Ultimate Firepower

The room had two single beds, white sheets stained with some unwashable marks, two chairs, and a small round table with an ashtray on it. The key feature was a very old window air conditioner, and there was also a separate bathroom.

The hotel had no front desk, just a chubby boss who was very enthusiastic. He could also speak Chinese, but the words that came out of his mouth were ice-cold and ruthless.

"Four hundred dollars a day."

The conditions were not even as good as the most basic motels in China, yet the price was more expensive than a five-star hotel.

Gao Yi gasped in shock, afraid he had misheard, he confirmed again, "Four hundred a day, not four hundred a month?"

The expression on the boss's black face did not change, still a warm smile, but he said firmly, "A day, four hundred, no bargaining. Only here there's air conditioning, only here there's WiFi, only here you can charge your devices. All rooms the same price, boss, four hundred a day is not expensive."

He answered all of Gao Yi's questions directly, leaving Gao Yi no more room for nonsense.

Four hundred a day, it wasn't a question of Gao Yi being cheap or not, it was that he truly couldn't afford it.

But he had to stay the first day, because if he didn't stay, Gao Yi wouldn't be able to contact Luca.

As Gao Yi hesitated, the boss suddenly said, "Four hundred for a room, not four hundred per person. It's actually not expensive for two people to share a room."

"I'll stay one night first."

"Pay first, then register."

The boss took out a notebook and settled down in the room Gao Yi was going to stay in, and naturally asked Gao Yi, "Where does the boss come from, what do you do, how long will you stay?"

Gao Yi was stunned for a moment. It was already strange that the hotel required registration, but even stranger that they had to ask what guests were doing.

Seeing the confusion on Gao Yi's face, the boss made a helpless expression and said, "This is General's requirement, all guests must register..."

No wonder, six assassins had fallen into Gray Horace's hands, in such a secluded place, any little movement, any new face, Horace could know immediately.

"I'm from Monrovia, I'm in the wood business, how long I'll stay is yet to be decided, depends on the situation."

The boss scribbled something on the paper, his head still not lifted, he said, "Okay, just asking casually, you are Chinese, registration is very easy..."

After the registration, the boss stood up, came over to Gao Yi, and said, "Please pay, do you want to eat at our hotel? We can provide lunch and dinner, only ten dollars a meal."

Gao Yi hesitated for a moment, then said, "Okay, um, I'll wait, let's talk about it later."

Carrying a large amount of cash would attract suspicion, and not carrying any was also impossible. Gao Yi had brought six hundred dollars and the equivalent of two hundred dollars in Liberian currency. But now, he was about to spend four hundred dollars on his first day.

"What's the WiFi password?"

"Eight eights."

As Gao Yi took the money out of his bag, the boss noticed that the thickness of Gao Yi's cash wasn't substantial, and suddenly when taking the money, he said, "You can share with someone else, I also hope you can stay longer."

After giving Gao Yi a tip, the boss got up and as he left the room, he added, "Now all the guests here are Chinese, you can ask around, maybe someone is willing to share with you, goodbye."

After the boss left, Gao Yi sat on the bed, thinking of contacting Luca directly, but then felt there was no point in doing it right now.

The hotel was controlled by Gray Horace, it was easier to expose himself if he asked locals.

There were several Chinese people downstairs chatting together, he had no choice, if he wanted to get any information, he had to start with them.

Gao Yi got up in a hurry, rushed downstairs, and went back to the hotel lobby, only to find those same four Chinese people sitting there.

"Greetings, bosses..."

Affected by the situation, Gao Yi unconsciously used the title "boss". He looked at them, hesitated for a moment, but still pulled up a plastic chair to sit next to them and asked softly, "I just want to ask, how much do you pay for a room per day?"

Several of them laughed, then the chubby boss said, "Four hundred a day, same price for everyone, no matter the duration."

Gao Yi looked distressed and said, "That's too expensive... I can't afford it."

"No choice, things have changed. My surname is Lin, you can call me Old Lin, young brother, what's your name?"

Gao Yi replied softly, "My surname is Chen, Chen Fei."

The man who seemed shrewd was impatient to beat around the bush with Gao Yi, he went straight to the point, "Nowadays, only those in the wood business are willing to come here, are you doing it on your own or managing the business for your boss?"

Gao Yi was somewhat at a loss with this kind of blunt questioning.

Claiming he was here for tourism would insult their intelligence; claiming to be here for business required that there actually be business to do.

If he said he was in the wood business, in front of two real wood merchants, he would give himself away as soon as he opened his mouth.

After thinking for a moment, Gao Yi finally said, "I heard it's profitable here, so I came to check it out."

He avoided a direct answer, just came to check out the situation. And while Gao Yi spoke, he wore a look of displeasure and wariness on his face, indicating his strong disapproval of being questioned.

Old Lin laughed and said, "Xiao Chen, we mean no harm. You see the situation here for yourself. Those of us willing to do business here are just looking to make tough money, taking risks. So, we have a market price. If you want in, just follow the market price, so everyone can profit, right?"

So they wanted to monopolize the prices. Gao Yi nodded and asked, "Oh, I understand. May I ask what the market price is?"

"Mahogany, one hundred dollars a log, African Yellow Rosewood with a diameter over one meter, five hundred dollars a log, Black Wood with a diameter over one meter, five hundred dollars, and one meter fifty or more, one thousand dollars. Those are the three types here, just give your prices based on this market rate."

Before coming, Gao Yi had also gotten a rough idea of wood prices, so he was truly taken aback by these quotes.

Those prices, they could barely cover labor costs, right?

The surprise on Gao Yi's face was noticed by the others, and Old Lin smiled, "Little brother, we're aiming for mutual benefit."

