"Alright, wait a moment." The bar owner wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and began pouring drinks for the three people.
And their actions just now didn't attract much attention from others, after all, this is Roanapur, gang fights are everyday occurrences, let alone something as child's play as a standoff with guns.
However, among the few people who noticed them, one young woman dressed in a qipao, with the figure and face of a classical Eastern beauty, let out a surprised "Huh."
Then the young woman murmured to herself, "Aiden... didn't expect to see you in Roanapur again…"
Smiling slightly, the young woman picked up the wine glass in front of her and walked toward Aiden. The subordinates at the same table, seeing her movement, couldn't quite make sense of it, they were newly transferred members of the Triad and didn't know who Aiden was.
"Your drinks."
It wasn't long before the bar owner placed the drinks in front of the three.
Aiden raised his glass slightly toward him, just about to take a sip, when suddenly a familiar voice sounded beside his ear.
"Handsome, want to have a drink together?"
Hearing that familiar voice, Aiden immediately turned his head and then said in surprise, "Shenhua!"
Looking at the black-haired, long-straight-haired qipao lady in front of him, Aiden recognized her at a glance, not only because of her unforgettable appearance, but also because she, together with him and Roberta, had once fought a bloody battle against Umbrella's Vladimir.
Raising his glass and clinking it with Shenhua's, after taking a small sip, he heard Shenhua say to Roberta, "Miss Roberta, we haven't seen each other in a long time. I never got to thank you properly after being hospitalized last time!"
According to the original story, Shenhua was once mentally scarred by Roberta, even featuring the famous Black Lagoon scene where Roberta bit through Shenhua's knife with her teeth.
But, well, during that chaotic battle in Roanapur, the few had fought side by side against Vladimir. Roberta had even helped Shenhua at one point, but since Shenhua was seriously injured at the time, she was taken to the hospital after the battle and never had the chance to thank her.
Roberta looked at Shenhua. She didn't have a deep impression of this woman but still remembered there was someone like her in her memory, so she nodded at her, "No need to thank me."
As for Roberta's slightly cold attitude, Shenhua didn't really mind. She turned to look at Fabiola, but since she had no impression of this little maid, she casually overlooked her.
Shenhua lightly lifted her skirt and sat next to Roberta. Since there was still one person between them, she propped her elbow on the bar and leaned over Roberta to say to Aiden, "When did you arrive? You didn't even come to the Triad to say hello, we could've thrown a welcome party for you."
"We only arrived this afternoon. Didn't want to bother you guys, so we looked for Revy and Balalaika first." In terms of relationships, Aiden was clearly much closer to Revy and Balalaika, so he didn't hide anything and said it directly.
Shenhua also knew this. She casually tilted her head and then said, "The two of them received a mission a few days ago. Someone offered a high bounty and had Black Lagoon and Hotel Moscow send people to escort someone. Mm, our Boss Chang also went along, and they've been gone a few days now, but they should be back soon."
"Sounds like the bounty must've been huge, enough to move even Hotel Moscow, and even made Balalaika go personally. Who was it? So generous?" Aiden said in surprise.
Roanapur is a lawless zone, full of illegal transactions. Smuggling arms is common here, and since it's located in chaotic Southeast Asia, many goods are in high demand, especially arms, which are hugely profitable.
Now that Hotel Moscow and the Triad jointly control the trade channels, Aiden was very curious about how much money the client offered to hire those two big names.
"Speaking of the client, actually it's someone you know." Shenhua glanced around, especially squinting at the bar owner. After he sensibly moved aside a bit, she continued, "The client is someone from the HCLI arms group, I think the name was Koko, should be. Last time she even made a weapons deal with Boss Chang, introduced by Balalaika."
Koko had met Ada by chance. Later, invited by Ada, Koko participated in the Roanapur counterattack against Umbrella and eventually got to know Balalaika. Since both of them didn't have a good opinion of America, they quickly became friends and started weapons trading. Aiden also knew this.
But what surprised him was that, as far as he remembered, Koko had an elite tactical team under her. Now, they were spending big money to hire Black Lagoon, Hotel Moscow, and even the Triad to protect someone, he couldn't understand it.
Taking a small sip of wine, Aiden rested his elbows on the bar and propped his chin with both hands, falling into thought.
After a while, Aiden asked, "Do you know who they're protecting?"
"Not very clear." Shenhua lowered her voice and said, "Boss Chang didn't tell me, only said that this person is very important and very valuable."
"If it's someone important enough for Balalaika to take action, of course they're valuable." Aiden felt that was obvious. After thinking a while longer, he still thought he should just wait until Revy and Balalaika returned, they'd tell him then.
"Forget it, let's talk about it after they come back. Today we came to drink." Aiden raised his glass toward Shenhua and downed the rest in one go. Then he pushed the glass to the bar owner and called out, "Another round."
At that moment, Shenhua also called out, "Put their drinks on my tab."
"Then I won't be polite." Aiden said.
But he was never one to be polite with friends anyway. Plus, the Triad was making a ton of money now, and Shenhua also had a side job as an assassin, she was very wealthy, so he didn't feel bad.
