— Ouyang Chen's Recollection —
A grand party was underway in an open-air plaza in Las Vegas.
It was hailed as the most extravagant night of revelry in history, thrown by a young man from Malaysia named Zacklou.
Legends about him were as exaggerated as Hollywood movies. Even those closest to him only knew he was the stepson of the Malaysian Prime Minister, while the extent of his wealth remained as enigmatic and elusive as a Pharaoh's mystery.
Ou Zhan had received a mission from Tang: tonight, he had to infiltrate the party and steal the investment project proposal between Zacklou and Goldman Sachs.
If the young man hadn't uttered a single truthful word, the old-school businessmen wouldn't have resorted to such desperate measures. However, it was perhaps inevitable; after all, the dirtiest tricks in business were sometimes called strategy.
A signal came through his earpiece: Zacklou had been called away by a Hollywood superstar friend, and they were heading towards a hotel suite.
At this moment, Ou Zhan had to open the safe within ten minutes, take photos, and then leave the suite undetected.
But upon entering the floor where the suite was located, Ou Zhan found himself stumped!
As if Zacklou had foreseen an uninvited guest, from the moment he stepped off the elevator, there was rigorous electronic identity verification. Guests not on the list, or even invited guests, couldn't possibly disembark. The corridors were swarming with highly trained bodyguards whose eyes were as sharp as a hawk's.
A bodyguard, after confirming through the electronic eye that Ou Zhan was not a guest at tonight's party, immediately prepared to intercept and question him.
Ou Zhan suddenly acted a bit drunk: "Waiter, open the door for me!"
The bodyguard extended his hand to block him: "I'm sorry, sir, please leave."
"What? Do you know who I am? Get out of my way!" Ou Zhan bellowed.
Nearby bodyguards watched Ou Zhan warily, ready to use force to remove the drunken man.
Ou Zhan's action of reaching for a room card made the bodyguards even more on edge. After their eyes met, the bodyguard in front was ready to draw his weapon.
Ou Zhan squinted at the conspicuous floor numbers outside the elevator, reading them haltingly: "One hundred... and one, yes, this is my floor."
The bodyguard extended his arm, blocking Ou Zhan from stepping out of the elevator, and then pushed him back until he was inside.
Ou Zhan pretended to lose his balance and leaned on the elevator handrail. The bodyguard turned back, pressed button 101 for Ou Zhan, then exited the elevator, coldly stating, "You pressed the wrong floor, this is the hundred and tenth floor."
Only as the elevator doors slowly closed did the bodyguards outside let out a sigh of relief.
Simultaneously, they received word that Zacklou had left the party with his companions and was preparing to return to the hotel.
Ou Zhan cursed his teammate through the communication device, asking why he hadn't informed him of the situation on the floor beforehand, nearly causing him to be exposed.
Ou Zhan: "Open the door to the 101st-floor room!"
Teammate: "What for?"
Ou Zhan: "To climb in from the outside!"
Ou Zhan reached the 101st floor. His teammate had already planned a new route for him.
Corresponding to the study on the 110th floor suite was room 1018 in section C on the 101st floor.
Unfortunately, a couple was passionately kissing right at the door of 1018.
The man, with one hand caressing the woman's face, reached into his pocket to open the door with a room card.
Before the room card could even touch the lock, Ou Zhan's teammate had already opened the door. Ou Zhan almost cursed again at this mistake.
Fortunately, the couple didn't stop their kiss and fumbled, preparing to enter.
Just as the door was about to close, Ou Zhan quickly blocked it with his foot, preventing it from locking.
Both the man and the woman were tipsy. The woman suddenly pushed the man away, bit her lower lip as she looked at him, and then reached to remove her dress.
As the man was about to pounce, the woman dodged and entered the bathroom, leaving behind, "Wait for me, I'll change."
The man, now heated, began to take off his suit jacket. He was completely drunk, leaning against the wall as he went to the bar for a drink, muttering, "Little tease, playing hard to get, you little rascal!"
Ou Zhan quickly darted inside. He intended to knock the man out with a single blow, but the man suddenly turned around!
Their eyes met for a moment. Before the man could react, Ou Zhan moved swiftly!
With a thud, the man collapsed to the ground, leaving only the sound of rushing water from the bathroom and the woman's deliberately exaggerated gasps.
Ou Zhan quickly ran to the balcony. At that moment, a rope was tossed down from above. This was the climbing rope his teammate had prepared for him on the rooftop. Climbing up the rope would lead him to Zacklou's study.
Ou Zhan: "Where is the target?"
Teammate: "He's been intercepted in the lobby. Looks like a friend made a call."
Ou Zhan: "Pull me up!"
Fortunately, it was dark, and Ou Zhan wouldn't be spotted climbing nine floors up the hotel exterior.
However, upon reaching the balcony on the 110th floor, Ou Zhan faced a dilemma…
The locked balcony door prevented him from entering the room. If he resorted to brute force and shattered the glass, it would undoubtedly alert the bodyguards outside.
Ou Zhan had to carefully use tools to cut the glass and remove a door panel.
But the chemical reagents needed three minutes to react. Even if he could quickly remove the glass and crack the safe in a minute, and photograph the project proposal page by page, he wouldn't have enough time to escape the room.
Ou Zhan thought for a moment: "Send a waiter up with drinks!"
