Chapter 18 Since I'm Already Here

The first step was to travel from Frawdon in Sierra Leone to Monrovia in Liberia.

The second step was to figure out a way to get from Monrovia to Suakoko.

Deep within the rainforest, Suakoko was connected to the outside world by only one road, leading to Monrovia on one end and to Samoe in Guinea on the other.

Liberia was one of the least developed countries in the world, and Suakoko was among the poorest of the poor. The only road was nearly impassable during the rainy season, and now that it was about to enter the rainy season, it meant that Gao Yi would find it extremely difficult to leave Suakoko by land.

Monrovia was under the control of the Liberian government, but the road from Suakoko to Samoe, and nearly half of Liberia's territory for that matter, was in the hands of Gray Horace.

By the way, the Liberian government forces totaled two thousand men, while Gray Horace's army numbered three thousand.

The reason Luca felt comfortable letting Gao Yi go to Suakoko alone without fearing he would run off was because their only means of transportation was a small plane.

Luca personally delivered Gao Yi and, once the mission was accomplished, would personally retrieve him. Although this did not guarantee complete safety, it was the most appropriate method they could think of for the time being.

How to contact, when to initiate action, when to evacuate—all of these details would be discussed later.

That was the plan, full of holes and carelessly devised, but since Gao Yi was willing to charge through it blindly, Luca naturally did not stand in his way.

The only problem now was that the plane included in the plan was really a bit too run-down.

A jet airliner couldn't land in Suakoko; Gao Yi and his crew were left with no choice but to use a twenty-year-old, eight-seater propeller plane.

The plane aligned with the runway, descended, kicked up a cloud of dust, and then Gao Yi jumped out onto the runway.

The plane didn't even need to turn around, it continued down the dirt runway for a short distance before taking off again.

Luca had flown away, now only Gao Yi remained.

Gao Yi was somewhat bewildered.

If you could call a dirt path a runway, then this place could technically be called an airport.

At the end of the runway was a small shack where a few people stood on the outside, the passengers waiting for the next flight.

What should he do next?

Look for a car? Did taxis even exist here?

To Gao Yi's surprise, there were indeed taxis. Several black men saw Gao Yi, and a black man wearing a T-shirt and shorts, though bizarrely topped with a knitted cap, started waving at him.

"Ni hao! Taxi, car!"

Gao Yi was momentarily dazed because the black man, seemingly oblivious to the climate, was greeting him in Chinese.

The world is truly a wondrous place, almost fantastical.

Drawn without realizing it, Gao Yi walked over, and the black man approached him. When he reached Gao Yi, the man exaggeratedly said, "Boss, need a ride? Ten dollars, ten dollars to the city center."

Though he had an accent, he spoke quite fluently.

Caught off guard again, Gao Yi held up one hand, saying, "Five dollars!"

"Eight dollars! And you get to sit in the passenger seat."

"Five dollars!"

The black man put on a pondering look, then stretched out his hand, saying, "Okay, friend, a little cheaper."

"I'll pay when we arrive."

The driver smiled an honest smile, saying, "Alright."

The few people nearby showed no interest in the spectacle and no one treated Gao Yi, the foreigner, with any strange regard, prompting Gao Yi to ask, "Are there many Chinese people here?"

"Lots. There are many timber traders. Boss, are you looking to buy wood? I can take you there."

The driver appeared quite young, not very tall—about 1.7 meters—and was skinny. He seemed somewhat sly, yet there was also a semblance of simplicity about him.

It was odd to see both cunning and simplicity manifest in one person; for the first time, Gao Yi doubted his own judgment.

"Where's the car? Let's go."

"No, no, I still have another passenger. I have to wait to pick them up. Please wait a moment; their plane will arrive soon. Five dollars doesn't get you a private ride, boss. Five dollars is the back seat price."

"Alright then, wait. Back seat?"

The driver chuckled and said, "Passenger seat is ten, back seat is six. I'm giving you a friend's price for five, friend's price for my friend."

If it's the back seat, so be it. If he had to wait, he'd wait.

Gao Yi stood to the side and ended up waiting for an hour.

"Hey, when are we leaving?"

"Very soon, very soon. The plane is delayed, just wait a bit longer. Boss, what's your honorable surname?"

"No need for honorables... Huang. You even know how to say that!"

The driver's smile was simple, as he held up two fingers, saying, "Just a little bit, not much, a little bit. My name is Jitoka Rim, but you Chinese people like to call me Little Hei. You can call me Little Hei, boss."

"Who taught you Chinese?"

"Boss, I learned from the wood-buying boss, the construction team boss, the restaurant boss; all from bosses, boss."

