Chapter 128: The Way to Escape

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“Boss, I think Mo Fei may have some ability, but his temperament is far too unpredictable.”

Xiao Bai gave Bai Yingxiong a complete account of what had happened earlier in the ammunition warehouse, then offered his opinion. “Testing stability in a place packed with explosives, and slamming such a huge block of explosive onto the ground—is that something a normal person would do?”

If anything went wrong, leveling the whole place would be the mildest possible outcome. It might even have left a crater.

Bai Yingxiong nodded. “You have a point.”

Seeing his boss nod, Xiao Bai fell silent instead and respectfully asked, “Should we get rid of him?”

“What would be the point?” Bai Yingxiong took a cigar from the box. Xiao Bai immediately stepped forward, clipped the end, and lit it for him.

Bai Yingxiong drew on the cigar. Only after exhaling a cloud of smoke did he speak slowly. “One minor celebrity and two mercenaries. Killing them would invite retaliation from their comrades, and the people back home would take a dim view of that.”

“Why do you think I learned Chinese?”

Bai Yingxiong exhaled another plume of smoke. “We’ve been shipping too much heroin across the border. They’ve wanted to move against us for a long time.”

Xiao Bai clearly had not thought that far ahead. He stared blankly for a moment. “But we’ve always sold it this way.”

“That’s only because they haven’t had the time to deal with us yet.” Bai Yingxiong saw the situation clearly. “We border them, and they crack down so hard on heroin. If this continues, sooner or later they’ll settle accounts with us.”

“It’s only a matter of time.”

Xiao Bai very much wanted to praise his boss’s wisdom, but if that was the case, then surely they were facing more than just this one problem.

Under the laws of that country, online fraud, gambling, and human trafficking were all illegal. If they came to settle accounts, they certainly would not limit themselves to the heroin trade.

That was what Xiao Bai thought, but outwardly he still looked eager to hear more.

It was fine to appear clever, but he must never seem cleverer than his boss.

“All right, I have a plan for this.” Bai Yingxiong set down his cigar. “After we go back, send them to the border. Those mercenaries know perfectly well what they should and shouldn’t say. As for that minor celebrity…”

“He looks half-mad, but he seems to have a bit of sense.”

Xiao Bai sneered inwardly.

The half-mad part was certainly true. Whether Mo Fei had any sense was another matter.

“When you took him to the warehouse, did you let him remember where it was?”

Xiao Bai hurriedly came back to himself. “No. His head was covered the entire way there and back.”

“Good. As long as he keeps his mouth shut, everyone wins.”

Bai Yingxiong put down his cigar.

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In truth, it made no difference to Bai Yingxiong whether Mo Fei spoke or how much he said.

Even if Mo Fei reported him to the police, it would not matter.

No matter how chaotic Myanmar might be, it was still a foreign country. When one nation wanted to interfere in another’s affairs, it would not intervene directly unless it was shameless enough to ignore all consequences.

So far, Mo Fei had only seen one small online-scam compound.

There was no need to mention that the authorities on the other side could not interfere at all. Even if they wanted to, changing locations would take very little effort.

As for the arms business, Bai Yingxiong still needed to consider it carefully.

They could not keep dealing in heroin forever. It was time to think about changing industries.

Mo Fei had no idea that Xiao Bai was already badmouthing him to Bai Yingxiong and urging him to send them away as soon as possible. He remained proud of himself.

“After all my efforts, Xiao Bai definitely won’t be able to stand me.” Mo Fei leaned back in his chair and rubbed medicated liniment onto himself with a smug expression. “Any boss with half a brain would rather keep a weapons expert who can turn money into results than choose some madman with no sense of discipline.”

“And he still doesn’t know much about me—not even the location of the warehouse.”

Long Two paused in the middle of twirling his dagger.

“So you know you’re a madman?” Long Four asked from the doorway, arms folded across his chest. “Your self-awareness is remarkably clear.”

Mo Fei rubbed the bruise on his cheek and grinned, showing his teeth. “Of course.”

That was one of his few virtues.

“Then, judging from your guess, when do you think we’ll be able to get away?” Long Four continued.

“That, I’m not sure about. Maybe after I have another talk with Bai Yingxiong?”

Mo Fei was confident that as long as he met the man again, he could persuade him.

But he was still worried about Officer Xu, whom he had encountered only briefly at the online-scam compound.

The two of them had not exchanged a single word, yet as a fellow countryman, Mo Fei genuinely felt that Officer Xu’s line of work was far too dangerous.

For an ordinary person to escape from a place like this, they would have to shed a layer of skin. If Officer Xu’s identity were exposed, what awaited him would be far worse than mere hardship.

If he wanted to leave intact and return intact, the best approach was to do what Mo Fei had done: do not interfere, do not ask questions, and do not look too closely.

If they eventually lost interest, there might still be a chance to get away.

Mo Fei also knew that Officer Xu could not take that path.

His job was to uncover as many hidden truths as possible. He was the exact opposite of Mo Fei.

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And if his identity were discovered…

No, no. Everything would be fine. Everything would work out.

Officer Xu was young and hardworking. He was somewhat rigid, but anyone capable of entering the police academy could not be incompetent, right?

There was absolutely nothing to worry about!

Mo Fei silently cheered Officer Xu on, hoping his good wishes would somehow reach him.

As for helping him?

Forget it. The most important thing for an undercover officer was to keep a low profile. If Mo Fei truly wanted to help him, he needed to leave Myanmar as quickly as possible, not draw a giant red circle around Officer Xu in front of Bai Yingxiong.

Mo Fei knew his own limits.

Long Two and Long Four had plenty of complaints about him, but the quality they approved of most was his ability to read the situation.

“Our cooperation ends when filming is over.” Long Two packed up the equipment. “After that, play around however you like.”

By then, none of it would have anything to do with him.

“Oh, give me a break. If Director Wang hadn’t insisted that I come here for research, would I have ever set foot in this dump?” Mo Fei touched the bruise on his face and hissed in pain. “The most formidable gang bosses usually have the most ordinary-looking faces. What exactly was I supposed to learn from this place?”

If he really portrayed things as they were in reality, there would be nothing worth watching.

If they did not believe him, they could ask Bai Yingxiong themselves. Violent clashes were actually uncommon. Spreading rumors about rivals, puncturing their tires, hiring people to cause trouble at their establishments, and posting negative reviews were the most common methods of commercial warfare.

If Director Wang filmed it that way, the movie could be turned into a comedy.

But filming the industry as it truly operated would be far more interesting: online-scam factories, plantations, casinos, and real estate. None of those subjects would ever pass censorship. Making the film would be pointless.

Now Mo Fei was curious to see what kind of script Director Wang would come up with.

Long Two and Long Four had little experience with filmmaking and could only shake their heads.

They had seen the portrayals of mercenaries in certain movies and television shows too. Afterward, they had treated them as jokes and passed them around among their associates.

Art always came from life, then rose above it. The mercenaries in films did share certain similarities with them, but they were not Terminators or wandering ronin.

Those characters acted as though they had no regard for life or death. That was simply too much—truly, far too much.