Chapter 9: MadNine
1527 Words
Everyone's eyes immediately turned to MadNine, the person they’ve heard a thousand times but never met. Among them, Charles was undoubtedly the person who observed most carefully.
MadNine looked only in his early thirties, with a medium height and a square face. He looked very ordinary and was one of those people who could hardly be recognized in the crowd.
A hint of cunning flashed occasionally in his small eyes, suggesting that he knew everything that was happening in the room.
But what’s more intriguing was that MadNine had no pinky on his right hand. MadNine had only nine fingers.
Charles reached into his pocket again and touched the phone. What happened before almost scared his soul out, and he vowed that he would never be a thief in the future, but as Jim said, the choice was not on you anymore once you were on this boat. Even if you stopped being a thief, the police station would still have your record that can't be erased for a lifetime.
Charles pinned all his hopes on Dylan. Only when Dylan caught MadNine could let he completely escape from the den of thieves.
MadNine walked to the middle of the room in no hurry, then sat down in the chair that Jim pulled out for him. He looked around at his gang members, "Jim, you did a good job. This lesson is very lively."
Charles peeked, seeing MadNine also looking at him, so he lowered his head hurriedly.
Charles held the phone in his hand but didn't dial out. He still wanted to wait to confirm if this MadNine was real.
Dylan specifically explained to him that he must report to her after confirming the real MadNine showed up.
"Everyone gave me my nickname MadNine. This is my honor. But do you really know the meaning behind this nickname?" MadNine raised his right hand for everyone to see.
"As you can see here, I have only nine fingers. Why do I only have nine fingers? Because I have broken the rules, this was the punishment. I know the importance of the rules more than anyone else because I was there before."
His image immediately changed in Charles' mind. Charles would never turn over his own dark history if he were the leader of the gang. With this courage, MadNine was definitely a figure.
But no matter how he admired MadNine, the fact that he was a thief would not change. Charles still stretched his arm to the phone in his trouser pocket and finally pressed the dial out button.
MadNine continued, "Today Jim was right and did a good job. The rules mean everyone’s wealth and represent everyone’s lives. Now that you have joined my gang, I’m responsible for protecting everyone. People who don’t follow the rules ruin everyone’s jobs, don’t you think?”
"Yes, yes." People answered sparsely.
"Okay, besides this shity thing, I have another thing to share with the gang. Today we have a member who behaved very cleverly. He was blocked by a dozen policemen, but he managed to run out. Now let's invite this member to tell everyone, how did he deal with such a difficult situation, okay?"
For a while, Charles didn't know how to deal with it. All this happened so unexpectedly, which made him feel like a dream.
"Charles, come on! Share your story with us," Jim reminded Charles in a daze.
There seemed to be countless thread ends or nothing in Charles' mind. He stood up very embarrassed and saw that all other eyes were looking at him, his mouth twitched as if he lost his ability to talk.
How to say? And say what? Say he had the supernatural ability? Say that he could see what would happen in the future, and then ran out relying on the time difference?
Who’s gonna believes it?
"Honestly, I got nothing to share. Thanks to my luck this time. I really have nothing to share." Charles repeated.
Charles didn't dare to look at MadNine, grabbing the corner of his clothes, showing a very nervous look.
"Bro, you don’t have to be so humble. You’re a hero this morning. Come on, share with us loud! Are gang members more terrible than the police?" MadNine sounded like an uncle from the neighbor.
Charles' heartbeat was strong as if holding a rabbit in his arms. He said himself that he was really f*****g scarier facing the whole gang than facing the police. At least the police didn't chop people's fingers. Why didn't Monkey Julius come?
Charles raised his head, took a deep breath, "MadNine, actually..."
"Police! Policeman are coming! Run!" A shout suddenly came from outside.
In an instant, people stood up. Someone got up too fast or too hard, causing many chairs to fall to the ground.
"Calm down, everyone! Calm down!" MadNine stood up abruptly and said loudly.
A man stumbled in from the door and said loudly, "MadNine, police are outside! Run!"
"How many people?"
"I don't know! Many! Many!" The man said breathlessly.
MadNine was very decisive, “Let’s run!"
More than twenty people squeezed towards the door, while Charles stood still, and he found that MadNine was also standing there.
At this critical moment, No one had the time or energy to pay attention to, protect or help others. In less than a minute, only MadNine and Charles were left in the room.
Charles didn't run because he was an informant and he got to wait for Dylan to come. But why didn't MadNine run? Did he know that he was blocked by the police and couldn't get out? Charles couldn't understand.
Since MadNine didn't run, Charles knew he got to get away from here. He didn't want to wait for Dylan to come and reveal his identity. If the fact that he was an informant was exposed, even if MadNine could be arrested, other people in the gang would not let him see the sun tomorrow.
These people lick blood on the tip of the knife every day, nothing was too much for them.
Charles turned, but he was stopped by MadNine as he was about to run away.
"Hey, you, don't go out."
Charles couldn't help stopping where he was. He heard the footsteps first, then turned his head to find that MadNine had walked to the door.
MadNine glanced out and found that there was no one in the yard, and instead yelled in the alley. Charles can imagine how chaotic the situation there was.
"Give me a hand," MadNine walked quickly to the closet.
Charles was shocked. He had to admit that MadNine was indeed a veteran.
Who would have thought that even in such a mediocre way, he would even prepare an escape route?
"Come here, why are you freezing there?" MadNine has already begun to push the closet hard.
After thinking about it again and again, Charles walked over.
Putting his hands on the closet, Charles seemed to be able to feel the history of the closet. This wardrobe seemed to be hundreds of years old. The two of them pushed the heavy wardrobe away cautiously and quickly, and a hole about one meter wide appeared. This hole extended to the darkness where Charles had no idea where it led to.
Charles hesitated, not knowing whether to stop MadNine or run away with him.
"Come in, what are you waiting for? Waiting to be caught!" MadNine urged.
Charles had no idea if this decision was correct or not, but in this case, he can only follow MadNine in. Inside was a dark passage. After bending down and walking for more than ten meters, MadNine opened a door in the dark.
Outside was a small alley, and the noisy curses or shouts were very clear. Some were from gangs and some were from the police.
Following MadNine, Charles kept running deep into the alley. While running, he kept observing the surrounding environment. This area was made up of countless paths. It didn't take long for Charles to lose his sense of direction, only to feel that the clamor was left far behind.
Charles was anxious. If MadNine couldn't be captured and brought to justice today, Monkey Julius would definitely not spare himself lightly, and he could only get deeper and deeper in this path.
Buzz, buzz, buzz...
Damn it! The phone in Charles's trouser pocket vibrated at the worst time. Charles hurriedly reached into his trouser pocket, trying to stop the shaking. But just as he touched the phone, MadNine, who was leading the way, stopped suddenly.
"Are you carrying your phone?" MadNine's voice was gloomy as if it came from hell.
"I, I, MadNine, listen to me, it's not what you think," Charles explained quickly while looking for a way to escape.
MadNine approached Charles step by step, and quickly pushed Charles into the corner.
"Don't move!" A scolding came from the darkness.
Charles has never felt such relieved hearing the shouts from the police.
Monkey Julius finally arrived.
- Writer
