pjbooks Chapter 176 Infiltrating a Private Residence and Outsmarting a Petty Thief
Chapter 176 Infiltrating a Private Residence and Outsmarting a Petty Thief
Chapter 176 Infiltrating a Private Residence and Outsmarting a Petty Thief
Seeing the stray dog's lecherous look, Ma Jie's face immediately darkened: "Listen, bro, shut your dog mouth and take your dog eyes off her. Then take me to that unlucky guy trapped in the tree, or I'll skin you alive and make you into dog meat hotpot!"
Faced with the threat from humans, the guy shrank back in fear: "OK, Let's Dog (woof)."
I followed it and jogged along the mountain path for about two hundred meters. Sure enough, I saw a white idiot hanging upside down in a tree, no more than half a meter from the ground.
Looking up from his body, you see a tangled mess of high-strength nylon rope and a large patch of blue and white parachute canopy, clearly indicating a failed parachute jump.
"Hey buddy, come give me a hand!" This guy had probably been hanging for a long time, and he shouted excitedly when he saw a living person.
"Oh my god, you really should thank your dog."
Seeing this scene, Valentina finally understood that the dog was barking wildly by the roadside to save people.
"What dog?"
"That's the dog that saved your life..." When Valentina looked behind her, she realized the dog was long gone. "Strange, where did it go?"
"Oh, beautiful lady, I don't know what you're talking about, but could you please put me down?"
"Of course, buddy." MaJack stepped forward, located the connector on the harness system, and removed it from the paracord.
The reason this guy couldn't save himself was because his arms weren't long enough to reach the connecting device.
With a thud, the skydiver landed on his back, letting out a satisfied groan. He rolled over, jumped a few times, and then roared like a monkey: "Whoa, I'm finally saved! This was so exciting, guys! When I jumped from the helicopter, the parachute cord suddenly jammed. By the time I finally managed to pull it open, there wasn't time to adjust my direction, which caused my landing point to be seriously off track."
"My pilot was like an idiot. He looked for me for two hours but couldn't meet with me. I've decided to fire him right now and send him home to eat shit."
"But can you believe it? As I fell from the sky, I seemed to see through everything, to see through the meaning of everything in the world. You know what I mean, buddy? Everything in the world."
Listening to his incessant rambling, Ma Jieke got a headache: "OK, now that you're saved, we should go. See you again someday."
"What?" Hearing that Ma Jie was planning to leave, the skydiver's tone was quite exaggerated: "What are you talking about, buddy? I haven't even properly thanked you yet. Do you want me to become an ungrateful bastard?"
"Okay, so how do you plan to thank me?"
If he intends to be generous, Jack Ma will definitely not refuse. Doing good deeds should be rewarded, especially when the other party offers it. That's just how materialistic I am.
"Um..." The skydiver hesitated for a moment, looking quite conflicted: "To be honest, buddy, I'm a little short on cash lately. I spent all my savings on skydiving and buying a helicopter, so the only thing I can offer right now is to let you experience what it's like to fall from a great height. Trust me, buddy, it's way better than having sex. Just one time will send you soaring to the heavens."
Free skydiving service? That sounds interesting.
If I remember correctly, there were parachute-related missions in the previous challenge missions.
"Is skydiving easy to learn?" Ma Jie asked curiously. If it's as difficult as piloting a helicopter, then it's better to give up as soon as possible; it's not cost-effective at all.
"Oh, please, man, you don't need to learn how to skydive. All you have to do is pull the parachute cord before you hit the ground to prevent yourself from falling to your death."
"At first you might not be able to control the direction, but that's okay, just land wherever you end up. But after you jump a few more times, you'll quickly get the hang of it. How about it, buddy, want to give it a try?"
Hearing him speak so casually, Ma Jie added him as a social media friend. The other person's name was also quite cheesy, simply called "Sky Overlord," clearly indicating that he was a passionate skydiving enthusiast.
Since it doesn't require me to spend any money, I might as well learn it. It's always good to have more skills; you'll be able to use them sooner or later.
