After his identity was exposed, Jackie looked visibly awkward, then quickly turned serious.
“Mr. Luke, I have to tell you again that the Talismans are dangerous. They’ll bring trouble to you. We can keep them under proper protection and store them somewhere safe.”
Jackie had come here for the Talismans.
Luke still had the Ox and Snake Talismans in his possession.
Jackie’s position was that the Talismans should be recovered and sealed away.
They couldn’t be allowed to fall into the hands of the Black Hand—or any individual—because their powers could easily be abused and cause unimaginable damage.
Even Jackie himself exercised considerable restraint when using them.
Someone like Luke, who relied on possessing Talismans to gain power, naturally stood in conflict with Jackie’s group.
Faced with Jackie coming directly to demand them back, Luke didn’t choose to fight.
Instead, he folded his arms and teased,
“That safe place you mentioned… you mean Section 13?”
Considering how both heroes and villains seemed to enter and leave Section 13 whenever they pleased, Luke had serious doubts about its security.
Jackie coughed awkwardly in defense of it.
“Ahem… Either way, there’s no place more suitable than Section 13. So please hand the Talismans over to me, Mr. Luke.”
His tone was quite firm.
It almost sounded as though if Luke refused, Jackie was prepared to take them by force.
Luke raised an eyebrow and reached inside his clothes.
Jackie’s pupils contracted, expecting him to pull out a hidden weapon or firearm.
He was just about to dodge when he saw what Luke had actually thrown.
Two Talismans.
“The Talismans!”
Jackie hurriedly caught them.
Luke spoke calmly.
“They’re yours, Jackie.”
Jackie stared at the Ox and Snake Talismans in his hands, clearly surprised that such a troublesome opponent had handed them over so readily.
Seeing his confusion, Luke smiled faintly.
“I’m no longer interested in taking part in this pointless fight over the Talismans. You and the Black Hand can keep playing your little game.”
Hearing that Luke was withdrawing from the struggle came as a surprise, but Jackie also felt relieved.
His hostility disappeared almost immediately, and he smiled in a much friendlier manner.
“Either way, Mr. Luke, I think you’ve made a wise choice. I hope you can return to an ordinary, happy life without any trouble.”
In Jackie’s eyes, the world surrounding the Talismans was far too dangerous.
A quiet, ordinary life was much better.
Luke’s expression became somewhat strange.
He suddenly wondered what Jackie’s face would look like once Luke put on an Oni Mask.
Before the two could continue talking, however, both of them suddenly heard an abnormal sound coming from the hotel wall.
They looked toward it.
Fine cracks began spreading across the surface.
In the next instant, a huge body smashed through the wall.
Dust exploded through the room as a rough, vicious voice shouted,
“Luke, hand over the Talismans!”
Tohru, the Black Hand’s powerful enforcer, stood there in black overalls, glaring viciously at Luke.
Behind him were Finn, Chow, and Ratso, all senior members of the Black Hand.
The pale-skinned Ratso gave a dry laugh. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“Heh. This time, we came prepared.”
The moment he finished speaking, pairs of crimson eyes appeared in the shadows around the guest room.
Elite Ninja Shadowkhan stepped out one after another, holding katana, shuriken, and ropes.
They had already surrounded Luke and Jackie.
On the balcony, a red-haired martial artist wearing a blue vest had somehow appeared as well, crouching on the railing like a bird of prey.
“Black Tiger Hunts Two Lambs.”
Hak Foo stared at them fiercely.
He was one of the Black Hand’s strongest fighters.
Looking at the murderous force the villains had brought with them, Luke would once have been forced to take the situation extremely seriously, even with the highly useful Ox and Snake Talismans in his possession.
Now, however, he merely smiled.
He tilted his head and pointed toward Jackie.
“Sorry, but the Black Hand came one step too late. Jackie already took all the Talismans.”
In an instant, every member of the Black Hand turned to stare at Jackie, who was holding the Ox and Snake Talismans.
Jackie’s expression changed.
