Chapter 29 Scapegoat

The airplane landed, kicking up a gust of dust as it stopped past the most crowded area of the runway.

"What's going on? What's happening!"

Luca seemed a bit scared as he looked at the crowd outside and stammered, "What happened, what's going on?"

People jammed the sides of the airport runway; some were singing and dancing, while others fired guns into the air, creating a somewhat frightening scene.

"They're celebrating!"

"Celebrating what?"

"Celebrating me taking out the target!"

Gao Yi boarded the plane and casually said, "Don't disturb their celebration, let's get going!"

After closing the airplane door, the plane turned around on the runway. A group of people waved at the airplane, and only after it took off again did Luca collapse into his seat, exhausted, and said, "Let me see the evidence you took, tell me how you managed it."

"The evidence has already been submitted."

Luca was surprised; he blinked and then with a puzzled look said, "What do you mean, already submitted?"

"It means exactly that; I thought I was done for, so I rushed into the hotel and chose to submit the evidence. That way, even if I died, the reward would go to you and not fall into someone else's hands."

Luca was stunned for a moment and said, "I don't understand, you were always worried I'd keep the reward for myself, but in the end, you submitted the evidence yourself."

Gao Yi said indifferently, "I told you, I'll repay my debt. The situation was very dangerous, I knew once I made my move, I'd be dead, but I'd rather die and repay you."

Gao Yi certainly couldn't tell him that it was just a reckless decision to act at the moment. After all, Luca could never truly know the truth, so obviously, he had to show some presence of integrity.

Luca might not have really been touched, but at least in that moment, he seemed somewhat moved.

Gao Yi took out his phone and handed it to Luca, saying, "Take a look."

The page was on the evidence upload completion waiting for review phase, at least proving that Gao Yi indeed chose to upload the evidence.

Luca took the phone, turned it on, and saw the scene of Gao Yi in action.

Navigating among corpses strewn everywhere, he grabbed Gray Horace, who was leaning over a desk, and the shot of the axe hitting his neck was incredibly clear, even lingering on the image for a moment.

"There's no problem now, absolutely no problem. There's no signal here; the reward might have already been sent."

Luca was pleasantly surprised; however, after finishing his sentence, his tone changed as he said, "It seems like there were many people here, and you just took out the target like that?"

"Eight, and two more in the backyard, at least thirty people outside. I was thinking at the time, I'd rather die but still repay you, so never mind the numbers, just do it."

Gao Yi stated calmly, then pointed to the body lying next to Gray on the phone, whispering, "Two from the CIA, no way around it, had to take them out together, no problem, right?"

The phone clattered to the cabin floor, and Gao Yi quickly picked it up, then he saw Luca looking confused and saying, "CIA..."

"Yes."

Luca, still in shock, said, "Two of them?"

"Yes, it's because the target was protected by CIA agents that it was so hard to kill."

Luca covered his face with his hands and let out a heavy sigh.

"Any problem?"

"What do you think?"

Luca retorted, removed his hand from his face, and with an almost crying expression said, "Buddy, first you took out two killers from the Andic Group, and now, two from the CIA. The target might be okay to kill, but CIA agents..."

"I had no choice. It was a reflex action. There's one thing I need to ask you."

Gao Yi also grew serious, thought for a moment, then whispered, "Last night, those two CIA agents used something like a tablet to scan my face. I know they were doing facial recognition, but did they take a photo of me? Could I be entered into their database?"

Luca pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said, "No, the CIA carrying out facial recognition on you is normal; they have a huge database. If it's linked with the immigration system, they would be able to find out if you have US citizenship or if you applied for a US visa, but usually, CIA's database only holds people they are focusing on, like terrorists or exposed assassins, mercenaries. If you had already been in the CIA's database, they would have recognized you instantly."

"What I'm concerned about is whether I've been recorded."

"No, the CIA can't possibly enter every face captured by cameras into their database, that's impossible. If you were part of a notorious mercenary group or long-established local power, then you might be recorded, but not a newbie like you."

Luca's explanation somewhat reassured Gao Yi, but Luca still looked worried and said, "But two CIA agents died here; the US will definitely investigate, so the chances of you entering the CIA's sight are quite high. Buddy, you're in trouble."

"What if someone else admits to taking out the target?"

Luca was dumbfounded again, then surprisingly said, "What do you mean?"

"There's a Consumable, the one I told you about, who is willing to admit he took out the target. He's from the Plunderer Mercenary Corps, but he was betrayed, so he's pretty furious."

Gao Yi smiled, then lowered his voice, "I wasn't planning to say this, but in the end, I couldn't hold back and told this Consumable that among the people I took out were two from the CIA, and then, he decided to admit to taking out the target under the name of the Plunderer Mercenary Corps to enter a local militia and to take over the power vacuum left by the target's death."

Luca raised his hand and said, "Wait, you found a scapegoat, and he's willing to draw the CIA's attention to himself?"

"Yes, don't call him a scapegoat; it sounds too harsh. He's doing it willingly."

"Does he have a problem? Is he out of his mind?"

"Basically doesn't seem to have much of a brain. Here's the situation: the Plunderer Mercenary Corps sent him to scout because only Chinese people don't draw much attention here. Then, last night, he spoke to the chief of the Plunderers, and they decided to sell him out, then demanded US$100,000 from the target, who gave them ten thousand, and they sold him."

Luca slowly exhaled and said, "Selling the Consumable to make a profit off waste, that's something the Plunderer Corp would do..."

Before he could finish, Luca pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "The Dark Web won't reveal who completed the task. I was planning to come forward publicly since this assignment is well-known, but now I have to give up. I'll also put the word out, just say that the Plunderer Corp took this job. Good, very good, the Plunderer Corp is doomed, the scapegoat is set, we're safe."