What the hell is the "kill line" when you're in America?

"What do we do now?"

Li Ang walked up to him and slapped Victor across the face.

He was stunned.

"you......"

"Are you awake?" Li Ang looked at him.

Victor covered his face, looking at Li Ang with anger in his eyes, but even more so with astonishment.

"You fucking..."

"Are you awake yet?"

Victor stared at him, and finally nodded.

"Okay, let's talk about what's next."

Li Ang tidied up the box and moved closer to Victor.

[Target: Victor]

[Execution threshold: Low (mental breakdown, social relationships wiped out, already identified as an asset by higher-ups to be disposed of)]

Victor watched Li Ang's actions, his mind still blank.

Li Ang closed the last box full of documents and dusted off his hands.

"These things are ours now," Li Ang said.

"Ours?" Victor exclaimed as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world. "No, these things are death warrants!"

He pointed at the boxes, his voice trembling.

"Carlo will kill us, the church will kill us! No one will survive!"

"So what?" Li Ang retorted, "You want to die here?"

Victor fell silent. He leaned against the cold metal wall and slowly slid down to sit on the floor.

"We can run," Victor said, clinging to his last hope. "Take these things and run, run to the ends of the earth, they won't find us."

Li Ang shook his head.

"You can't escape."

Why?

"You know better than I do why." Li Ang crouched down to look him in the eye. "You know how powerful Carlo is and how extensive the church's influence is."

"They wanted to find two people, as simple as picking two bottles out of a garbage dump."

Victor's body began to tremble.

He knew that what Li Ang said was true.

In this city, and even in this country, they have nowhere to escape.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Victor asked desperately. "Wait to die?"

"No." Li Ang stood up. "We'll fight back."

"Fight back?" Victor's eyes widened, as if he were looking at a madman. "What are we going to fight back with? This worthless paper?"

"Yes, we'll use these scraps of paper." Li Ang nodded.

He walked up to Victor and pulled him up from the ground.

Listen, you have no way out now.

"Carlo thinks you're still working for him, finding these documents."

"The church is unaware that their secret has been exposed."

"We have a little time, a very short little time."

Victor listened blankly, seemingly still reeling from the shock.

"Now we have two choices," Li Ang said, holding up two fingers.

"First, you stay here with these documents and wait for Carlo's men to find you, then they'll get rid of you and the secrets in your head."

"Second, work for me."

Victor looked at Li Ang, the homeless man whom he had recently pointed a gun at.

Now, however, it has become his only lifeline.

"Work with you?" Victor muttered to himself, "Work with you for what?"

"Kill Carlo." Li Ang's answer was simple and direct.

Victor's eyes widened instantly, and he stumbled backward until his back slammed against the wall.

"You're insane! You must be insane!" he shouted. "That's Carlo! The godfather of the Rusty Gang! He has hundreds of men! Hundreds of guns!"

"The two of us? Go and take him down?"

"It's not two people," Li Ang corrected. "It's you. Go and kill him."

"Me?" Victor pointed to his nose, his expression more painful than crying.

"Yes, you." Li Ang looked at him. "You are the second-in-command of the Golden Rust Gang. You know everything about him, his habits, his weaknesses, and everyone around him."

"And I will help you."

Victor was panting heavily; he felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

This plan is too crazy and too unrealistic.

"Impossible... This is simply impossible..."

"Nothing is impossible," Li Ang interrupted him. "You're a dog driven to the brink of despair right now. You have no other way out but to turn around and bite your master to death."

"Your life is worthless to Carlo and to the church."

"But it's still somewhat useful to me."

Li Ang walked up to him and patted his face.

"So, before you die, make the most of your last bit of value."

Victor looked into Leon's emotionless eyes and knew he had no choice.

All his pride and ferocity shattered completely in the face of absolute death.

"What...what do I need to do?" Victor asked in a hoarse voice.

"Very good." Li Ang nodded. "That's more like it."

He pointed to the boxes on the ground.

"The first step is to move these things out and find a safe place to hide them."

"Where to hide it?"

"Do you have a safe house?" Li Ang asked.

Victor thought for a moment and nodded.

"There's an apartment in 14th Street that was bought with a fake identity, and nobody knows about it."

"Okay, let's go there."

Li Ang bent down and picked up a box first.

The box was heavy, but he held it very firmly.

Victor watched his retreating figure, gritted his teeth, and picked up one as well.

The two remained silent, carrying all the boxes back to the pickup truck, trip after trip.

Victor covered the truck bed completely with a huge tarpaulin.

"Let's go." Li Ang got into the passenger seat.

Victor started the car, and the pickup truck drove out of the abandoned warehouse area and into the city night.

The carriage was deathly silent.

Victor's knuckles turned white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.

He would occasionally steal a glance at Li Ang beside him through the rearview mirror.

This man remained far too calm throughout.

It was as if they had just moved not secret documents that could overturn the entire Seattle underworld, but a truckload of worthless junk.

"Who...who exactly are you?" Victor finally couldn't hold back and asked.

"A person who wants to live." Li Ang looked out the window and answered calmly.

The pickup truck stopped behind an apartment building on the 14th block.

It's much cleaner than 12th Street, but it's just as lifeless.

The two carried the boxes upstairs again.

This is a very ordinary studio apartment. It's not very big, but it's quite clean.

When the last box was put into the closet, Victor was completely exhausted. He plopped down on the sofa and didn't want to move anymore.

Li Ang closed the closet door and looked around the room.

"Now, tell me everything about Carlo." Leon pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Victor.

"His daily routine, his hobbies, his travel routes."

"Also, the security arrangements at his estate, who he trusts most, and who he distrusts least."

Victor looked up at Li Ang.

"Are you really going to..."

"I'll say it again," Li Ang's voice turned cold. "Tell me everything you know, without missing a single word."

Victor shivered.

He began to speak.

From what time Carlo gets up every day, what brand of coffee he likes to drink, to how many times he goes to church each week, and how many mistresses he has.

From the number of sentries, both visible and hidden, and the distribution of surveillance cameras in his estate, to the name of his most trusted bodyguard and his skill level.

He spoke in great detail because this was all information he had painstakingly gathered in his quest to climb the ranks.

He never imagined that this intelligence would be used in a place like this today.

Li Ang listened quietly, occasionally asking one or two questions.

He had an excellent memory; he remembered every detail Victor mentioned.

By the time Victor finished speaking the last word, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

"Very good." Li Ang stood up, walked to the window, and pulled back a corner of the curtain.

The morning sunlight streamed in.