Chapter 2313 — Meeting the Boss

"That's right, did I steer you wrong, brother? I told you the purity would be high!" Hammer was proud, yet also a little disappointed. So Wei Zhao's gang overseas dealt in this too? Didn't that mean today was a one-off deal? He felt rather unwilling to let it go.

But just as Hammer was stewing in his reluctance, Wei Zhao spoke again: "The price, though—for retail it counts as cheap, but for buying in bulk it's a bit steep."

"You're thinking of buying, Brother Cannon?" Hammer's heart leaped with joy, and he could not help asking.

"I've thought about it, but I certainly can't buy from you." Wei Zhao deliberately played hard to get: "Your prices here are too high!"

"Oh? What prices did you used to get, Brother Cannon?" Hammer asked hurriedly.

"In the past, I bought from an overseas drug lord called Otedi, at around four or five dollars, I think," Wei Zhao said. "Only, Otedi suddenly vanished and I can't reach him anymore, so I've had to start looking for a new source."

"And have you found one, Brother Cannon?" A surge of wild joy rose in Hammer's chest, and he pressed on with his questions.

"Not yet. I heard there was a source over in Ruileida Town, so I thought I'd go and take a look. But I'm a stranger there, completely in the dark, and I couldn't find the source either. I plan to go back and look again when I have time." Wei Zhao feigned frustration.

Hearing this, Hammer almost laughed aloud. What a heaven-sent opportunity! He had been wondering how to do long-term business with Wei Zhao, and now it had simply walked in the door. Four or five dollars—that was a high price indeed. Hammer knew that the people around him, when they supplied drug lords, sometimes made their deals right inside the Conch Bar and did not handle delivery across the border, and their prices were pressed very low—two or three dollars was generally workable. Even the bulk deals delivered to the border only fetched three or four dollars. The price Wei Zhao had named was enough to set his heart racing.

"Brother Cannon, if you're interested, I can talk to the boss. I don't know if we can get it as low as four dollars, but five should be no problem. And if your volume is large and you have your own channels for moving it out, I can put in an application for you and see if we can go a little lower still," Hammer said.

"Oh? You're not pulling my leg, are you?" Wei Zhao looked at Hammer with some disbelief. "You're just a bar, a small retail outlet. How could you possibly have that much stock? And how could you offer such a cheap price?"

"Heh heh, to be honest with you, Brother Cannon, behind our boss is an international drug trafficking syndicate. If you're truly interested, I can take you to meet the boss," Hammer said.

Wei Zhao eyed Hammer warily, sizing him up from head to toe. In the end, as though he had made up his mind, he gritted his teeth and said: "All right. Lead the way!"

"Brother Cannon, you'll never lose out working with us, don't worry!" Hammer was overjoyed and hurriedly led Wei Zhao out of the bar's private room. "This way—it's in the basement!"

Wei Zhao nodded. Together with Hammer he came to a stairwell beneath a sign reading "Staff Only, No Customers," and Hammer pushed open the door and led Wei Zhao down.

The first basement level really was a staff passage. Wei Zhao could see busy waiters carrying out plates of Western food and snacks, so the first basement level was evidently the kitchen.

The second basement level was a storeroom holding things like red wine, and waiters moved back and forth there as well.

Farther down, the third basement level was rather empty. There was no one about; it seemed to be a junk room, with wine bottles and beverage bottles and food cartons piled about at random.

Yet Hammer kept leading Wei Zhao downward, all the way to the fifth basement level. This place was utterly different from the previous four. At the entrance to the fifth basement level stood an iron gate, and at the gate, like temple guardian figures, stood two burly men in black!

Their expressions were cold and stern, and their waists bulged—clearly they carried guns or the like on their persons.

"What's your business?" one of the guardians, Guardian A, asked.

"I'm Hammer, a waiter from upstairs. I've landed a big client who wants to see Brother Dafeng. Would you pass on the word?" Hammer said.

Guardian A nodded, swept his gaze over Wei Zhao from head to toe, then said to Guardian B: "You keep an eye on them here. I'll go in and report to Brother Dafeng."

"All right," Guardian B said with a nod.

After Guardian A left, Hammer gave Wei Zhao a reassuring look: "Don't worry, Brother Cannon. This time I'll make sure you get a satisfactory price."

"Well... let's hope so." Wei Zhao clearly still "did not believe" what was happening before his eyes, did not believe Hammer could really get stock at such a low price.

Seeing Wei Zhao's expression, Hammer said nothing more. Once they were in the boss's office, he would naturally see crates of white powder. With the goods right there before his eyes, Wei Zhao would have no choice but to believe it!

After a while, Guardian A came out and said to Hammer: "Brother Dafeng has time now. You can go in, but you'll have to be searched first!"

"No problem!" Hammer shot Wei Zhao a glance. "Go along with it—it's required."

"Oh..." Wei Zhao nodded in agreement.

Guardian B came over and searched Wei Zhao carefully. He showed no particular suspicion toward Wei Zhao's "net of heaven and earth," taking it for an ordinary little mesh pouch, but he frowned at the box of silver needles: "What's this?"

"For acupuncture," Wei Zhao said with a smile. "Sometimes when I'm out and the craving hits, I picked up a bit of acupuncture from someone. It can suppress the craving for a while."

Guardian B nodded. Naturally he did not think Wei Zhao could use silver needles as a weapon, so he had no suspicions and handed them straight back.

"That's enough. Go on in!" Guardian B said flatly.

"Let's go, Brother Cannon!" Hammer called to Wei Zhao with a smile, and together they walked into the fifth basement level.

On the fifth basement level, the opulence of the corridor alone was enough to make one click one's tongue. But Wei Zhao's expression showed nothing unusual. This was doubtless where the Conch Bar's core tier did its day-to-day business; ordinary people could never easily come here.

And Hammer had obviously been here before—he knew the place like the back of his hand.