Knock, knock, knock!
The knocking was unusually loud. Victor continued shouting at the door: "Ed, you know what I'm capable of. If you don't open the door, I'll make tonight a night you'll never want to remember!" But there was still no answer. Even peering through the peephole, there was only total darkness; not even the lights were on.
"Is no one home?" Logan asked, looking at the inert house. "It seems your boss's intelligence was wrong."
"No, there's a noise."
Victor pressed his ear against the door; his keen senses allowed him to hear a slight movement inside.
Instantly, Victor's face darkened. "Damn it, this guy is trying to escape!"
Having said that, Victor quickly stepped back two paces and rammed the door with his shoulder.
Bang!
The wooden door, not very sturdy, burst open.
Logan flicked the switch on the wall, and the main light in the house came on.
Victor's gaze fixed on a white man standing on the balcony, about to escape through the window. He was disheveled, and almost his entire body was sticking out.
"Ed, don't even think about trying to escape!" Victor shouted, springing up like lightning.
Seeing Victor lunging at him, Ed's expression changed drastically. Without hesitation, he jumped out the window, crashing hard into the dumpster below.
He kicked the garbage away and tried to run toward the alley exit.
Victor, seeing this, also didn't hesitate, jumped and chased after him.
Logan stood by the window, watching their figures and then looking at the height.
Before, that height would have been effortless for him, but now he feared his body couldn't withstand it.
Seeing the two were about to disappear in the distance, Logan took a deep breath and jumped too, pursuing Victor.
"Stop! You can't escape!" Victor yelled furiously at Ed, quickening his pace.
Ed, his face contorted with panic, kept looking back to gauge the distance, shouting: "Stop chasing me! Give me a few more days, I'll surely get the money!"
Victor didn't say another word; he leaped like a tiger, pinning Eder to the ground with his bulky body. He grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back, and slammed his knee into his back.
The pain from the fall and the twisted arm made Eder scream in agony.
"No, no, no, be careful, you'll break my arm!" Eder yelled, his face contorted with desperation. Dark circles under his eyes indicated he hadn't slept for days, and his body reeked of sweat, a clear sign he had spent many nights at the casino.
Victor didn't mince words; his massive fist struck Ed's back, who pleaded for mercy.
After a flurry of blows, Victor reached into Ed's pockets and pulled out over a thousand dollars in cash.
"That's all?"
Victor looked at the money in his hand. "It doesn't even cover the interest!"
"This is all I have left. Even if you kill me, I'll have nothing left," Ed's voice trembled with tears. Victor's knee pressed into his back, making it hard to breathe. Victor frowned and his gaze landed on a watch on Ed's wrist. It was one of the few things the guy had that was worth anything.
He ripped the watch off and stood up with an expression of disgust. "You better hurry up and gather the money, or the next time I come, I'll rip off at least one of your arms!"
Having said that, he tucked the money and the watch into his pocket and turned to leave.
At that instant, Ed grabbed Victor's pants, knelt down, and begged: "Please, leave me a few hundred dollars. I've been on a winning streak lately. I'll get it all back in two days... No, in one day! In one day!"
Victor turned to look at him and kicked him. "Get lost, or I'll break your legs!"
His fierce glare was that of a tiger stalking its prey.
Ed seemed to perceive Victor's murderous intent and trembled with fear. He dared not stay any longer and hurried away.
Logan watched Ed run off and chuckled: "You're quite the expert."
He felt no sympathy for gamblers; they were all lunatics.
Victor, however, remained unfazed. "That's how you have to treat these people. They'll never think about paying back the money until they're missing something."
Having said that, he headed toward the street exit. "Come on, I still have to give the money to Mr. Notland."
Guided by Victor, they arrived at a not-very-large casino.
"Mr. Notland is a wealthy businessman and very well known in this area, who runs several small casinos, mainly for ordinary people," Victor explained to Logan as they walked toward the casino.
Two impeccably dressed bodyguards in black suits were at the entrance. They clearly knew Victor well and, smiling, told him: "Victor, you finally arrived. The boss is waiting for you on the second floor."
Then, seeing Logan next to Victor, they asked cautiously: "And this is...?"
Victor introduced him: "This is my friend James, he's visiting for a few days."
The bodyguard nodded, looked at Logan, and concluding that the man, who appeared to be about sixty, posed no threat, smiled and said: "Go on in. If your friend wants to gamble, he can play a few games downstairs; there's quite an atmosphere tonight."
Victor nodded silently, and both entered the casino together.
It was a bustling gambling venue, with frantic gamblers shouting and throwing chips across the tables; their screeches were unbearable.
They didn't linger, heading straight up to the second floor and reaching an office.
"Wait for me here, I'll be right out," Victor said, knocking on the door and entering.
Logan stayed in the outer hallway, looking around.
Compared to the chaos of the casino downstairs, this place was surprisingly quiet; excellent soundproofing blocked out all the noise from the ground floor.
A hallway window offered views of a crystal-clear river flowing below, its surface reflecting the bright Las Vegas skyline. Golden lights illuminated the river, making it look like a river of gold.
"The view is quite good," Logan commented, looking out the window.
Suddenly, a dull thud echoed from the office, followed by a string of curses.
"A thousand dollars! What can you do with a thousand dollars? That guy owes fifty thousand! Fifty thousand! If you can't get it back, are you going to pay me? Do I look like someone who is short a thousand dollars?
"Victor, remember this: I am the one who keeps you employed. If you keep doing this half-assed job, get out of here! I can't stand useless people like you!
"Where is that guy?
"What? Did you really let him go? Are you a pig? Before letting him go, couldn't you use your donkey brain to think? Now that you've let him go, where are you going to find him next time? And my $50,000?
"My God, Victor, did I hear right? How much is his apartment worth? Not even a homeless person would avoid it. You expect him to come back? I overestimated you. I can barely consider you a human being, you brainless piece of trash!"
"Even if you had caught him and sent him to the black mine, at least you would have recovered some of the losses. But you let him go. Are you carrying a mountain of shit around?"
"..."
Logan listened to the voices inside, clenched his fists helplessly, and walked toward the door, hoping to go in to help Victor when the fight started.
He knew his brother's personality well; his temper at that moment was like a powder keg. Anyone who dared to insult him, or even raise their voice at him, would be ripped apart by his claws.
Logan believed a conflict that night was inevitable.
But to his astonishment, after several minutes, not only did he hear no fighting, but he didn't even hear Victor's voice.
He was like a disciplined child, completely silent.
Five minutes later, Notland finally finished spewing all the swear words he had, and only then did Victor's response resonate.
"I'm sorry, sir, I promise it won't happen again."
The voice was respectful and humble; Logan even wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him. How could Victor say such things?!
"Get out! If you do this again, don't bother coming back!" Those were Notland's final words, ordering him to leave.
Crack
Victor pushed the door open and walked out, his face expressionless. He simply said: "Let's go."
"You..."
Logan looked at Victor, hesitating to speak, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
He was unaware of what Victor had suffered over the last few decades.
On the battlefield, he had been a god of war, his name enough to terrify enemies to the point of wetting themselves.
But in just over a decade, the Victor he knew had disappeared, replaced by a man who meekly endured insults and even humiliations without defending himself.
If the Victor of the past was a sharp and lethal sword, the current Victor was like a smooth stone!
In that instant, Logan realized that Victor had truly changed.