Chapter 324: Your Mother is Lying to You
Arthur, positioned high above, had a clear view of everyone below. He simply put away his silenced pistol and picked up the elite assassin's rifle, aiming it at the men below.
"Bang!" The sound of the rifle, masked by the machine gun, was almost unnoticed. Even if someone did notice, they would assume it was another comrade raising their gun overhead, blind firing like some third-world militia.
But that wasn't the case.
Arthur, on the ship's roof, took down one assassin hiding behind cover with each shot, and until he killed the last one, no one noticed anything amiss.
Well, how could dead men notice anything amiss?
Arthur gave Ron an OK sign from the top of the ship. Ron's gunfire subsided slightly. On the other side of the yacht, Crane, who was making a tactical retreat, suddenly stopped and pricked up his ears warily: "What happened? The gunfire stopped?"
"Richard and his men probably took out the attacker. Boss, should we continue to the lifeboats? This woman is very uncooperative." A subordinate slapped Gina to quiet her down a little, while his face was already scratched beyond recognition.
The woman Arthur had his eye on was certainly no pushover. He wasn't like Ron, who appreciated aesthetics; even the women he chose were capable fighters.
"No, we must continue the retreat!" Crane, who had worked with Arthur before, knew that Arthur couldn't possibly have been killed so easily.
It wasn't that he lacked confidence in his men, but rather that he had too much respect for Arthur's skills.
"You two, go check what's going on. The rest of you, continue with me to the lifeboats." Crane randomly picked two unlucky guys; in his mind, these two were already dead.
He never expected the two men to return alive; he only hoped they would delay Arthur's arrival.
In that respect, he was indeed shrewd, but he overlooked one crucial point: Arthur hadn't come alone; he was with Ron.
Just as they turned to the other side where the lifeboats were moored, a handsome man wearing a fishing cap and a Hawaiian shirt emerged from behind one of the lifeboats.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Crane," Ron greeted him with a smile, tipping his hat in a salute. The man, dressed in casual Hawaiian attire, made a Texas howdy gesture, which looked rather amusing.
"Who are you?"
This abrupt turn of events likely caused his two men to forget to draw their guns, simply staring blankly at Ron until Crane spoke, at which point they hastily drew their weapons.
Ron casually gestured at his two pistols, as if performing a show, treating Crane and his group as the audience: "Let me introduce myself. I am Ron Lee Cooper, the captain of the IRS Special Operations Team, and also the boss of that lady's fiancé beside you.
So, could you do me a favor and hand that lady over to me? I guarantee you'll receive decent treatment, like not throwing your corpses into the ocean to feed the sharks."
Even if Crane were stupid, he would realize at this moment that this man was in cahoots with Arthur!
Besides, he wasn't stupid to begin with; without him even giving the order, his two men had already begun pulling the triggers.
"Watch out!"
Gina had barely shouted when Ron, as if by magic, drew a revolver from his waist.
"BANG!" Two shots rang out in quick succession, but because the two shots were so close together, the sound was almost as if only one shot had been fired. The result was that the trigger fingers of two assassins were severed, their knuckles flying off as they prepared to pull the triggers, and the pistols fell to the ground along with their severed fingers.
Crane swore that in all his years in the assassination business, he had never seen such fast marksmanship; it was like something out of a Western!
"Are you human or a gunslinger?!" Crane screamed in terror, while behind him, the screams of his two men with severed fingers grew increasingly agonizing.
Because at the very moment Ron fired, Gina moved as well. First, taking advantage of everyone's attention being focused on Ron, she launched a flying kick at the man on her left's groin. Then, before her kicking foot hit the ground, she clenched her free right fist and delivered a beautiful uppercut, slamming it into the groin of the man on her right.
Ron gave her an admiring look; Arthur's fiancée was absolutely badass!
"Honestly, can't people understand plain English?" Ron blew a puff of non-existent smoke from the muzzle of his gun, holstered his revolver, and smiled brightly as always. But in Crane's eyes, this was nothing short of the devil's grin: "I've already introduced myself and made my request in a friendly manner, so why did you choose such a violent way to answer me?"
Ron walked towards Crane, who was perhaps so frightened by the bizarre marksmanship that he forgot to back away. Only when Ron reached him did his knees buckle, and he collapsed to his knees.
A warm sensation came from his groin; he had wet himself.
"What a shame! I thought you were some tough guy, and I even prepared a whole toolkit for you. I didn't expect you to end up like this without even using a single piece," Ron pulled a small bag from his pocket and threw it in front of Crane. Inside were various portable interrogation devices he had prepared. "Come on, tell me, how much money have you made all these years? Have you paid your taxes properly?
Uncle Sam loves citizens who pay their taxes obediently."
Crane's face turned pale because he hadn't paid a single penny of tax all these years.
"I've bought some artwork, and my accountant said it can offset some taxes. Oh, and you can't do this to me! I donate to charity every year!"
Crane's first words were hesitant, but as he continued, he seemed to grasp at a lifeline, his courage suddenly rising: "My mother is a CPA! Every night before bed, she would tell me that as long as I consistently donate to charity, I don't have to pay a single penny in taxes on the money in my charitable foundation! Every year, I just need to take a portion to buy things for the poor! I've bought them groceries, $50 worth each! I don't have to pay taxes! You have no grounds to arrest me!"
"Oh, and this woman!" Crane, seemingly frantic, pushed Gina aside: "I don't know this woman at all. She boarded the ship on her own. You can't arrest me for that!"
"Sorry, wrong answer, strike one. Your mother lied to you!" Ron kicked Crane in the knee, knocking him down again, then grabbed his arm and slammed it to the ground, stomping on it. With his other hand, he raised a hammer and smashed it down on Crane's fingers.
"I'll ask you one more time now, have you been paying your taxes properly?" Ron stroked Crane's hair, bringing his face close to his own. "Before you answer, let me remind you, including the other hand, you have nine more chances to answer."
(End of Chapter)
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