However, among the drinkers, only Aiden and Shenhua drank a lot. Roberta never liked alcohol, and this environment made her uncomfortable. As a personal maid, she stayed alert, only sipping occasionally.
Fabiola also didn't drink much. Not because she disliked it, but compared to this slightly bitter beer, she missed the fruity beer from South America, at least it had fruit aroma and a bit of sweetness, much tastier.
Just like that, after two glasses, Aiden was fine, with his current physique, it would take a lot more to get drunk.
But Shenhua's beautiful eyes already carried a hazy mist, looking a bit dazed. Still, she had already drunk a lot before arriving. Normally, she wouldn't drink this much, but since she met someone familiar, someone who once saved her, she didn't mind getting drunk in front of him.
It's just that, even if she wanted to get drunk, it wasn't easy. Her physical condition wasn't weak either. After that great battle, she found her body seemed to be stronger than before. She didn't know why, but figured it was a good thing.
So, she started frequently toasting Aiden. Soon, two more moderate whiskeys went down.
Just as she was about to ask the bar owner to open another bottle, the bar door was suddenly pushed open violently. A group of burly men stormed in.
They walked straight to the largest table in the bar, and one of them shouted loudly, "Whiskey, brandy, anything's fine, hurry up and bring it over. Spiked is even better."
That man's voice was loud, and the commotion made after they sat down was also huge, drawing many people's attention.
The four sitting at the bar turned around to look at them. Hearing their loud conversation, Aiden frowned slightly. He had stayed in the U.S. for a while, and with the system's language proficiency, he could tell these people spoke with a heavy American accent and liked using Midwest slang.
"A bunch of Americans, all of them." After watching a bit, Aiden turned back and said in a low voice.
"They've likely had strict military training. Some of them even look like professional soldiers." Roberta was from a military background herself and immediately noticed several of them had habits typical of U.S. military personnel.
"Shenhua, you're basically a local here. Do you know where they're from?" Aiden then asked Shenhua.
Shenhua shook her head, as if trying to sober up. After a pause, she said, "Not really. Just know they came to Roanapur three days ago, the same day Boss Chang left."
"Sounds like quite a coincidence!" Aiden glanced back at them again, thinking his own arrival was also quite the coincidence.
"Could they be from the CIA?" Fabiola asked.
"Don't know." Shenhua shook her head. "When they arrived, I had someone tail them, but they were very alert. Our guy was discovered soon, though they didn't act hostile, just gave him a beating and let him go."
"That's odd. They wouldn't be here just for tourism, would they?" Aiden asked curiously.
Letting a tail go, that's not something even Aiden himself would do.
"Maybe they really are here for that." Shenhua laughed, resting her chin in her hand, gazing at Aiden with drunken eyes. "A lot of nearby cities are turning into tourist spots, and since this country has legalized medical marijuana cultivation, many foreign tourists want to try it."
Thinking of what that guy shouted earlier, Aiden frowned and said coldly, "Drugs, huh? Harmful stuff."
"Who says it's not? That stuff really ruins people." Shenhua echoed, recalling a former comrade who overdosed and died, which caused her to fail a mission and almost lose her life.
"Sigh, whatever. Maybe it really is just a coincidence." Aiden shook his head, dropping the topic.
"So, let's keep drinking." Shenhua didn't want to talk about it either. She snapped her fingers at the bar owner, called for another bottle, and smilingly poured Aiden another glass.
Roberta watched her movements, eyes narrowing slightly with a hint of danger. Somehow, she felt like this woman was trying to get Aiden drunk.
But seeing how Aiden accepted it gladly, the maid suddenly felt discouraged and just gave a cold snort.
In the blink of an eye, more than half a bottle was gone. Aiden was slightly tipsy, and Shenhua's eyes were now misty with allure. She was no longer in her original seat, now sitting between Aiden and Fabiola, half her body leaned against Aiden's.
Aiden tried to push her away several times, but every time she returned, clingy as ever. In the end, he just let her be.
Fabiola, who had her space partly taken, glared at her viciously and muttered, "Such a shameless adult."
Just as Fabiola was considering whether to forcibly pull her away from Aiden, suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she saw something flying toward her. She instantly raised her hand and caught it, it was an empty beer bottle.
Just as she wanted to see which blind fool threw it, she heard a crash, one of the bar's tables was overturned.
This scene instantly drew everyone's attention, including Shenhua, who had just been about to make a move. She turned her head and saw that it was that group of burly men, now confronting another group at the adjacent table.
"Hey, aren't you going to stop them?" Aiden glanced at the bar owner.
But the bar owner didn't even lift his head and said, "How do I stop them? With a gun? They have so many people, I can't beat them. Better to wait until they're done fighting. Besides, they haven't drawn guns yet."
"What if they do draw guns?" Aiden asked.
The bar owner pointed at Shenhua leaning on him, "The Triad will step in."
"You guys provide that kind of service?" Aiden asked in surprise.
"Protection fees are an important income source for gangs." Shenhua smiled. "Yellow Flag Bar is one of our big clients."
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