Before it got completely dark, Ma Jie first rode his bike to take Valentina back to school, then sped off towards downtown Los Angeles.
Following the map navigation, I arrived at the slums of Lonan City, parked my car on the side of the road, and the main quest was marked as complete.
After obtaining three basic skills at level Iv1, I decisively chose the most useful one: [Wall Running].
【Wall Running Iv1】: Permanently enhances your street parkour abilities; can be upgraded by selecting multiple times.
Since I had already leveled up to level 1, I successfully upgraded to [Wall Climbing Iv2] after making the selection. This is how simple and straightforward it is to improve combat power.
The reason I came here is because the bastard who stole Valentina's camera this afternoon is still in the house right in front of me.
This is an old wooden house, which is also the most common type of building in Laomei.
In the United States, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, people like to live in wooden houses because the country has vast forests and a highly developed timber industry. The supply of timber is huge and stable, which makes its cost far lower than that of concrete and steel.
The west coast is located in an earthquake zone. Compared to heavy brick and stone structures, wooden structures are lightweight and resilient. They can absorb more energy through deformation during earthquakes, making them less prone to sudden collapse and thus safer.
This has led to the widespread use of wood as the main structure in even the mansions of wealthy people in California.
Of course, the reason why they look so different is that rich people use more advanced decoration materials, such as stone facades, while poor people simply apply a few coats of primer and latex paint.
After carefully observing the surrounding environment, Ma Jieke chose to go around to the back of the house. After watching several passersby leave, he took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to him, grabbed the outermost wooden fence, and sneaked into the backyard.
This is difficult to achieve in China, but on the free West Coast, it's just that unrestrained.
Poor people's houses are all built facing the street. You can't build the courtyard wall higher than the house, otherwise it would become a prison, with poor lighting and an extremely oppressive atmosphere.
As for safety, I live in a slum, why would I be afraid of a home invasion robbery?
We're all poor, who's going to rob whom? If all else fails, keep a shotgun at home. If you dare to force your way in, do you think I'd dare to shoot you on the head?
Even worse, some don't even bother to build a wooden fence, but simply put up a wooden sign in front of the door: Private property, trespassing is strictly prohibited.
"Woof woof woof..." (Someone's invading! Someone's invading!)
To Ma Jieke's surprise, as soon as his feet touched the ground, a yellow and white beagle ran towards him, barking incessantly.
Dog ownership is extremely common in the United States, and due to the proliferation of dog lovers, there are approximately 15,000 shelters and private rescue stations, both government-run and privately run.
To put this into perspective, the United States has only 50 states, which means that on average, each state has 300 such companies.
Not to mention that California has the highest population density of any state, so conservatively estimated, there should be over a thousand such businesses.
This means that even if you don't have the money to buy a pet dog, you can still adopt one for free from a rescue center, and the adoption rate simply can't keep up with the rate of adoptions.
The little beagle in front of us was clearly a stray dog without parents. It hadn't been well cared for after being adopted, and it was filthy all over.
"Hey, shut your mouth." Ma Jie scolded when he heard its alarm.
The little guy was completely bewildered, clearly understanding the intruder's words, since language systems can only successfully match between members of the same kind.
However, after hesitating for a few seconds, it barked again. After all, it didn't know Ma Jack at all, and of course it had to prioritize its owner's interests.
This should be the intimacy level mentioned in the skill description. When the intimacy level is zero or negative, there is no way to communicate normally.
But this was no problem for Jack Ma. He quickly took out a bag of dog food from his backpack, tore open the packaging, and sprinkled some on the ground, enough for the dog to have a good meal.
It was originally meant for Bruce, but I'm just borrowing it for now.
Sure enough, the silly dog smelled the delicious aroma and immediately forgot its duty to guard the house, eagerly licking up the tasty treat on the ground.
Just as people are divided into different classes, dogs are the same. This little guy clearly has never eaten such high-class dog food before; his eyes are practically glowing green as he eats it.
"Good dog, eat slowly, all of this is yours."
