Chow Bow took Xiwang to the top floor of the building where the Head Manger's office was located. Outside the office there were two secretaries. Chow Bow quickly told them why they were there and the secretaries let them in. Xiwang noticed that they were rather respectful when talking to Chow Bow.
The office was quite big and was actually partitioned into two parts. The outer part had plushy sofas and chairs along with a small table. It appeared to be a place for entertaining guests. The other part which was separated by transparent glass had a single large table in the middle flanked by a few cabinets. On the table sat a middle-aged man wearing a blue suit. He appeared to be about forty-five years of age.
As Xiwang and Chow Bow entered the outer room, the man sitting at the table rose and came to meet them with a smile. He stretched his hand out offering a handshake to Xiwang and said, "Hello, I'm Chow Kong, Head Manager of the First National Bank of China." Xiwang shook the man's hand and turned his head to face Chow Bow. He asked, "Another Chow. Relatives?" Chow Kong laughed and said, "Yes, Bow here is my nephew." Then he gestured for the two men to take a seat before sitting down himself.
Xiwang opened his mouth first, "Mr. Chow, I'm pressed for time so let's get right down to business. I wish to open a VIP account here. Your nephew tells me that you can help expedite the process. I wish to get it done quickly without having to fill in all the unnecessary forms."
Chow Kong smiled and said, "Of course. We understand that wealthy people are often pressed for time. VIP clients get the best treatment. I can complete things for you in no more than 10 minutes. I'll just require your ID card. But, before that, let me give you some information about the VIP accounts. We actually have three types of VIP accounts called VIP 1, 2 and 3 respectively. VIP 1 requires a minimum balance of 1 billion Yuan. VIP 2 requires 5 billion Yuan and VIP 3 requires a minimum balance of 10 billion Yuan. The perks and privileges also vary accordingly. But, since you're in a hurry I'll skip that for now. You can just take a pamphlet if you prefer. Of course, there is no distinction between private accounts and corporate accounts at this stage. VIP is VIP. So, which would you prefer, Mr….?"
The last part was a tactful way of asking Xiwang for his ID card. Xiwang took out his ID card which had been prepared under the name 'Zhu Xiwang', handed it to Chow Kong and said, "You can call me Xiwang. Make it VIP 3 then."
The manager said happily, "Excellent! As I said we can have everything ready in under 10 minutes." He scanned Xiwang's ID and noticed the family name 'Zhu'. Curious, he asked Xiwang, "So, you are Mr. Zhu. Mr. Zhu, may I ask how you are planning to deposit the money? Will it be cash or electronic transfer?"
"Electronic transfer. Once the account is ready, I'll put the money in."
"Very good, Mr. Zhu. By the way, may I enquire if you have any relation to the capital's Zhu family?"
Xiwang paused for a bit and finally said, "I guess you could say I have a certain relationship with the Zhu family. Zhu Xiwang is my Chinese name. But, you can just call me Xiwang. NEVER! EVER! Call me Mr. Zhu again."
Chow Kong was a little surprised to hear his reply. As someone who was opening a VIP 3 account he had suspected that he was someone from the capital's Zhu family. In fact, the Zhu family patriarch Zhu Guanyu already had a VIP 3 account in their bank. From Xiwang's reply he could understand that he was indeed a member of the Zhu family. But, it was unclear if he was part of the Main Family or a branch family. He could also tell that Xiwang did not really like the surname 'Zhu'. He was filled with many questions but he decided not to probe further for the moment.
As Chow Kong had promised the account was ready in under ten minutes. Xiwang then took out his phone and dialed a number. A pleasant female voice answered.
"Yes, leader. What can I do for you?"
"Dove, I've opened an account with the First National Bank of China. Deposit 10 billion dollars to the following account."
"Right away, leader."
Almost immediately after he hung up, 10 billion dollars was deposited to his VIP 3 account. After converting to Yuan, there was about 70 billion Yuan in the account. The eyes of the two Chows almost popped out of their sockets. There were a lot of wealthy big shots and high rollers associated with their bank. But, no one had ever deposited 70 billion Yuan in one go before.
Also, what impressed Chow Kong more than the huge amount of money deposited was the way in which it was deposited. Xiwang had simply made a casual call and such a huge amount of money was immediately moved. He made it seem like he did not really care about that amount at all. It was obvious that his real wealth was much more than 70 billion Yuan. He inwardly praised his nephew for bringing in such a wealthy client.
His tone had turned a lot more polite, almost servile in fact, when he addressed Xiwang again. He said, "Mr. Xiwang, thank you again for choosing our bank. I must say you are the wealthiest man I have ever seen." A little bit of Xiwang's youthful playfulness returned at that moment as he laughed and said, "Haha..Actually, 70 billion Yuan is not that much. It's only chump change to me."
The two Chows were caught by surprise again. They did not really believe that 70 billion Yuan could be considered chump change to anyone, not even the wealthy Xiwang. However, from his remark they could understand that, as they had suspected, his total wealth was a lot more than the 70 billion Yuan in his account.
