Chapter 38 Are You a Thief?

Chapter 38 Are You a Thief?

Klein's train of thought was interrupted by this sudden shout. He slowly raised his head, his expression instantly turning cold as he locked eyes with the green-haired thug.

The thug felt a chill run down his spine from Klein's stare, but with the knife in his hand, he forced himself to stay calm.

Seeing that Klein actually dared to glare at him, he immediately pulled out a butterfly knife from his pocket. With a flick of his wrist, the blade flashed through the dim light, leaving two afterimages.

"What are you looking at? Look at me again, and I'll gouge your eyes out!" The green-haired thug waved the knife around, his tone arrogant.

He had barely swung the knife twice, and before the blade could even get close to Klein, the butterfly knife suddenly disappeared.

The next second, the butterfly knife landed steadily between Klein's fingertips.

Klein rested his chin in his left hand while the fingers of his right hand nimbly gripped the handle. With a flip of his wrist, the blade traced a smooth arc through the air, then he caught it backhand—movements several times faster than the thug's earlier display, almost too quick to follow.

Finally, he flicked his wrist sharply, and the butterfly knife slammed into the tabletop with a "thwack," the handle still vibrating.

The green-haired thug was completely stunned, his arrogance instantly replaced by terror. He knew he'd run into someone tough—no ordinary person moved their hands that fast.

The green-haired thug swallowed hard and pointed toward a booth in the distance, where several well-built young men sat, looking in their direction.

"My... my boss is over there, and I've got a bunch of guys with me! If you know what's good for you, give me back the knife, or I'll call them over and cut you to pieces!"

Klein let out a cold laugh, pulled out a black leather ID wallet from his pocket, and tossed it onto the table. The metal badge on the ID gleamed coldly under the light—it was a police badge.

"I've also got colleagues patrolling outside. They can be here in ten minutes tops. Want to try and see whose people are faster—your friends or my colleagues?"

The moment the thug saw the ID, his eyes immediately shifted away. But he still wasn't willing to back down and stubbornly tried to save face.

"Fine... fine, you win. Out of respect for the cops, I won't hold this against you this time!"

With that, he quickly grabbed the butterfly knife from the table and, as if burned, turned and ran.

Jennifer had been watching the whole thing. Only after the thug ran off did she look at the police badge in Klein's hand, her brow furrowing.

"Klein, you actually dare to fake an ID? Aren't you afraid of getting arrested?"

Klein picked up the police badge and tossed it to Jennifer.

"It's not forged. I took it from you."

Jennifer froze for a moment, then immediately reached for her pocket, only to find it empty—her police badge was indeed gone.

She looked at Klein helplessly.

"Why are your hands always so fast? Last time it was a gun, this time it's my ID. Next time... you're not planning to steal my underwear too, are you?"

Klein noticed Jennifer's cheeks suddenly turn bright red. He tilted his head, his tone teasing.

"I respect women, but if you're asking, I suppose it's not impossible."

Jennifer quickly turned her head away, avoiding Klein's gaze, and took a sip from her glass to change the subject.

"Peregrine Falcon—in this city's underworld, he's seriously powerful. On the surface, he's the owner of a winery in the suburbs, making his money selling wine. But in reality, he controls the port on the west side of the city, and most of the contraband in this city passes through his hands."

"He's cunning and never personally gets involved in dirty work. All illegal transactions are carried out by his subordinates. Even if the cops get a lead, they can only grab small fry and never touch him."

Seeing she had gotten down to business, Klein also dropped his playful expression.

Jennifer paused, then continued.

"Last year, a narcotics squad captain dug up evidence of him smuggling drugs and was about to report it. But before he could even leave the police station, someone accused him of taking bribes, and his reputation was ruined. Later, someone found his body in the suburbs. He died horribly—no external injuries, but all his internal organs were ruptured. No one knows who did it, but everyone knows it was Peregrine Falcon's warning to others."

As she spoke, her tone was full of caution.

Klein, however, remained calm and even picked up his glass for a sip.

During his time as a mercenary in the dark world, he'd killed gang bosses far more ruthless and powerful than this.

Seeing he wasn't scared at all, Jennifer assumed he didn't understand Peregrine Falcon's true power and added more.

"Peregrine Falcon has close ties with several city council members. Rumor has it that their campaign funds all come from his winery. He has informants inside the government and plenty of people covering for him. If you want to go after him, you'll have to get past those council members first."

Klein waved his hand, cutting her off directly, his tone straightforward.

"Where does he live? Do you have his exact location?"

Jennifer froze, looking at Klein with surprise in her eyes.

"You're not planning to go after him alone, are you? Have some kind of one-on-one showdown with this Peregrine Falcon?"

Klein smiled, his tone somewhat casual.

"I've got some ties with Mr. West now. I can use the West family's name to pay this Peregrine Falcon a visit. I think he can't refuse to show the West family some respect."

Jennifer was shocked again—she hadn't expected Klein to have connections with the West family heir.

In reality, this was just Klein's excuse. Verbal threats often don't mean much to people like him. But if you put a knife to his throat and slowly twist the handle, he didn't believe that pampered Peregrine Falcon would still dare to lie—that would come at a price.

But just then, a sharp scream suddenly came from the stage direction, completely drowning out the noisy music on the dance floor.

The pole dancer from earlier had slapped the thug who had provoked Klein hard across the face.

The crisp "smack" was especially clear in the noisy bar.

Slapped across the face, the thug's temper instantly flared. He grabbed the woman's wrist and yanked her forcefully toward him.

In that direction sat a fat man with a big head and thick ears. He was staring intently at the pole dancer, his eyes full of lust.

Klein looked at the woman, and a scene suddenly flashed through his mind.

He remembered—this woman was Jeremy's sister, Nova Lopez!

That guy Jeremy could never find a girlfriend and was afraid of being looked down on, so he secretly took a photo with Nova and put it on his desk. Only when someone asked would he explain it was his sister; when no one asked, he'd let people assume he was popular with women.

And that fat man was just about to reach out and grab Nova's chest.

Nova was furious and spat right in his face.

The fat man instantly exploded with rage and raised his hand to slap her.

But before his hand could touch her face, it was firmly blocked by another hand.

It was Klein.