"Heh."
Hunter looked at Danny Ocean and let a faint smile tug at the corner of his mouth.
"It seems this gentleman did not quite understand me. I am not that interested in money."
"Let alone a little over one million. If I really wanted it, getting more than ten million would not be a problem."
"You people seem to be after someone, right?"
"If you think money alone can buy me, you are wasting your breath."
Danny's jaw tightened.
In his crew of eleven, Danny himself was doing this to win back his ex-wife and teach Terry Benedict a hard lesson.
Rusty was his longtime friend.
Ruben was the former casino owner who had funded the whole operation.
Aside from the three of them, the other eight had all been lured in by the promise of a huge payday after the heist succeeded.
As for this handsome Asian man, Danny had seen him several times over the last few days in different Las Vegas casinos.
He had also witnessed his impressive gambling skill under deliberate restraint.
At first, Danny had not cared too much about him.
That was before some armored thugs out of nowhere hit Las Vegas and killed two of the city's biggest casino bosses, while stealing a fortune from both of them.
After that, Benedict, already a paranoid man by nature and the target of Danny's heist, became even more cautious.
He nearly doubled his bodyguard detail whenever he went out.
Not only that, he added more security to every casino he owned, making the job far more difficult.
Because of that, Danny had already started revising the plan he had originally prepared to carry out.
He decided to bring this gambling prodigy, who had already clashed with Terry Benedict before, into the team.
The idea was to have Hunter draw Benedict's attention, opening up gaps in his defenses.
But now that Hunter was not budging, Danny was starting to get frustrated.
Fortunately, his friend Rusty caught on immediately.
Hunter had not rejected them outright.
That meant he was waiting for them to show more sincerity.
Rusty did not know this handsome Asian gambler well, so he decided to ask directly.
"Mr. Hunter, what kind of payment would convince you to work with us once?"
"Smart man."
Hunter looked at Rusty with approval and answered without hesitation.
"I like working with smart people, Mr. Ryan."
"From what I can tell, none of you are ordinary."
"Alright. I will not hide it from you."
Hunter suddenly remembered the speech he had used a few months ago when he was trying to talk the beautiful locksmith Slattery into teaching him her skills.
He had thought that pitch was pretty solid.
So he decided to reuse it.
"As I said, I am not all that interested in money."
"Because if I need more, I can always go earn it myself."
"But beyond money, I am very interested in knowledge and skills."
"A long time ago, I realized I have an almost photographic memory."
"Because of that, even though I came from an ordinary family, I have never really been troubled by money."
"I worked hard, used my learning ability, and picked up a lot of ways to make money."
"The gambling skill you saw is only one of them."
"I want to make myself stronger, and I am willing to learn from anyone capable enough to teach me."
"So here is my offer."
"If the three of you can teach me three different skills, I will not ask you for a single cent."
"In fact, I will help you do one thing for free."
Hunter kept smiling and said nothing more.
Danny Ocean stared at him in astonishment.
Linus Caldwell, the young pickpocket, already had his eyes wide open. Now they widened even further.
Even Rusty, who had spent years moving through different circles and had probably conned more people with his mouth than most men could count, could not stop his mouth from twitching.
He thought he had seen every kind of person under the sun.
But a man like this was a first.
Danny, still haunted by the thought of his ex-wife sleeping in another man's bed every night, felt a sharp ache in his chest.
He was the first to recover.
"Mr. Hunter, what exactly counts as a skill in your eyes?"
That was the right question.
Hunter glanced at the three of them, then smiled and pointed at Rusty first.
"You have cards hidden in several places on your body. I cannot tell whether you specialize in cheating at poker or in card magic."
"But either way, I will count that as one."
Rusty's expression changed. He had not expected Hunter to see the cards he had hidden so easily.
But remembering Hunter's own gambling ability, he quickly accepted it.
Before the others could even prepare a response, Hunter pointed at Linus.
"This kid has some real hand skills."
"I noticed him moving fast when he passed two pedestrians earlier."
"If I am not mistaken, you are very good at stealing things."
Linus's half-open mouth fell even wider.
When Danny looked at him, Linus tried to shake his head and deny it.
But under Hunter's faint, knowing smile, he could only lower his head and admit silently that he had indeed been light-fingered and had taken a few wallets off passing tourists.
With Danny and Rusty both looking at him now, Hunter smiled and continued.
"I never planned to become a pickpocket, but I am very interested in the kind of skill that lets you brush past someone and take something without them noticing."
"So think it over."
"Teach me three such skills, and I will do exactly what you want."
Linus immediately wanted to refuse. His theft techniques had been accumulated through decades of his father's experience and were drilled into him from childhood. He had spent more than ten years learning them and had no intention of passing them to someone else so easily.
But before he could object, Danny and Rusty exchanged a glance.
Then both men answered at the same time.
"No problem. We agree."
Hunter immediately extended his hand.
Danny, Rusty, and Hunter clasped hands one after another.
As for Linus, the young pickpocket who had not yet fully grown into the crew, his voice carried almost no weight.
Who was going to care what he thought?
Read ahead with 100+ chapters now with daily updates!
Get 30% OFF for limited time only.
@patreon.com/Authorizz