Chapter 8: Dark Diamond (1)
"No need for anger, Mr. Herod. What you want — I can get it for Boss Yu."
The young woman's voice was cold and elegant, like an evening-blooming epidendrum by a frozen spring. Standing behind Kunjiao, she spoke these words unexpectedly.
Everyone was taken aback.
Black Moses's boss was the biggest crime lord in Eurasia in recent years — he'd risen through Far Eastern syndicates, dealing in narcotics, arms, human trafficking and organ trade… this kingpin had a hand in everything.
Who could have imagined he had a nearly Asian face and a build like an ordinary middle-aged office worker? Give him a briefcase and he looked ready to catch the bus to work.
After Elyse said that, Mr. Herod smiled and leaned back in the luxurious sofa, teasing easily:
"Kun — what's this about?"
Li Yufu spread his hands with a smile, indicating he hadn't known either.
He frowned at Elyse; she wasn't looking at him, but stared ahead with a touch of cold hauteur.
"Oh, Miss Elyse — if Kun can't produce a hundred million dollars, you can?"
Elyse smiled too. Among the men of Black Moses, her smile was rare and arresting.
"A hundred million dollars — I don't have."
She said.
"But I can give you a gold mine."
This time, including Li Yufu, everyone looked at her in astonishment.
…
This was Elyse's first gathering after passing the Black Moses test — on a luxury cruise ship in Myanmar's international waters.
Several high-ranking members had convened to negotiate an important matter with Mr. Herod. The matter concerned China.
Mr. Herod was spearheading a collaboration with Russian organized crime to open a new dark-web trade route into China's northern regions.
Pushing new synthetic drugs in, pulling high-quality piglets and organs out.
That was their plan.
Another revenue stream for the dark empire — exciting, lucrative.
But cracking China's far north required enormous upfront capital. Black Moses had people, the Russians had product, but neither side wanted to sink massive funds in from the start.
After all, this kind of dark, long-range investment carried higher risk and more variables.
So Mr. Herod very much wanted Charlie Group to shoulder the lion's share.
Li Yufu was no fool.
For years, they'd operated at most in northern Myanmar and along the border. He coveted the future profits of the far north, but didn't want to take the current risk.
Thus the stalemate.
In truth, asking Li Yufu to produce a hundred million dollars — he wasn't a bank. Was that sum something you just pulled out of a hat?
They'd been negotiating on the cruise ship for three or four days, and Mr. Herod was on the verge of blowing up.
Li Yufu was a wolf with a keen nose. He could sense the atmosphere deteriorating, but they were on the open ocean, he'd brought few men, and Mr. Herod had probably chosen this moment precisely because of that.
This was his first time bringing Elyse into the circle.
He'd assumed it would be another round of eating, drinking, and carousing like always — and he'd been in a good mood lately, so he'd unwisely relaxed his guard.
And walked right into the trap.
Just as the situation was about to turn hostile, Elyse stood up and spoke those words. Her expression was calm, as if she truly possessed a gold mine.
Mr. Herod's smooth, narrow eyes studied the young woman for a long moment before he said, noncommittally: "Very well, then give it."
They were in the ship's casino — a dozen Black Moses members, each wealthy and powerful, playing for high stakes.
In front of Li Yufu, chips and cash were scattered across the table.
Elyse casually pulled out a hundred-dollar bill, found a pen, and wrote a string of numbers and letters on it. She strolled a few steps and, under all eyes, slipped the bill into the breast pocket of Mr. Herod's suit jacket.
Looking down at him, her manner and expression much resembled tipping an elderly bellboy.
Li Yufu watched with amused interest, a smile breaking through.
Since the psychological stripping experiment, Elyse had truly changed — she was notably less afraid of death, which sometimes manifested as a notable arrogance.
A kind of world-weary indifference mixed with do-what-you-will.
Fascinating.
Mr. Herod coughed awkwardly and fished out the bill.
— Half a geographic coordinate.
