The Dark Web is not omnipotent, but with money, it nearly is.
Gao Yi held a passport he had bought from the Dark Web, which was convenient for a face-to-face transaction.
A passport cost four hundred US dollars, chosen from dozens of passports. The photo on the passport resembled Gao Yi somewhat, enough to deceive foreigners at a glance.
The passport was real, but its original owner had probably been taken to a park in North Myanmar to become a scammer, according to the seller.
Moreover, the visa on the passport still had twenty days left, so Gao Yi wouldn't have any problems traveling in Thailand with it.
As long as there was no need for fingerprint or facial recognition, there would be no problem.
He had flown from Bangkok to Chiang Rai Province using the fake passport to purchase a plane ticket and had boarded smoothly.
But now he needed to use the passport to get through the Thai-Myanmar border customs, which still made Gao Yi feel somewhat uneasy.
"Remember your name. You look a bit nervous; why be nervous? I told you, there will be no problem."
Luca took Gao Yi's passport, pulled out a 500 Baht note, grimaced and tucked the money inside the passport. Then, he closed the passport and said, "Now even if there's a problem with your passport, it won't be discovered. Act natural, you are too timid."
Gao Yi was not really timid, but he couldn't help feeling guilty when using a fake passport.
Holding the passport, Gao Yi took a deep breath and whispered, "My name is Huang Longxiang, born in 1990..."
Mentally noting the information on the passport, Gao Yi handed it to the clerk, who first looked up at him, then opened the passport, saw the 500-Baht note, took the money, stamped it, and it was done.
Gao Yi's worry didn't materialize; he arrived in Tachileik smoothly.
Chiang Rai Province, Meisai City and the downtown area of Tachileik are connected; a river divides the two cities and serves as the border between the two countries. The customs are at the bridgehead. Once out of the customs inspection station, there were many taxis.
He had intended to take a taxi, but several MPVs and a minibus caught Luca's attention.
Each of these vehicles had signs in several languages on their windshields. The ones in Chinese said "entertainment venue", and the English ones read "casino", which meant the same thing.
Luca unhesitatingly headed toward an MPV, and upon arriving, he directly said to the driver, "Take us to the casino."
The driver shook his head; he didn't speak English but spoke in Mandarin, "I'm waiting for someone. If you're VIPs, call someone to send a car, or take that bus, it will leave on time."
Gao Yi understood and relayed the driver's words to Luca, who seemed quite dissatisfied and reluctantly boarded the small bus with about a dozen seats, quickly switching to a pleased smile.
"I didn't expect there to be a free shuttle bus to the casino, that's great. We can go directly to the casino and check the situation."
According to the original plan, Gao Yi and his companions should have first gone to Tachileik, found a place to stay, then started looking for opportunities.
But now, perhaps because of the free casino shuttle, Luca changed his mind.
No problem, go directly to the casino to scope it out.
The minibus already had four passengers; after waiting about ten minutes, a few more people got on, and then it left on time. After driving for about ten minutes, it delivered Gao Yi and the others to the most bustling area within the downtown of Tachileik.
Tachileik was quite a large city on the border with Myanmar, spreading over a large area, with relatively narrow streets and poor road conditions. There were no tall buildings, but Gao Yi noticed there were exceptionally many KTVs and nightclubs.
The final stop of the bus was a place that looked out of place compared to its surroundings. Not very tall, but the entrance was lavishly decorated, and a prominent sign for the entertainment venue was hanging at the entrance.
Gao Yi had thought that the casino would be some sort of underground establishment, the kind that must be hidden away tightly, but he then realized that casinos were legal in Myanmar.
The minibus parked steadily; the passengers couldn't wait to get off and directly entered the casino. Although taking the casino's bus didn't necessarily obligate one to enter, Luca looked around and said to Gao Yi, "Let's go eat."
Now it was Luca calling the shots. Whatever he said, went. Gao Yi glanced at the resplendent casino, suppressed his curiosity, and turned to follow Luca to a row of shops on the other side.
Gao Yi caught up with Luca, and whispered, "Is this the only casino in Tachileik?"
"No, there are several."
"Are we looking for this one?"
Luca nodded, "Yes, this casino is the biggest and most luxurious. It has a VIP hall and is the most frequent destination of our target."
That's enough, Gao Yi thought, and as he turned back to look at the casino, he whispered, "Do you think the target might come today?"
"It's possible, but we are just here to observe and familiarize ourselves with the environment. So, it's best if the target shows up, but it doesn't matter if he doesn't."
Luca seemed very relaxed, but Gao Yi was a bit nervous, and he couldn't help but look back again at the entrance of the casino.
The entrance had only a few staff members wearing suits and ties, standing in the heat without air conditioning to welcome guests, which looked quite formal.
Opposite the casino was a small restaurant, and since the road was not very wide, it provided a convenient vantage point to observe everyone entering and exiting the casino.
