Volume Two: Naked Primitive Capital Accumulation - High-Tech Surveillance Methods (Part Two)

In the distance stood the famous Sphinx—not the one before an Egyptian pharaoh's tomb, but the Las Vegas casino. Luo Qian couldn't find what he needed back home, so he had come to the city of freedom. But he had no connections and didn't know his way around. Finding what he wanted would be far from easy.

He visited several stores specializing in electronic equipment. The moment he said what he was looking for, the owners gave him searching looks, while their clerks hurried to dial "nine-one-one." Luo Qian smiled bitterly and left before the police cars came screaming up.

Not only had he come away empty-handed, he had made the local Las Vegas news. On-screen, a grave-faced anchor sternly warned the public that an "Asian" criminal of limited intelligence but brutal methods had recently been seeking prohibited electronic equipment. Citizens were asked to help the police investigate and watch out for their safety. The station had even obtained a surveillance still from the police. Its likeness to Luo Qian was close enough.

Standing before the famous artificial volcano, Luo Qian gazed at the fiery-red "lava" and sighed inwardly: So even an immortal could find himself at his wits' end.

It was his own fault for watching too many Hollywood blockbusters. In Mission: Impossible, Tom Cruise had bought piles of advanced electronic equipment without much trouble. The stuff seemed to be everywhere in America. As it turned out, reality was a long way from the movies.

It wasn't that Luo Qian hadn't considered finding an agent and threatening him into handing over what he needed. But among all the people on the streets, how was he supposed to tell who worked for the FBI and who worked for someone else? There might even be a few KGB agents around.

Luo