Kain's subordinates using the butt of their guns, and fell to the ground in disarray.

  The young woman clutched the two children, a boy and a girl, tightly to her, shaking all over as she whispered: "David, God, David, what's going on? Who are they?"

  He walked slowly past her, bowing politely and saying: "So, may I introduce myself? I am... Ah, yes, your husband, I presume? The man David has been trying to take down, a scoundrel, a criminal, the boss of part of London's underworld. Am I right, Mr. David?"

  David rushed up and blocked Yi Chen's path, his lips trembling as he said: "No, no, no, Yi, you can't do this."

  Yi Chen shook his head and said to him, "Me? What do I want? Dear, you tell me. You say what I want? Heaven, it's you who forced me to take this step. Isn't that right? Is it not? You told me, you must deal with me, it's you who forced me, it must be like that, don't you admit it?"

  David waved his hands wildly and said, "No, no, Yi, listen to me, it's a misunderstanding, everything is a misunderstanding. You misunderstood my meaning, I didn't mean to go against you... Yes, I've always taken you as a friend who can cooperate with me, I never had any intention of harming you."

  "Are you kidding me, dear? You're so hypocritical. Do you remember what you said at my place in Chinatown last time? You said you wouldn't let me off the hook and even deployed a professional eavesdropping vehicle, didn't you? You wanted to get some evidence against me, you wanted me to go to jail... Ah, catching someone as daring as me would definitely be a career booster for you."

  David grabbed Yidian's shoulder, his forehead sweating like rain, shaking his head quickly and saying: "No, no, you must have made a mistake, you see, you must have gotten it wrong somewhere, I didn't mean that, look, I didn't stay in London, I came to Rome..."

  "Look, if I were going to take you down, why wouldn't I have done it in London? There are agents, police, armies... Oh God, not that kind of thing. You know what I mean, I consider you a friend."

  Yi Chen brushed off David's hand on his shoulder and said coldly, "You're still lying. Look, you're the liaison officer of MI6 in Rome, aren't you? You came to ask him for some information. You need another operation to prove that you're the most capable among your peers. You need achievements to show your superiors how competent you are. You want a promotion, you want a higher position, you want more power, you want to be a strong and powerful person, right? Hmm? You didn't stay in London because you couldn't deal with me for the time being."

  "Ah, yes, yes, I confess, Yi, I could never harm you. Oh God, listen to me, I came to Rome to deal with...Oh Lord, listen to me..."

  Yi Chen stepped back a few steps, David's face was covered in oil and sweat, almost crying out loud. The young woman and the two children had already hugged each other, crying together in a heap.

  "David, get down!" he yelled. "I swear, I won't bother you again, please... I beg of you... or kill me if you want, but spare them... really, spare them, they're innocent, they don't deserve to die now."

  Yi Chen lit a cigar and looked at the two children with indifference: "How old are they?"

  "David's lips trembled as he said: 'One is five years old, one is four... they won't harm you, Yi, I swear...'"

  Yi Chen puffed out a smoke ring and said faintly: "Oh? Four years old, five years old, died a bit too early."

  Cain slowly raised the large-caliber assault rifle in his hand, a strange expression on his face, his cold eyes fixed intently on David.

  David slowly knelt down on the ground: "Heaven, it shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be like this... Yi, none of these should have happened."

  Yi Chen said coldly, "I admit it, reality is often cruel. Sir, this is all your fault. You wanted to use me as a stepping stone for promotion and wealth, but I'm not buying it. Your ambition has implicated your family members and colleagues... Oh my god, since you're here to gather intelligence, why did you bring your family? Dammit, corruption is not a good thing."

  David stared blankly at Yichun, his mouth agape as he let out a dry "ah, ah" sound.

  Yi Chen shook his head and said: "Really pitiful... David, you are really a small-minded person..."

  David still had no reaction, his spirit almost completely collapsed.

  "Cain said flatly, 'The lives of my twenty-three brothers, K... Remember? In Iraq, how cocky you were, pointing fingers at my superiors and ordering us to do this and that. You should be dead. I never understood why our top brass agreed to send us to help your trash special forces. Your British intelligence has almost never been accurate... You will pay for the lives of my brothers.'"

  "Those were mistakes, yes, sorry, I admit it, we made a mistake. They moved the goods an hour earlier, and you drove into the ambush."

  Kane's heavy boot kicked into his stomach, bellowing: "Mistake? Goddamn it, I was handpicked from the entire Federation Army, painstakingly trained them from trash to become the best warriors, because of your dogshit mistake, we lost twenty-three brothers, twenty-three, each one a million times better than you piece of shit... Dammit, ahah, you made a mistake, I'll take the fall, hah, apart from being a soldier, I'm good for nothing..."

