When Jin and Bolin caught up with the group, they had already caught up with Varrick.
"This is unacceptable! I already told you, Unalaq didn't come last night!" A Varrick wearing a velvet robe, pink bunny slippers, curlers in his hair and a green unknown-substance face mask glared indignantly at the intruders on his ship. "Zhu Li would know, but she didn't tell me anything, so nobody came!" he insisted with a half-asleep expression. "Ah, it's too early to argue about this. Zhu Li, do the thing!"
The woman behind Varrick turned toward a coffee maker and began preparing a cup of coffee with practiced precision; even the roasting level of the beans had been handled with careful attention.
Jin's interest spiked the moment he heard that and he paid full attention to Varrick's assistant.
In his opinion, Zhu Li was one of the best characters in the entire series, no discussion.
Knowing she ended up marrying Varrick had always felt like a complete waste.
You have to remember that she became President of Republic City shortly after their wedding, following Kuvira's fall and gaining popularity during the Refugee Crisis!
Intelligence, strength, capability, skill, loyalty… she was top-tier.
Saying Jin wasn't interested in having her work for him would be an enormous lie. He wouldn't hesitate to make her his true right hand and open her chi paths, even above Retsu!
Also, it was never explained why Zhu Li was so loyal to Varrick.
Sure, he could understand that a mild crush might have contributed, but it couldn't be the main reason—not with the level of dedication shown in the series. There had to be something deeper.
Zhu Li soon handed Varrick a cup of coffee, and he took a sip before coughing the drink out.
"Zhu Li, you forgot the buzzard-wasp honey and the cow-musk-ox milk!" Varrick tossed the cup out of a porthole. "Again!"
"Yes, sir."
"Wow, her heart beats like an atomic clock." Jin was stunned by the calm and patience Zhu Li had toward Varrick; seeing it live was completely different. "Not even the slightest annoyance or impatience. How much has she endured since she started working for him?"
Even the Dai Li don't have that kind of mental resilience!
He knew that.
"We know Unalaq boarded your ship last night. We just need to search," Korra insisted.
"I told you that didn't happen!" That brief sip of coffee seemed to have woken Varrick up enough.
"Varrick," Tonraq stepped forward, "just let us search the ship. No vessel will leave port until my brother is found."
Eska and Desna narrowed their eyes at Varrick dangerously, wordless promises of pain.
"What?!" Varrick ripped the gunk off his face in one go; the sound of it peeling off made Jin's face hurt. How his mustache was still attached was a complete mystery to everyone present. "I've got eight tons of premium black halibut onboard waiting to be sold!"
Tonraq crossed his arms and stared at him silently.
"Don't be like that. Think about it—who'd be willing to buy eight tons of rotten fish if I can't leave?" Varrick insisted.
"I don't think anyone wants them, sir."
"Bad timing, Zhu Li, it was a rhetorical question," the millionaire scolded. "You have to pick up on these things!"
"I'm sorry, sir."
"Fine, you want to inspect the ship? Great!" Varrick threw his hands up in exasperation. "But once you finish the inspection and don't find anything, my ship is leaving."
Tonraq continued staring silently with his arms crossed.
Varrick ran a hand down his face, showing off the plasticity of his features.
"Fine!" He seemed to understand some sort of message. "Zhu Li will settle this year's taxes in advance. Happy?"
Tonraq considered it and nodded. Knowing the businessman, this was going to be the best deal he could get. The money from Varrick's delayed and evaded taxes would help secure many things the tribe urgently needed.
CRACK!
The sound of a ceramic coffee pot shattering against the elm planks echoed in the cabin.
"Zhu Li, that was a limited-edition coffee pot from the Bunny-Panda Rangers!" Varrick scolded reflexively upon seeing what happened, but he didn't hear the usual apology that should have followed. "Zhu Li?"
BA-DUM! BA-DUM! BA-DUM!
Everyone turned to look at Varrick's assistant, who had frozen in a stiff posture after dropping the coffee pot. Especially Jin, because he noticed that the moment Zhu Li's gaze registered his presence, her heart practically leapt out of her chest—and that shock was what paralyzed her.
Jin grew very worried about such a reaction, especially from someone with such mental resilience.
Was Zhu Li afraid of him?
Was it the result of something he'd done in the past?
That would ruin any possible recruitment plan!
Besides, unlike with Kuvira, he could tell if Zhu Li was lying or acting.
She wasn't. The woman was genuinely in shock.
As Jin began to panic a little…
Varrick, being the mad genius he was, instantly caught the reason.
"That is the best Jin Beifong disguise I've ever seen!" he declared with great interest in his eyes as he examined Jin—far too closely for Jin's comfort. "You must tell me the name of your makeup artist, she's incredibly talented! It's exactly what I need for my latest invention—moving pictures!" He raised his voice like a showman. "I'd show you, but I don't see the point."
A vein bulged on Jin's forehead. While his blindness wasn't something that bothered him, the way Varrick spoke seemed far too provocative and… was that jealousy he detected?
Weird.
"Actually…" Korra tried to clear up the misunderstanding, but Jin raised a hand to stop her.
"Moving pictures?" Jin pretended to be intrigued. "How curious. Sounds a lot like an invention created by the Mechanist who worked for Jin Beifong seventy years ago."
"That's because great minds think alike!" the mustached man responded quickly.
Varrick tried to position himself so the sweat on his forehead wouldn't be noticed. How in the world did someone remember that?
He was planning to patent it and make millions of yuans with "his" invention once he made "movies" popular!
