The Omniscient

Chapter 54: Caught Red-Handed

"???"

Everyone in the warehouse was stunned. Delivering ice cream? What ice cream?

Jin Ya furrowed his brows, immediately recognizing the voice—it was one of his subordinates.

Meanwhile, the three suppliers ignored the oddity. Upon hearing their truck had returned, they hurriedly opened the warehouse door.

To everyone’s shock, Jin Ya’s two henchmen had driven back the very truck they had just stolen!

The suppliers smirked. "Jin Ya, seems you know how to play smart!"

Jin Ya’s lips twitched as he swallowed back his retort. Realizing this was an opportunity to de-escalate tensions, he quickly said, "Sorry about that, it was all a misunderstanding. Here’s your truck back."

The suppliers chuckled dryly but said nothing, indirectly giving him an out.

Jin Ya forced an awkward smile. "Let’s have tea together sometime," he said as he signaled his men to retreat.

However, just as they exited the warehouse, they hadn’t gone five meters when the sound of multiple car engines roaring to life reached their ears. In every direction, black cars surged toward the ice cream shop, encircling them.

As the vehicles surrounded the area, sirens blared to life.

The police had the place completely surrounded! And seeing the suspects trying to leave, they immediately sprang into action.

"What the—!" Jin Ya was so terrified his soul nearly left his body.

The two henchmen who had driven the truck back panicked even more. Their legs turned to jelly, and they dropped to the ground, hoping to crawl away unnoticed in the chaos of the night. But they were swiftly pinned down by armed police.

"Idiots!" Jin Ya cursed as he hurriedly retreated back into the warehouse with his men.

Inside, Old Ma was equally shocked, his mouth agape in disbelief. How had the cops surrounded them? Who tipped them off?

There was no time to think about it. Old Ma quickly ordered, "Get rid of the guns!"

Xiaodao and the others expertly disassembled their firearms, breaking them into multiple parts before tossing the pieces and bullets into the bathroom drain.

Jin Ya and his men did the same, and even the suppliers, who also had firearms, joined in. The three groups, despite their differences, worked together in unprecedented unity to eliminate any evidence of weapons.

Old Ma glanced at the truck that had been returned. "There’s no problem with it, right?"

The suppliers sneered, "What’s there to worry about? It’s just ice cream!"

Jin Ya quickly added, "Whatever’s in the truck, it’s got nothing to do with me. Your deal—I was just passing by!"

He reassured himself that whatever the suppliers might have been smuggling, it wasn’t his business.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Dozens of armed police officers stormed in with police dogs.

Nobody resisted. They all put on confused faces, feigning ignorance. "What’s going on? What happened?"

The team leader smirked coldly, clearly recognizing some of the faces. They had been under investigation for a long time but lacked hard evidence—until now.

The narcotics dogs barked furiously at the truck, prompting the leader to sneer, "Get down, all of you!"

Each suspect was pressed to the ground by at least two officers.

Just then, a loud crash echoed from the direction of the garage.

It turned out to be Tielong, who had driven a car straight through the garage door and was speeding away!

"Stop him!"

"Vroom!"

Tielong didn’t slow down—in fact, he floored it, breaking through the police perimeter.

The operation had been rushed. From the time the tip-off came in to deploying officers and setting up the blockade, there hadn’t been much time. Seeing someone escaping, the officers had no choice but to act prematurely.

This whole raid had been prompted by an informant who provided recorded evidence implicating key suspects like Old Ma and Jin Ya. This forced the narcotics squad to act decisively, even involving armed police units.

Under normal circumstances, Old Ma would never show up to a deal himself, always delegating to his underlings. The fact that he was here in person made the police think this was an unmissable opportunity, which led to the full-scale operation.

"Who was that guy who broke through?" the team leader demanded.

Jin Ya looked bewildered. "I don’t know! I was just passing through!"

Old Ma was equally stunned. Why had Tielong fled? What was he afraid of? There weren’t any drugs on the truck!

Tielong’s sudden betrayal left everyone in a tight spot.

Old Ma stood frozen for a moment before cursing under his breath. "That ungrateful b*****d! He just ran off on his own!"

"Report: no additional suspects were found," an officer said after a thorough sweep.

The team leader nodded, while Old Ma secretly let out a sigh of relief. At least they didn’t find the bodies!

He assumed Cao Jing was already dead and feared that if Tielong hadn’t disposed of the corpse, they would be caught red-handed. Fortunately, Old Ma had ordered Tielong to immediately load the bodies into the trunk after dealing with Cao Jing and Ah Lei.

When the sirens went off, Tielong must have already stashed the bodies and decided to ditch everyone else, escaping on his own.

"No hesitation at all," Old Ma thought bitterly. "That wretch has no loyalty."

Reflecting on Cao Jing’s warning, Old Ma began to regret his choices. Could it be that the person plotting against him was actually Tielong?

Tielong knew all the secret codes and had the skills to frame Cao Jing while stealing the money. He had even proposed many elements of today’s plan and had personally invested 4 million yuan into it.

Now, thinking back, Old Ma realized it might have been a scheme. Tielong could have used the operation to liquidate assets under the guise of a legitimate deal, stolen back the money, and framed Cao Jing in the process. Then, when the raid happened, he fled with the cash.

"Report: no significant cash found," another officer informed the team leader.

Hearing this, Old Ma’s anger surged. "D*** it! He even took 6 million! That was my money!"

Old Ma was now certain that Tielong had been the mastermind. But why? What was his goal? Was it just to ruin him?

