The Omniscient

Chapter 48: Picking Up Easy Money

May 5th, Afternoon.

Cao Jing was released on bail.

He and Tielong stood by a secluded corner near the park’s lake, speaking in hushed tones.

“Tielong, thanks for putting in a good word with Old Ma. Otherwise, I’d still be stuck inside. Is there something you need me to do?” Cao Jing asked.

Tielong smiled and said, “We’re out of supply. What do you think?”

“I understand. It’s all my fault…” Cao Jing sighed.

“Old Ma suspects there’s a mole in his ranks. Right now, only you and I are trustworthy,” Tielong said.

Cao Jing gritted his teeth. “Traitors deserve to die.”

Tielong continued, “The enemy is in the shadows, and we don’t know who it is yet. They might try to sabotage our next transaction. Everyone knows Old Ma relies on me the most. Any move I make will be watched closely. If I go to make the deal, I’ll likely get caught in a trap.”

“Old Ma’s plan is for me to carry out a fake transaction with our old supplier to draw the enemy’s attention. Meanwhile, you’ll meet with another group to complete the real deal and bring the goods back.”

“You’ve been targeted by the enemy and even locked up. They probably think Old Ma won’t use you for now. That’s precisely our opportunity,” Tielong explained.

Cao Jing, moved by the trust, said, “I understand. I won’t let Old Ma down!”

“This is the contact information for the new supplier. Memorize it and burn the note. Make sure you handle this perfectly,” Tielong said, handing him a slip of paper.

Cao Jing read it carefully before pulling out a lighter and burning the note on the spot. Watching the ashes scatter, he said solemnly, “Don’t worry! I’ll bring back the goods.”

Satisfied, Tielong nodded and tossed a set of car keys to him. “The money will be sent to you at 7 p.m. I’ll have someone meet you at the spot where we first met. Use these keys to retrieve it.”

“Got it!” Cao Jing nodded before parting ways with Tielong.

In the distance, Huang Ji and Xiao Zha were munching on oranges, watching the scene unfold.

"Boss, is this how you scout people?" Xiao Zha asked curiously.

Huang Ji chuckled. "I can read lips."

“Hiss! You mean you understood their whole conversation?” Xiao Zha exclaimed.

Huang Ji replied, “Tonight, Old Ma and Cao Jing will each carry out a transaction at different locations. One will be real, and the other fake.”

“At 7 p.m., Cao Jing will head to the underground parking lot behind Jinjiang Inn on Shihua Street in JS District. Someone will meet him there to deliver the money. He’ll use those car keys as a credential. You’ll go find him, take his keys, and give him ours instead. Tell him the money is in our car’s trunk and let him drive it away.”

Xiao Zha nodded but asked, “What about when he checks the money?”

Huang Ji gave him a look. “Let him check it. We have five million; put four million in the trunk.”

Xiao Zha was stunned. “You’re really giving him money?”

“Yes, give it to him! Then stay there. Soon, another car with license plate ending in 4039 will show up. That’ll be the real money delivery. With Cao Jing’s keys in hand, you’ll pretend to be one of his guys and collect the four million yourself. I’ll explain the details later.”

Xiao Zha frowned. “Sounds good, but we’re not really profiting here…”

Huang Ji smiled. “Cao Jing will drive off in our car. Prepare a spare key and load the trunk with a similar case filled with blank paper. We’ll have a chance to swap the money later.”

Xiao Zha’s eyes lit up. “So we’re scoring four million for free!”

He looked at Huang Ji with admiration, thinking how effortlessly this guy seemed to cheat people out of money.

“You know what car to use, right?” Huang Ji asked.

Xiao Zha nodded confidently. “Of course. At that scrapyard we use, we’ve got plenty of junkers. I’ll whip up a fake plate—that’s my specialty.”

“Anything else? Are we still dealing with Old Ma? Since Cao Jing’s getting money, doesn’t that make his transaction the real one, leaving Old Ma’s as the fake?”

“That’s just what they want you to think,” Huang Ji said with a grin.

