Aboard the Rocks, inside the commander's quarters. John was busy organizing the cash he'd snatched from the casino. After a rough count, it looked to be around twenty million Beli. After he bundled the money up and was getting ready to stash it, there was suddenly a knock at the door.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
The moment John heard it, panic flared up in his chest. His first thought was that Bob had come to collect his debt. He hastily stuffed the money any which way and hid it out of sight. John hurried to the door, took a breath, and pulled it open.
"Wang Zhi! Silver Axe!"
Seeing it wasn't Bob at the door but those two instead, John was caught off guard. But then he remembered how just earlier, in front of everyone, these two had exposed him and left him thoroughly embarrassed. Annoyance welled up inside as he asked coldly,
"What do you want?"
Noticing John expression, the two of them exchanged a glance and a grin, instantly understanding his attitude. Wang Zhi stroked his beard with a chuckle and said,
"Oh, John! We were just joking around, you know? Surely you don't think any less of us over something like that, do you?"
"Yeah! Exactly!" Silver Axe chimed in on the side.
"Hmph!" John snorted, thinking it was easy for them to laugh since they weren't the ones being made fun of.
"Fine, come in."
Wang Zhi and Silver Axe stepped into John quarters. They all sat around a table. Wang Zhi pulled out a barrel of strong liquor he'd brought with him, set it on the table, and filled each of the three bowls to the brim. Seeing this, John couldn't help but frown.
"So, what's this about? Just say it."
"Hahaha! John, you really don't beat around the bush. We actually just wanted to ask—after you went out with Bob this time, how much did you make?"
Silver Axe slid a full bowl over to John and got straight to the point. He'd originally planned to chat for a bit to warm up before getting to that, since asking someone how much they earned right off the bat was a little blunt. But since John had already brought it up, he just went with it.
Hearing this, John expression shifted. These two really knew how to poke at a sore spot. Here he was, deep in debt after gambling losses, and they had the nerve to come asking if he'd made any money. John almost blurted out the truth, but stopped himself at the last second. If these two knew what really happened, he could already picture them laughing so hard they'd have to lean against the wall—and knowing them, it'd be all over the ship within an hour.
A thought flashed through John's mind. If he'd lost money, then he wasn't about to let them have an easy time either.
"Not bad! I won around five hundred million Beli."
John sounded relaxed, like this was just another day.
"What! That much?!"
"You have to give us the details!"
They'd figured John must've made something, but hearing a real number made them shout in surprise. That was nearly five hundred million Beli—more than half their bounty.
"Yeah, well, Bob might be strong, but he's hopeless at cards!"
"I didn't even have to try too hard—Bob was already losing it! The way he kept upping the ante, throwing down a hundred million Beli at a time without blinking!"
"..."
John drained his bowl in one gulp, telling his tale with animated gestures, slapping the table, acting it all out as if every word were true. Meanwhile, Silver Axe kept refilling his drink. John only finished after quite a while, and Wang Zhi and Silver Axe exchanged a long look.
"Listening to you, Bob seems like an easy target!"
"But when I saw Bob come back, he didn't look like someone who'd just lost that much—he looked in a pretty good mood!"
As lively as John sounded, they both knew his personality. Not only was he greedy, he also loved to exaggerate. Remembering how cheerful Bob was earlier, Wang Zhi couldn't help but ask,
"So what, was he supposed to walk around with a 'lost five hundred mil' written on his face?"
John replied, sounding a bit annoyed. Wang Zhi paused—true enough, that kind of embarrassment wasn't something people went around advertising.
"But could you really fit five hundred million in that bag you had when you got back? I'm not sure I buy it."
Wang Zhi pressed on, needing to clear up his doubts.
"Couldn't fit. Bob didn't bring that much cash either—most of it's just what he owes me."
John said this without batting an eye, flipping the story about who owed whom on its head.
"I see."
"But you did come back with a bag, John!"
Seeing Wang Zhi kept asking. John frowned a bit, cursing silently—these two sure had a lot of questions, and so suspicious too.
"That's just Bob not wanting to come back empty-handed—had me split the money between two bags so he'd at least have something to carry. Otherwise, wouldn't look good."
"Ha! That sounds just like Bob, too proud to save his own skin."
Silver Axe jumped in, fully convinced by John story by now.
"Yeah, with how much Bob cares about appearances, that totally sounds like something he'd do!"
"But John, would you mind letting me take a look at the cash in your bag?"
Wang Zhi pressed on, still uneasy.
"Hmph! After all this talk and you still don't believe me. I've got nothing more to say."
"If you don't believe me, you can just go ask Bob yourself!"
John's expression cooled as he spoke. He was certain the two of them wouldn't actually dare go ask Bob. Seriously, what would they say—'Hey, did you really lose five hundred million Beli?' And sure enough, Wang Zhi broke into laughter.
"John, when have I ever doubted you?"
"I'm just curious about how fresh the bills in that bag are, that's all!"
Seeing he wouldn't be let off otherwise, John brought out the bag and spread it open for all to see—a pile of cash inside.
"Hahahaha!"
"Getting money like this sure is easier than being a pirate and robbing everywhere!"
Wang Zhi, catching a glance at the haul, was now completely convinced.
"Yeah!"
"By the way… don't you two want to win some money yourselves?"
Now that they'd bought it, John went right for his real goal.
"Oh?"
"You mean—"
Wang Zhi paused, then caught on to what John was suggesting.
"Hahaha! Just what I was thinking!"
"We'll have to plan this one out…"
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