Ridiculous. Old Ma had always treated Tielong well, even planning to pass the business to him in a few years. There was no reason to betray him—unless Tielong was a cop?

Impossible. If he were a cop, he wouldn’t have fled.

"Unless there’s someone else… some terrifying hidden force that’s been controlling everything from the shadows. Not a small fry like Jin Ya, but someone powerful enough to infiltrate my entire organization."

The thought sent chills down Old Ma’s spine. His first instinct? The Illuminati.

He Knew About the Illuminati

Jin Ya had some knowledge of the Illuminati and had even had a few run-ins with them. He had always found it odd why such a powerful organization seemed to have virtually no presence in the country. Even accounting for differences in national conditions, there should have been some influence, right?

Perhaps it wasn’t that they didn’t exist but rather that they had embedded themselves as informants within every faction like his.

"Open the truck!" the captain ordered.

Soon, the truck was opened, and the cargo was unloaded.

As the narcotics dogs barked furiously, Old Ma started to feel uneasy. He shot a glance at the supplier, his eyes questioning: Is everything really fine?

The supplier gave a confident nod: Don’t worry; there’s no problem at all!

Jin Ya remained calm, thinking: It doesn’t matter to me whether there’s a problem or not. I’m neither the buyer nor the seller.

‘This is your transaction. There’s no way my stuff would be involved.’

But then, Jin Ya suddenly felt a chill.

Wait a minute… Why did those two idiots drive the truck back? And why did they panic so much when they saw the cops? They almost started crying and tried to run but got caught instead…

Jin Ya’s gut told him something wasn’t right.

"Report! Heroin found!"

"...!"

Old Ma’s eyes went wide with disbelief.

"This is impossible!" The supplier tried to jump up in protest, but the police firmly restrained him.

Jin Ya stared at the bags of white powder being pulled out of the ice cream boxes, his scalp tingling.

The more he looked at the packaging, the more familiar it seemed…

"Twenty kilograms!" the precise amount was quickly reported.

Both Old Ma and the supplier looked utterly defeated, their faces ashen.

Even just 50 to 100 grams was enough for the death penalty. This was twenty kilograms, and they’d been caught red-handed. No excuse could save them.

"This has nothing to do with me! I was just passing through!" Jin Ya desperately tried to explain.

The captain wasn’t buying it. "Take them all away! We’ll interrogate them separately later."

Everyone was lined up and marched off. Even as he was being led away, Jin Ya was still frantically thinking:

The truck belongs to the supplier. The goods were found inside, and they can’t deny that. The warehouse is leased by Old Ma, and Tielong, who ran off, is also his guy. This has nothing to do with me.

There’s no evidence connecting me to their operation.

Jin Ya kept consoling himself, thinking of ways to distance himself from the mess. As long as his men kept their mouths shut, even if Old Ma and the others tried to pin the blame on him, there wouldn’t be enough evidence.

But unexpectedly, the two henchmen who had been caught earlier were already talking.

One of them exclaimed, "Officer, I’ll tell you everything! I’m not the mastermind here. I was just following orders. It was Jin Ya who told us to load the heroin onto the truck!"

"???"

Jin Ya’s mind went blank.

The second henchman chimed in, "It’s true! Jin Ya ordered us to load our heroin onto the truck and bring it back here to set up Old Ma and his crew!"

Old Ma shot Jin Ya a sidelong glance and sneered, "Well, well, that’s ruthless. A self-detonating truck?"

Jin Ya roared, "Nonsense! Are you two idiots?! Stop spouting lies!"

His furious outburst looked like the impotent rage of someone cornered, grasping at straws to deny everything.

The two henchmen, aware that their bosses were doomed, saw an opportunity. For minor players like them who only handled transportation, cooperating with the investigation might spare them from execution and get them life imprisonment instead—a much better deal.

So, they had no fear of Jin Ya and boldly added, "He really did say it! We even have the text messages to prove it!"

The captain checked one of the henchmen’s phones. Sure enough, the messages were there. One text instructed them to check if the truck contained heroin. When they reported back saying it didn’t, another message followed, telling them to load the goods at a specific location and bring them back to the warehouse. The tone and phrasing unmistakably matched Jin Ya’s usual way of speaking, even including warnings not to call to avoid triggering a shootout.

"Ah, so there were guns too! Go back and search again!" the captain ordered his team.

Jin Ya protested, "You’re focusing on the wrong thing! Those messages weren’t from me!"

The captain dialed the number from the texts, but it was already disconnected.

"Alright, I get it. You people always use burner phones and destroy them afterward. So what if it wasn’t you? Trying to nitpick won’t work. I know your kind too well. Enough—take them away!"

The captain was experienced with drug traffickers and knew all their tricks. He understood that they’d deny everything without ironclad proof. But it didn’t matter—just the heroin in the truck was enough for death sentences. The entire operation would be dismantled, and none of them would escape.

Jin Ya was dragged away in despair. As he was leaving, he overheard some of the less-involved henchmen eagerly spilling everything they knew.

In such situations, Jin Ya’s fate was sealed. The others, hoping to save their own necks, were fighting to confess first.

Some even reported the locations of various hideouts. The narcotics squad captain grinned as he jotted them down, preparing for follow-up raids.

Desperate to survive, the henchmen laid out all of Jin Ya’s crimes. Some of the accusations weren’t even true, but with so many rumors swirling, they were pinned on him anyway.

And just like that, Jin Ya found himself saddled with over a dozen additional crimes, many of which he hadn’t committed.

"Heh…"

Jin Ya stopped thinking altogether.

...

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