Three days later, Tijuana, the border city of Mexico.
A Russian cargo plane landed on the runway of Tijuana Airport. As the airport staff scurried over to unload the cargo, two men and five women exited the cargo hold. Nothing was spoken in the exchange. In Mexico, curiosity often resulted in death.
This team consisted of Xia Lei, Anjum Khan, the four female knights and Tsukino Kyoko. E’er Demutu and Yelena were instructed to stay in China to protect Xia Lei’s wives and children. Though there were Special Force members stationed around the perimeters of the Thunder Horse Organization headquarters and the Peace Mansion, Xia Lei needed to have people he trusted amongst them.
Everyone present did not have their original appearance. Every identification on their bodies were counterfeits crafted personally by Xia Lei. It was so fake that it was able to deceive even the eyes of official departments.
Exiting the airport, Xia Lei and his team of seven boarded an unassuming minibus. It was occupied by a handful of locals. There were women who were out for grocery shopping, some were construction workers heading to a site nearby. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, including the driver himself.
Despite that, this was nothing more than an illusion.
As soon as they boarded the bus, Giovanna said to Xia Lei, “They’re all members of the Relief Society. Everyone was born and raised here. They’re exceptionally familiar with the terrain.”
Xia Lei could tell that even without Giovanna’s introduction. He noticed that everyone was armed and had tattoos relevant to their religion. Heck, the driver had a ‘Holy Thunder’ Han character tattoo along his sides. The man had definitely worshipped Xia Lei as a divine figure.
Facing his own worshippers, Xia Lei couldn’t help but feel weird.
“Do they know I’m here?” Xia Lei whispered the question discretely to Giovanna as he sat down.
Giovanna replied with equal volume, “No, they aren’t aware of your presence but they know I’m here. Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”
Xia Lei hummed. “Then I shall now disguise myself as your subordinate. There’s no need to treat me with courtesy. In front of them, you may even let me handle tasks that you’d have them do.”
Giovanna regarded the request with a meek smile, thinking about how meticulous Xia Lei’s thoughts were.
The minibus lurched jerkily into motion and began its journey to the west of Tijuana. Before long, the Mexican lady sitting at the front took out her accordion and began to accompany its melody with her singing. Her music was infectious, prompting all the other Mexicans to sing along. The car was infinitely livelier.
The Mexican’s fondness of the accordion was equivalent to the Chinese’s love for mahjong.
Half an hour later, Mexico’s most famous tourist city, Tijuana, began to enter their field of vision. Last time, Xia Lei had only managed to make a short pitstop in the city. Today was no different. The route arranged by Giovanna did not involve entering Tijuana city.
The minibus bypassed Tijuana and continued westward at a speed of fifty miles per hour. In that direction in a distance was San Diego, a city housing the most complex ethnic population in all of Mexico. The city was well known for sex, violence and drugs.
“Hey, brother. Are you from China? Do you understand Spanish?” When the singing eventually died down, a tanned youngster attempted to strike up a conversation with Xia Lei.
Xia Lei nodded. “Yes, I am from China. I’ve learnt the language so I can understand Spanish well.”
“Wow, you’re the first Chinese I’ve encountered who can speak fluent Spanish.” The Mexican youth studied him curiously. “My brother, do you mind telling me what do you do for a living?”
“Translation,” answered Xia Lei.
“Haha! I see.” The Mexican youth turned to look at Giovanna, who had been watching their exchange quietly from the side. His expressions turned into solemn respect, “Bishop, is this translator from the Holy Land?”
Giovanna nodded.
Xia Lei couldn’t help but cast a bewildered glance at Giovanna. His heart screamed, “Bishop? Holy Land? They actually made themselves their bishop and called the main Holy Thunder church the Holy Land? So that would mean that I’m regarded as the god of the Relief Society while they’re the four bishops. This is raw talent! If they weren’t knights but marketers instead, they’d be loaded!”
“Bishop, when will we ever get to visit the Holy Land?” asked the Mexican youth, eyes hopeful.
Giovanna answered, “Hernandez, you’ll get your chance. For now, could you kindly pipe it down?”
“Sorry, I’ll shut up.” The Mexican youth apologized with a sheepish smile and left the two alone.
Giovanna titled her side onto Xia Lei slightly. She whispered, “He’s the leader of Tijuana’s armed force. Eventually, he’ll become the general leader of our Mexican armed force. So far, our development has only covered Tijuana but we’re about to expand very soon.”
Honestly, Xia Lei could hear her even if she was twenty meters from him.
“Can we count on him? He’s still so young.” Xia Lei had his doubts.
Giovanna replied, “Don’t underestimate him because he looks young. He used to be the ace assassin of a Mexican drug cartel. He’s an excellent killer.”
