Ultimate Firepower
Chapter 93 - 83 Double Bang

Chapter 93: Chapter 83 Double Bang

Nun Berserker couldn’t be contacted because, apart from knowing she was consumable material for Revenge Blade, Gao Yi knew nothing about her.

But Lin Xianghua was different—Gao Yi had Lin Xianghua’s phone number.

Gao Yi found Lin Xianghua’s phone number, a satellite phone. He dialed it and, after a while, the call connected smoothly.

"Brother, hello, you still remember me, right?"

Lin Xianghua didn’t hesitate and said, "Are you Chen Fei? How are you now?"

Hearing the name Chen Fei, Gao Yi had to think for a moment because each operation had a fake name. It hadn’t been many yet, but it was already making him a bit confused.

"It is me, brother. Are you still in Suakoko? How are things there?"

"Liberia sent government troops to take over Suakoko. All of General Gray’s men surrendered to the Liberian government. There’s no more fighting here, and without fighting, I have no chance to shine, so I plan to leave here for the Middle East."

"Oh, what about Little Hei and the others?"

"Little Hei is doing well now. He’s got three cars now, specially renting them out to those Chinese timber merchants. Those Chinese timber merchants are also good. Although the timber price has risen, transportation has become much more convenient than before, and conditions in Suakoko have improved a lot. Overall, things are not bad."

Gao Yi laughed and said, "It just so happens that you’re free, and I happen to need someone. How about you consider coming over to me?"

"Oh?"

Lin Xianghua hardly hesitated. After a brief moment of pondering, he said, "How much? What kind of work?"

"It’s not much, just help cover me when needed. We are not mercenaries; we don’t fight wars."

Gao Yi looked at Luca, who nodded and whispered, "Tell the truth."

Without further hesitation, Gao Yi said indifferently, "Actually, I’m an assassin. I need someone who can cover me after I finish tasks. As for the money, you’ll get ten percent of my commission. So you’ll make at least a few thousand dollars each time. How much more depends. Last time the commission for killing General Gray was one million dollars."

Lin Xianghua said in a low voice, "Ten percent, but assassin jobs are rare, aren’t they, like once every year or two."

Gao Yi immediately said, "I’m different. I’ve got more work than I can handle. How about this, I can guarantee you’ll make..."

Luca held up a finger and whispered, "Ten thousand, no more. A base of ten thousand dollars a month, available right now."

"I’ll pay you a base salary of ten thousand dollars a month. How about that?"

"Really!?"

Lin Xianghua’s tone was both surprised and delighted, then he immediately said, "I agree, where should I find you?"

"Los Angeles. Can you make it? If you can’t, I’ll find a way to smuggle you in."

Lin Xianghua didn’t hesitate and replied, "I have a US Green Card. I’m buying a plane ticket now; I’ll leave right away."

"Good. Call this number when you get to Los Angeles. I’ll wait for you."

Recruiting Lin Xianghua went very smoothly. Gao Yi hung up the phone and said to Luca, "Wasn’t it just a pure split? Why add a monthly salary of ten thousand again?"

Luca replied with disdain, "A monthly salary of ten thousand plus mission allowances is already a high income for a mercenary. Of course, he would agree. And for us, ten thousand dollars is enough to hire a disposable pawn..."

Gao Yi frowned and said, "Don’t talk about disposable pawns. We don’t use consumables and won’t treat anyone as cannon fodder."

"But he’s already been cannon fodder for the Plunderer Mercenary Corps. And he sold himself out for a mere ten thousand dollars. Mercenaries aren’t that valuable. He’s not from any particularly famous mercenary groups, so ten thousand dollars is already a lot."

Luca confidently said, "And compared to providing cover for an assassin, it’s much safer than going to the battlefield. Why wouldn’t he agree? And for us, paying a monthly salary means he has to stick around. With a pure split, by industry standards, he could leave whenever there’re no tasks, so tying him down with a salary is a good choice."

"Fine, but I don’t like being manipulated, so I won’t manipulate others. You understand what I mean, right?"

Luca spoke gravely, "You need hands to help, and he needs stable work and income. How could that be considered manipulation? It’s a win-win. Do you understand win-win?"

Gao Yi smiled and said, "Alright, rest. Let’s go to dinner together later. There’s a good Chinese restaurant here."

Gao Yi got up to return to his bedroom, but Luca, not satisfied, said, "It’s my first time here, at least give me a tour and then a room."

"Ugh, choose any room except my bedroom."

"Wait!"

"What now, I told you everything is up to you..."

"The client sent a message, provided the target’s address."

Gao Yi turned back in astonishment.

Luca shook his phone and said, "Just got the message. Sent a map coordinate directly. Whether to go or not is up to you."

There wasn’t much to say. He wanted to rest, but since the client sent the exact location, it would be too much not to take a look.

