It's late at night.

Coffee, too, is already cold, like a human heart.

Muhammad still sat in the room, staring blankly at the empty room.

The events of the day are still vivid.

He clearly remembered the leisurely state when Zilin returned to this room...... The boy came back unscathed, and sat down to take a few sips of freshly brewed coffee; Then, Zilin introduced the three security officers who had just been "recruited" by himself to the members of the tea banquet who had just been "recruited" by himself who had entered the house with him in a very casual tone.

At that moment, the eight people at the tea banquet deeply felt what despair was.

At that moment, Muhammad also understood that the purpose of Zilin and Krauser to come here today was never to physically harm or destroy the "Tea Banquet", but to destroy the will of the "Tea Banquet".

And they did.

After a cup of coffee, Zilin and Krauser left.

Then, the guards also left.

Then, the eight people at the conference table also got up one after another, one by one...... Without saying a word, he walked out.

In the end, even Mao Feng, who was a close confidant of Muhammad, also left.

When they left, they didn't speak, they didn't even make eye contact, but everyone seemed thoughtful.

When he was finally the only one left in the room, Muhammad understood that the "tea feast" was over.

The people who walked out of this conference room today will never return here, and as for where they will go in the future, it has nothing to do with the tea banquet.

Of course, Muhammad could continue to do what he had been doing all this time as the "de facto power holder of the Federation", such as mediating with politicians, making deals with the top of the federal army, making peace with the rebels, and so on.

But he also understands that those are no longer meaningful.

He is like a person who plays chess on a chessboard that has been judged to lose, and the fact that he is still alive is a kind of humiliation for Zilin to him.

He began to realize that he had a misunderstanding of the concept of the "tea party", his greed for power, and the ridiculous appearance of being immersed in the game of power scheme......

He also began to understand that everything that the reverse cross did was only a help to accelerate the formation of the tide of this era, and that it had taken the Federation itself more than a hundred years to really turn the waves into tsunamis...... Slowly boiling public opinion.

With his scheming, he can't change anything, at most it's just a delay.

The humiliation of defeat is nothing, and the loss of faith is what Muhammad can hardly face and bear.

Finally, he gave up his will to live and raised his hand......

As a capable person, he can still do it by shattering his brain stem with one blow and letting himself die painlessly.

But just when he was about to make his move......

Whew——

The door to the conference room opened.

"Ahh I'm sorry sir, I didn't know you were still here. A middle-aged man in a kitchen worker's uniform pushing a small cart walked in and said this with a surprised look on his face when he saw Muhammad.

When Muhammad saw this, he also lowered his hand; After all, he is still a decent person, and he doesn't want to create that kind of exaggerated bloody scene in front of others when he is about to die, leaving a psychological shadow on people.

"It's okay." Muhammad let out a breath from his nostrils and continued, "You're here to clean up the tea set, aren't you?" ”

"Yes, yes." The middle-aged man nodded, "Because we haven't received an order for us to clean up, we don't dare to disturb without permission, but it's almost early in the morning, and I asked the cleaner, and they said that the cars in the parking lot were all gone, so I thought...... Did you forget to inform us that we had ...... meeting?"

"Alright." Muhammad was not interested in a single word that the other man had said, but only wanted him to leave quickly, so he casually said, "Pack up." ”

"Good...... Good. The middle-aged man said yes, and then pushed the cart over to collect the tea set.

