Good Girl Gone Bad: Queen Of The Underworld

"Lame, I pass!"

"I think you should hear about it. I'm sure it will interest you." Old man Zhang grinned and wasn't a bit annoyed with Riggs' instant refusal. He expected this response from him and he would be suspicious if Riggs accepted his offer that instant.

"You know, events and anything similar of the sort like those fancy parties never interests me. It's boring." Riggs remained adamant and justified his side of the story.

"It might seem like that on the surface but… the event we're going is more than that." Old man Zhang grinned. Upon hearing this, Riggs raised his brows in interest.

'Now, he's talking.' He thought inwardly as he showed his interest with old man Zhang's words. Surely, his little gamble by how he should act towards this old man was effective as he revealed his true intention and real color -- unfiltered which made Riggs see more of his wickedness and his never-ending greed.

"It's much interesting than gambling?"

"It is gambling but with a twist. Also, I wanted to invite you to another round of game after two weeks and four days." Old man Zhang proposed. Observing Riggs's expression, he could tell that it piqued the man's interest. Indeed, only these types of things could interest these weird good for nothing lad. If only he never witnessed how good he was at gambling, old man Zhang wouldn't even bother himself coming all the way there to persuade him to play in his stead.

"Eh? I see you're the type of person who likes this kind of stuff. So, what is this sketchy gambling with a twist you're talking about?" 

"Well, in twelve hours, there is this charity event but, it's actually an event for prospective players for the grand event two weeks from now. As for me who's spot was secured, I need to bring my player to play in my stead." Old man Zhang briefly explicated leaving the important details behind. He pondered so much about it if he would inform Riggs about the game of life, alas, being uncertain if Riggs could stomach something like that, he would rather not tell him for now.

"You mean later, a selection of some gambling event facade behind a goody-two-shoes charity event is what you, and I, will attend. And since you got your seat secured, I only needed to show up for some kind of validation? That sounds sketchy." Riggs nodded in understanding as if he was trying to process the news he already knew about. He added after a pause,

"What do you mean to play in your stead? Why would I?" 

"Because players in that event won't just be normal players but they were experts. I bet by now, you have grown bored by the lack of formidable opponents in gambling." Old man Zhang enticed but didn't push too hard as Riggs could be unpredictable at times.

"Ohh… you, old man, really know my weak spot." Upon hearing old man Zhang's last remarks, Riggs's eyes lit up which made the old man smiled into a satisfied one. In his perspective, he only needed to make Riggs play in his stead and whether he could know about what game it is, he'll got no choice but to play that damn game.

-----

After clarifying more things with old man Zhang, he finally left. Checking out his window, he saw that old man Zhang entered his car with his two bodyguards in the spare car. Heaving a sigh of relief, Riggs uncontrollable grinned slowly showed on his face.

He immediately lifted the side of the mattress which revealed an odd-looking phone specifically modified by X. Since he discreetly observed old man Zhang's bodyguards earlier, Riggs was certain that they didn't planted anything inside his motel room. But, just in case he had overlooked it, he decided to send a message instead of a call.

[Ah, the fished was reeled in. Will be validated later for the d-day. Ha! That damn f*cker disturbed my sleep for that. Tell boss, he should lower the interest of my debt since I'm a good boy.]

Riggs tapped his phone and sent his report along with his 'friendly' greetings. When the message was delivered, Riggs slumped on his bed with relief. Now, he still has 11 and a half to continue his interrupted sleep.

Surely, this mission of his was the easiest task he had every encounter. He only needed to be himself and viola -- old man Zhang was baited. Riggs recalled that back in the days before he met Seraphina in a fat Luciano's disguise, a man like old Zhang were his buddies. He knew their thought process, hence, Riggs chose this 'old me' persona as he was absolute that it would gain the trust of old man Zhang which he did.

Now, this upcoming validation event that he hadn't heard about broadened his horizon regarding the tight process before that so-called game of life. Moreover, the man behind this bemusing event was a genius to come up with creative plans on how he filtered the perfect fit to join his little games.

'Ahhh… this is rather exciting than I thought it is.' He internally mumbled as he was being too cautious if ever there's a bug that was planted in his room. He added, 'Let's see how does this game of life works, really.'