The next day, Jimmy went to the police station as usual, asked Amy for half a day off, as he had some personal matters to handle in the afternoon. Amy didn't make it difficult for Jimmy, a well-recorded employee; after all, it was only for an afternoon, so it wasn't a big problem.
At 3 PM, Jimmy arrived at the bar which hadn't yet opened. He called Justin, who came from inside to open the bar's main door, letting Jimmy in.
Jimmy and Justin went to the bar counter, where, for a change, Justin didn't pour Jimmy his usual drink but instead busied himself with mixing cocktails. Honestly, watching a skilled bartender at work was truly a pleasing sight.
A nameless cocktail was placed in front of Jimmy. He took a sip and found it very nice. It lacked the sharp bite of whiskey, was very mellow, fruity, and had some unique flavors that made it very gentle and tasty for someone like Jimmy, who usually didn't drink cocktails.
As Justin began cleaning the bar tools, Jimmy watched him work while sipping his drink.
After finishing up, Justin poured a glass of water and then sat down across from Jimmy.
Jimmy, "Finished?"
Justin, "Yes, now we can talk."
Jimmy, "First question, who are you?"
Justin, "A broker, an intermediary, whichever you prefer. This bar is mine."
Jimmy, "What kind of business do you all deal with?"
Justin, "Anything, depending on the client's needs. We connect them with the right people. You could think of this place as a career center."
Jimmy, pointing at a silver lion crest, "That can't be the club emblem you're talking about, for custom furniture? You must be joking."
Justin, "Why do you say that? If you need custom furniture, I can find someone to design and make it for you. Anything is possible."
Jimmy, "The cleaner yesterday, when he was paying, a corner of a card slipped out of his wallet. I had seen the same card before, and the emblem on that card was this lion."
Justin, "Of course. They are all collaborators, naturally they have corresponding identity markers."
Jimmy, "Tell me about this club. Since you asked me here to talk alone, I believe you must have something to say to me."
Justin reached under the bar and pulled out a card, a black card with the same lion crest, only the size of a business card, easily fitting into a wallet, "This was just an accident. I have, indeed, been observing you. In my area of responsibility, expanding our network of partners is what I'm supposed to do.
This card is the identity tag for our partners. To become one of our partners, you don't need to pay anything extra; you just help us handle some matters when necessary, and we will pay you an amount that matches your status and the task.
For a policeman like you, who is already excellent, if you become our partner, we will naturally do our best to help you climb higher."
Justin handed the card to Jimmy and continued, "Normally, inspecting you for partnership would take more time, but since you've just expressed a business need, experiencing our services firsthand might make you feel more secure about working with us.
The cleaner is one of our partners, and your issue falls right within his range of work."
Jimmy flipped the black card over and over, puzzled. The card had no number, mark, or anything on either side. He wondered how they confirmed the identity of the cardholder.
Previously, he had found a brass-colored card on boxer Mark Riz, that card also seemed to have no number or name. His, however, was a black card, clearly metallic, although it was currently hard to determine what metal it was.
Jimmy looked at Justin, "Tell me the name."
Justin, "Intercontinental Hotel. Of course, we are not part of the Intercontinental Hotel; we are just their collaborators, providing services to their members."
Jimmy, "If I join, are there any conditions?"
Justin, "There are only two rules, loyalty and secrecy."
Jimmy, "What else do I need to know? Tell me everything now."
Justin, "Partners are limited to business cooperation and do not restrict individual actions. You just need to accept the tasks from me. If you have any requirements, you can also assign tasks through me.
Additionally, secrecy must be maintained externally. As part of the societal underbelly, we are isolated from ordinary people.
Our services cover various aspects, whether it's daily necessities, food, accommodation, or intelligence equipment and weapons, we can handle it all."
Jimmy, "OK, I understand. I accept your invitation to become a partner. However, I will decide whether to accept specific tasks. There are some things I won't do as a police officer."
Justin, "Of course, we are just brokers and service providers. If you don't want to accept a task, you can simply refuse."
Jimmy, "About the Cleaner for this task, how should I pay you? Since most of my funds are currently in one company's books, big amount movements would be troublesome. I think you might be able to handle it, right?"
Justin, "Of course, you just need to have your financial personnel coordinate with the person I arrange. They will handle it all."
After finishing his drink, Jimmy asked Justin to give him another one.
Jimmy, "By the way, Justin, I've seen another card in brass color. What does that card signify?"
Justin, "That kind is for operation personnel. For us, black is for partners who provide services. As for them, they are just temporary enforcers."
Justin then took a gold coin out from under the bar and handed it to Jimmy.
Justin, "For our members, we usually charge in this type of gold coin, used for paying for services provided, though some services will incur additional fees.
Since you were not our partner before, the Cleaner charged you entirely in cash. If you had been our member before, you would have needed only one or at most two gold coins to settle it."
Jimmy, "Gold coins? How do they work? Do I need to exchange money for them?"
Justin, "Certainly not. The issuance of gold coins is managed by the Intercontinental Hotel. We cannot directly exchange them here, they are only obtained through tasks and services. I will explain in detail later. You have heard enough for today. You can give the gold coin back to me now."
Jimmy returned the gold coin to Justin, realizing that such a structured society's dark side couldn't be established overnight. Actually, Jimmy was very adaptable by nature. His so-called hard work was more a display of professional ethics rather than a love for the job.
Now that he had decided to accept Justin's invitation, he might as well treat it as a part-time job. As long as it didn't infringe on his human nature and conscience, doing a little part-time work for extra money was not a problem.
Reborn in this world, Jimmy was no moral paragon, but he simply had his own standards of behavior.
Jimmy got a phone number from Justin. If he later needed to pay $300,000, he would contact this number to have his financial personnel legally transfer funds from the company account. If not needed, he would just pay Justin $55,000 after the Cleaner finished the task.
Indeed, Justin had offered Jimmy a special discount. He could wait until after the Cleaner had finished before paying—a sign of trust, as chasing debts wasn't a concern for those who operated in the shadows.
Jimmy left the bar and went back home. That night, he received a phone call from the Cleaner, asking for his email to send several photos, which appeared to be from a system inquiry page with the IRS's circular logo on the top-left corner. According to the results of the page inquiry, Jimmy's identity was now completely clear, with not a single tax record.
It seemed Jimmy wouldn't be able to keep his $300,000. He called the Cleaner to instruct him to continue, and then made a late-night call to his former part-time accountant to arrange a meeting to manage the payment details.
Having sorted these matters, Jimmy felt truly liberated, as the pitfalls in his identity seemed to have been fully resolved, eliminating any hidden dangers.
Relieved, he took out the black card Justin had given him. Although Justin had not explicitly stated it, since he valued Jimmy's status as a police officer, the services provided in the future were likely to be standard police services, perhaps pulling some strings here and there, probably not causing any major issues, since he could assess whether to accept the tasks.