Xiao Zha thought it over. “You mean Old Ma’s side is the real one? So he’s likely carrying millions too?”

Huang Ji replied, “I think both sides are fake. Old Ma might just be trying to lure out the mole. Let’s head back.”

Back at their base, Huang Ji explained Old Ma’s plan in detail and added his own speculations, concluding that both transactions tonight were likely decoys.

Everyone stared at Huang Ji in disbelief. No wonder he was so skilled at reconnaissance—he even knew lip reading. The idea that he could decipher a conversation from 100 meters away left them speechless.

Little did they know, most of the intel came not from lip reading but from Huang Ji’s ability to perceive information directly from Tielong’s subconscious cues.

Huang Ji’s real goal wasn’t money—it was Old Ma himself.

By setting up Cao Jing, Huang Ji had already disrupted future events. Old Ma would investigate the mysterious text messages, tracing them back to Huang Ji’s anonymous card purchases in remote parts of Shanghai.

Normally, such purchases wouldn’t lead back to him. But Old Ma, driven by frustration, would send his people to investigate thoroughly, even in areas he usually ignored.

In doing so, they’d inadvertently discover clues about Old Wang. Previously shielded by Zhang Junwei’s local connections, Old Wang’s history of conning people would surface. This would eventually lead the Illuminati to learn that Old Wang was in Shanghai, not elsewhere in the country.

Huang Ji couldn’t let that happen. He still had a lot of preparations to make before dealing with the Illuminati directly. Though he could flee at any time, he wasn’t ready to leave the country just yet.

The best solution was to get Old Ma locked up before he could unintentionally expose Old Wang.

Huang Ji hadn’t originally planned to bother with Old Ma again, but the man’s uncanny luck kept creating problems.

6:50 PM, that night.

A black sedan exited the highway, heading toward the underground parking lot on Shihua Street in JS District.

As it turned onto a side road, the driver noticed several cars blocking the way. Up ahead, a motorcycle lay overturned in the middle of the road while two people argued loudly, shoving each other.

“Back it up! Don’t squeeze through!” a driver in front shouted as they reversed.

Frustrated, the black sedan driver began backing up as well. However, before he could exit the narrow street, another car pulled in behind him, blocking his retreat.

“What the hell are you doing? Move back!” the driver yelled out his window.

To his shock, the driver behind him killed the engine and rolled down the window. An elderly man wearing a face mask poked his head out and said, “Sorry! This clunker won’t start.”

“…” The black sedan driver was speechless. He considered getting out to check, but after glancing at the trunk—where four million yuan sat—he decided against it.

Old Ma had chosen him for this delivery precisely because of his caution.

The black sedan driver grumbled but resolved to wait. No matter how long it took, he wasn’t going to leave the money unattended until the delivery was made.

However, waiting turned into a ten-minute ordeal. It was almost 7 p.m., and the other drivers trapped by the blockage were growing increasingly impatient. Meanwhile, the old man behind him still couldn’t start his car.

“What kind of junk heap is this? Can’t you just get it moving already?” the driver roared.

To his frustration, the old man retorted confidently, “I told you, it won’t start! What do you want me to do about it?”

“Damn it…” the driver finally gave in, stepping out of his car. After locking it securely, he marched over to the old man’s vehicle.

“Let me take a look!”

The driver pulled the old man out of the car and tried starting it himself. No luck—it really wouldn’t start. Glancing at the fuel gauge, he froze in disbelief.

“You’re out of gas!” he yelled.

The old man scratched his head innocently. “Huh? Out of gas?”

“How do you even have a license? If you’re going senile, stay home! And tell me, how the hell did you get this far on an empty tank?”

“I don’t know! It was working fine before. Then we hit this traffic, so I turned it off. Now it just won’t start,” the old man muttered, coughing into his mask.

The driver glanced at him, wondering if the guy was sick on top of everything. Too annoyed to argue further, he stomped back to his own car, opened the trunk, and grabbed a bottle of water. After locking the trunk again, he used the water to fill up the old man’s radiator, figuring it might be worth a shot.

