I am a Big Player
Chapter 395 - 390, Four People Still Can’t Beat Him Alone? (Second Update)_1

Chapter 395: 390, Four People Still Can’t Beat Him Alone? (Second Update)_1

The person in black lay on the ground contemplating for a while; at least now he had finally figured out what was going on. It seemed the Knight had come specifically to catch thieves, but just how conveniently did the Knight appear here?

If he knew that it was these three bumbling thieves who had lured Ren He here, who knows what he would have thought. They couldn’t even crack the safe, and yet they had the audacity to try theft?

Ren He was also secretly relieved about something; had these three bums not slipped up once, the painting "Stubbornness" might have really been lost.

In fact, compared to the value of "Stubbornness," the security here was far behind. Robbing a bank might not net you a few million US dollars, but stealing a painting like this was so easy—hence why some would dare to take the risk.

The man in black silently squatted next to the three foolhardy burglars, muttering to themselves that stealing was wrong. A surge of humiliation washed over him; he never thought that he, who always prided himself on his high intellect, would end up in such a predicament.

His voice grew quieter as he read, his anger flaring with each word.

Ren He said nonchalantly, "Take off whatever you’ve got on your faces."

The three dumb thieves, knowing what was best for them, took off their Red Scarves right away, but the man in black hesitated. He was a burglar, that’s true, but he had a normal life and a normal job outside of this. He still harbored a glimmer of hope that perhaps he could escape?

Ren He looked at the indifferent man in black, his eyebrows raising instantly: "Quite the rebellious spirit, huh? Do you think I’m discussing things with you? No! I hope you can show some cooperative spirit."

Just then, one of the bumbling burglars comforted him, "Bro, just take it off; it’s not like you can fight him off."

The rage in the man in black erupted suddenly. Aren’t you all thieves too? Don’t you want to escape? Don’t you want to resist at least a little bit? How can you be so spineless!

There are four of us here—can’t we beat just one of him?!

At times like this, there must be one person to bolster the courage of the others. With a leader, they would stand up to resist. That’s how people are; if no one takes the initiative, the rest will be timid. And the man in black thought he had that sort of courage!

He said in a cold, rapid voice: "There are four of us and only one of him. Can’t the four of us beat just one? As long as..."

Before the man in black could finish speaking, one of the dimwitted thieves naturally asserted: "Yeah, we can’t beat him." They hadn’t resisted—when all three of them attacked at once, they didn’t even see how they got floored. The Knight had taken you down in one strike; after all, you’re just cannon fodder. You talk a good game, but you’re no better than us...

The man in black was completely dumbfounded. You guys really have no ambition... Sorry, I overestimated you!

He simply took off his hood; there was no chance to resist. He had resigned himself to his fate!

Ren He took one look at him and froze. This was someone he had seen before, Evan’s flamboyant bodyguard, Steve!

No wonder the man was so agile. It made sense that he seemed a bit more professional than the three bumbling thieves beside him—perhaps he even had the status of an ex-military man.

Who would have thought that a celebrity’s bodyguard would be sneaking into Columbia University in the middle of the night to steal paintings?!

Ren He chuckled, leaned in close to Steve’s ear, and whispered a message meant for Steve’s ears only: "Mr. Steve, instead of being a good bodyguard for Evan, you’re here stealing paintings?"

Steve’s face darkened instantly. Today had been full of too many surprises: encountering a Knight more formidable than imagined was a surprise; running into three cowardly and incompetent thieves was a surprise; and the Knight knowing his name and about his cake shop was an even bigger shock!

But at the time he was accompanying Evan to the recording studio, Ren He barely spoke, so he did not recognize Ren He’s voice.

He developed a liking for gambling, which he picked up after becoming Evan’s bodyguard. Before that, stealing paintings had been too easy, and he didn’t appreciate his success. Despite succeeding six times, he still hadn’t managed to save any money.

This time he acted because Evan’s puking had disgusted him too. He really didn’t want to serve such a disgusting celebrity anymore, and that gay celebrity was always being inappropriate with the bodyguards. He planned to pull off one last job and then quit the life of crime for good, kick his gambling habit, find some honest work, and live a peaceful life.

Ren He didn’t know about Steve’s inner turmoil; otherwise, he would have been astonished to realize that the theft of the paintings was deeply connected to himself!

He also didn’t dare ask Steve about what happened after Evan’s vomiting incident, lest he narrow down his suspects. Besides, Evan’s influential father had managed to suppress the incident, so not many people knew about it.

Ren He asked him, "Can you open this safe? If you can open it, I won’t call the police."

"I can," Steve said.

"Show me how," Ren He said with a slight raise of his eyebrows.

Steve first drilled a tiny hole in the outer wall of the safe, hooked something inside with a piece of wire, then leaned in close to the safe to carefully listen to the sound it made as he turned the dial. It took him only about five minutes to fix the combination lock in place.

He then inserted two bent pieces of steel wire into the keyhole and gave them a casual twist; the safe opened!

This was the first time Ren He had seen a burglar crack a safe right before his eyes; he had only ever seen it in movies. Real-life safe cracking seemed much more mundane than in the films, as if opening the safe was no big deal for Steve.

With a cold expression, Steve asked, "What are you planning to do now?"

"Oh," Ren He came to his senses, realizing it was time to get back on track, "I imagine none of you want to go to prison, right?"

The three bungling thieves nodded vigorously, while Steve was more straightforward, "What do you want?"

"Leave your contact information, each of you write a confession letter with fingerprints, and let me take a picture of you, then you’re free to go," Ren He said casually.

He wasn’t just shooting in the dark. He hadn’t planned to do much with the clumsy thieves; catching them and choosing whether to call the police was up to him. Whether his behavior was legal or not wasn’t his concern at the moment. Ren He believed these thieves wouldn’t arbitrarily turn themselves in to the police.

But as for Evan’s bodyguard Steve, Ren He thought instead of handing him over to the police, he might be more useful if he kept a hold of the leverage. This potential utility had nothing to do with Evan. The interest lay in Steve’s displayed skills and theft expertise, which were intriguing to him as a real-life burglar.

Ren He was a practical man. What good would it do him to turn this man over to the authorities? None, the US government wouldn’t award him a Good Citizen award.

If he kept Steve around, who knows, maybe one day he could actually come in handy. Ren He had no idea how likely that was, but it was better than nothing.

The three clumsy thieves were quite straightforward. They promptly wrote their confession letters, pressed their fingerprints, and let Ren He take their photos. Ren He readily let them go and warned them not to talk about tonight’s events.

When it came to Steve’s turn, he found it hard to accept his vulnerability to someone else’s control, but given the circumstances, he had no better option. He resigned himself to his fate and like the other three, let Ren He take his photo...

For him, it had been a dismal day; not only did he fail to steal the paintings, but he also ended up at the mercy of someone else. What was even more infuriating was that he had to associate himself with those three idiots—just mentioning that he had tried to steal with them was embarrassing!

...

Time to grab a bite.