The Omniscient

Chapter 47: Breaking the Game

The next day, in the detention center.

Cao Jing stood quietly, his head wrapped in bandages. His nose was flattened, his brow split, and his eyes were bruised black. He was also missing a front tooth.

Across from him stood an old man and a burly fellow. The old man had arranged a private visitation with Cao Jing.

“What the hell happened?” the old man asked.

Cao Jing, looking miserable, replied, “I’m sorry, Old Ma. I got set up… And I still don’t know who did it…”

“What about Wang Siwen? Why did you two end up fighting?” Old Ma demanded.

Cao Jing lowered his head. “Here’s how it went…” He recounted everything that had happened the night before, sparing no detail.

After listening, Old Ma furrowed his brows deeply. Before coming here, he had already visited Wang Siwen in the hospital. Now, combining Cao Jing’s account with what he had learned earlier, he realized there was a third party involved.

This was a carefully orchestrated setup. Someone had done their homework, targeting them with premeditated precision.

The lost goods and money, amounting to a combined loss of ten million, weren’t the most critical issue; he could withstand that. The real problem was the secret communication codes.

The perpetrator had managed to exploit these codes. Cao Jing was played like a fiddle, manipulated step by step because the codes checked out. He believed the messages completely, which threw him into disarray and created an opening for this strike.

“There’s a traitor… right in my camp!” Old Ma clenched his fist in fury.

Only a few people knew about those codes—just ten, all individuals Old Ma considered trustworthy. Yet one of them had turned traitor.

“Who could it be? Someone bold enough to pull this off must have powerful backing, someone on par with me,” Old Ma muttered to himself.

If the other side had this much intel, they could have worked with the anti-narcotics team, setting up an ironclad net to reel in the big fish. The consequences would’ve been catastrophic.

But the fact they hadn’t meant they weren’t aligned with law enforcement. That narrowed the possibilities significantly.

“To dare target me and to buy off one of my trusted people… there are only a few who could pull that off.” Old Ma’s eyes narrowed as he began narrowing down suspects.

“Ha, I was just about to expand my operations, and this happens. Someone wants to cut me out of the market.”

Cao Jing interjected, “Old Ma, there must be a mole in my ranks too! Let me find out who it is once I’m out!”

Old Ma glanced at him, his tone indifferent. “Save it. You’ll stay put here.”

“You’re already neck-deep—armed brawling, intentional injury, extortion, robbery… Remember, those are your only crimes.”

Cao Jing nodded dejectedly. “I understand. I haven’t done anything else.”

Old Ma left with the burly man.

In the car, the burly man spoke up.

“Cao Jing’s locked up. Should we…?”

“No need,” Old Ma replied. “He causes trouble, yes, but he’s been loyal for years. Don’t escalate things, Tielong; it’s not worth it.”

Then Old Ma instructed, “Look into the number that sent messages to Cao Jing’s phone. Find out where that card was sold.”

“Got it,” Tielong nodded, then asked, “With this mess, we’re out of supply. Should we keep trading?”

Old Ma sighed. “We can’t stop. If we stop, someone else will fill the gap, and we’ll be out of the game.”

Tielong mused, “Something feels off. What’s their endgame? The mole being exposed this easily… It doesn’t seem like their sole goal was to take down Cao Jing.”

Old Ma pondered silently. The situation had cost him ten million, a valuable operative, and disrupted his supply chain while offending a key sales channel. On the surface, it seemed like the other party had gained a lot, but it had also alerted him to the traitor within his camp.

“I keep thinking about this. Are they really so confident I won’t uncover the mole?” Old Ma muttered.

Tielong added, “Old Ma, only a few people know the codes. Whoever you blame, it’ll hurt your own team while benefiting your enemies.”

Old Ma shook his head. “If I’m not certain who the mole is, I won’t act rashly.”

“But if you don’t act, you’ll be playing into their hands. As long as the mole stays hidden, you can’t fully trust anyone. In the end, the only people you’ll feel safe using will be…”

“You and Cao Jing,” Old Ma finished, his frown deepening.

Tielong said gravely, “If the mole is Cao Jing… Think about it. He’s caused this disaster and gotten himself thrown in jail. It looks bad for him, but precisely because of that, you won’t suspect him as the mole.

“An enemy in the shadows, scheming to plant someone in your inner circle, wouldn’t stop at just costing you ten million. Their true goal might actually be… to rattle you and expose the mole.”

Old Ma went silent, feeling the weight of hidden currents building to a storm.

If this was true, the circle of suspects shrank even further. To be on par with him in power, to plot his downfall with such finesse, there was only one person it could be.

“Jinya, you venomous snake!” A familiar rival’s image surfaced in his mind.

After careful consideration, Old Ma sighed. “Get Cao Jing out. Arrange a deal with some fake goods. Let’s test him.”

