Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 400 - 382: The Power of Money

Chapter 400: Chapter 382: The Power of Money

The family-run hotel was old but had an air of distinction, with five stories, the walls painted green, and the window frames a light red.

The hotel was built directly on the riverbank, allowing one to jump right into the water from the windows.

In front there was a narrow footpath, devoid of cars but filled with parked bicycles.

The front entrance was small and narrow, with a glass door marked with an "Open for Business" sign, indicating vacancies within.

Gao Yi was keen to witness Green’s methods, while Green was only interested in seeing how Gao Yi operated, so they both walked past the hotel’s front entrance in silence, without stopping or speaking.

After they had walked well past the hotel, Gao Yi could not help but ask, "What should we do now?"

"Isn’t that for you to decide? I thought you were going to go straight in just now," replied Green.

"Seeing as you didn’t say anything, I thought maybe you wanted to do some reconnaissance first."

Green spread his hands in resignation, and Gao Yi said with a wry smile, "You’re the teacher, so of course I’ll do whatever you teach me to."

"I’d like to see your choices. What would you usually do?"

Gao Yi thought for a moment and said, "Go in, find the person, take them out, and then leave."

Green sighed and then suddenly asked, "Did you learn that from the KGB?"

"The KGB? No, I don’t know anyone from the KGB. Why do you ask?"

"It’s the Russian ’brute force’ style."

Green looked back at the hotel, thought for a moment, and said, "I am very interested in seeing your approach, but the KGB-style brute force... I’m worried it might complicate matters."

"I’m learning from you, so you should teach me what to do."

At that point, there was no need for courtesy. Iron Fist George was such a good opportunity for practice that it would have been a waste to just barge in and eliminate him.

Green didn’t make any move; he simply said, "It’s three twenty-five in the afternoon. We’re looking at a five-story family hotel, with the target inside, but we’re not sure which room. In this situation, how would you determine the target’s room?"

Gao Yi thought for a moment and said, "If our team has the hotel surrounded, then Iron Fist George can’t escape. Since he can’t get away, even if it means searching every room... that shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

Green shook his head and said, "That’s incorrect. It’s far from that simple. What if the target is not in the hotel at the moment?"

"Uh, I haven’t thought of that yet."

"What if the target is inside, but he has a companion who is constantly watching the hotel, ready to sound an alarm if they spot suspicious people approaching or entering? What then?"

"I don’t know, I’ve never thought about it. I usually just identify where the target is and then go straight in and take them out. With the complex situation you describe, I... I would normally choose to wait, to act after I’ve seen the target for myself."

Green nodded and said, "Waiting is correct. Once you’ve pinpointed the exact location of the target, you arrange for people to watch closely. This approach is workable, it’s the most basic operation, safe, and highly efficient. It’s the least risky choice."

Green agreed with the approach of holding position, but he then changed his tone, "However, given the current situation, surveillance doesn’t seem appropriate. Besides, your people don’t have the quality for sustained observation. They could easily be spotted by an elite agent, which means that at this moment, a riskier proactive strike is actually necessary."

After taking a breath, Green continued seriously, "A proactive strike means approaching the target intentionally. For those in intelligence, this is akin to launching a major offensive, a decisive battle. The outcome will be exposure or locating the target, and one would not make such a choice until the crucial moment."

"So how should we carry out a proactive strike?"

"It’s simple. Consider the situation, adapt to the person, and be flexible. Let’s go, I’ll show you how it’s done," said Green.

Green turned and started to walk back. After a couple of steps, he spoke softly, "Look at my current disguise. What kind of person do I resemble?"

"Your disguise..."

Green was wearing a white shirt, casual trousers, and lace-up leather shoes with sporty soles.

Just from the outfit, Green’s attire was truly unremarkable; at least his clothes didn’t reveal whether he was wealthy or just an ordinary person.

As for his demeanor, Green appeared to be just an average old man.

After pondering for a moment, Gao Yi said, "Just a very common European... elderly man."

"Right, and now?"

As he spoke, Green suddenly straightened his back; his stride lengthened slightly, his head lifted from watching the path beneath his feet to looking straight ahead.

There was no change in expression, but his demeanor had changed. If he was just an ordinary caucasian old man a moment ago, Green now looked like an extraordinary one.

It was difficult to describe the change in Green; he hadn’t made any conspicuous adjustments, not even to his facial expression, yet he looked like a completely different person.

Gao Yi said in surprise, "You now look like someone of status, without even making any changes. How did you do it?"

"No changes, you say? Observe closely. My gaze, the muscles at the corners of my mouth."

Gao Yi hurried forward a few steps, then turned back for a glance and realized that Green’s facial expression had indeed altered slightly.

Before, Green’s mouth was slightly upturned, exuding a trace of a smile. Now his lips were level, not looking stern, but commanding.

"Pretty impressive."

