3
Roanapur, Thailand
Kao Zhaulong has a taste for fine wine and authentic Cuban cigars. As he savors his Hennessy on the rocks, the phone on his desk rang.
"Kao," he said on the receiver.
"You failed. The chip is gone," the voice on the other line said.
"It is not gone," Kao insisted. "Sure, we have suffered a setback. But we know where the chip is."
"Where?"
"Here in Roanapur. It's in the possession of the Black Lagoon gang."
"You better recover that chip as soon as possible," the voice grumbled. "Our business is in jeopardy as long as the chip is on the hands of those criminals."
"I will. My men are getting ready to recover the chip as we speak."
"Good. By the way, there is another problem."
Kao shook his head. "What is it?"
"The man your guys killed on the Thai patrol boat, he was CIA. The agency sent their elite strike team to Roanapur. So far, they think the Lagoon gang killed the agent but they might discover that you are involved."
"It is not a big problem," Kao scoffed. "My men will take care of those assassins."
"Do not underestimate this strike team," the man warned. "They are the best in what their do."
"Thank you for the warning," Kao said.
"I'll be in touch."
Kao hung up and finished his wine. He is beginning to think that this whole enterprise has been a serious mistake. But he is already in a deep hole, in which there is no way out.
Kao Zhaulong is a career criminal. The only son of a Hong Kong drug lord, he was expected from a young age to take over the family business. And indeed, he became one of the most powerful and feared crime bosses of Asia. In his leadership, the dreaded 24K drug syndicate grew exponentially. Kao is smart as he is ruthless. He is not squeamish in using violence but he is more into using his massive wealth to buy off the opposition.
But then he made a huge mistake. To get the DEA off his back, he started dealing with corrupt CIA agents. Kao became the conduit of the agency to sell drugs recovered by the US military in Afghanistan. It was a simple operation; the CIA gets the drugs from Afghanistan, ships them to Hong Kong and sells them at rockbottom price to Kao. He then sells them to the public. Kao gets most of the money; the CIA uses the drug money to support its arming of insurgencies worldwide. It was a good business, although Kao knew he was skating on thin ice.
Just a few days ago, he received word that the female CIA agent has been building a case and gathering evidence against its corrupt agents. Kao panicked and tried to kill the agent and destroy the chip that contains the records of the CIA drug connections but the Black Lagoon team suddenly intervened to rescue the agent. They failed, the female agent was killed but she managed to give the chip to the team.
Kao had another shot to recover the chip, and that is to intercept the exchange between the Lagoon team and the CIA agent named Collins. They almost succeeded; Collins was killed but the black badass Dutch and the bitch Revy Two Hands massacred most of his men. Most importantly, they got away with the chip.
There is only one place the Lagoon team would go, and that is Roanapur. Kao knew this is his last shot to recover the chip and eliminate the Black Lagoon, right in their home turf.
"Boss," his right hand man Ping said as he entered the hotel suite. "The team is ready. We are good to go."
Kao nodded. "Make sure you would not mistake this time."