Find 50+ Advance chapters
And for More Fan fiction
š
š
[Support link: pat reon.com/RioRaRyu]
------------
"Being too greedy isn't a good thing," Arthur said, his tone strained as he looked at the check.
Ten million.
Even for him, that wasn't a small amount.
He had paid Bradley ten million out of anger, and because Daniel's group had caused him massive losses. That money was for something to be done later.
This, however, was payment for something that had to be settled now.
"The more I take, the more leverage I have," Morin said calmly, laying everything out in the open.
"Do you want to add a bit more and end this cleanly, or do you want to fight the IRS in court until you go bankrupt?"
"...How much more?" Arthur asked.
He had finally been pushed to the edge.
Morin was right.
"Double it," Morin said, tapping the check lightly. "Twenty million. Including this, that's thirty million."
"You have quite the appetite..." Arthur exhaled.
If Morin had only asked for one or two million, Arthur would have suspected a trap. That was why he had written the ten-million check without hesitation.
But thirty million?
Three times the original amount.
"It's still less than what you'll lose if you don't make this deal," Morin continued.
"Oh, and don't think about recording me to threaten me. You should be asking yourself why I'm able to investigate you alone instead of as part of a task force."
He folded his hands, rested his chin on them, and looked straight at Arthur.
"Believe me. Whether it's my personal abilities or my standing within the IRS, both are far beyond what you imagine."
Arthur's heart sank.
He had wondered why the IRS sent only one person to audit a company of his size-one carrying a document signed directly by the director.
Now it made sense.
There had to be someone behind Morin.
Someone with enough authority to maneuver freely within the IRS.
Otherwise, a single investigator handling a case like this was laughable.
Arthur, of course, had no way of knowing how Morin had actually pulled this off.
Morin didn't explain.
He didn't need to.
This was conversation as an art. Say half the truth, and let the other side fill in the rest.
What they imagined depended on tone, timing, environment, and posture.
Used well, it was devastating.
Used poorly, it backfired.
"...I agree." After a long pause, Arthur finally compromised, guided entirely by his own assumptions.
"But I have a condition. You must keep this secret forever. And you have to help me fix my books."
"That's interesting," Morin said, genuinely surprised. Then he smiled.
"You want an IRS agent sent to audit you to help falsify your accounts?"
That was no different from asking a police officer to help during a bank robbery.
Normally.
For Morin, though, this deal needed to succeed.
As for what came after, he already had plans.
Morin wasn't someone who helped others commit wrongdoing just for money. If he crossed a line once, he made up for it somewhere else-big.
He needed money.
And he needed a conscience.
"What's wrong with that?" Arthur said calmly. "Once we make a deal, we're partners. This is business."
"You're right," Morin nodded. "Then... it's a deal."
This time, Morin's objective was simple: secure the agreement and obtain this massive gray income.
To make the deal real, he wouldn't report the truth. He would revise the information first, then submit it.
On paper, this violated his principles.
That was only true if he stopped here.
Morin was already planning the next step.
After adjusting the financial statements, Morin left with the twenty million and sent messages to Dylan and Bradley.
"It's time to go talk to the Four Horsemen."
Morin had agreed not to expose Arthur's tax evasion as an IRS agent.
But he had never said he wouldn't cause trouble elsewhere.
Daniel's group was a perfect tool.
From the perspective of his [IRS Agent] profession, Arthur had already been squeezed dry.
From the perspective of his [Magician] profession...
If there was no more wool, he could still eat the lamb.
After submitting his report and evidence confirming that the Arthur Group's finances were "clean," Morin received three thousand experience points.
[IRS Agent] experience rose to 3,200.
Still far from the next level.
No rush.
...
A few days later.
What followed largely matched the original trajectory.
Dylan "accidentally" discovered a tracking and listening device on his phone. Using a signal finder, he located the room where Daniel's group had first gathered and attempted an arrest.
It failed.
As expected.
Jack faked his death during the chase, escaping via a car explosion.
He also successfully passed Dylan a document-though it looked like Dylan had seized it.
The document detailed top-secret information about Elken Safe Company.
The FBI had already been investigating them. Internal intelligence showed they had hidden five hundred million dollars in a factory in Queens.
The leak came from Dylan's phone.
Because of this "failure," Dylan was removed from the task force. A new FBI agent took over.
All part of the plan.
Elken Safe Company was one of Dylan's revenge targets.
They were the company that manufactured the safe used in his father Lionel's final magic trick.
The safe was defective.
Even if the trick failed, Lionel had prepared a backup escape.
But water pressure, combined with substandard materials, crushed the safe and sealed his fate.
Lionel died.
The company bore responsibility.
Stealing their money was part of the plan.
The FBI believed Daniel's group was after the five hundred million and assigned protection.
They didn't know the safe had already "disappeared."
A massive mirror, placed at a forty-five-degree angle, created a spatial illusion.
The classic disappearing-box principle.
A fake safe replaced the real one.
Merritt hypnotized a police officer, who ordered the staff to transport the fake safe away.
The new FBI agent, believing himself clever, intercepted the truck and hid agents inside, waiting for Daniel's group to open it.
They didn't know the contents were fake.
The real cash was elsewhere.
Jack went to the factory, ignored the hypnotized officer, destroyed the mirror, took the five hundred million, and prepared to frame Arthur.
Originally, Bradley had been the target.
Now, plans changed.
"Morin?" Daniel froze when he opened the door. "How did you find this place?"
"I brought some friends," Morin said, stepping aside. "Mind if we talk inside?"
"What's going on?" Daniel frowned.
"I'm not here to expose you," Morin said, pointing at Dylan. "Otherwise, you'd already be surrounded. Those Eye of Providence cards? He gave them to you."
"What the f*ck?" Daniel blurted out.
"And this is Bradley," Morin added. "An official member of the Eye of Providence. To be precise, we're on the same side."
"Then why was he our target?" Daniel asked.
"That's why we're here."
Inside, Morin explained everything.
At first, the Four Horsemen didn't believe it.
But Dylan's knowledge was too precise.
If he wanted them arrested, he could've done it long ago.
"So the mission was fake?" Daniel asked.
"It was fake," Catrina said. "Now it's real."
She explained the new evaluation mission.
Make Arthur pay.
"So the plan stays mostly the same?" Jack asked.
"With adjustments," Catrina replied. "My father is no longer a target."
"The money you steal goes to Arthur," Morin continued. "You frame him."
The changes were simple.
Swap targets.
Remove Bradley.
Put a massive black pot on Arthur's head.
After recording everything and placing the five hundred million in Arthur's mansion, the Four Horsemen began their final act.
When Arthur discovered the cash stacked in his home, he was completely stunned.
I lost one hundred and forty million.
So why do I now have five hundred million in cash?
At that moment, Arthur had only one thought.
"This pot is truly big and round."
His confusion ended when Dylan arrived with handcuffs.
"Sir, you need to cooperate with our investigation," Dylan said. "There's evidence linking you to Daniel's group."
"Are you an idiot?" Arthur snapped. "They're my enemies!"
"Add insulting an FBI agent," Dylan said calmly, cuffing him. "Save it for the interrogation room."
Alma frowned. "That video feels one-sided. It looks like framing."
"I know," Dylan said quietly. "It's fake."
Then why-?
She understood.
Arthur wasn't innocent.
And the pressure was too great.
"How long?" Alma asked.
"That depends on bail," Dylan replied. "Five hundred million, plus everything else."
He smiled faintly.
"He'll be inside for a long time."