Of course, Xiwang was not lying at all. 70 billion Yuan or 10 billion dollars was indeed nothing but chump change to him. After so many years in the assassination business he had accumulated an obscene amount of wealth. Xiwang had always been very intelligent. He was not just a mindless killer. What added to his fearsomeness was his intelligent and flexible mind.
After his fame had grown each and every one of his hits earned him big bucks. It could be anywhere from a few hundred million to a billion dollars and beyond, depending on the target. Apart from that, several world Governments would deposit 1 billion dollars to his organization's account every year just to retain the right to request their services. That's 1 billion dollars for the right to 'request' their service not 'use' their service.
The assassination Organization that Xiwang belonged to was called 'The Dark Hand' and it was the universally acknowledged number one assassination organization in the world. Even the members of the number 2 assassination organization, 'The Dusk', also acknowledged that they were far inferior to The Dark Hand. After all, The Dark Hand was led by the ultimate assassin, the Phantom Reaper, the man universally acknowledged as the best and most fearsome assassin to have ever walked this earth.
Led by the assassin feared worldwide as the most dangerous man in the world, The Dark Hand stood far above the other assassination organizations. Although they would never admit it out loud the members of The Dusk were secretly ordered to run the opposite way if they ever met any member of The Dark Hand and they would never dare to antagonize them.
Not just any random person could request The Dark Hand to carry out missions for them. The Dark Hand maintained a heavily encrypted website where clients could request its services. Membership to this website cost 1 billion dollars and it was renewed every year. Aside from very wealthy individuals and corporations, many World Governments were also members of the website and they would never fail to renew their membership.
Requests for hits were first reviewed by the organization and they could either be accepted or rejected. If accepted, there was a separate fee for carrying out the hit and it was not deductible from the membership fee. Despite the uncertainty that their request would be accepted most of the members still paid 1 billion dollars every year to retain their membership. The prestige of The Dark Hand was just that high.
The existence of The Dark Hand itself was known only to a select few. The clients, of course, knew about it. Within the Governments, it was usually the intelligence agencies who knew because they were the ones who would register as members to The Dark Hand's website. The others who knew included the criminal elements like big crime lords, drug lords, corrupt officials and businessmen with connections to said criminal elements and so on. The organization was shrouded in mystery. Even the clients knew very little about it.
Under Xiwang's guidance every time the Dark Hand took out a crime syndicate it would take possession of all its resources and wealth. The same thing was done when the target was the owner of a Company or a Corporation. The organization had become very skilled and efficient in such operations.
The same thing had happened when Marco Vinciguerra was killed. All his assets had been taken over by The Dark Hand. Through such process the Dark Hand had accumulated an obscene amount of wealth and resources. All the money entered the organization's accounts. But, as the leader of the organization, Xiwang could move the money however he wanted. Thus, Xiwang was rich. To be more precise, he was filthy rich. He was probably the wealthiest man in the world.
Back in the Head Manager's office Chow Kong was explaining to Xiwang about the privileges offered to VIP 3 clients. The benefits included a personal manger to attend to them every time they used the bank's facilities, elimination of all charges except for the yearly charge on the account, enhanced loan facilities and so on.
After the explanation Xiwang looked at Chow Kong seriously and said, "Mr. Chow, I'm not really interested in any of that. What interests me more are the bank's established connections. I am certain that you have connections in the Police, for example and among high officials and politicians. There might come a time when I require the use of those connections. If that should ever happen I trust that I can rely on the bank to protect my interests?"
Chow Kong understood that someone like Xiwang would obviously have a lot of enemies. Those who reach the pinnacle of wealth and power always do. As someone who was like a golden goose for the bank, he had no qualms about supporting him. He did not hesitate and said, "Mr. Xiwang, you can be at ease. We will do everything we can to give you a satisfactory service."
Xiwang smiled and said, "Very good!" Then he turned to Chow Bow and said, "And young Mr. Chow, regarding the girl from before, I trust that you will not give her any more trouble in the future."
Chow Bow immediately replied, "Definitely not, sir." He thought that Xiwang had taken an interest in the young clerk so he secretly decided that not only would he not reprimand her further he would also stop pestering her at work.
"That's good. Well, I will take my leave now gentlemen. As I said earlier, I have other places to visit. You don't have to see me out, Mr. Chow. Have a good day." With that he got up and left the office.
After he was gone Chow Kong turned to his nephew and said, "Bow, how much do you know about Mr. Xiwang." Chow Bow replied, "I only met him today. I know nothing about the man, uncle, except that he is very rich. He has five exclusive invitation-only credit cards with him. He might have even more that he did not show me. He has a powerful and commanding aura about him. He's definitely not just some average rich guy. I think it would be best to maintain a good relationship with him."
"I agree. And he's from the capital's Zhu family, apparently. Pay close attention to him and try to get more information about him,"
"Yes, uncle. Leave it to me."