All he needed now was to find the actor to pair with Ginger and—boom!
Money for everyone! And by everyone, he meant himself, since he's the one who pays the salaries.
How glad he was to have secured, in that auction years ago, one of the Mechanist's preliminary design books—it had been a huge help in becoming the export king he was today.
And when the time finally came for that golden goose to end up in the pot for laying fewer eggs, it'd be time to reveal "his idea" of using magnets to revolutionize transportation!
"Can you two focus?!" Tonraq finally lost his patience and pulled them apart. "Let me remind you that we're looking for my missing brother—the leader of one of the two tribes!"
Varrick and Jin turned their heads simultaneously. Yeah, they had completely forgotten.
Varrick didn't care about Unalaq. As for Jin, neither did he.
"Alright, let's split up to search faster," Tenzin found the perfect moment to contribute. "Jin, Mako, and Bolin can stay to watch Varrick and his assistant, while the rest of us search the ship."
Without giving Jin a chance to object, everyone scattered—even Korra preferred moving around to being trapped there with Varrick.
"Korra's training is going to double when we get back," Jin noted vindictively in his mind.
Fortunately for him, Varrick became hyper-focused on Bolin (probably planning Nuktuk's Adventures), ignoring Mako, who didn't know whether to sit or stand.
He was the one working in the police department—why did he have to stay there?
"I'll just pretend I'm guarding a suspect," he consoled himself as he adjusted his posture, despite having no authority here.
Meanwhile, Jin had his own matters to resolve.
"Miss Zhu Li?" He waved a hand in front of her glasses. "Earth to Zhu Li?"
"Pfff!" Zhu Li quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
But Jin noticed, and he was speechless.
Had she just laughed at his lame joke?
"Ahem. Please excuse my rude behavior." Zhu Li returned to her usual composure in mere seconds. "May I serve you something to drink? Mister…"
"Jin. Jin Beifong."
BA-DUM! BA-DUM!
Okay, now he was seriously worried!
Wait, Zhu Li should have a cabin near Varrick's. Maybe he could get a clue from there?
Earlier his attention had been drawn to the similarities in the ship's structure, so he hadn't paid much attention to minor details. After all, it was a fishing cargo ship—there wasn't much of interest onboard to begin with.
He gave Kyoshi the equivalent of a look asking for help; she had watched everything calmly from the sidelines.
"Give me a minute, I think I know where her cabin is." Kyoshi found the situation amusing and went to explore to see what surprises she could find—more for her own curiosity than because Jin asked.
And what a surprise she found!
…
Kyoshi returned a little later with information that put everything into context.
Zhu Li wasn't afraid of Jin—on the contrary, she idolized him!
Her cabin was filled with books, portraits, and posters of Jin Beifong.
Kyoshi noticed she even kept some of her old school projects about Jin, all marked with the highest grades.
Jin, meanwhile, didn't stay still while waiting for Kyoshi's return and struck up a casual conversation with Zhu Li while Bolin was bombarded by Varrick and Mako alternated between watching the two and making sure his little brother wasn't scammed.
The conversation turned unexpectedly revealing. It seemed that whenever she wasn't attending to Varrick's whims, Zhu Li enjoyed talking to someone.
Why did Zhu Li follow Varrick?
He was the closest thing to Jin Beifong she had found after graduating.
Yes. That was all. No complex reasons or lofty goals.
Jin felt happy—even flattered—but also a bit sad.
The reason for his sadness was that he realized the original explanation for Zhu Li's loyalty to Varrick would remain unknown to him due to the butterfly effect.
BA-DUM! BA-DUM!
So those heartbeats were because…
"You seem capable. Would you like to come work for me?" Knowing the truth, Jin simply had no reason to delay his stealth recruitment attempt.
Wait—if he wasn't hiding it, was it still considered stealthy?
"Wow, wow, hold it, I can't pretend I didn't hear that!" Varrick crossed his arms and stepped between Jin and Zhu Li. "Let me tell you, no matter how convincing your disguise is, you'll never separate Zhu Li from my side."
"Really?"
"Of course!" Varrick's voice carried absolute certainty and confidence. "She's a cold, heartless person, a perfectly tuned war machine by my side—no matter what happens, she will always—"
But before he could finish…
"Iknik Blackstone Varrick!" Tonraq burst into the cabin and slammed Varrick against the metal wall with enough force to dent the hull slightly, freezing his wrists with thick ice cuffs by drawing water from a nearby kitchen jar. "You are under arrest for the murder of my brother Unalaq!" he declared with a voice that could have frozen the ocean.
Varrick: ?
"You should be grateful that my daughter and Tenzin are restraining the twins or I doubt you would make it to the trial alive," growled the man who was holding himself back from killing his brother's murderer.
Varrick: ??
"To think you'd bury his body among the halibut—I always knew you had a twisted mind!" the tribal leader shook his head, face wrinkling with disgust. "Korra almost missed the arm sticking out…"
Varrick: ???
Before his mind could catch up, Zhu Li stepped into his field of vision, carrying a large piece of luggage.
"Sir, working by your side has shown me that I am immature and still have much to learn, so I resign from my current job to expand my horizons and skills," she declared as she offered a polite bow. "Thank you for being patient with me all these years. I hope your sentence is lenient, and goodbye."
Varrick: ????
"By the way, I took the liberty of withdrawing the full amount of my delayed salary from your safe—along with the promised interest," she added while displaying the proper bank documents like someone unfolding a fan.
Varrick: ?????