Phi-Fic Chapter 1209 The Hotel's Capabilities
Chapter 1209 The Hotel's Capabilities
Hengdeli Hotel
After retreating from the southern district, Li Shaoyi and his men temporarily stayed at a hotel in the concession to avoid being exposed on the road. This was a mid-to-high-end hotel, usually bustling with people. Most importantly, it was relatively safe; people with criminal records would typically choose to stay here, as the owner was quite powerful.
As long as you haven't committed any crimes within the concession, they won't care what you do outside. As long as you stay here and don't cause trouble, the owner can guarantee your safety. They have very close ties with the higher-ups in the concession; otherwise, they wouldn't need 25 silver dollars a day. This money is for your safety.
A very ordinary room here costs 25 silver dollars. Li Shaoyi and his group stayed in a more upscale room, which cost 45 silver dollars a day. The service here wasn't particularly good, just average, and the food was also just so-so. However, they did offer security, and part of the money was considered protection money.
According to the owner, don't think 45 silver dollars a day is expensive. But if you stayed elsewhere, you might be sleeping at night with a Japanese spy at gunpoint. But here, you don't need to worry at all. No Japanese spy can enter any room in the hotel; that's a guarantee we've taken your room fee from. And this has never been an exception since the start of the war.
Therefore, most spies in Huangpu chose to live here, even though the daily room rate was a bit high, around 1500 silver dollars a month. For ordinary people, this was an astronomical figure. But for spies from various countries, if they couldn't even get that much money, they might as well not be spies at all and instead try to make some money for their organizations first.
Li Shaoyi and his group booked three rooms in total, paying for three days at once, which pleased many at the front desk. After all, some people come here to escape hardship and only pay for one day at most; they don't want to cater to short-term travelers. Long-term guests like Li Shaoyi are much better served.
“You can call me if anything happens; I’m basically always at the front desk. I mean, anything at all.”
Marina, the 25-year-old Belarusian front desk manager, personally escorted Li Shaoyi and his group to their room. After all, these people had paid for three days' stay and had been there for three days, making them VIP clients during her shift.
"What do you mean by 'anything'? Can I ask you that?"
After everyone else had gone inside, Li Shaoyi lit a cigarette for himself. Miss Marina quickly took out a lighter and lit Li Shaoyi's cigarette. The speed of her action was remarkable, clearly the result of years of experience in such situations.
"For example, if you have a friend who has ties to the police and is currently detained there, we can get him out for a very small price. Or, if you are being targeted by a Japanese agent or someone from another country, we can also eliminate the person watching you for a very small price. Our boss employs quite a few armed personnel, and we can also handle other matters that skirt the law, all with clearly stated prices."
Miss Marina spoke very respectfully, as if chatting casually with a neighbor, without any sense that her words were taboo. You see, if the police were here, Miss Marina might have been taken away.
Of course, this is just an estimate. If Miss Marina could bring in a regular income for the police station each month, those people might actually consider her their godmother. After all, those people come to Huangpu to make money, not to maintain public order.
"So I'd like to know if anyone is watching us after we move in? And how do we pay?"
Li Shaoyi decided to give it a try and see what the hotel was capable of. Everything needs to be tested to get results; you can't just accept whatever people say.
"This is very simple, it only takes 100 yuan."
Miss Marina smiled. Actually, the cost of staying here is only a small part; helping our guests solve all sorts of problems is the most important thing. Otherwise, how could the owner be among the top three richest people in the entire concession?
Li Shaoyi smiled and took out 100 yuan in legal tender from his pocket, then placed it in Miss Marina's hand. However, Miss Marina shook her head; 100 yuan in legal tender could no longer be exchanged for 100 silver dollars, having depreciated by more than 15%. So Li Shaoyi took out a 20-yuan note and handed it over, and Miss Marina nodded with a smile, then placed the money in a private compartment.
Back in her room, Miss Baiyun was resting on the sofa. The two people were dressed as a couple, and the rest were their attendants.
"Anything gained?"
We were so busy retreating that we didn't even know what the results of all this morning's efforts were, and we're only asking now.
"Simply put, I can basically determine their location, but only within two kilometers of a certain point. As for their exact location, I need to conduct reconnaissance in the vicinity. However, conducting reconnaissance in the vicinity will increase the level of danger."
Upon hearing Miss Baiyun's words, Li Shaoyi was also greatly surprised. He had thought she only knew a vague location, but she hadn't expected her to be able to find things within a two-kilometer radius. This showed that the machine she had created was extremely advanced. It seemed that even with some advanced technology, they still couldn't compare to these people in terms of human capabilities.
As Miss Baiyun spoke, she took out an enlarged map of the Huangpu River from her suitcase and drew two circles on it. The area within those two circles was most likely the location of the information gathering center. Li Shaoyi looked at the two circles, recalling some information about the Huangpu River in his mind. It seemed to be quite far from the headquarters and other military camps.
Perhaps the Japanese also knew that if the first batch of special agents from the mountain city were to inspect, they would definitely inspect their headquarters or some strategic locations in the surrounding area. Therefore, they could not place the intelligence data center nearby. If they did, it would be equivalent to giving the information directly to the enemy. It would be better to keep it further away.