“Understood,” Tielong replied calmly.

Meanwhile, Huang Ji and his team.

They had reaped nine million overnight. Today, Zhang Junwei used two million of it to settle debts for purchasing lab equipment, leaving them with seven million.

Seven million wasn’t a fortune, but it wasn’t a small amount either.

Everyone in the group was relatively broke. Aside from Old Wang, who had once been wealthy but had since fallen on hard times, the others had never seen so much money.

However, if they spent recklessly, the money would evaporate quickly, just like Huang Ji’s earlier three million. That money had disappeared almost before anyone realized it.

The group began brainstorming how to best use the funds. Xiao Zha suggested buying the warehouse they were renting to save on seasonal rent payments.

Zhang Junwei proposed opening a few late-night snack shops, claiming the food business was profitable these days.

Old Wang sneered at this, saying, “Do you think Xiao Hua got us this money so we could laze around and live comfortably?”

“We have bigger things to do!” he declared, turning to Huang Ji. “Xiao Hua, seven million is enough to charter a ship! I was originally planning to spend just 200,000 to hitch a ride to London, but that wouldn’t be safe. Too many people on board, and the enemy could still track us afterward. But if we can charter an entire ship, there’s no way they’d know we even arrived in London!”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Junwei asked curiously, "Why do you have to go to London?"

Old Wang replied, "Our leader is there."

Zhang Junwei was taken aback. Huang Ji was already impressive enough, yet he wasn’t even their leader? This international criminal organization must be overflowing with talent.

Old Wang seemed to pick up on Zhang Junwei’s thoughts and hesitated before saying, "Actually, Xiao Hua isn’t part of our organization. He’s more of a lone wolf..."

He glanced at Huang Ji as he spoke but saw that Huang Ji was focused on the computer, browsing something online, paying no attention to their conversation.

Zhang Junwei asked, "Boss, what do you think?"

"What can this little bit of money do?" Huang Ji replied without looking up.

Zhang Junwei grinned wryly. It was true. A bunch of them talking about starting a business was just a joke. In Shanghai, seven million wouldn’t even buy a decent apartment.

Old Wang laughed and said, "Exactly! Xiao Hua, but this money is enough to charter a ship to London."

However, Huang Ji shook his head. "No rush. I’m buying something first."

No one doubted that Huang Ji had the final say over how the money was spent. Whatever he decided, the rest of them would comply without complaint.

But Huang Ji’s next move left everyone confused. After browsing various online platforms, he suddenly downloaded a bug-ridden and poorly made game—Minecraft.

The game’s interface was entirely in English, with pixelated graphics, simplistic environments, crude character models, and monotonous visuals. It only had a creative mode, and the characters didn’t even have health bars.

Huang Ji entered the game, fiddled with the controls, dug up some dirt blocks, wandered around aimlessly, and seemed to have no clear goal.

"What is this trash game?" Zhang Junwei laughed from behind.

Huang Ji, controlling his character, stacked some blocks into a coffin-shaped house. Then he switched to third-person view, causing the game to crash unexpectedly.

Everyone burst out laughing. This must be some programmer’s casual side project.

Unexpectedly, after the crash, Huang Ji smiled and said, "Let’s buy this."

"What?" Zhang Junwei scratched his head. "This garbage game? You don’t even need to buy it. If you want to play, we could hire someone to make a better one in no time."

Huang Ji ignored him and continued, "Buy a small company under any name and use it to invest in this game."

As he spoke, Huang Ji wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Zhang Junwei. "The creator is in Sweden. Here’s his Twitter handle and email. Contact him and tell him I’m willing to pay 100,000 euros for his game."

"Once you’ve established preliminary intent, immediately hire a law firm to act as our agent in Sweden and sign a deal with him. Be sure not to buy out the rights entirely. Let him retain all production, development, and operation rights so he can continue improving the game. All we need is a revenue share. Our bottom line is 50%."

"Get the deal finalized within 20 days."

Zhang Junwei was stunned. "Boss, are you serious? Spending a million to pay the creator of this trash game? You can’t be serious. And you only want a revenue share? With how bad this game is, he’d probably be thrilled to get a few thousand bucks for 100% of the revenue."

Old Wang was also baffled. "Not to mention the urgency. Hiring lawyers will cost even more. What’s the point of all this? Xiao Hua, you really have no concept of money, do you?"

Huang Ji stretched lazily and said to Zhang Junwei, "In any case, I’m giving you a two-million-yuan budget. You have 20 days to make it happen."

"As for the remaining five million… it’s too little. Let’s use it to trade with Old Ma."

"What?" Everyone was shocked. What did he mean?

Trade with Old Ma? Trade what? After taking out Cao Jing, now they wanted to strike Old Ma again?

"They’ve lost their supply and taken a huge hit. They’ll need to restock," Huang Ji said with a smile.

...

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