Gao Yi sighed and picked up the Iron Hammer, speaking deeply to Luca, "In the future, you can fly economy class for your own trips, but you must book first-class for me. I don’t want to have to go straight to work after a long flight of more than ten hours, like right now. If I had slept in first-class flying back here, at least I’d be in better shape."

Gao Yi was just venting because squeezing in the narrow economy class for hours was indeed painful, so he was really tired now.

But Luca responded seriously, "Got it. Situations can change at any time, and opportunities can appear at any time. I promise I won’t make the same mistake again. Sorry."

Gao Yi didn’t expect Luca to apologize, which threw him off a bit.

"Alright, I’ll disguise myself and then leave."

Saying they would go and then actually going required necessary disguises.

It was different in Los Angeles than in Suakoko. In Suakoko, you could hit and run, never returning, with no consequences. But Los Angeles was now Gao Yi’s semi-base of operations. As the saying goes, even rabbits don’t eat the grass beside their burrows. If he left any traces in Los Angeles and exposed his identity, wouldn’t that cut off his own escape route?

Change fingerprints, make simple alterations to the face, wear a hat and sunglasses, change clothes—these simple disguises would do.

The main objective was surveillance, and if there really was a chance to strike, then wearing a head cover would suffice.

He took two handguns; Gao Yi stuffed a Glock 17 into his own inner pocket and handed Luca a SIG Sauer P320.

Luca didn’t say anything; he took the gun and stuffed it into his own inner pocket, and neither of them bothered with a spare magazine as they went out the door.

Straightforward map navigation was as easy as it got.

"Did the employer provide a time?"

Lu Ke looked at his phone and said, "Definitely there before dark, not necessarily at night."

Thinking back, if the employer could send the target’s location and duration of stay, it meant the employer had real-time information on the target’s whereabouts, potentially indicating the employer was someone close to the target.

An inside man, as they say.

Gao Yi frowned and said, "Could it be an inside man? What would be the consequences if we accidentally harm the employer?"

"No consequences. The money is already in the Dark Web. As long as we provide evidence that the target is taken care of, the money will definitely come to us."

There was nothing to worry about then. If the employer were inadvertently harmed, it would be his own fault.

They were quite far away, an hour’s drive.

Gao Yi lived in a wealthy neighborhood, and the destination was a notoriously bad black neighborhood, so as the scenery along the roadside changed and more homeless people appeared, Gao Yi felt quite moved.

"It’s like two cities, two worlds."

Seeing a woman bent double, her hands almost touching the ground, Gao Yi couldn’t help but say, "Drug dealers should all die!"

"These people are obviously addicted to painkillers, not cocaine. It’s different."

Gao Yi didn’t know these distinctions; he didn’t even recognize the stench of cannabis on the streets at first.

Luca slowed the car as the navigation indicated they were arriving.

Even in broad daylight, the neighborhood oozed a dangerous atmosphere. Gao Yi and Luca were still in the car, but even so, the occasional black people they passed stared at them with unfriendly looks.

"Don’t stop, keep going."

In front of a very dilapidated standalone house by the roadside, there was a line of luxury cars of all kinds, from Mercedes and BMW to Ferrari. At a glance, there were at least a dozen lined up along the curb.

Luca suddenly said, "Something’s not right. All luxury cars. Dealers have money but wouldn’t dare to be so conspicuous."

Gao Yi stared at the luxury cars by the roadside and said, "Definitely not right! Drug dealers wouldn’t drive Ferraris. Being so high-profile means they’re not afraid of attracting police attention, which implies the car owners have certain identities and are publicly known."

The car sped by swiftly, and Gao Yi and Luca quickly passed the target building.

Gao Yi let out a sigh and said, "The target is definitely not as simple as a drug dealer."

Luca whispered, "You search. Look up ’trash dog.’ Information might not be on the Dark Web but could be on the regular internet."

Gao Yi opened his phone, typed in ’trash dog,’ and the few search results that popped up made him sigh.

"Damn, we’ve been played."

Luca looked astonished and asked, "How so?"

Gao Yi flipped the phone and said, "Trash dog is a rapper, a famous West Coast artist already popular. He’s not some drug dealer!"

Luca shook his head and said, "No, no, dealers and rappers can overlap. The question is, is this guy really famous?"

Gao Yi was still searching. This time he found a news article and said with exasperation, "I can’t say how famous, but trash dog wrote a new song, dissing a rapper named Walter. His lyrics go like this, ’I’m gonna use a hammer, blow by blow, just like hammering nails, blow by blow, smashing Walter’s head.’"

Luca paused for a moment and then said, "Falke! These Black druggies who’ve fried their brains... The police will find Walter. Walter will reveal he found us through the Dark Web. So if we take out trash dog, we’re going to have trouble!"

Gao Yi took a deep breath and said, "These brainless idiots... What to do? Do we abandon the mission?"

Luca hesitated briefly and replied, "I think, since they’re all idiots, we might as well take out the employer first to prevent leaks, then kill the target for the money. What do you think?"