“Start it up and move already!” he barked.

The old man chuckled. “Young man, you’re such a good Samaritan…”

The driver rolled his eyes and returned to his car. Once the old man finally moved, the driver navigated around the blockage and headed for the agreed meeting spot. However, by the time he arrived, he was already six minutes late.

The delivery point was on the third basement level of the parking lot, but the driver hesitated after reaching the first basement level. He decided to park for a moment and check the cash, just in case. After all, he had left the car unattended for a short while earlier.

Opening the trunk, he inspected the two large money cases inside. Everything seemed in order. Relieved, he closed the trunk and drove down to the third level.

Six minutes earlier.

Xiao Zha had already arrived at the meeting spot and was waiting for Cao Jing.

Although Xiao Zha had seen Cao Jing before, the feeling wasn’t mutual. They had once been within arm’s length of each other in the dark, but now they met as strangers.

“Keys,” Xiao Zha said curtly, leaning against his car. His demeanor suggested he cared more about the keys than the person holding them.

Cao Jing, recognizing the car parked nearby as the one he was expecting, jingled the keyring in his hand and walked over.

Xiao Zha held out his hand, and Cao Jing handed over the keys without hesitation.

“The money’s in the trunk. Just take my car and drive off,” Xiao Zha said, pretending to inspect the keys before pulling another set from his pocket and tossing them to Cao Jing.

Cao Jing caught them, opened the trunk, and immediately checked the cash.

The money was, of course, the same four million yuan that Huang Ji’s group had taken from him earlier. Now it was packed into two large cases.

“This looks like… four million?” Cao Jing estimated with a quick glance.

“I wouldn’t know. I just deliver the money,” Xiao Zha replied flatly.

Cao Jing smiled. “No wonder you’re one of Tielong’s men.”

“No issues here. Tell Tielong I’ll get the job done,” Cao Jing said before tossing his own car keys to Xiao Zha.

Xiao Zha nodded silently and stepped aside.

Cao Jing climbed into Xiao Zha’s car, started the engine, and drove off.

Four minutes later.

A black sedan with the license plate ending in 4039 finally arrived. Xiao Zha glanced at it, recognizing the car based on Huang Ji’s earlier intel.

The sedan’s driver stepped out and immediately noticed Cao Jing’s car but was puzzled to find a stranger waiting instead.

“Where’s Cao Jing?” the driver asked suspiciously.

Xiao Zha casually jingled the keys in his hand and walked forward. “You’re late. Tonight’s mission is heavy, and Brother Jing didn’t want to waste time waiting for you. He’s gone ahead to prepare and left me here to meet you.”

He tossed the set of keys that Tielong had given to Cao Jing to the driver.

Hearing Xiao Zha’s explanation, the driver felt a twinge of guilt. Being late to meet someone as important as Cao Jing was embarrassing. It made sense for him to leave a subordinate behind while he went ahead.

As long as the keys were legitimate, there wouldn’t be an issue.

The driver caught the keys, removed the keychain charm, and extracted a hidden SIM card. He inserted the SIM card into a backup phone and called his own number.

The phone rang immediately, confirming the number. Satisfied, the driver nodded. On his phone, the contact name displayed as "Tielong’s Key 4," which meant the keys were genuine.

Watching this, Xiao Zha breathed a sigh of relief. Huang Ji had insisted on leaving the real keys intact, and now he understood why. The charm contained the critical authentication method. If he had used a fake keyring, the plan would have fallen apart.

Using the keys as the means of verification was a clever misdirection. Outsiders might assume they could simply copy the keys, but the hidden SIM card made such attempts futile.

Unbeknownst to Cao Jing, even though he and Tielong both worked under Old Ma, their respective factions operated with entirely different protocols. Tielong’s side clearly adhered to stricter standards.

“Well, it’s a good thing our boss is always one step ahead. Who would’ve thought Tielong would end up handing us four million yuan to fool his own guy?” Xiao Zha smirked to himself.

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