  Kane spoke in a low tone, "I once stood at the pinnacle of honor... then I was relieved of duty for failure to act and slaughtering civilians... Ha! Without the military, I'm nothing. I can do nothing... Dammit... Your mistake? Hm? Your mistake? Ha, dammit, mistakes, beautiful mistakes."

  Cain's fingers tightened more and more, gradually tightening the trigger.

  Yi Chen gently patted Cain's shoulder, and Cain let out a long sigh, slowly releasing his fingers.

  Yi Chen crouched down, looking at David crawling on the ground, shaking his head and saying: "What a misfortune, isn't it? The world is really small, and fate is indeed wonderful. Many people and things are always intertwined... Wonderful fate..."

  David looked at Yichun and burst into tears: "Heaven, I beg of you, spare my child, spare Alice, they are innocent... Please..."

  Yi Chen looked at David with a hint of curiosity: "My god, you this damned, cold-blooded, arrogant agent, actually love your child and wife? What a wonderful emotion... Hmm?"

  "David finally burst into tears: 'Oh God, yes, I am not a good man, but please, have mercy on me, God will not tolerate such lovely lambs returning to his pasture too early.'"

  Jester said coldly beside him: "That damned God? He's a bastard, a sheep? His sheep should all die."

  David struggled to climb up, pointing at Yichen's nose and said: "Kill me, please... kill me. Kill me, please... spare them, okay? Your target is me, not my family, please... Colonel Cain, you are a commander, do you want to abuse the families of your prisoners?"

  Cain said indifferently: "I'm just the boss's gunman now, I'm not Colonel, dear K."

  Yi Chen pulled out the ornamental revolver he wore on his person, aimed it at David's forehead. Yi Chen was astonished to see a joyful smile spread across David's face. With some puzzlement, Yi Chen slowly squeezed the trigger.

  Alice, who was crying on the ground with two children in her arms, suddenly rushed up and grabbed the muzzle of Yichun's gun: "Oh God, please, please don't kill David, he is a good man, please..."

  "Mrs. Alice, it seems you don't quite understand your husband's work, huh?"

  "Alice shook her head repeatedly: 'Yes, I don't understand, but he loves me, he loves our children, God, almighty God, in the land of Your agent, are we to suffer such a fate?'"

  Two little children who didn't quite understand what was happening cried and hugged David tightly.

  "Ha, God? God is busy with Maria**, where has the time to bless you all...Damn it, oh heaven, God is so old, I really doubt whether he still has some ability...Of course, maybe he will create a special organ for himself, after all, everything is created by him."

  "Alice stared at Jester in shock: 'Good heavens, you're blaspheming God! Good heavens, may the Lord forgive your sins.'"

  "Damn it," Jester said fiercely, "I worship Satan, so don't mention God in front of me."

  Yi Chen looked at David, watching him hug his child and cry into a ball. He blinked once, unsure of what he was thinking, and slowly put down the gun in his hand. In a low voice, he said: "Of course, maybe I'm just a decent businessman after all. Killing an agent might be okay, but killing the head of an agent... maybe that's not something a good citizen like me should do."

  David's head jerked up, and he stuttered: "G-g-good heavens, what are you saying? What are you saying?"

  Yi Chen said in that strange tone: "Your child is really lovely, yes, two lovely little treasures. You must not have thought that your child would save the lives of you and your colleagues... But now I'm worried about my own life... You won't let me off, will you?"

  David and the Roman liaison officer shook their heads repeatedly, swearing: "No, no, no, Yi, dear Yi, how could we possibly be against you? Heaven, please believe us, we won't have any bad intentions towards you."

  "So... um, let me think, Phil, take Mrs. Alice and the two kids to one side, I think..."

  Phil took people away with Alice, Alice looked at David in horror, and David kept gesturing to her that it was okay.

  Yi Chen crouched in front of David, gently fiddling with the handgun in his hand, still with that strange expression, looking at David and saying: "I've decided to let you go. Perhaps because of this decision, I will hurt the hearts of loyal Mr. Cain and his subordinates."

  Cain shook his head and said: "Boss, all your decisions are correct, I won't have any opinions... what about you?"

  Cain's subordinates shook their heads and said: "We all listen to the boss."

  Yi Chen revealed a hint of a smile: "So, now is the time for the deal... If Mr. David and this liaison officer can crack a batch of major cases in a short period of time, will they be able to get a big promotion?"

  David looked at Yicun nervously and nodded hastily, saying: "The original boss was driven away, the new boss has not yet taken office, after he takes office, he will definitely promote some people and drive away others based on their performance during this period."

