Ma Xidao, also dressed in a casual suit and having his hair styled with styling mousse, saw Jack looking at him oddly. He tossed his head with a certain smugness, his face adorned with a smile that forced a certain sleazy, older-uncle vibe.
"How's it going? A lot of girls were smiling at me just now."
"Are they afraid you'd hit someone? Bro, who wouldn't be scared of someone like you?"
Jack, somewhat annoyed by the guy's narcissism, complained while straightening his suit collar, tut-tutting. "All you need is a big gold chain, and you can compete with those security guards at the door."
Ma Xidao instinctively covered his wrist. He didn't have a big gold chain around his neck; instead, he had it wrapped around his right wrist twice.
"Follow me, and don't show any expression."
Jack shook his head speechlessly and led him to the front of the line, right at the nightclub entrance.
This nightclub was slightly different from the one Jack had visited with Hannah when he first arrived in New York. Besides the burly security guards, there was also a pretty, delicate-looking manager who greeted guests.
A job like this required discernment, and the pretty manager, whose face had clearly undergone a technological transformation, was immediately struck by Jack's presence.
His Armani blazer alone was enough to save up for a year without food or drink, and his looks and demeanor instantly outshone any of the idol world's android oppas.
As he gestured for Jack to come in, the pretty manager's face plastered on an exaggerated smile, his slightly stiff cheeks nearly squeezing out of their proper place.
"Aniha, welcome, welcome!"
Jack gave him a slight nod, pointing behind him and speaking succinctly, "Bodyguard."
The pretty manager gave an OK sign, motioning for the security guard nearby to clear the way, nodding and bowing repeatedly. "Please have a good time!"
"Ah, bastards!" Ma Xidao angrily cursed under his breath as he followed Jack into the nightclub.
Walking down the steps, the blaring sound of K-Pop music, accompanied by an almost suffocating scent of perfume, greeted him. Jack shook his dizzy head and finally adjusted. His overly acute senses made him dislike this environment. It was still early, and the DJ hadn't played his best moves yet. The music was still warming up. While the beat was dynamic, the powerful subwoofer hadn't yet begun to show its true power.
The two of them walked around the hall and had to admit that this nightclub was quite good. The women dancing on the dance floor were all youthful and energetic, with amazing figures.
While it's unclear how much technology was involved, the lights were truly pleasing to the eye. Their heads flickered involuntarily, following the bouncing pink and white balls.
Of course, this was just a normal, subconscious reaction. Jack quickly averted his gaze and nodded toward the second floor above the dance floor.
"This time, it's my turn!" Ma Xidao glanced at the portly security guard in a black suit guarding the stairs and shouted into Jack's ear, then pushed his way through the crowd.
Jack quickly brushed aside the grotesque hands of several female perverts nearby and deftly dodged the flaming red lips of a woman, who seemed to be intoxicated, as he struggled to keep up.
"You can't go in this way! Get out of here!" The portly security guard, who looked twice as large as Ma Xidao, blocked the passage to the private rooms and booths on the second floor like a small mountain of flesh.
The flesh on Ma Xidao's face twitched. He suppressed his anger and leaned forward, pointing to the second floor. "My friend who came with me is upstairs, in the VIP box."
Because of the music, both of their voices were loud.
"I told you to get out, you didn't understand, right?" The fat black security guard pushed Ma Xidao away.
"Don't touch me." Ma Xidao flicked the shoulder he had touched, a dangerous signal flashing in his eyes. "I told you, I have friends upstairs."
He tried to push past the portly black security guard and head up the stairs, but was shoved aside again and slapped hard across the face. "Don't you understand what I'm saying?"
"Hiss!" Jack, having finally emerged from the crowd of makeup, caught sight of the scene and gasped, quickly placing himself between the stairs and the dance floor.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The portly black security guard perfectly blocked Ma Xidao's unpredictable punch with his fleshy face. Then, like a mighty force, he fell face-first to the ground, his entire dance floor shaking.
Jack instinctively glanced back, but thankfully, everyone was jumping enthusiastically toward the DJ stage, and no one turned back to notice.
Ma Xidao grabbed the portly black security guard by the scruff of the neck, lifted him up, and placed him in a sitting position against the banister. With a snort, he rose and went upstairs.
Jack gently kicked the portly, dark-skinned security guard and discovered he was in a deep coma. Kindly, he straightened him to prevent a stiff neck if he woke up, then shook his head speechlessly and followed him up to the second floor. The rest of the story went surprisingly smoothly. After a brief stroll through the second-floor hallway, the two of them spotted two young men, speaking mysteriously.
One of them had a walkie-talkie cord dangling from behind his ear, clearly a nightclub employee. He discreetly slipped a small ziplock bag into the other's hand, took the cash, and walked away.
Watching the man being dragged into the restroom by another young, seemingly wealthy, tycoon, Ma Xidao winked at Jack and followed him in.
Jack leaned against the wall outside the restroom, pretending to rest. A moment later, the nightclub employee, headphone cord dangling from his ear, trudged out, crossed the hallway, and approached a private room, opening the door and greeting him as he pushed it open.
"Sorry for the wait, big brothers. I'm here to bring you something good."
Then a loud slap was heard from the bathroom, followed by the sound of a person falling heavily to the ground. A moment later, Ma Xidao came out with his phone in hand and showed Jack two small packets of "HYPER" in his other hand.
"I've contacted headquarters, and they'll be here soon. We'll turn this place upside down,"
Jack suggested. "It's best to control the person in charge here first, and there's also surveillance footage. Since the deceased was drugged here, the murderer may have been filmed before."
"Do you know where the boss is?" Ma Xidao stuffed his phone and the confiscated drug box into his trouser pocket and patted it lightly.
Jack pointed to the box not far away and said, "Just ask that drug dealer and you'll find out."
"This is something that's very popular recently and hard to get. Come on, let's have some fun today!"
"Wow!"
"Hahahaha!"
"We must have some!"
"Cheers!"
As soon as Ma Xidao opened the door of the box, the sound of the drug dealer shouting hard and the screams and laughter of men and women came out.
Two drunken young couples were sitting on the long sofa in the box. There were many empty beer bottles on the table. The drug dealer was sitting on a single sofa with his back to the door, and he was pouring crushed pills into the glass with his head down.
The two young girls were only left with their underwear. They fell into the arms of the men and let their dirty hands touch them at will. They kept shaking their heads and screaming occasionally. They looked very neurotic. It was estimated that they had already taken a round of drugs before.
(End of this chapter)