“Why would a drug cartel’s assassin join the Relief Society?” Xia Lei was dubious, alert spinning up in his heart.
Giovanna answered, “He’s a man full of stories. I’ll just tell you one of them. He fell in love with their boss’s woman and got her pregnant with his child. In the end, the boss found out about their affair and killed her out of rage, including his unborn child. He was hunted down by the criminal organization and got his entire family killed. He came to our church for aid and we saved him. That’s how he became part of us.”
“Ah, so that’s what happened.” Xia Lei let the thought sink in. “How many armed members do we have in the Mexican branch?”
“Around thirty of them,” said Giovanna.
Xia Lei uttered, “That’s too small of a number. In the case of an emergency, this amount of people wouldn’t be enough to fend off our enemies.”
“Are we expecting a battle in Mexico?” Giovanna asked.
Xia Lei’s eyes narrowed. “The FA’s base is in Mexico. If they find out that we’re here, a battle would be the least of our worries. Remember to stay on the down-low and try not to expose your identities. The Relief Society has a number of members and you can’t possibly understand each of them well. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”
Giovanna nodded. “Yes.”
Xia Lei continued, “When we leave Mexico, instruct the Relief Society members to collect intel on the FA Organization. They most likely built their new headquarters by now.”
“Mm.” Giovanna’s acknowledgement was discrete.
The proximity between rows honestly did not provide much privacy to Xia Lei and Giovanna’s conversation, a few Mexicans in their radius could pick up bits of it. However, the two had conversed in Mandarin.
Another hour or so had passed when the minibus had finally made it to a small town in the middle of the desert.
The town was named the Blue Straw Hat Town. It was a small town through and through due to its small population of only two hundred people. Most of the town’s youngsters had smuggled themselves into the United States for work, leaving behind the elderly, children and women. The town was evidently suffering from severe poverty. The most eye-catching building in the town was the church. It had just completed its construction not too long ago and was now the acting base for the Relief Society. A portion of the one billion USD fund Xia Lei had handed to the female knights was used here.
The minibus manoeuvred over to the back of the church.
Hidden out of view by the religious building were a clinic, library and board game room. The doctor in the clinic was tending to the elderly while a few children read in the library. Some old folks were in the middle of a competitive game of ping pong and chess. The place was bustling with activity. The remaining closed doors were residential quarters, shielding its occupants from prying eyes.
The scene before Xia Lei had brought him ease. The societal construct of this place seemed fairly simple. There was no need for him to worry about informants. Other than that, the town residents were obviously benefiting off the Relief Society’s graciousness. It was almost certain that their relationship with the society wasn’t anywhere near bad.
A pastor had arranged rooms for them.
Under the eyes of the Relief society members, Giovanna was not the least bit courteous to Xia Lei. She made him carry their bags to their rooms. But as soon as they’re out of sight, the female knight’s persona changes completely. Not only did she help move Xia Lei’s luggage into the room, but she also changed the sheets for him and even brought him indoor slippers.
“I need to get to Las Vegas as soon as possible. Can you arrange that for me?” Xia Lei said after he settled down.
“Go catch some rest, I’ll get it done for you. You’ll be able to leave tomorrow morning.” Giovanna gave her promise.
After the female knight had left, Xia Lei brought out his satellite phone and pressed on some buttons. “Hello? It’s me.”
“Boss, are you in Mexico?” Qian Jun was the recipient.
“Yes,” Xia Lei answered.
“When are you heading over to Las Vegas? I’d like to know so Sa’im and I can prepare for it,” questioned Qian Jun.
“Oh, there’s nothing you need to prepare. I’ll join you after I get some things clear. Also…”
“Yes?”
“I have something I must tell.” Xia Lei inhaled deeply, “Hattori Mei is still alive.”
“What?! Impossible!” Qian Jun was shocked to the core. “I clearly shot her in the head! There’s no way she would still be alive unless modern medical technologies had allowed skull transfers.”
Xia Lei uttered, “I don’t know how things played out but I can confidently tell you that she’s still alive. Hattori Mei had taken over the Hattori clan and had gathered an army of Japanese samurais as we speak. Remember, if you see her again, do not act rashly. I will be the one who ends her life.”
“Understood.” Qian Jun hung up.
Ending their conversation, Xia Lei brought out his laptop from a bag and plugged in his mobile internet broadband. Going to Las Vegas was not an issue but Xia Lei needed to master the current situation before doing so. Otherwise, he’d be vulnerable to the various traps placed by his enemies. The American CIA, the Pentagon, the FA Organization, the Hattori clan and even Japan’s hyper-tech. He couldn’t afford even an inch of error.
A few minutes later, Las Vegas’ traffic surveillance control panels appeared on the laptop’s screen.