Martin was lucky—over the past two days, he had indeed recruited a few decent new subordinates. A few of them were even East Asians!
He liked East Asians; they were smart and quick on their feet. He had always admired Eastern martial arts—it looked so cool when performed. If he weren't already getting on in years, he would've wanted to learn a few moves himself. In the few movies he had seen, Eastern martial arts films made up almost the entire selection. He loved those thrilling, fantastical action scenes!
Most importantly, he could trust these East Asians. If his rivals had recruited any East Asians, he would have known by now. Plus, the authorities wouldn't send East Asians to spy on him either. So he could be quite sure these newcomers weren't undercover agents.
Of course, he hadn't accepted them blindly—he had done some background checks. The results were very satisfactory: these Easterners had been in South Africa for two to three years, taking on mercenary-type work. They just weren't great at managing their operations and hadn't even gotten their hands on decent weapons. Now that they were joining his group, it was simply a matter of making a living.
With this intel in hand, Martin was even more pleased. Since they had been in Africa for years, they couldn't possibly have any ties to the film crew. And they were desperate for money—perfect! He loved having people work for him out of pure self-interest; feed them well, and you would have their loyalty.
Now that he had a future Hollywood cash cow in his grasp, money would never be an issue again. Why worry about not being able to feed these guys?
What he didn't know was that these men were connected to the film crew. Back when Martin learned that the production had hired security, he hadn't paid attention to the specifics. A few of Xiao Ye's friends, leveraging their experience living in South Africa, Martin's eagerness for talent, and their outstanding skills, had easily gained his trust.
After some effort infiltrating his organization, Martin had eagerly unveiled his grand plan to them, painting a dazzling future: stick with him, and they'd be rolling in endless cash!
Upon learning the truth, the infiltrators were stunned. Even if they had ten brains, they would never have guessed that the reason Martin kidnapped Laila was—to make her shoot a movie!
Wanting Laila to act in a movie wasn't wrong—actually, it was a great idea. Hollywood's biggest studios were willing to pay anything to get her, after all.
But Martin... who the hell was he?
He was just a minor boss in the XC District with a small diamond mine under his protection. What else did he have? Even if you multiplied his wealth by ten, it still wouldn't be enough to hire Laila—and yet he dared to attempt something so outrageous!
He had to be crazy—only a madman would dream up something this insane!
Martin, oblivious to the shock and horror in the East Asians' wide eyes, thought they were in awe of his greatness. This made him even happier and more fond of them. Who wouldn't love having their underlings look at them like they were heroes?
So he decided to house these new recruits in the buildings surrounding Laila's residence—to both guard her and give them a better view of his "greatness."
When the men finally caught sight of Laila, they felt utterly screwed over.
The woman they had exhausted all means to find was now right in front of them—and they were assigned to guard her. Fate sure had a wicked sense of humor. It felt like a rollercoaster ride!
Still, no matter what, at least they had found her. And seeing that she was completely unharmed brought everyone a huge sense of relief. After all, they had accepted a hefty sum to protect her.
While their primary focus had been Roy and Leonardo, Laila was still their employer. Having her abducted right under their noses was easily the biggest humiliation of their professional careers.
Now they had a chance to fix their mistake. If anything truly irreparable had happened to Laila during this mess, they would have carried the guilt for life.
Initially, they had planned to reveal their identities to reassure her that help was on the way. But when they saw Laila—their words died in their throats.
Because instead of the gaunt, terrified, sleep-deprived director they had imagined, what they saw was a radiant, healthy Laila, skin glowing and well-nourished.
With their keen vision, they could tell—if anything, she had gained a few pounds!
Even the bloodshot eyes that had plagued her during the film shoot were now completely clear.
Was Martin... treating her like royalty?
For some reason, the excitement they had felt about rescuing her evaporated.
There was no sense of accomplishment here!
All those exhausting days and guilty nights—what had they been struggling for?
They didn't feel like revealing themselves anymore.
But just because they kept quiet didn't mean Laila didn't recognize them. They were openly standing there—it was obvious they had entered the place through "normal" means, not sneaking in ninja-style.
Yet why did they all look so dead inside?
"Hey, not happy to see me?" Laila set down her book and greeted the East Asians with a bright smile.
But when they saw the book in her hand, their faces grew even more wooden.
A hardcover edition no less!
Was this the kind of treatment a hostage should be getting?
Noticing their gaze lingering on her book, Laila chuckled.
"Interested in The Godfather? I've always thought this was a great read. It feels even more fitting to read it here."
Reading The Godfather in a criminal hideout—how appropriate.
The men wanted to reply with a sarcastic "haha."
"Miss Moran, for now, we have to maintain the current situation and wait for the next step. But don't worry, your safety is assured," said Dong-ge, their team leader, forcing a polite smile. He almost laughed at his own words—it was absurd.
She was living better than they were!
Laila, tactful as ever, didn't point out the obvious and replied cooperatively, "Alright, do what you need to do. Don't worry about me."
"..."
Dong-ge suddenly felt like he didn't want to spend even another minute here.
"Then we won't disturb you. Is there anything you'd like me to pass along?"