"What?" Roman gasped. "That's insane. You bring us to a completely foreign country and tell us to rob the biggest drug lord here? I thought this was a legitimate business!"
To him, this sounded less like work and more like a personal vendetta.
"I'm not a coward," Roman continued after a short pause. "But personal vendettas are bad news. There's no way I'm doing this."
With that, he turned around and walked off.
Whether he was actually scared or just uncomfortable with a personal vendetta was obvious from his excuse about thinking it was a "legitimate business."
Simply put, none of them had ever done legitimate business.
Morin had already taken out his phone and started recording the moment Roman opened his mouth.
How could he not?
This was a classic scene.
"We're talking about a hundred million dollars," Toretto said calmly, without even turning around.
"..."
Roman froze mid-step.
It was as if a rope labeled ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS had wrapped around his waist and yanked him back.
Without a second of hesitation, Roman abandoned all pride and turned around. "What did you say? One... one hundred million dollars?"
"You know, sometimes I'm just too cautious," Roman said as he walked back. "After all, we just met. So what you said was..."
Pride?
As long as there was enough money, pride was something that could be thrown away at any time.
Morin looked at his recording with satisfaction and put his phone away. He renamed the file:
"The 'I'll Eat My Words' Scene 1."
There would be more of these scenes in the future.
After all, Morin still had other worlds to visit.
Once this mercenary job was finished, he would be able to upgrade his Intermediate Auto Mechanic title to Advanced and unlock another world.
Even though he was already living an extremely comfortable life in the Fast & Furious world-becoming a multi-millionaire, something he had never even dared to imagine in his previous life-he knew this was only the beginning.
Recording these moments was just so he could look back on them later.
"One hundred million dollars," Toretto said. "Split evenly."
"So that's ten million per person?" Tej asked, quickly counting. "I'm in."
"No," Morin interrupted. "Each of you gets eleven million... well, slightly less than that."
Everyone looked at him.
"I won't be participating in your operation," Morin continued. "I'm only providing the cars and the modifications. My share is just the cost of the cars and my labor. Less than two million dollars."
Top-of-the-line supercars in those days were only about two hundred thousand each.
"Whoa, hold on," Roman said, staring at him. "You're not joining? Less than two million versus ten million-that's not even a choice! And who gave you the confidence to think your car modification skills are that good-"
"Roman!" O'Conner cut in immediately. "Sorry, Morin. He doesn't know about your skills."
"It's fine," Morin said casually. "The cars you build yourselves are good enough, and you could get them elsewhere. But with me, you get higher-grade parts and full technical support."
He wasn't bothered by Roman's trash talk.
Besides, he could always send that video to everyone here later.
Morin was a generous man.
"As for your ten million dollars," Morin added, glancing at Roman with a faint smile, "I don't really need it."
"What?" Roman blinked. "Why?"
"Because the guy standing in front of you is already a multi-millionaire," Toretto said, sounding irritated. "Ten million isn't much to him."
"What?!!"
Roman was completely dumbfounded.
This time, he wasn't the only one.
...
"So you're really a multi-millionaire?" Gisele asked later.
After the plan was finalized, everyone split up to prepare.
Morin was heading out to pick up the cars and parts he had shipped over and invited Gisele to come with him.
Curiosity won out, and she agreed.
In the car, she looked at him. "Is that true?"
"Yeah," Morin replied as he started the engine. "Why? Do I not look like one?"
"No, you do," Gisele said, shaking her head. "I'm just curious about-"
"Why I have such a good relationship with Toretto and his crew, and why I have money while they're struggling?" Morin said with a smile.
She paused, then nodded. "Yeah."
"A few years ago, when I first arrived in the U.S., I barely had enough to eat," Morin said. "I had some skills and an auto mechanic license, and Toretto helped me back then. That's how I got where I am now."
"But even though we're close, there's a fundamental difference between us," he continued. "I don't do illegal things. At least, not willingly, and not unless there's no other option."
"Toretto and his crew are different. They were born with a kind of... adventurous spirit," Morin said after thinking for a moment. "I tried to get them legitimate jobs. They all refused. He said he wanted to rely on himself."
In other words, they couldn't settle down.
They were always chasing excitement.
Street racing fit them perfectly.
If they had been willing to work with Morin, they wouldn't have ended up like this.
"I let them do what they want," Morin said with a shrug. "I won't force them, and I can't. But if they really need help, I'll help them. Helping them escape back then, and providing these cars now, are things I should do."
"I think you have another motive," Gisele said suddenly.
Morin glanced at her.
"You don't get involved in illegal activities so you can be their safety net," she said. "So when they have nowhere else to go, there's still a way out. Isn't that right?"
Morin laughed. "I like smart women like you. It saves a lot of effort."
"That depends on whether you're capable enough," Gisele replied, raising an eyebrow.
"I think I am," Morin said.
He stepped on the gas and released the steering wheel.
Turning his head, he looked at her instead of the road.
The engine roared.
Fuel ignited.
The machine surged forward under precise control, tires gripping the asphalt as the car shot ahead like an arrow.
~~~~~
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