He swallowed.

Stared straight ahead.

Drove in silence.

……

The whole way, not a word was spoken.

Henry Clark didn’t know why the always noisy, boisterous Big-Faced Cat had become so quiet.

So quiet, it felt unfamiliar.

Inside the van, there was only the occasional ticking of the turn signal... and the way Big-Faced Cat couldn’t help glancing at the Keke Cat plush in the rearview mirror every time.

The mask was digging painfully into his scalp.

Henry Clark loosened the elastic band with his hand.

The red light at the intersection began to flash.

“Thank you.”

Big-Faced Cat said in a low, hoarse voice.

He pulled a cigarette from the pack, stuck it in his mouth, and lit it with a lighter.

“I haven’t bought a Keke Cat toy in years…”

Smoke filled the air.

“Your daughter’s grown up, huh?”

Henry Clark said offhandedly, resting his chin on his hand.

“She’s dead.”

Big-Faced Cat took a deep drag, smoke swirling in the air as he exhaled:

“She’s been dead for years. She was only six that year.”

“Was it an accident?”

“No.”

Big Face stepped on the brake:

“She was murdered.”

“Why would anyone kill a six-year-old—”

“Bro.”

Big-Faced Cat cut off Henry Clark, pointing at the bank across the street:

“We’re here. Time to get down to business.”

Click!

He slid the magazine into his pistol, chambered a round, then straightened his mask:

“Let’s go, bro!”

“Once we rob this bank, I can finally avenge my daughter! Let’s get to work first, we’ll talk more later!”

With that, Big-Faced Cat smiled, patted Henry Clark on the shoulder, jumped out of the van, and walked toward the bank entrance.

“……”

Henry Clark said nothing.

He sat alone in the van, watching Big-Faced Cat stumble away.

In front of him, the cute Keke Cat plush sat there all alone. Henry Clark recalled the scene from his dream last night:

“The bank vault is full of safes, there’s not a single cent in there, Bro…”

Chapter 5: The Deal

“You coming or not, bro! Why are you dawdling!”

Big-Faced Cat saw that Henry Clark hadn’t followed.

He hurried back, opened the van door, and urged Henry Clark to get out:

“It’s almost midnight, man! Hurry, hurry, hurry!”

Sigh…

Henry Clark let out a sigh.

His only goal tonight was to sketch Keke Cat, he never planned to rob a bank again.

Who would’ve thought, Big-Faced Cat just dragged him along, no room for argument.

“Well, since I’m here, might as well.”

Henry Clark jumped out and followed Big-Faced Cat.

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

They reached the bank entrance.

“All set?” Big-Faced Cat asked.

The underling nodded.

Bang!!

Blood splattered all over the wall!

Big-Faced Cat wiped his gun:

“Now there’s one less person to split the money with, so we both get a bigger share!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Henry Clark nodded:

“People with dirty hands like that can’t be kept around.”

“What the hell?”

Big-Faced Cat froze, staring wide-eyed at Henry Clark:

“How did you know?”

“Just look at his face! Might as well have ‘disloyal’ written right on it!”

“For real, bro…”

Big-Faced Cat scratched his head.

He looked at Henry Clark in confusion:

“Whatever, let’s get moving!”

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

The two reached the corridor junction.

Click.

The masked underling snipped the wires:

“It’s done, alarm system’s disabled!”

Bang!!

The fuse box was splattered with blood!!

“Serves him right.”

The pure-hearted warrior Henry Clark sneered:

“Scum like that, seducing the boss’s wife, dying is too good for him.”

“What the hell!?”

Big-Faced Cat was so shocked he jumped:

“You even know about that crap?!”

He spat, his face turning green with rage:

“Who the hell leaked it! If even you know, doesn’t that mean the whole world knows Big-Faced Cat got cheated on by his underling?”

“Well… not the whole world.”

Henry Clark tried to comfort Big-Faced Cat:

“I just read it from his face. You look at that guy, it’s like he’s got ‘seduced the boss’s wife’ written all over him.”

“Bro, are you messing with me? Writing an essay on his face? And besides—”

Big-Faced Cat kicked the corpse over:

“He was behind you, masked up, pitch black—how could you even see his face?”

“I’m giving you an out, just take it. Or do you want me to say the whole world knows?”

“Ahem… let’s go, let’s go, we’re on the clock.”

Up ahead.

A fat guy came running up from the underground passage:

“Boss—”

Bang!

Big-Faced Cat turned to look at Henry Clark.

Henry Clark looked back, saying nothing.

“Do you know why I killed him?”

“That one I really don’t know.” Henry Clark shook his head.

“That guy was the worst! He was planning to kill all of us and take the money for himself, even had the escape route mapped out! Tell me, should I have killed him or not?”

“You two are just the pot calling the kettle black…”

The two kept moving, arriving at the bank vault.

Familiar black walls.

Familiar silver code-locked door.