"My clothing is the foundation of a person’s image; no matter what identity I appear under, these clothes will never be amiss. Then, combined with facial expressions and body movements, one’s entire demeanor can change. Right now, I am someone wealthy and of high status. You needn’t concern yourself with my profession or wealth—just know that within my domain, I am an important figure."

In the span of those few sentences, they had returned to the entrance of the hotel. Green stopped in his tracks and whispered, "Open the door."

Gao Yi stepped forward to push open the wooden-framed glass door.

Green strode into the hotel confidently.

The hotel had no counter, but there was a woman in her fifties sitting on the sofa; upon seeing Green and Gao Yi enter, she stood up and addressed them, "Good afternoon, how may I assist you?"

The woman spoke in English, and Green replied with a smile, "I love the style of this hotel; I would like to stay here for a few days."

"You’re very welcome. Would you like me to show you the rooms?"

The service at this family hotel surpassed that of most others of its kind.

Up to this moment, Gao Yi had no clue what Green intended by saying these things in his current guise.

Green nodded slightly then waved his hand casually, "I’d like to book the entire hotel for four days. I have a large family, and I hope they can enjoy this place undisturbed. Is that possible?"

So he was flexing his financial muscle.

Such simplicity, yet for such a straightforward reason.

The landlady looked at Green, and almost immediately she believed his words and said regretfully, "Of course, that’s possible... but we currently have guests staying. I’m not sure when you were planning to check-in?"

"Today."

"I’m sorry to hear that, unfortunately, we do have guests."

The landlady genuinely felt regretful, and Green frowned, glancing at Gao Yi.

Gao Yi immediately said, "Are there many guests? If not too many, perhaps we could ask them to stay at another hotel."

Green was responsible for frowning and showing regret; Gao Yi took care of solving the problem with money.

The landlady quickly responded, "We have two guests at the moment, and I’m unsure if they would be willing to switch hotels, and I apologize, but I cannot ask guests to leave."

"I will offer the guests adequate compensation, I am sure I can make them leave satisfied. How about this, please tell the guests that I am willing to pay them to leave."

Before Gao Yi finished speaking, Green suddenly interjected, "Don’t do that; that would make things difficult for the owner."

Without hesitation, the landlady said, "No, I’m willing to speak to them. It’s just... we have twelve rooms, each priced differently, ranging from one hundred sixty euros to three hundred euros."

Green looked uninterested, but Gao Yi pitched in, "No problem, we’ll go with an average of two hundred per room. Two thousand four hundred euros per day plus one thousand euros for service charges makes it three thousand four hundred a day, and for four days, that’s..."

Gao Yi was still doing the math when Green dispassionately said, "The guest has not agreed to leave yet. Go and speak with them, be polite. I’ll wait here."

Immediately, Gao Yi addressed the landlady, "How about this, you take me to knock on the guest’s door, and I will speak with them, is that alright? Are the guests in their room right now? If it’s a female guest, it would be inappropriate for me to speak with them directly."

"The guest is in their room, but I’m not sure if it’s appropriate..."

The landlady hesitated for a moment, then made up her mind, "Let’s try. There is only one guest in the room right now, on the second floor. I think they will agree."

Gao Yi gestured ’after you’ to the landlady, who immediately headed for the stairs. At that moment, Gao Yi suddenly said to Green, "Sir, don’t you want to check the rooms before you decide?"

Green pondered for a moment and nodded, "Fine, let’s take a quick look."

Green followed her up. The landlady felt nervous as they reached the second floor; she worried that Green might not want to book the hotel after all, and also feared offending the guest, but she thought that perhaps a thousand euros would persuade the guest to leave happily.

Of the four rooms on the second floor, the landlady opened one of them first. The room was small with a not so large bed, but what Green focused on was the door. After inspecting its thickness and the type of lock, he immediately said to Gao Yi, "Perfect, that’s exactly the ambiance I want."

The landlady knocked on the neighboring room’s door next, and soon a man’s voice came from inside, "Who is it?"

"Sir, would you mind..." The landlady tried to explain the situation, but she knew she’d give it away as soon as she spoke. Not knowing what to do, she looked to Green.

Green nodded slightly, making a forward-pushing gesture.

Without hesitation, Gao Yi squeezed past the landlady, not even bothering with the doorknob; instead, he kicked the door open with force.

The landlady let out a shriek, and as she screamed, the door flew open with Gao Yi’s kick.

Gao Yi intended to rush in after breaking through the door, but the instant it flew open, he noticed someone inside seemed to be pointing a gun at the door, so he abandoned his plan to enter and quickly dodged to the side.

As Gao Yi moved out of the way, a gunshot echoed, and the rebounding door now sported a bullet hole.

Everything happened very fast.

Deciding how to proceed took a long time, but confirming that Iron Fist George was here took only seconds.