The elevator on the 110th floor had already opened. Zacklou and his friends had stepped out and were walking happily towards the suite.
With a "click," the suite door opened.
A bodyguard opened the door for them. The bodyguard first scanned the room, and only after finding no anomalies did he allow Zacklou and his friends in.
Friend: "I heard you've made a new investment with Goldman Sachs again? You're amazing! Can you bring me along this time?"
Zacklou: "Just some small investments, only a little over ten billion."
This was Zacklou's trick: he projected an image of not caring about money, of not lacking it.
If he had said it casually, no one would be foolish enough to believe it. But he had the ability to play games with the most powerful banks with such vast sums of money, so who wouldn't believe he was the mysterious rich man?
Friend: "Let's take a look, what project is it?"
Zacklou: "Sure, but if you think it's worthwhile, give me a few billion, and I'll handle it."
As he spoke, Zacklou prepared to walk towards the study. At that very moment, Ou Zhan was racing against time, flipping through the project proposal page by page with the camera on his chest.
Teammate: "O, pull out! No time!"
The moment the door opened, a gust of wind blew the curtains up, and Ou Zhan, hidden outside the balcony, was about to be discovered!
The suite's doorbell finally rang, drawing everyone's attention to the door.
Zacklou knew well that bodyguards wouldn't ring the bell; they would rush in to protect him immediately if something happened. Could it be a guest?
Zacklou's friend had already opened the door, and a hotel waiter stood before them.
Because it had been arranged in advance, this waiter was solely responsible for all matters concerning this suite tonight, so the bodyguards tacitly allowed his entry and exit.
Waiter: "Sir, your set meal and champagne."
Zacklou's friend lifted the cover on the food cart, revealing a medium-rare steak.
Friend: "How did you know I hadn't eaten at the party? I was getting a bit hungry."
Zacklou: "I didn't order it."
The moment this reply left his lips, everyone froze!
Zacklou reacted first. He quickly turned around and rushed to the safe. Although Ou Zhan had already closed the safe, the position of the combination lock had changed!
Zacklou then looked at the curtain that had been blown by the wind. He suddenly understood: someone must have climbed in from the outside and tampered with the contents of the safe!
He crawled to the balcony and looked up, seeing a rope being quickly pulled upwards.
Zacklou roared, "He's already gone, why aren't you chasing him?!"
The bodyguards mobilized en masse, and Las Vegas became even livelier tonight!
With a VIP guest's room being breached, the hotel immediately took action, sealing all floor exits. No one could move in or out under their watchful eyes.
Teammate: "O, what now? How do you retreat?"
Ou Zhan, at this moment, did not choose to have his teammate pull him up to the rooftop but returned to room 1018.
Ou Zhan: "I have my own way. You guys retreat first!"
In room 1018, the man was now sitting on the bed, while the woman looked at him uneasily.
Because when she emerged from the bathroom in just three items, this man was lying on the floor, unconscious.
Ou Zhan suddenly leaped in through the window, startling them both!
The woman screamed. Ou Zhan delivered a palm strike, knocking her out, then steadily caught her and placed her on the bed.
The man stammered, "Who… who are you?!"
Ou Zhan quickly covered the man's mouth and, holding a dagger to him, they slowly approached the door, listening to the bodyguards searching room by room outside.
Ou Zhan threatened, "Do as I say, or I'll kill you!"
The man nodded frantically. He had only come to Las Vegas for leisure, and the woman on the bed was a paid escort he had hired. He didn't want to lose his life here.
Ou Zhan turned on the pay-per-view channel and played it loudly.
At the same time, the bodyguards outside were banging on the door.
Ou Zhan signaled with his eyes: "Get on the bed, you know what to do!!!"
The man hesitated. Ou Zhan brought the dagger closer to his neck. The man had no choice but to comply.
Ou Zhan opened the door. The bodyguards recognized him at a glance. However, Ou Zhan pretended to be drunk again, pouring wine on himself with one hand while holding up his phone as if recording.
Ou Zhan: "Want… want to join the fun?"
The bodyguard pushed Ou Zhan aside and walked into the room. He saw another man seemingly filming an adult film. No wonder they had heard embarrassing noises from outside. The bodyguard almost walked out with a red face.
After the bodyguard confirmed that no one else had entered the room, they apologized and left…
As soon as the door closed, Ou Zhan let out a long sigh. His acting was superb; he had fooled those fools again!
Ou Zhan looked at the obedient man, thinking he needed to knock him out again. He strode over and raised his arm. Before he could strike…
Man: "No, no, no… don't kill me. I didn't see anything, I don't know anything, and I was drunk too…"
As he spoke, the man pointed to his suit jacket lying on the floor.
Man: "Ah, I'm passing out…"
The man suddenly collapsed onto the woman, completely still, his eyes shut tight.
Not wanting further complications, Ou Zhan picked up the suit jacket and shook it. A wallet full of cash fell out, along with a car key. It seemed the man thought Ou Zhan was a thief and would be appeased with money.
Ou Zhan picked up the car key and quietly left.
The man, thinking Ou Zhan had left, opened one eye and looked at the location of his suit jacket on the floor. Seeing that no one was there, he slowly got up…
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. This time, he had truly passed out.
— End of Ouyang Chen's Recollection —