Chapter 136: Target Confirmed

Facing the immediate threat, Xiaobai could no longer force a smile.

He realized that he had never truly understood Mo Fei. At first, he thought Mo Fei was a demolition expert who liked to play the fool; later, he discovered he was a genuine madman; and after that, the man acted like an ordinary actor—until now. Mo Fei looked as if he might kill him at any moment. And Xiaobai had no doubt that Mo Fei was capable of destroying that godforsaken ship.

"Fine," Xiaobai rasped, agreeing. "But I want you to bring Li Momo back."

Seeing him dare to negotiate, Mo Fei’s fury flared even higher. He pressed the muzzle of the gun against Xiaobai’s head, the barrel so hot that the skin beneath it turned red in an instant.

"I know where they buried those undercover agents," Xiaobai gritted out.

Mo Fei loosened his grip, and Xiaobai collapsed to the ground like a pile of wet mud. Mo Fei didn't show his anger on the surface anymore, but the Long siblings could tell he was likely seething with rage. Using corpses as bargaining chips—if Xiaobai weren't still useful, Mo Fei probably would have finished him off right then and there, even if he had never killed a person before in his life.

"Where is that ship?"

"Inside the Golden Triangle, Myawaddy," Xiaobai said, his expression turning numb as he spilled everything he knew. "It’s near Thailand. The ship will enter international waters via the river."

Mo Fei turned to Long Er. He had emphasized countless times how terrifying the Golden Triangle was, and now, it sat at the epicenter of endless chaos. With the cyber-fraud compounds, active war zones, and hospital ships all crammed into one place, one could only imagine how volatile it was.

"As your bodyguard, my advice is: don't even think about it," Long Er said calmly. "In the current situation, even I wouldn't dare say I could move through there freely."

"And as a friend?" Mo Fei asked, unswayed, staring straight at him.

"I don't think we qualify as friends yet," Long Er replied, showing no favoritism. He paused, then added, "But I have no right to restrict the freedom of movement of the mission's objective."

Mo Fei covered his face with the hand holding the gun, but he couldn't hide the increasingly exaggerated smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. Long Si curled her lip. What a fine "not yet a friend"—he had practically laid out the stepping stones right at the man's feet, terrified he wouldn't take the hint. And as for not restricting the mission objective's movement, the wealthy businessman they had previously kidnapped would surely be furious if he heard that. Being a good sister, Long Si didn't expose her brother's hypocrisy, choosing instead to show her disdain through her expression.

Long Er remained unmoved. He told her, "Take him back and hand him over to the police first." Once the hospital ship set sail into international waters, even if the two of them pulled off a miracle and seized the vessel, they would still need someone to handle the people on board. Besides, two people couldn't possibly sail such a massive ship back on their own.

Long Si caught the unspoken meaning in Long Er's words and nodded seriously. "Stay safe."

Mo Fei reached out to Long Er. "Since I was wearing a tracker earlier, you must know where Bai Yingxiong's explosives warehouse is, right?" A smirk that he couldn't suppress remained on his face. This expression made Long Er even more uncomfortable than Long Si’s mockery had.

Long Er nodded, pulled a rugged, thick-cased mobile phone from his coat, and tapped through a few screens to display a map. Mo Fei wasn't paying much attention to the map; his eyes were filled with envy for the device. With a shell that thick, it was clearly built to last—it wouldn't crack if dropped, and it might even stop a bullet.

Noticing his gaze, Long Er explained, "This phone is custom-made. It connects to specialized networks, supports satellite calls, global positioning, and it’s bulletproof." He tapped the back of the case. "The cost isn't high, but you can't buy it without the right connections." It was essentially standard equipment for their line of work.

Mo Fei reined in his wandering thoughts and focused on the task at hand. "Find that warehouse first. I want to prepare a generous gift for Bai Yingxiong." He would make sure it blew him to pieces.

"Done," Long Er replied crisply. Since he had decided to help, he wouldn't hold back; if they were going to do it, they would do it right.

Long Si hoisted the unconscious Xiaobai onto her shoulder. "I'll take him back immediately." She glanced at Mo Fei’s hand. "Keep the gun for now; you seem to handle it well enough." With that, she carried the man off in the direction they had come.

Mo Fei calculated the time. Less than three days remained before the "Joker" card cycled out. If the next card had explosive combat power, that would be fine, but he feared drawing one with no fighting capabilities at all. Deep in the Golden Triangle, having no combat power was a liability. However, none of the cards he had drawn so far had been particularly weak; the rest was up to fate. At the very least, before the "Joker" vanished, Mo Fei had to ensure Bai Yingxiong received his gift.

"Time waits for no one. Let's go," Mo Fei exhaled. "Someone has to answer for all this."

While Mo Fei and Long Er raced toward the explosives warehouse, Officer Xu was facing his own life-or-death struggle. With the Five Families forced to divert their resources to defend against the Alliance Army, their grip on the cyber-fraud factories had loosened, but the punishments for those caught trying to escape had grown increasingly brutal. If the thugs guarding them were in a bad mood, they would beat a captive to death and drag the body out to bury it. What used to result in solitary confinement now resulted in a bullet to the head.

They had lost the patience to manage these people, opting for the simplest method of killing one to warn a hundred. The effect was significant; those who had been itching to use the chaos to escape instantly extinguished the thought. But that wasn't enough.

Bai Yingxiong sensed a mole in his inner circle and launched a top-to-bottom purge. Not only was Li Momo, who was merely a suspect, sent to the ship, but even Xiaobai, who had spoken a single word in her defense, was nearly beaten to death. A group of people from the fraud factory were also dragged out and executed one by one in front of everyone. Among them were several new arrivals, including three undercover police officers.

Officer Xu was in the crowd watching the execution. He hadn't been dragged out only because he kept his head down and rarely spoke to anyone, which had spared him. Only when he saw his colleague reveal his identity at the final moment did his heart settle. Although revealing his identity meant the mission had failed, at least he was still alive.

But before he could even exhale, he heard a gunshot.

"Bang." The onlookers and those lined up on the playground were stunned. The thug holding the gun looked pained, shouting in a breakdown, "Why did you have to say it? You're already at death's door, couldn't you have made it easier for me!"

"Damn it!" another undercover officer couldn't take it anymore. He jumped out, his face and neck flushed red, veins bulging. "I'm one too!"

The thug sighed at the sky and fired another shot. "Enough. That’s really enough."

Officer Xu couldn't help but take a half-step forward, but then, the last undercover officer among the group on the playground let out a laugh. "Even if you kill us all, so what? There will be another batch after us. Sooner or later, we’ll see each other in the afterlife."

He stopped. Officer Xu realized then that his colleague was providing him cover.