They chose a round table by the entrance. Luca placed a backpack containing their personal items on an adjacent chair and told Gao Yi, "We'll eat here, rest, and wait until eight o'clock. Regardless of whether the target shows up or not, we'll go into the casino to get familiar with the interior."
The intelligence showed if the target was coming to the casino, it would be between five and eight in the evening. He wouldn't come too early but definitely wouldn't be later than eight o'clock, and if he were to leave, it would certainly be before eleven at night.
It was now almost six o'clock; by eating and waiting a bit, the timing would be just about right.
Having recently recovered from an injury, Gao Yi indeed felt quite weak; after a day of hustling, he was both tired and hungry, so Luca's plan was quite appealing to him.
Once settled, Luca nonchalantly whispered, "From my experience, it's impossible to bring a gun into the casino, so even if the target has bodyguards, they won't have guns. What shall we eat?"
Gao Yi whispered back, "Anything. Will the casino's security not carry guns?"
"The internal security won't carry guns. If you were a gambler and your guard carried a weapon, you would feel uneasy too. Of course, the casino certainly has armed security, but they wouldn't be in obvious places and wouldn't appear too quickly. So, I think it's still most convenient and safest to act within the casino."
After whispering, Luca slightly frustratedly said, "But escaping after making a move inside is a problem, especially if the target is gambling in the VIP hall, and I don't have experience with what the security is like there."
"We can also get into the VIP hall to just have a look around, not to gamble."
Luca hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Without enough chips, you can't enter."
Gao Yi was speechless.
At that moment, three vehicles simultaneously stopped at the entrance of the casino. A Land Cruiser led the way, an Alphard was in the middle, and another Land Cruiser followed. Seeing the vehicles, Luca suddenly said, "The target has appeared."
Gao Yi abruptly looked up and then saw a middle-aged man get out of the Alphard on his side of the car, but nobody got out of the Land Cruiser, and the staff responsible for welcoming guests did not go to open the door of the Land Cruiser.
"That's the target's car, no doubt, but how come the armed bodyguards are also following?"
Luca seemed a bit surprised; as Gao Yi continued intently watching the target, Luca quickly whispered, "Don't stare like that, it's too obvious."
Three people came down from the Alphard, a robust-looking man, and two other men, one a young chubby man dressed in clothes full of logos, and the other was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man.
The ordinary-looking middle-aged man was the target. The branded young man seemed to be his friend.
Gao Yi quickly averted his eyes and then casually said, "I only saw one bodyguard."
"There was another in the leading car. He got down."
There were four people in total, all looking Chinese. They briefly paused at the entrance of the casino and, after the three cars drove away, the four figures also disappeared at the entrance of the casino.
Luca breathed a sigh of relief, "Four people, bodyguards in the cars behind and in front, and they are armed bodyguards."
"How can you tell?"
"It's simple. The casino staff know them and know that there are bodyguards in the cars behind and in front, so no one went to open the door because they know the people inside won't get down. One of the bodyguards is like a security director; he's responsible for commanding all the bodyguards."
After saying that, Luca thought for a moment, then whispered, "Let's stop talking about this here. Let's eat, then find a hotel to check in."
Gao Yi thought for a moment and said, "What if we act as soon as they come out? I think this is a good opportunity."
Luca was shocked and exclaimed, "Are you crazy?"
After his surprised outburst, Luca lowered his voice and said, "Today is clearly an unusual situation, the target has brought more bodyguards. Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. We eat, then we leave, just like that."
Gao Yi seemed relaxed and said, "The target indeed might have brought more bodyguards today, but didn't you notice? He and his bodyguards seem very relaxed."
Luca seemed anxious and a bit angry. He looked back to make sure nobody was standing next to them before warning, "Listen! If he was relaxed, he wouldn't have brought so many bodyguards! Do as I say, we eat, then we leave!"
Gao Yi was somewhat disappointed, but it was not essential for him to act today.
"Don't worry, I was just saying they seem relaxed. I'm not insisting on acting immediately. I respect your experience, and I will definitely follow your lead."
After calming Luca down, Gao Yi carefully said, "I'm not insisting on acting right now, I'm just letting you know that I can tell when someone is nervous or relaxed, alert or complacent. Kung Fu is about finding an opponent's weaknesses and striking. I think the target is full of weaknesses, and taking him down could be done in an instant, so I said this was a good opportunity."
Luca's expression softened, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Have I ever told you that you are a born Assassin? Now I'm sure of it, you are a born Assassin. Now that we know the target isn't so tense, that's good. There are plenty of opportunities."
Gao Yi had a trait; once he saw an opportunity, he couldn't let it go because, based on experience, some opportunities, once missed, might never return.
Now that Luca was in charge, there was no choice but to listen to him, especially since Luca was more experienced.
It was just a bit disappointing, so Gao Yi couldn't help but glance again at the entrance of the casino.