Without rushing to push Gao Yi away or use other methods, they directly tried to bring Gao Yi into a pricing alliance. Judging by this, it seemed the local wood output was substantial, and the two people present couldn't handle it all.

Not understanding the wood business, but well aware of basic human nature, Gao Yi nodded and said, "Okay, I'll take a look first. If I really get into the timber business, I certainly won't break the market rates."

Gao Yi's reply satisfied both men. Old Lin smiled and said, "Boss Chen is young and promising. We should collaborate sometime."

Gao Yi did not respond, instead, he put on a pained expression, "Brother, I just got here and I'm unfamiliar with everything. I don't even know where to go for food. May I ask what do you usually do for meals?"

Pained expressions appeared on everyone's face.

"This problem with food is indeed tricky. The meals cooked by the hotel are basically inedible, there are only a few restaurants. When you arrived, did Little Hei take you to the Chinese Restaurant? For now, you can only bear with that place for a couple of days."

As a fellow Chinese, he was actually recommending that so-called Chinese Restaurant?

Gao Yi was stunned. He said bewilderedly, "There's no place to eat?"

All of them nodded at the same time, then the shrewd man said with resignation, "It's not that there's nothing to eat, it's just hard to swallow. This damned place has no electricity, no water, no oil, no internet, you can't even rent a house to live in."

Old Lin no longer smiled, as he spoke with resignation as well, "There used to be a Chinese-run restaurant, but it couldn't survive and closed two years ago. The locals couldn't afford it, and even if we went every day to support the business, we were too few. Moreover, it was too expensive for us to bear, so it went under."

"The most important thing is safety; it's just not manageable."

"A liter of gasoline is twenty dollars, and it's hard to find."

"This place is getting worse; it's unlivable."

The four articulated their complaints in unison, and Gao Yi had heard enough to understand.

Gray Horace was formidable. He had completely taken control of the city. Then, Liberia had completely blocked off the city, which resulted in no electricity, and without electricity, all the basic infrastructure had ceased to function.

Even if they wanted to use generators, that would require fuel, but since Horace controlled the petrol and diesel supplies, the fuel prices had skyrocketed.

So, was it possible that Gray Horace's dining out once a month at the Chinese Restaurant wasn't because the food was great, but because he had no other choice?

As Gao Yi pondered this, someone said, "Actually, that black guy's chicken dish is alright, the flavor is pretty decent."

"Yeah, it's edible."

Regarding that one restaurant they'd seen, two out of the Chinese people actually rated it as alright and edible.

Gao Yi was shocked once more.

And at that moment, Old Lin put on a smiling face again, "Just go to that Chinese Restaurant, you can eat there for a couple of meals to get by. If it's really unbearable, just go to that small supermarket and buy some instant noodles. Switch back and forth like this, and you will manage for a while, long enough until you leave."

Gao Yi suddenly said, "Why not rent the hotel's kitchen and cook for ourselves? Cooking for ourselves should be okay, right? Or give a bit of money to the boss..."

Their faces changed dramatically, and then Old Lin whispered seriously, "Don't do that, absolutely not! Brother, that can cause trouble. It doesn't matter if you have to endure some hardship eating, just bear it for a few days. Since you're not staying here long, if you stir up trouble, none of us can do business anymore."

No need to infiltrate any restaurant, that wasn't necessary.

Gao Yi's heart thumped with excitement because he had found a way.

"Then… why doesn't the General just hire a cook?"

Old Lin chuckled sadly and then whispered again, "The General is very cautious, let's drop the subject. As long as you understand the situation, that's all that matters. Absolutely do not cook meals in the hotel, it's really not an option!"

Gao Yi was puzzled, and as he looked bewildered, Old Lin had to repeat, "If you cook for yourself, before long, the General might come for a free meal. You understand the situation here, don't you? If I say, if the General comes every day, how can we continue to do business? So you must never use the hotel kitchen to cook!"

The middle-aged man who had not volunteered his name spoke gravely, "Don't make trouble for yourself. A little hardship with eating is nothing to endure it will pass after a few days. You're not staying here for long. But if you bring trouble, then none of us can do business."

Gao Yi's heart raced, he was thrilled, he had an idea.

"Then... wouldn't it be simply solved if the General found a cook for himself?"

Old Lin forced a smile, then whispered again, "The General is very careful, let's just leave it at that. As long as you get what's going on, that's good enough."

From Gao Yi's understanding, being careful meant not allowing outsiders into your home, so Gray Horace would not hire a chef to serve him exclusively.

But not willing to hire a chef, yet willing to venture out daily to scrounge for meals? That didn't make sense at all.

Gao Yi said with a puzzled face, "That's not right, if he's cautious, why would he come here to eat?"

Even the amiable Old Lin became a bit anxious. He said very seriously, "Ah, he's very cautious, which is why every meal requires clearing out the place. People like us can't even leave our rooms, someone has to monitor the chef, and they must cordon off the whole hotel. It's a lot of trouble! Anyway, we're not trying to harm you, and you shouldn't cause trouble for all of us. Cooking meals in the hotel is a definite no-no, it really won't do!"

"I was just curious and asked. I definitely won't cook in the hotel," Gao Yi assured them quickly, then with an air of resignation, continued, "This place won't do. I'll discuss it with my boss. If it's truly impossible, then I should just leave. You guys talk, I'm going to make a call."

Finding an excuse, Gao Yi returned to his room. Then, not daring to make a phone call, he sent a text message instead.

"Situation largely ascertained, infiltrating the restaurant won't work, the entire city is thoroughly controlled, accommodation costs four hundred dollars a day."

After sending the message, Gao Yi made up his mind, then wrote another text.

"I've decided to open my own restaurant!"