Gold mines sounded impressive, but their actual value was hard to gauge without knowing the yield. Mr. Herod held the bill and said nothing for a moment — he knew perfectly well that pushing Kunjiao too hard was unwise. This might be the best outcome.
Elyse's gaze fell from above. She said: "The other half — when we disembark."
Then she turned, pulled Li Yufu up casually, and walked away.
2.
Walking on thick, opulent carpet, they entered a small lounge for guests. Elyse sat in the banquette, her eyes mostly on Li Yufu, saying little.
He sat across from her, sipping tea. Instead of asking about the gold mine right away, he asked: "What did you think?"
He meant her impression of Mr. Herod.
Elyse didn't shift her gaze, staring at him with layer upon layer of focus, as if trying to bury him in her stare.
"Not much," she said. "We might be about to die."
Li Yufu smiled.
"I won't let you die."
Will you. I'm already dead, she thought silently.
You're about to be, too.
Li Yufu set down his teacup and beckoned Elyse over. In the months since she'd emerged from the Black Room, Elyse had been utterly obedient — every task he gave her, she completed efficiently, like a well-trained, fierce hunting falcon.
But this time, Li Yufu's signal didn't move her.
He looked up, mildly surprised, his scrutiny landing on her indifferent face.
"What's wrong?"
He asked.
Elyse looked distinctly unwell — as though she were disintegrating from the inside out.
He frowned, a rare expression.
Elyse had always struggled to survive. Li Yufu knew this well — after all, the first time he'd laid eyes on her, she'd been nearly beaten to death. Over the long two years since, she'd endured many hardships, some of them his doing.
He knew she had a psychiatric condition that had worsened after the psychological stripping experiment. But as long as it kept her devoted, he didn't care — even if it meant locking her in the Black Room for another four months.
He needed this believer.
Even if she died, she'd die by his side. In his hands.
On the cruise ship, Elyse hadn't taken her medication in days — they hadn't expected the trip to last this long, and she hadn't brought enough.
Li Yufu possessed no human heart, but this was his favorite creation, his most loyal girl — and for now, he didn't want her to break.
He crossed the room, picked her up, cradled her in his arms.
Soothing her.
"What's wrong, little one."
Rocking her gently, like lulling a child to sleep.
After a while, Elyse said honestly: "I want to jump into the sea."
That was unexpected. Li Yufu blinked, and his voice softened involuntarily: "Don't do that. The open ocean is very deep and very dark. It would be very cold, you understand?"
After a moment, she gave a muffled "mm."
Li Yufu began humming a Burmese folk song. In the gentle melody, Elyse's inorganic, glassy gaze softened, gathering a little warmth, no longer staring at him with that unsettling fix.
After a long silence, she asked, light and slow: "What's the song about?"
Li Yufu said: "It's about two friends who go far away to pick mulberries. There are mulberry trees on both the southern and northern hills. One boy goes north, one goes south. Before sunset, neither of them comes home."
Elyse sighed.
"They'll never make it home."
Li Yufu looked down at her with tenderness and didn't ask why.
Only after a long while did he bring up the gold mine.
Elyse traced the coordinates on his palm from memory, and Li Yufu memorized them, listening to her account:
"When I was starving and sick, I accidentally fell off a cliff — I must have been unconscious for a long time. A snake crawled onto my neck and the coldness woke me up."
Recalling that time — barely a year ago, yet already a lifetime away — Elyse spoke with something like nostalgia: "I followed the stream for a long time. At a river, there was gold in the sand and silt."
She paused, seeming to think of something, went blank for several seconds, then continued: "Going upstream, there was a landslide — it must have been a long time ago, because it was already overgrown with vegetation."
"In the rubble from the slide, I found dog-head gold."
She fell silent.
"What were you just thinking about?"
Li Yufu asked: "Why did you zone out?"
His suspicions were always keen — even the slightest irregularity drew a follow-up. This time was no exception.
Elyse said, helpless: "Nothing. I just remembered — I was going to kill myself there. Because at the time, I really couldn't walk anymore."
She sat there, a little vacant, as though she'd been pulled back into that despair —