Perhaps it was the presence of the other party that eased Muhammad's urge to commit suicide, or perhaps it was the fact that the other party packed up the tea set that made Muhammad have a whim, and a few seconds later, Muhammad spoke on a whim: "What is your name?" ”

"Huh?" When asked, the middle-aged man froze, he obviously didn't expect a big man like Mohammed Sall to come and ask him for the name of such a small character, "Uh...... Scold. He gave an awkward smile before replying, "My name is Jimmy Lane, and I'm the second chef in the kitchen." ”

"Second chef?" Muhammad said, "Why are you here to clean up?" Shouldn't it be a helper? ”

"Oh, sir, you may not know, but the kitchen in this building is actually not very used, so it doesn't need too many people, and there are only a few of us chefs and two tea masters during the day." Jimmy said this, smiling, "Hey, hey, other...... To tell you the truth, an hour ago, everyone thought that the meeting had already ended, so they all went back, leaving me alone to wait in the kitchen, and then leave work after collecting the tea set. ”

"Oh......" Muhammad muttered, "so it sounds...... You seem to be being bullied by your colleagues, huh? ”

Before he could finish speaking, Jimmina's hand shaking the tea set, almost breaking a teacup, but fortunately Muhammad was quick and grabbed the other's wrist to stabilize the tea set.

"Ahh I'm sorry! Mr. Jimmy quickly put the tea set away and nodded in apology.

"Little things." Muhammad didn't care, but continued, "Judging by your reaction, I guessed right? ”

When Jimmy heard this, he hesitated for two seconds and showed a wry smile: "Huh...... There's no way, just eat with a mouthful. ”

Listening to his words, looking at his bitter expression, Muhammad's gaze could not help but slowly move to the man's left hand; Muhammad soon saw a very cheap and very old wedding ring.

"It's not easy to raise a family, is it?" Muhammad was still confident in his reasoning skills, so he asked.

These words made Jimmy stunned, and his face could not hide a little sad expression.

"I understand, every family has a scripture that is difficult to read......," Muhammad said, took out a cheque book from his bosom, signed his name on it, and tore off a piece and put it on a plate in front of Jimmy, "You and I met tonight, and it is fate, this cheque is my greeting gift, you can fill in as much as you want, but I personally recommend that you convert it all into cash, the amount...... The amount that can be stuffed into a large bag is about the same; While the federal banking and monetary system are still functioning normally, you can quickly redeem your money and get out of here with your family. ”

As soon as he said the words "greeting", Jimmy shook his head and waved his hand, as if he wanted to refuse, but Muhammad motioned for him to finish with a downward gesture.

When he was all done, Jimmy was silent.

After a long time, Jimmy spoke again: "Let me do something for you, or I won't take the money." ”

The tone of his voice, and the way he looked at Muhammad, showed that he had also sensed something from Muhammad's words and deeds......

"Heh......" Muhammad laughed, this laugh was more self-deprecating, because he did not expect to be sympathized with such a little person, "then...... Make me a pot of tea. He paused for half a second and added, "I want to go to the good West Lake Longjing." ”

"Okay!" Jimmy straightened up and said, "Although I'm not a tea master, I'll try to do it well!" ”

He quickly turned around and went out.

And Muhammad just sat there quietly waiting for him, waiting for the last cup of tea of his life.

In less than ten minutes, Jimmy returned from the kitchen and served a pot of freshly soaked dragon wells.

"Sir, please slow down." Jimmy placed several tea sets on the table one by one, and made a respectful gesture of please.

Muhammad unhurriedly washed the cups, poured the tea, ordered the tea, and looked at the tea...... Smell it, taste it.

When that sip of tea went down his throat, he couldn't help but feel ...... This was the best cup of Longjing he had ever drunk in his life, and it even made him a little intoxicated and sudden......

…………

When he regained consciousness, Muhammad found himself in a strange room, fixed to a metal chair, most likely made of pure alloy, designed to restrain the able.

The first thing that caught his eye was several brick walls, concrete floors, and some unsealed pipes exposed in the corners of the ceiling, and the cold, damp air around him, which he could almost deduce that this was a basement.

"Haha...... Father! Father! A few seconds later, a childish childish voice came to his ears.

Muhammad turned his head and saw another person on the other side of the room.

At this moment, Jimmy was sitting in a chair with his back to Muhammad, watching television; What was on the TV was supposed to be a home video, in which a little girl who looked no more than two or three years old was calling her father in a milky voice, and a woman who looked like a girl's mother was sitting next to the little girl and smiling at the camera.