Ma Jie tried to appease the dog by stroking its head: "Listen, kid, I mean no harm. I won't hurt you or your owner, so try to keep quiet. If you can, I'll give you a good meal tomorrow, how about that?"
The beagle ignored him and just kept eating.
"Okay, I'll assume you understood."
Seeing that it had stopped barking, Ma Jie tiptoed to the side of the house. The window was half-closed, and very unhealthy noises were coming from the living room.
After listening for a while, I realized it wasn't a live broadcast, but rather the TV was playing an adult channel.
Just then, a taxi stopped in front of the courtyard, and a glamorous blonde woman got out of the car. She was wearing a black leather miniskirt and patent leather boots, and was clearly a prostitute.
dong dong dong...
A knock sounded on the door, and you could hear someone stepping on the old, dilapidated floorboards, making a creaking sound.
"Hey Goldie, you're finally here! I've missed you so much I could explode."
That familiar voice belonged to the "enthusiastic photographer" I'd met that afternoon on the Hollywood Hills. Valentina, that silly girl, had praised him to the skies, saying he was a wonderful person.
"Stop talking nonsense, Homir. This crappy place of yours is really far away. Just the taxi fare cost me $30, and you ordered the cheapest meal. I feel like I lost money on this trip."
"Oh Goldie, stop talking like that, the more you say, the angrier I get." A noise came from inside the house, like the sound of clothes being taken off, followed by Homill's rant: "Guess what? I finally managed to get my hands on a digital camera, but I only sold it for $300, and I have to split it with my partner, so I only got $150. My God, this is probably the poorest tourist I've ever met."
"But you didn't see it. That Mexican girl was really hot, only a little smaller than your tech-savvy busty girl. But her companion was a damn Asian guy. I admit he's better looking than me, but his skin color disgusts me. I don't know how that beautiful girl could have fallen for him."
"Tomorrow I'm going to rob an Asian-owned convenience store and really get my revenge!"
Listening to his endless nagging, Goldie was very dissatisfied: "Stop talking nonsense, okay? You only have 20 minutes. If you want, you can close your eyes first, and then I can imagine that beautiful woman. I know the nature of you men. When you're with one woman, you're always thinking about another woman."
"Haha, you know me so well, sweetheart! That's exactly what I was planning to do..."
Strange noises followed, and just as they were getting into the swing of things, Ma Jie appeared at the main entrance like a plague god.
Based on their conversation, we can conclude that this guy is one of those who work alone, because he made $300 selling cameras and split it equally with his partner without mentioning taking a cut.
Even homeless people who scavenge for cans in the slums have to pay tribute to the gang leader every month. Gang members are even more so; at least 100 of those 300 dollars are for protection money.
Since I haven't paid, I don't belong to any street organization, so what do I have to worry about?
Bang! Without the slightest hesitation, Ma Jieke raised his big foot and kicked the already dilapidated wooden door hard.
The result could be that I used too much force, or it could be that the construction company cut corners. After the door was kicked open, it didn't open inwards, but instead slammed down at a 90-degree angle to the floor.
The sudden, violent breaking down of the door startled Homir so much that his hair stood on end. He reached up and pulled up his pants, as if he was about to rush into the bedroom to grab a weapon.
"Don't move!" Ma Jie shouted, holding his gun in one hand. "Stand still, buddy. Don't make any sudden movements, or I'll blow your head off."
Homir then realized that this uninvited guest was the very Asian man he had just been talking about.
Wait... how did you find this place? You're some kind of stalker!
In contrast, the call girl appeared quite calm. Instead of screaming, she calmly covered herself with her clothes and looked at Ma Jieke: "Sir, I don't know what grudge you two have, but I'm just here to provide door-to-door services, so you have no reason to hurt me. If you agree, please allow me to put my clothes back on first, and then I will leave gracefully and forget everything that happened here, OK?"
Not bad, you're clearly a seasoned veteran. You've probably encountered this kind of situation many times before and have plenty of experience handling it.