Feeling someone's death stare, Jack felt truly wronged.
Although he had flirted with many girls, and many had flirted with him, Park Min-young, the flat-chested girl, was definitely not one of them. She'd drunkenly collapsed in his arms, muttering all about Lin Zheling.
Unfortunately, he couldn't explain this to her. If he did, she'd probably fight him to the bitter end, even if it meant another month in a cast.
Fortunately, Ma Xidao, who had been keeping an eye on the situation outside, coughed softly, "Look out! They're coming."
The iron ladder extending from the building's exterior wall clanked with footsteps as two men, one in front and one behind, ascended the rooftop.
The bearded man in front, wearing a black leather jacket and a ponytail, stood nearly 5'3". Following behind was a slightly plump, middle-aged man, slightly shorter than the ponytailed man. His appearance and attire were both very ordinary, and he carried a large travel bag.
Jack and Lin Zheling exchanged glances and recognized the ponytailed man. He was the one who'd been firing indiscriminately on the street with an MK46 light machine gun.
"Can I borrow your gun? It's no problem here." Jack had brought a ton of ammunition this time, so he naturally had a spare.
Unexpectedly, this question brought back some unpleasant memories for Lin Zheling. He snorted coldly and didn't respond. Feeling somewhat guilty, Jack ignored him and continued to stare outside.
Outside, the two parties had already begun a transaction, simply exchanging money for goods. The ponytailed man curiously inquired about the scar on the boy in the red leather jacket's face.
Jiang Zhentai could no longer contain himself and immediately emerged from the container house, his gun drawn.
"Bang!"
The first blank round from his police revolver fired, startling everyone present.
Although Jiang Zhentai was a regular, he was also a seasoned detective. He had just learned that these drug dealers were likely terrorists, so he fired a warning shot.
"Officers, hold still!"
Unfortunately, since the other party had the nerve to fire open fire on the streets of New York, they wouldn't be easily frightened by a police revolver.
The ponytailed man grabbed the unsuspecting red-leather-clad kid and held him in front of him. The slightly overweight man bent over, grabbed the large bag of cash on the table, and hid behind him.
"It's you, Lin Zheling. How did you get here?" The ponytailed man actually knew Lin Zheling.
"The boss said we were all surprised to see you in America. We didn't expect you to even come all the way to Korea."
"Where's Zhang Mingjun?" Lin Zheling took
a half step forward. "Fuck you." The ponytailed man didn't waste any time. He pushed the hostage and the bag of drugs into Lin Zheling's arms and ran away.
Across from the rooftop was a multi-story parking garage with an automatic elevator that automatically raised parked cars to save space. Jack's Audi S6 was parked not far from the elevator.
The ponytailed man leaped from the rooftop onto the elevator across from him. The slightly overweight man, still carrying the bag of cash, almost fell off because he wasn't fast enough.
Lin Zheling pushed aside the young man in the red leather jacket who had fallen over, and chased after the two men. Jiang Zhentai, too old and frail to risk such a life, though he'd never done such a thing in his youth, so he obediently chased down the stairs.
Ma Xidao saw Jack leisurely walk to the rooftop to watch the show, and with a fierce look, warned the local small-time drug dealers not to act rashly, so he followed him.
"Aren't we chasing them?"
"They can't get away." Jack pulled out his SIG Sauer sidearm, cocked the bolt, and walked to the rooftop parapet to look down.
The slightly portly middle-aged man carrying the bag of money was a little slow to move, and just as he jumped onto the elevator, he was caught up by Lin Zheling, who was following him.
The latter pounced, and the two of them fell from the elevator, one above the other, landing directly on the roof of the Audi S6.
With a loud bang, a large dent was smashed in the roof, and the shattered window glass splattered everywhere.
Though the height was only two stories, and the car roof provided cushioning, the slightly overweight man, weighed down by Lin Zheling, who lunged at him, was so crushingly impacted that he fell unconscious.
Hearing the noise, the ponytailed man instinctively turned back. Seeing this, he gritted his teeth and was about to turn and flee again when a voice in English called out, "Hello?"
He looked up in shock, only to see a handsome white man waving at him. His expression suddenly turned cold, and he raised his gun and fired.
A gunshot rang out, and before the ponytailed man could react, he felt a sharp pain in his knee and collapsed to the ground.
"Lin Zheling, Zheling, are you okay?" Jiang Zhentai, who had run down the metal ladder along the wall, chased the Audi S6 and asked with concern.
Meanwhile, Jack had gracefully scrambled down the parapet, and with two quick hops along the wall, he easily reached them from the third floor.
Lin Zheling felt a dull ache returning to his recently healed arm. He forced his shoulder to move before gritting his teeth and replying, "No big deal."
Jack handcuffed the ponytailed man, then pulled out his belt and used it as a tourniquet around his thigh. He turned to look at the two men.
"Cooperate, or do you want to split it up? Your guy looks seriously injured. Better call an ambulance."
Lin Zheling glared at him without replying, clearly not planning on cooperating. This was just as well, as it would make it easier for Jack to use his tactics.
A thumping noise, ten times louder than Jiang Zhentai's earlier descent, echoed. Ma Xidao also ran down the stairs, only to finally react when he saw the mangled Audi S6.
"Jack, you drove that car, right?"
Jack, accustomed to this, sighed, waved his hand, and took out his phone to make a call.
"Is this yours? I'll compensate you." Lin Zheling acted like a man taking responsibility, but Jiang Zhentai, who was checking on the slightly overweight man, pulled him aside.
"What compensation? Can you afford it? This car is at least $100,000."
"One hundred thousand dollars?" Lin Zheling suddenly stumbled.
"Hey, you can't even afford $100, so stop pretending to be rich. I'll try to pass this off to the Foreign Affairs Office later."
It seemed that even Jiang Zhentai could stand up straight in front of this guy from the north when it came to money.
"Forget about the car. So, you really don't want to cooperate? If I find Zhang Mingjun first, there's no guarantee you'll be able to bring him back alive."
Jack offered another olive branch. He really didn't care about the car. It was given by the embassy, so he could just ask for another one later.
Of course, he wasn't trying to force a collaboration; he simply wanted to seize the opportunity to understand why North Korea had once again sent Lin Zheling to South Korea to capture Zhang Mingjun.
At a time when relations between North and South Korea hadn't fully eased, this kind of covert diplomatic operation required considerable sincerity (cost). Clearly, this guy possessed some hidden special value.
And judging from the fact that the ponytailed man blurted out Lin Zheling's name just now, the two parties had obviously known each other for a long time.
Considering that Zhang Mingjun had mentioned the death of Lin Zheling's ex-wife when he was in the federal prison, Jack believed that there must be some story behind it.
"I will find him before you." Lin Zheling replied word by word.
When the South Korean police and the hospital ambulance arrived, a convoy consisting of two military Humvees and a military medical vehicle also arrived at the scene.
A man in a suit from the CIA and a US Army captain took the shot ponytailed man away from Jack, while Lin Zheling and Jiang Zhentai followed the ambulance carrying the slightly fat man to the hospital.