Chapter 67: You Still Don't Know Me

Upon entering the gambling hall, Le Chiffre, the organizer of this poker game, greeted William with a smile and said, "Welcome, Mr. Devonshire. If I had known you were so interested in Texas Hold'em, I would have sent you an invitation. It's my fault that you had to join through the National Bank this time. I apologize for that. Next time we have such a game, I will definitely send you an invitation."

After shaking hands with Le Chiffre and hearing his confident remarks, William inwardly chuckled. Next time? Let's see if you can get through today first.

Not interested in chatting further with Le Chiffre, William replied with a friendly smile, "Thank you, Mr. Le Chiffre. I hope there will be a next time."

Le Chiffre, knowing that today's attendees were all wealthy individuals, understood that these people usually had their ways of obtaining information. He recognized the implied meaning in William's words but remained confident in his own poker skills.

With a face full of confidence, he said, "Of course, Mr. Devonshire. I'm sure there will be another opportunity for us to match our poker skills. I have great confidence in that."

"Good luck, then," William replied to Le Chiffre.

"Thank you, Mr. Devonshire. Excuse me; I need to greet our new guests," Le Chiffre nodded to William before moving on to greet Bond, who had just arrived.

With a sarcastic tone, Le Chiffre extended his hand to Bond and said, "You must be Mr. Beach, replacing Mr. Bruce. Welcome, Mr. Beach, or should I say Mr. Bond."

Bond didn't shake Le Chiffre's hand but instead said directly, "I doubt you were ever really looking forward to seeing me, Mr. Le Chiffre."

Bond walked straight to the bar, gave William a glance, and nodded to a man standing by the bar, signaling they were in this together.

William noticed that the man, who wasn't supposed to be here according to the original movie, was Mr. Church. In the original film, it was a character named Felix Leiter, an African American.

Mr. Church took his drink and sat down next to William. In a low voice, he said, "Mr. Devonshire, I hope that next time your 'W' doesn't bring an AWP into our country."

Feigning confusion, William asked, "What? I'm not sure what you're talking about, sir. Do we know each other?"

With a mocking smile, Church sipped his drink and said, "William Devonshire, I know who you are and what you've done. I just hope that next time you have any operations, you'll give us a heads-up and avoid getting in our way."

Raising his glass to William in a toast, he added, "Thanks for your cooperation, Mr. Devonshire."

Damn it, William thought. He knew this guy replacing Felix Leiter here wasn't a good sign. It turns out Church was not only here to deal with Le Chiffre but also to warn him to stay out of the USA's business.

"Well, I was protecting the mutual interests of both your country and England that day. No need to thank me; I'm not the kind to seek fame for good deeds. I also dislike those who benefit from my actions and then come to me with accusations instead of gratitude. And I especially dislike people who investigate me, Mr. Church. You might not know enough about me yet. By the way, what's your wife's last name again? Oh, right, it's Willis, isn't it, Mr. Willis?"

Church looked at William in shock. He hadn't expected William to casually reveal his real surname the first time they met. Could this guy have such a strong intelligence network? Or had MI6 already infiltrated their ranks? After all, he was a senior operative with high-level clearance.

"You're right; it seems we need to get to know each other better, Mr. William Devonshire. Maybe we could sit down for a coffee and have a chat."

With a cheeky smile, William looked into Church's eyes and said, "If you want to talk to me, go find Gareth Mallory. If he agrees, then I'm fine with it."

William didn't believe Gareth Mallory would hand him over to the CIA for questioning. Even if Mallory thought William was problematic, he would only interrogate him himself.

Church, aware of who Gareth Mallory was, knew he wouldn't get authorization from the British to question someone from a family that had served England for centuries, especially not someone who had recently done a great service for England.

At this point, the hall manager's voice echoed through the room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. As you know, tonight we will be playing No Limit Texas Hold'em. With five community cards and two hole cards, Mr. Mandu from the Basel Bank in Switzerland will be holding your stakes. Let's welcome Mr. Mandu."

Mandu from Basel Bank stepped forward and said, "As you all know, each of you has deposited $10 million with our bank. You can wire another $10 million if needed. The stakes will be held by the bank until I return. The winner of the game will enter their code into this encrypted machine. After the game, the funds can be transferred to any bank account worldwide. Mr. Bond, you go first. We're sorting by surname initials. Since your surname starts with a B, you go first, followed by Mr. Devonshire."

When it was William's turn, he thought for a moment and entered his former life's name in letters: Chen Mo.

Once everyone had entered their codes, they all sat at the poker table, and the game began.

As the game started, William was seated in position one, Le Chiffre in position seven, Church in position nine, and Bond in position eleven. After everyone settled in, the manager, who was acting as the dealer and notary for tonight's game, said, "Tonight, we are playing No Limit Texas Hold'em. We will cut the cards to determine the dealing order."

Once the dealer shuffled and cut the cards, the notary announced, "Mr. Cadorra will be the dealer. Mr. Kamilov will post the small blind of $5,000, and Mr. Fukuda will post the big blind of $10,000."

After the two blinds were posted, the notary said, "Alright, the game has officially begun. Enjoy yourselves."

The dealer handed out two hole cards to each player, starting with Mr. Fukuda, who had posted the big blind.

"Check," said Fukuda.

"Check," said the next player.

"Check," echoed the following player.

Since the first few players had poor hands, they decided to check, allowing others to take the lead.

When it was Le Chiffre's turn, he looked at his hole cards, thought for a few seconds, and then raised by placing $50,000 in chips on the table.

The player to his left folded immediately. Church glanced at Bond and smirked, but after looking at his own cards, he folded as well.

Bond's eyes were locked on Le Chiffre, making him uncomfortable. Le Chiffre averted his gaze to the community cards.

With a slight smile, Bond felt he had a read on Le Chiffre, suspecting that he was trying to bluff. The previous players had poor hands and could only check. Their cards were likely weak, and now, with Le Chiffre's raise, they had no choice but to fold.

Bond had a pair of threes in his hand, and the community cards showed 5, 8, and 9. Confident, he matched the $50,000 raise.

Now it was William's turn. "Raise, $100,000," he declared. He had a nine and a two in his hand, making a pair of nines. He decided to follow through.

After William's raise, the remaining players all folded.

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