Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 105 - 95 Rules Must Be Rules

Chapter 105: Chapter 95 Rules Must Be Rules

Splitting the money among ourselves is simple, still half and half per family, not a problem for Luca.

Luca just glanced at Martin and Richard, but as he crouched to split the money into two again, Martin tugged on Richard’s clothes.

The two apologised with a smile to Gao Yi and his group before stepping outside, then Martin whispered, "Do you think there’s a problem with how the money is split?"

Richard whispered back, "Not at all, it’s fair."

Martin whispered, "But we are only two people, Busan has three, and look at their situation, the money is split evenly among them, which is where the problem lies."

"What problem?"

"They have more people, so after splitting it evenly, each person gets less. Moreover, they only have three people this time; what if they have even more next time?"

Richard, also smart, immediately said, "Are you worried he’ll sideline us and work directly with that old man, Christopher?"

Martin whispered, "Not about working with Christopher, but because the split is too small, which isn’t very appealing. Like, if there’s another opportunity, the most we’d get is ten thousand dollars, and if they take five thousand, after splitting, each person gets just over a thousand, which isn’t attractive at all."

Richard took a deep breath and said, "What do you mean?"

"We should focus on making money over the long-term, look at the bigger picture. Do you agree?"

Richard hesitated, visibly conflicted, but finally, he nodded heavily and said, "I agree, so... you say it."

Martin nodded, turned around, and called out loudly to Gao Yi, "Hold on, we think this way of splitting the money isn’t quite right."

Gao Yi looked toward Martin, Luca frowned and said, "Oh, what’s wrong?"

With a smile, Martin said, "This time you brought three people, so an even split isn’t suitable. This is the second part of our first cooperation, and some things weren’t set in stone during our first cooperation. It might be difficult to handle in the future, so we might as well perfect the rules a bit."

Richard added, "Yes, don’t let yourselves be at a disadvantage."

Martin thought for a moment and said, "How about this, we split per head this time, one million, five people, two hundred thousand each. Next time we have such an opportunity, we’ll decide how to split it again. Does that sound good to you?"

Richard also said, "The rule we’re setting this time is not to set a rule yet. Each time we’ll decide based on the situation, like how many people there are, the level of risk, and so on. I think it’s better, beneficial for long-term cooperation, for the future."

The two of them voluntarily offered the money in harmony. Gao Yi thought it was good, and he also believed these two were smart, not short-sighted people fixated on hogging the money.

Gao Yi used to watch movies and couldn’t understand why, in a team that had cooperated for many years with many opportunities to make big money, the leader would just see a bit of money and kill an important companion.

Couldn’t they just work more together? Without money, they’d complete one operation, and wouldn’t it be better always to have insiders?

Why does every job have to involve a new batch of people, tired of dying too slowly or what?

With sincerity shown and to reassure his partners, it’s best to accept this sincerity. So Gao Yi slowly said, "Ah, that’s not quite right, but... you make sense, considering the long term. Let’s not set the rules too rigid just yet, there will definitely be big orders in the future, big tasks! We might be able to make tens of millions in one go, that’s definitely possible in Los Angeles, and by then, we’ll surely need to cooperate."

Gao Yi was painting a big picture, but his wasn’t too far-fetched.

The Dark Web covers at least half the world, and Los Angeles is also an international metropolis. Even if big figures in Los Angeles are not being assassinated every day, there are regular tasks.

Even if there is only one big task every two years, as long as Gao Yi could keep control of the Los Angeles turf, wouldn’t that mean more opportunities than his colleagues?

So what Gao Yi said made sense, it was about ideals, not dreams.

Martin was pleased; he nodded repeatedly and said, "Exactly! That’s right! That’s how it should be! If you have tasks in Los Angeles again, we can totally collaborate. I can get the intel here, Richard can provide lots of conveniences, assassins with FBI backup, used to be only national agents, now it includes you, our prospects for collaboration are excellent!"

Lin Xianghua looked at Gao Yi, then at Martin, looked at Martin again, then back at Gao Yi, but his expression was blank, unaware of what was going through his mind.

Gao Yi addressed Luca, "Let’s make it two hundred and ten thousand each, count it out."

Luca lifted his head, neck stiff, and said, "No!"

The four were stunned.

Luca, very seriously, said, "We agreed on a fifty-fifty split, so it must be fifty-fifty. If we don’t want to keep splitting it that way, we should decide ahead of time how to split it next action. But this time, this time it must be fifty-fifty."

Gao Yi was principled but also knew how to be flexible, mostly focusing on the bigger picture.

But it seemed not to work with Luca.

Luca divided the money into two piles, then quickly counted out five thousand from ten thousand dollars, handing over two stacks of ten thousand dollar bills and a stack of five thousand in loose bills to Martin, saying, "Two hundred fifty thousand, the other side is five hundred thousand."