Too many bosses made it a bit confusing, but Gao Yi keenly caught the mention of the restaurant boss and immediately grew excited.

Stay calm, don't give anything away. With an air of indifference, Gao Yi said, "Oh, restaurant boss? So there's a Chinese restaurant here?"

"Yes, in the city, boss. I'll take you there for a meal, then to your lodging. There's also the Black Pearl, girls, everything, boss."

Little Hei's smile was genuine as he made a cross sign with his two fingers, saying, "Just ten dollars, boss. I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

"What restaurant?"

"The Chinese Restaurant. It's delicious. Expensive for us, but cheap for you, boss."

It seems normal to have Chinese food for the first meal upon arriving in Suakoko.

Gao Yi thought for a moment, then said, "We'll see when we get there, let's find a place to stay first. It's just that you're asking for too much."

Be cautious, stay cautious, don't be too eager to agree. Everything happening here could be known to the target, so don't rush.

And never show that you have too much money or that you're too generous.

The reason was simple: Gao Yi intended to infiltrate the restaurant. If he were wealthy, why would he seek work as a waiter or chef?

He had to display spending habits that matched his income—frugal but not lavish.

Gao Yi silently recalled the tricks Luca taught him while patiently waiting.

After a brief wait of two more hours, just as Gao Yi was on the verge of exploding, a plane finally landed.

A small twenty-seater plane, and about thirty people emerged from it in a flurry.

Then, without a word from Little Hei, the new arrivals began to head towards him.

Not everyone had the money for a ride; Gao Yi counted twenty-two people following Little Hei towards the vehicle.

Among these people, two were in suits, and about a third were women, mostly in skirts, with various items on their heads.

Gao Yi began to panic, thinking he might have made a mistake.

When he saw the vehicle, Gao Yi knew he had definitely erred.

It was a pickup truck, one without a suitable descriptive word, except to say it was extremely decrepit.

Twenty-four people including the driver, not to mention himself?

Gao Yi felt a sense of dread.

He paid, then those people adeptly climbed into the pickup's bed, some sat on the roof, and at least six headed towards the cab, while a man in a suit attempted to open the passenger door.

Gao Yi bolted forward, opened the passenger door, and plopped himself in.

The dissatisfied suit-wearing man muttered a few words, then after some shuffling and position negotiation, settled in the back seat.

Little Hei took his time before getting back to the vehicle. Showing a set of white teeth, he grinned at Gao Yi, saying, "Passenger seat, ten dollars."

Gao Yi dutifully handed over the ten dollars, this time without bargaining.

He might have been ripped off, but let it be; Gao Yi accepted and endured it.

The smell inside the car was already unpleasant, now it swiftly filled with a baffling and agonizing scent.

The vehicle struggled to move forward along a relatively smooth road.

There were houses along the road—types too numerous to tally, from wooden shacks to plastic tarp shelters, and huts made of mud and branches. In short, there were all sorts of oddly shaped homes.

It felt like the car had only traveled about five kilometers when Gao Yi could see more normal-looking houses.

With streets and pedestrians, they had entered the city area.

Gao Yi truly regretted it; had he known it was this close, he would have walked.

Little Hei parked at an intersection with a wide road and not many people.

The people from the truck disembarked, spreading out languidly. Soon, only Gao Yi was left in the vehicle.

"Boss, want to eat, or find a hotel?"

Little Hei got back into the car, his white teeth shone brightly as he smiled cheerfully.

Gao Yi thought for a while and said, "First, let's... eat."

No help for it, he still wanted to see what the restaurant was like.

Little Hei started the car, and this time, they drove much faster.

Gao Yi kept an eye on the surroundings. His vocabulary was limited, so he could only think of one word to describe it: rundown.

This is too rundown!

There were traces of asphalt roads on the streets, but the evidence of asphalt only seemed to result in bigger bumps. Large holes within small holes, it truly was preferable to just have dirt roads.

Soon, Little Hei's car stopped, in a place Gao Yi didn't know how to describe.

A few fixtures looked like earthen stoves blackened with soot, with iron sheeting propped up by pillars as a roof. Underneath it were five tables, and at one end was a small room, by whose door sat an old black man.

Gao Yi had a bad feeling; he looked nervously at Little Hei.

Little Hei revealed his white teeth in a broad smile, saying, "Boss, we're here, Chinese City Restaurant."

Little Hei even pointed, and Gao Yi followed the direction to see that there indeed hung a sign on the edge of the shelter with crooked letters: Chinese Restaurant.

After suppressing his feelings over and over, to the point of being unable to contain them any longer, Gao Yi muttered under his breath, "Fuck me!"