Fair Trade

A cold silence descended on the room. Even after successfully proving it, Sei couldn’t hide her embarrassment.

The person who used this method was a woman named Lily White. She had washed her hands of this business long ago and disappeared after being arrested by the FBI after her former partner snitched on her.

“Ha, damn it…”

David spit out a curse and picked up the remains of the wet gold bar.

“Hey, young lady. How did you know this was fake? I’ve never heard of this method before.”

“It is a method that has been forgotten a long time ago. Also its purpose isn’t to scam people using weight. It might contain a GPS tracker or… perhaps even a microbomb.”

In an instant, David’s bodyguards aimed their guns at Sei’s head. The sound of the loading guns resonated eerily.

When Giulio and Yuri positioned themselves in front of her, David, who raised his hand, shook his head and pointed to Sei and the gold bar in turn.

“Bring me a laser cutting machine! Prove it.”

“No!”

After shouting out loud, Sei looked at Yuri and Giulio, then at Stefan and Romano, who were facing David’s men with their guns. She took a deep breath and said, “It… it shouldn’t come into contact with the heat. It was designed with that in mind as people usually melt or cut the gold to see if it’s fake. If you do that… it will definitely explode.”

Sei’s expression darkened.

“However, using a strong impact wouldn’t pose much risk.”

With her eyes narrowed, she picked up a 1 kg gold bar and slammed it against the corner of the marble table with all her might.

The shock caused Sei’s hands to swell and turn bright red. The gold bar, on the other hand, only had a few scratches and was perfectly fine. Embarrassed, she shrugged and raised her hand again. However, Yuri grabbed her hand and took the gold bar from her. He looked at it indifferently and slammed it directly against the table’s corner.

Small gold shards began to fall from the marble table’s edge. After a few hits, the gold bar broke in half.

Everyone looked at Yuri, surprised. Although he was tall and had a good physique, they all seemed to have underestimated his strength because of his attractive face.

Yuri pulled the broken gold bar in the opposite direction and tore it apart, oblivious to everyone’s stares. Even David, who knew Yuri’s identity, burst out laughing at the absurd sight.

“Can anyone present here do that?”

Everyone awkwardly averted their gaze in response to David’s question, which was half-joking and half-serious. Sei discovered a microchip-shaped foreign object the size of her little fingernail in the gold bar she had taken from Yuri. She then tossed it into the glass Giulio had set down.

“Oh my God…”

There was an inexplicable silence for a while. To the point where one could hear the second hand of the wall clock ticking.

David began to laugh aloud after swallowing the entire amount of alcohol in his mouth. Then he yelled at his stupid bodyguards, “What are you doing? Start breaking those gold bars in half right now!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the men rushed in, just like Sei and Yuri had done before, and began breaking the gold bars in half in a more advanced manner. David took the rest of his drink and led them out of the cluttered room to what appeared to be a well-ventilated area. Only then did Sei feel like she could breathe again.

“It’s strange to see you almost being attacked and yet remaining carefree.”

David simply smiled in response to Giulio’s murmur. His reappearance at the venue drew applause from all over the place. David smiled gracefully like an actor and waved to them, then moved to the third aisle with his entourage.

Those walking alongside sped up their steps in case they fell behind.

“I can see that I’m being attacked. Maybe I got caught up in a family feud.”

“If there’s any family that can threaten you, old man… it’s the Petrovs… Camille Petrov.”

Giulio’s voice had become muffled. His eyes gleamed dangerously like a man excited to get himself involved in an interesting game.

“I know Yuri Petrov is here. Please tell me now. Who is he?”

A narrow passage on the north side of the venue led to the venue’s only front window. When David saw Giulio’s excitement, he shook his head and entered the vault-like door.

“Giulio, you and Yuri Petrov are like two very different colors. I want the two colors to blend as little as possible. I hope you realize how much I don’t want to lose both of you.”

It sounded like conciliation, but it was nothing less than coercion. During their conversation, Sei discovered a deep mire-like loophole in the cartel.

The person who sent the gold bars was none other than Yuri’s older brother, Camille Petrov. Looking at Yuri’s face now, it was clear that she would be unable to conceal her regret. Her palms began to sweat as she considered the possibility that she had made a mistake.

Giulio, his hand in his pocket, hardened his face. “Well, let’s decide here. Is this the place? I heard you made a private safe in the hotel. It needs some redecorating, but I like it. If we’re trapped… we’ll all die together.”