  Yi Chen said in a low voice, "I won't hide it from you, your headquarters was accidentally bombed by us... so we have some of the confidential files that you lost. I took a look and many of them can't be shown to others..."

  David's eyes widened and he stuttered: "You mean..."

  Yi Chen raised an eyebrow, pointing at David and saying: "If you and this liaison officer gentleman obtained some intelligence, then cracked a terrorist organization and retrieved these documents, how would that be?"

  David and the liaison officer exchanged a glance, their eyes revealing an unmistakable gleam of greed. David said tensely, "My god, we're definitely going to make it big, it's hard not to promote us."

  "So, I'll arrange for a few scapegoats to take the fall. You guys go in and take them out, then search for the documents... which, of course, you'll be carrying with you... Hmm?"

  The liaison officer struggled to get up, rolled and crawled to the side of Yī Chén, squatted down, and said cautiously: "But everything needs very careful planning..."

  Yi Chen smiled: "Look, we thought it through together, huh? Can't we come up with a perfect plan under the efforts of the three of us? Of course... Are those subordinates of yours reliable? If they can't keep their mouths shut, might as well get rid of them now. I think Mr. David is more than happy to take care of it."

  Several agents on the ground looked up in terror, staring fixedly at the liaison officer and David.

  David subconsciously glanced at the revolver in Yichun's hand and looked at the liaison officer with an inquiring gaze.

  The liaison officer stared at several anxious agents, biting his lip and said: "They are my most reliable subordinates, no problem, and as long as they join our plan, they will not have any room for retreat." Several agents visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

  Yi Chen's strange eyes looked at them, nodded and said: "So, very good, I think if you can easily break this case, others may not believe it either. So we need a series of scapegoats to let you start from small cases and slowly pull out the final scapegoats, huh?"

  David perked up and nodded: "Terrorist organizations need funding, they need arms, we can find some small cases, connect them together and report to the top..."

  Yi Chen smiled happily: "So, it's settled then... After the two of you are promoted, you'll still need to take good care of my business. Of course, if either of you happen to forget something, I'll make sure you remember quickly."

  David and the liaison officer hastily swore to heaven that they would never betray Yichun, Yichun muttered to himself: "It's also, you're making an oath at the gate of God, be careful in case you really betray me, you will suffer heavenly punishment... Don't forget, I told Mr. David, I am a powerful person. Maybe I can't fight against the whole UK, but I can definitely make your whole family die happily, of course, before that, I will let your family go to God's pasture first... That place called Eden, right?"

  David nodded quickly, indicating that he remembered what Yichun said.

  "Very good, very good, Mr. David, congratulations to you, you have had a pleasant Roman holiday and you also have a beautiful wife by your side, it's really an enviable couple... although using public funds for tourism is immoral, but this year morality is worthless... I still want to think of a way to control the future military intelligence bigwigs of both of you, so today we will say goodbye... remember my words, I can get rid of you at any time... Ah, I remembered something."

  "Mr. Gore, please sign two checks of 100,000 pounds each for the two gentlemen, and then ask them to give you a receipt saying they have received our reward of 5 million pounds... Haha, at least this way you won't be able to gather people to arrest me immediately, right?"

  David stood up trembling and looked at Yidun's wildly smiling face. In his heart, there was only one thought: "He is the devil, he is the devil..."

  After threatening those poor agents fiercely again, Yi Chen 'escorted' them back into the city of Rome.

  Jie Si asked Yi Chen with a bit of puzzlement: "Boss, why don't you just get rid of them? Why bother?"

  Yi Chen said faintly, "I couldn't bring myself to kill those two kids... If I killed David... I don't want the two little guys to be like me, rummaging through trash for food since they were young and almost getting killed by stray cats."

  Upon hearing Yichun's words, Feili and the others fell silent. Feili quietly walked closer and gently stroked Yichun's forehead.

  "Besides," Easy smiled, "later on we'll have two big shots covering us, and it will be even easier for us to make a fortune... Even if they love the British Empire more than they fear us, we can just get rid of all those who threaten us, can't we?"

  The crowd of subordinates nodded slightly, acknowledging Yichun's statement.

  Yi Chen leaned against Feili's body, yawned and said: "Baby, you have to finish your clothes quickly, we need to return to London, London is our nest."

  "That's not possible, I've already ordered thirty sets of clothes and sixteen pairs of leather shoes, it'll take a week to get them ready, what a waste of a whole week..."

  "Alright, alright, but tell Fabio that we're going to Milan and Venice for some fun. Rome is not exactly suitable for a certain someone... I don't want twelve semi-sacred knights, a bunch of red-robed cardinals, and an unpredictable Pope coming after us. We'll come back to pick up the goods before we leave."

  Jester sat silently, paralyzed on the couch, and lit another joint.