Martin dazedly accepted the money.

Luca, with a serious expression, said, "According to what we agreed, fifty-fifty, count it to see if it’s right."

Martin exhaled and said, "No need to count, we... trust you."

Luca nodded, then turned to Lin Xianghua, "What are you spacing out for, move the money."

At this, Richard pointed at Lin Xianghua and said, "Uh, wait a minute, give me your gun... You’ve used this gun, it’s left marks, don’t use it again. We have plenty of automatic weapons here; I’ll get you some new guns later. What type of gun do you like?"

Using a weapon once and then discarding it, expensive automatic weapons becoming disposable, was an experience Lin Xianghua hadn’t even dared to imagine.

He couldn’t help but look at Gao Yi, who nodded and said, "No problem, they aren’t lacking these things."

Lin Xianghua unbuckled his three-point gun sling, removed the magazine, pulled the bolt to eject the bullet from the chamber, and then went to hand the gun to Richard, but he kept the magazine in his hand, apparently intending not to give it.

This habit, or this awareness, was pretty good, at least preventing the other party from immediately firing a barrage with the gun once they got it.

Richard didn’t take offense; he casually tossed the empty gun into the trunk of the car.

Martin addressed Gao Yi, "So, that settles it. Let’s keep in touch. If you need any help, just say it, don’t be shy. We’re partners now."

"Alright, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to contact us."

People from the underworld obviously can’t meet up for a drink or meet regularly like normal people, as too close associations might cause a problem if unwittingly captured on camera one day.

Now, with the dealings concluded and money in hand, obviously, everyone would head their separate ways.

But as he got into the car to head back, Lin Xianghua suddenly said, "That old guy, he didn’t ask me to take off my police uniform..."

Gao Yi laughed, "That means it was given to us, keep it. We’ll need it later. Oh, I haven’t taken off my Bullet-Proof Vest yet."

Lin Xianghua quickly said, "Keep it, it will definitely be useful. Boss, I have to tell you, it’s not a good habit not wearing a Bullet-Proof Vest. Even if you’re not used to it, wear it more. Once you wear it more, you’ll naturally get used to it. You need to realize bullets don’t have eyes, and stray bullets really are just pure luck, especially on the battlefield. Bullets could come from any direction."

"Okay, okay, I’ll keep it. From now on, I’ll wear the Bullet-Proof Vest while training to get used to it."

Luca started the car, and as he drove off, he suddenly said fiercely, "You two stop, I’m asking you, why wreck our credibility with someone for just one hundred ten thousand dollars on our first cooperation?"

Gao Yi was astonished, "What? I didn’t mean that! Oh, wasn’t it their suggestion? And it made sense. For the next one million or five million task, but without this kind of contraband, we couldn’t split it evenly, could we?"

"Shut up!"

Luca said urgently, "What you’re talking about is the task; I’m talking about the spoils. What contraband? Don’t ever say contraband, call it spoils!"

"Okay, spoils."

"Get it clear, we can’t change what’s agreed. The same goes if it’s suggested by someone else. It’s just one hundred ten thousand dollars, not worth breaking our trust."

Gao Yi whispered, "No, I was thinking of accepting their kindness and the sincerity they showed for long-term cooperation. It’s not only beneficial to others. Sometimes, accepting someone’s kindness can make them feel more secure."

This was a typical clash of handling styles.

Gao Yi was the type who could discern the important from the trivial, willing to give up profits and able to do so flexibly, valuing give-and-take. As long as there’s more interaction, future interactions will naturally increase.

But Luca was the type to set a rule and then stick to it rigidly, completely locking it down, insisting on adherence to the point of rigidity.

There’s no right or wrong, just what’s suitable or not.

But this time, Luca clearly disagreed with Gao Yi’s style, angrily saying, "I am the CFO. You set the distribution rules, and I follow them. If you keep breaking the rules, how do I operate? Breaking rules means no integrity. How do you get by without integrity? Do you know how hard it is to build trust?"

Gao Yi quickly said, "Alright, alright, you’re right. From now on, you handle the money matters; I won’t interfere. I’ll keep my mouth shut—is that okay?"

Luca breathed out and said, "Let it go this time, but no next time. From now on, you can only fully uphold my absolute authority in financial matters! The rules you set cannot be changed. Got it?"

"Okay, okay, no problem."

Watching his boss get scolded by his subordinate, Lin Xianghua wanted to say something but dared not; yet saying nothing didn’t seem right either.

Hesitating a bit, Lin Xianghua carefully said, "Uh, boss, about your gun... maybe find one with a lighter trigger pull?"

Gao Yi quickly turned to look at Lin Xianghua, "What did you say?"

"About the gun, uh, isn’t the factory trigger a bit too hard?"

Gao Yi quickly said, "Yes, yes, absolutely! Uh, I need to find a good gun; I have time now, I know a good choice."