"You're finally awake." After a few more seconds, Jimmy undoubtedly heard Muhammad wake up, and he said this without looking back.

"You...... How dare you drug my tea! Almost immediately, Muhammad recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness and speculated about what had happened to him.

"yes." Jimmy was not overwhelmed by the other party's momentum at all, but responded calmly and stood up.

As Jimmy turned around, Muhammad saw clearly: Jimmy was wearing a white tank top and jeans, a plastic apron in front of him, plastic gloves on both hands, a mask hanging from his left ear, and a frog mirror on his forehead.

"There's nothing I don't dare." Jimmy walked towards Muhammad and continued, "Actually, what I really have to do is ...... It's not started yet. ”

"You ......" Muhammad wanted to guess something, but he quickly realized that there was no need to waste his mind at this time, so he just asked, "...... Why? ”

"Why?" Jimmy repeated these three words, then looked blankly at the ground, was silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Because of the 'Iron Curtain Flame' you directed, it killed my wife and daughter...... I lost my family, friends, job, and home overnight...... All. ”

With that, he took a few more steps and pulled a tool cart from the corner of the room, on which were placed several metal trays, which, in addition to some surgical equipment, also contained several bottles of injections of unknown composition, and a few instruments that seemed to be needed for carpentry work.

"I was going to kill myself, like you wanted to do in the conference room a while ago......" Jimmy said, pulling a piece of paper out of his pants pocket, "but just as I was about to kill myself, a stranger gave me such a piece of paper......"

As he spoke, he unfolded the crumpled piece of paper in his hand and displayed it before Muhammad's eyes.

At this moment, on this piece of paper, Muhammad's heart was displayed at this moment: "What is going on? ”

"Actually, I used to be a well-known chef...... Jimmy put the paper back and continued, "My wife and I run a French restaurant together, and although I don't come from a formal academy, my skills are recognized by many gourmets. The business of the restaurant has been very good, and my daughter Lucy is also very healthy and ......" Speaking of this, he seemed to fall into memory, and his cold eyes suddenly became gentle, and he choked up until he couldn't speak for a while.

After a few seconds, after swallowing a mouthful ......of salty saliva, Jimmy gasped for breath and continued, "In short, it took me a lot of work to get into this Christo city and get the job I am now.

"From your 'heart', I have learned a lot of useful knowledge, such as how to subdue a 'capable person' like you, and how to make a person suffer as much as possible while ensuring that he does not die......

"In this way, I was bullied every day in that kitchen, maliciously deducted wages, doing dirty work that helpers wouldn't do, and working overtime without pay...... All this is paid just to wait for an opportunity. ”

At this point, he paused, and at this moment, a beast-like killing intent seeped out of his eyes, as if at this moment engulfed the last trace of his humanity: "...... Such an opportunity today. ”

"Don't be ...... like that" Muhammad's cold sweat had already fallen, he could accept self-destruction without pain, but he could not accept what was in front of him, so he felt unprecedented fear, "With the money I gave you, you can have a new life...... A better life than before! ”

"Hehehe...... Hahaha......" When Jimmy heard this, he immediately burst out laughing.

I don't know if it's ridicule, madness, or sadness behind this laughter......

Jimmy laughed as he walked over to the TV, turned off his family's video, and started playing music.

It was a melody that Muhammad was very familiar with—Bach's Suite No. 1 in G major for unaccompanied cello.

"No...... No! I won't...... It won't be here! It won't be at the hands of people like you...... No way! Muhammad also began to be hysterical with fear, and he roared in his hoarse voice, but this did not change his end.

That night, in a basement in the city of Cristo, a melodious piece of classical music looped repeatedly.

But even the neighbors closest to it didn't know that beneath the sound of the music were bursts of screams and sick laughter.