C40
5 months later-
CJ and PR received a message. After reading the message they felt shivers down their spines.
The message said, 'Emmanuel is dead.'
The news of Emmanuel's death spread like a wildfire across the continent. Emmanuel had been in complete control of GodsSalvation for the past 12 years. His death was not a small matter.
Some members within the SF became excited. They thought that this would weaken GodsSalvation and would give them the opportunity to capture their territories.
However, the senior leadership was aware of the reality. Although the death of Emmanuel would be a huge loss to GS there were a lot of capable lieutenants who could replace Emmanuel. Kade was the most likely replacement.
However, a lieutenant named Gabriel was made the next leader of GS. Gabriel was in fact one of the soldiers who was saved by Li. Li and Gabriel had formed a friendship in these past 2 years.
'Kade' would soon disappear from Alkebulan. So, Yang Li needed someone reliable and capable to take over the leadership of GS. Gabriel was closest to him in Alkebulan and he was very capable. Therefore, he became the obvious choice. Finally, the day of his departure arrived.
He gave clear instructions to Gabriel. He told him not to take any overseas missions for other governments. He also told Gabriel how to contact him if there was a life and death matter. Then they bade farewell to each other. Yang Li changed his disguise and started his return journey.
A few hours later he entered the bookshop. The bookshop had warm wooden interiors. He saw a man sitting on the counter staring at the shop windows. He was in a gloomy mood. On the other side of the shop was a black-haired beauty. She was reading a book. There were a few customers who were browsing through the books.
When Kade entered the shop, he immediately drew attention. He was wearing a large hat, black shades, and a white mask. Although his clothes and shoes were very ordinary- he had a very malignant aura around him.
Kade looked at the man on the counter and said in a low voice, "When is the extraction and where?"
On hearing the words, the man's gloomy mood evaporated and he became excited and said, "Welcome Back!!!"
The man was of course CJ and the woman was PR.
CJ immediately said in a loud voice, "The shop will be closed for the day. The customers are requested to move towards the exit."
A few of them grumbled but in the next five minutes, the shop was empty. PR put down her book and moved towards the counter. When she came near Li, he removed his shades and mask. PR greeted him with a smile and said, "Welcome back Yang Li."
The three of them discussed their next steps. Their extraction was scheduled the next day at 6.00 a.m. around 20 miles from the bookshop. At night all 3 of them stayed in the back room of the bookshop. It was a jovial atmosphere as CJ and PR prepared dinner. Both of them felt happy as they would leave this hell hole the next day and go home. Both of them had decided to retire from the Bureau after this mission.
They talked to Li about his experience in the past 2 years. They found him a bit different.
Li exuded a dangerous aura and his eyes looked weary and bloodthirsty. That was probably the result of staying in such an environment.
Yang Li also understood his mental and physical state. It would take him some time to adjust himself and get back to normalcy. He decided to take a break.
He called Zhou Jin and talked about the past two and half years briefly. Li asked him about his mother and sister. Jin assured him that both of them were doing fine. He asked him about the business and Jin assured him that everything was on the right track. He told Zhou Jin about his plans to take a break before coming back to Colchis. It would probably be around 6 months.
Yang Li decided to go to Westphalia. Their extraction route was from Alkebulan to Cinea via Rhone (capital of Uruk). The three of them would travel together till Uruk, where Li would separate from them. They would go back to Cinea and he would catch a commercial plane from Rhone to Atlantis (capital of Westphalia).
The next day when they reached Rhone, they bade their goodbyes. Li gave them Zhou Jin's contact if they needed anything or if they wanted work.
Zhou Jin had booked him a seat in the business class. Initially, Jin had wanted to charter a plane but Yang Li refused. He preferred to be low profile. He was going to Westphalia to relax and remove his mental fatigue. He wanted to do so in a simple manner. Being high profile would only draw more attention to him and bring him unnecessary hassles. He also told Zhou Jin not to call him for any business unless it was an emergency. He had called and informed his mother and sister as well.
Yang Li was now over 25 years old. He had never taken a vacation before. Despite being from the most influential family in Colchis, he had never been able to relax. For his family, it had always been a fight for survival. So, he decided to forget all his conflicts and responsibilities for the next few months. He decided to act like a young spoiled master.
He booked a penthouse of the largest hotel in Westphalia for the next 5 months. The hotel was called White Lotus. When he alighted from the plane, he was received by a limousine. It was sent by the hotel. After checking in he ordered lunch. After lunch, he went swimming. Thereafter, he decided to take a nap before going down.
White Lotus was owned by one of the prime families in Atlantis- the Watson family. The Watson family was in the hospitality industry. It had a status similar to the Wang family in Colchis. They always kept track of any important or influential people who booked their hotel. This was to provide the best hospitality to such customers and form relationships with such individuals.
When Li booked their penthouse for 5 months, they tried to check his background. They didn't find any information which would indicate anything special. This meant that either he was an ordinary person or someone with extraordinary origins. Either way, it was useless to engage with him. So, the upper management didn't interfere in his routine apart from the basic services.
Li woke up in the evening and decided to go down. He changed his clothes. It was colder in Westphalia as compared to both Alkebulan and Colchis. He was wearing a black hoodie with red stripes. He didn't wear his shades but the mask was still present. He was also wearing a pair of loose pajamas with sandals.
When he reached the reception area he decided to gamble and went to the Casino.
He bought chips worth 50k dollars. He went to the blackjack table and played for half an hour. He presently had 60k dollars.
He converted 30k worth of chips to cash and blew them on the slots. He didn't win even a single time. Now he had chips worth 30k dollars left.
He then joined a poker game. He played for 2 hours and won 30k dollars. Now he again had 60k dollars. He had been in the casino for about 3 hours. He was feeling hungry and he decided to go for dinner. But instead of cashing out his chips, he left it with the manager.
After his dinner, he went for a run around the city. He came back in an hour and went to bed.
He woke up early at 5 a.m. and completed his daily exercises and martial arts practice. He was having breakfast in his room when he got a call. It was from his mother. She just called to check upon him. After the call, he started planning his day. After deciding his itinerary, he set out from his hotel at 9 a.m. He booked a taxi for the entire day. He then visited the famous tourist spots that were recommended to him by the driver.
He covered a few tourist spots recommended by the driver. First, he went to the largest amusement park in Atlantis, then he visited a historical fort, and lastly, he went to a vintage bar.
Although Li didn't drink much, he still had a few shots as he was in a holiday spirit. He then returned to his hotel. Before sending off the taxi he booked it for the next 10 days.
It was 8 p.m. Yang Li decided to visit the casino. Again, he played blackjack for an hour and won 10k dollars.
He then went ahead and blew 40k dollars on craps. Thereafter, he played poker till he recovered his original 60k dollars. He left the casino and went to his room.
He continued with the same routine for 10 days.
He would wake up early to exercise. During the day he would roam around the city and visit various scenic spots recommended by people. At night he would visit the casino and gamble. He would win some games and lose others. However, when he left, he always had 60k dollars with him. He would play different games every day. He would win and lose different games every day. They all knew he was gaming the system; however, they couldn't point out how? Even the manager was confused, however, they were not bothered since the amount involved was small.
Even the players who played against him felt odd as if the entire flow of the game was being controlled by someone. Again, nobody could pinpoint the exact issue.