“Uh… first come, first served!”
Without wasting another second, Jackie turned and ran with the Talismans.
“Jackie!”
Tohru roared and charged after him.
The surrounding Ninja Shadowkhan immediately joined the pursuit.
Jackie’s escape was a complete mess.
He fled all the way into a furniture store, where he finally managed to use the terrain to keep the large number of Black Hand members occupied.
Luke watched both sides disappear after the Talismans.
The smile on his face gradually faded as he looked around at the ruined hotel room and the hotel manager standing at the doorway with a completely bewildered expression.
He sighed and took the food cart Jackie had brought earlier.
“Well, since things have already come to this, I might as well eat lunch first.”
…
That evening, in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
An exhausted Jackie returned to Uncle’s Antique Shop with the two Talismans he had barely managed to protect during the Black Hand’s pursuit.
The moment he entered, he heard Uncle calling out.
“Aiya! Jackie, why are you only coming back now? Hurry and pour tea for Uncle’s honored guest.”
Jackie looked exhausted.
“Uncle, I really think you should let me rest for a while. You can ask Jade…”
His prolonged fight with the Black Hand had been physically and mentally draining.
Right now, he only wanted to lie down and recover.
But Jade, wearing a red hoodie, appeared in front of him.
The girl looked nervous as she lowered her voice.
“Uncle Jackie, you’d better go see for yourself. There’s something seriously wrong with Uncle’s guest.”
Jackie looked confused.
“Who is it?”
The instant he saw the guest Jade and Uncle were talking about, he froze completely.
“Luke?! What are you doing here?”
Luke was standing in front of a shelf, examining an antique that was supposedly from the Tang Dynasty.
Seeing Jackie return, Luke smiled faintly.
“Jackie, judging by the fact that you made it back, I assume you didn’t lose them.”
Seeing Luke inside his own home, Jackie immediately became tense.
“What are you doing around my family?”
Luke answered calmly.
“Obviously, I’m here to make a deal with Uncle.”
As he spoke, he pulled a check for one million dollars from his pocket.
The world of Jackie Chan Adventures was essentially a parallel version of Earth.
As someone who had transmigrated from Earth, Luke possessed advance knowledge of plenty of opportunities that could make him rich.
As a result, he had accumulated a considerable amount of wealth.
At that moment, Uncle came over carrying a bag of tea.
He was an energetic old man with gray hair and beard, reading glasses, and a yellow sweater.
The moment Uncle saw Jackie, he started complaining.
“Aiya! Jackie, why are you and Jade still standing there? Hurry and prepare tea and snacks for our guest. Uncle has business to do.”
Uncle normally stayed at home conducting research, so he had never met Luke before.
At the moment, he simply assumed Luke was a wealthy customer who had come to buy antiques.
Uncle urged his nephew to prepare the tea.
Jackie’s expression became extremely strained.
He tried to explain who Luke was.
“Uncle, this person…”
Before he could finish, Uncle raised a hand and struck him on the forehead.
“Ow!”
Jackie clutched his forehead in pain.
Uncle shoved the tea bag into his arms.
“Go make tea for the guest.”
Jackie looked thoroughly depressed.
Seeing the scene, Luke’s smile widened.
So this was the guy who had been stopping him from collecting the Talismans before.
Luke teased him.
“Jackie, you don’t need to worry. Since I’ve withdrawn from the fight over the Talismans, I naturally have no reason to keep competing with you. I’m here to do business peacefully.”
Jackie rubbed his forehead and muttered,
“Oh… so that’s what this is about.”
A short while later, a steaming cup of high-quality black tea was placed in front of Luke.
He picked it up and took a small sip, then placed the million-dollar check in front of Uncle.
Seeing such a large sum of money, Uncle’s eyes immediately lit up with expectation.
Then he heard Luke’s request.
“I’d like to make a deal. I want the apprentice of a great wizard to teach me the incantations used to practice chi magic.”
Luke had come here for Good Chi magic.