The Retired Mercenary's Great Retaliation

Tony stared at me while saying the words slowly, "You'll have to pay for it." The workshop fell eerily silent.

"You don't have to get so serious with him, Boss." A workshop supervisor quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Yeah, Mr. Chapman. He's just trying to show off."

Tony ignored them as he stared right at me. "Do you dare take up the challenge?"

The face of my wife, Vivian, flashed in my mind. Vivian was not in the best of health and required medication all year round. We did not have much savings due to her condition, and our daughter Samantha had just entered university, leaving us with insufficient funds to cover her tuition.

Since retiring, I had not been able to find a stable job. It was not easy for me to finally get hired at this factory. Dignity was nothing to me if it meant I could make a living, but that did not mean I felt all right with being disrespected.

"Yes, I do," I heard myself saying.

A cold smile slowly appeared on Tony's face. "Good!" He yelled at his assistant, "Prepare a contract right now!"

Several minutes later, a printed sheet was placed on Tony's desk, bearing the title ‘Lost Goods Retrieval Agreement’. The contents were simple. If I could find the thief and recover the stolen item within three days, the factory would reward me with $1 million. Otherwise, if I failed to uncover the truth or caused additional losses, I would need to compensate the factory for its $3.6 million loss.

Tony lit his cigarette, and the smoke wafted slowly in the air. "If you can't afford the compensation, you can pay me back by working for me your entire life."

Everyone crowded around while whispering about this.

"Is he crazy?"

"A stockkeeper trying to investigate a theft?"

"He just sold himself to the factory."

I picked up the pen and paused for a second right before inking the contract. I suddenly thought about how Vivian had held my hands, saying softly, "Don't overexert yourself, Jason," and how Samantha told me happily on the phone, "I was awarded the scholarship, Dad!" I lowered my head and slowly signed my name, Jason Leigh.

After I was done signing, I looked up at Tony. "Boss, I need the security footage of the warehouse from last night, the door entry records, and three months' worth of expenses in advance right now."

Tony was taken aback, but it took him only a second to laugh louder than before. "Hah! Hahahaha! You haven't even started work yet, and you're already demanding payment?" It sounded like Tony wanted to yell at me, but he held himself back and looked at me like I was good for nothing instead. "Fine, you can have it!"

He waved his staff from the Finance Department over to get the money, and a wad of cash soon appeared. Tony flung the money hard on the warehouse table in front of everyone. "Here, take it. It's $10,000 in advance!"

The cash fell everywhere from the impact, and a few pieces floated to the ground. Some of the money slipped under the oily crevices of the tool shelves. At that point, I could no longer hear anything around me. All I could hear was the blood rushing to my head. The humiliation was like a blunt knife slicing my heart, but I said nothing.

I bent over while dozens of eyes watched me pick up the pieces of money one by one. I flattened the oil-stained cash slowly and stacked them properly before slipping them into the pocket of my coat, which was just over my chest.

There was a young woman in front of the crowd who looked to be in her twenties. She was in a white dress and frowning slightly. She was Tony's daughter, Lynn Chapman.

I did not look at anyone else as I headed right into the warehouse. It was where the metal boxes had been pried open the night before. I stood up straight before saying calmly, "From now onward…" I walked over to the pried-open metal box and circled it slowly, as if inspecting a familiar battlefield.

The workers had dispersed to return to work, but many of them listened carefully to what I was doing, occasionally looking over at me.