Chapter 413: Roundabout Tactics

Chapter 413 -192: Roundabout Tactics

On the Monan Grassland, the vegetation withered and died, a picture of vast, sorrowful autumn.

But near the Equator, the Malacca Strait still baked under the scorching summer sun.

Within the port district of Po County.

On one of the floors of a small commercial office building, not far from the elevators, hung a metal plaque that read: Ferryman Business Information Consulting Service Company.

The elevator doors slid open slowly. A refined, middle-aged man carrying a briefcase stepped out and, with a smile, pressed the doorbell.

DING-DONG!

CLICK… The office door opened slowly.

The middle-aged man walked straight toward one of the nearby offices.

He knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

Opening the door, the middle-aged man saw an old man working. The old man stopped what he was doing, casually closed a file, and picked up his black coffee. “Andy, did you enjoy your trip?”

The man, Andy, smiled and sat on the sofa. “I didn’t find the porcelain I was looking for. It’s a bit of a shame, is all.”

“It seems the porcelain you’re after is probably in a museum collection. With a piece of that caliber, forget about getting up close—even getting a glimpse of it from afar is likely extremely difficult.” The old man calmly took a sip of his bitter black coffee.

Andy cut a cigar, lit it slowly, and took a puff. “Hah…” he exhaled. “The client’s mission probably can’t be completed anytime soon. The security around that porcelain is just too tight. I couldn’t find an opportunity for a close-up observation.”

“Perhaps we could try going through legitimate channels? Something like a conference or an exchange? Get a close look first, maybe find a weakness?” The old man’s eyes held a thoughtful glint.

But Andy shook his head. “Li already tried. He attempted to attend an event related to the porcelain, but anyone with a foreign background couldn’t pass the vetting process.”

“…” The old man rubbed his temples, then took another sip of his black coffee.

Andy took a light puff from his cigar. “Hah… What about Hancock?”

“He’s tried various methods, but he still can’t gather any internal information on the porcelain over the network, nor can he get a lock on its location.”

“Even their network security is that tight?” Andy raised an eyebrow, casually flicking his ash into an ashtray.

The old man subconsciously twisted the wedding ring on his finger. “Mm, unexpectedly so. Even the firewall on that app is like an iron fortress.”

Suddenly, Andy’s gaze sharpened, and he asked tentatively, “Mr. Jimmy, there aren’t any electronic devices in this room, right?”

“Heh, of course not.” The old man saw right through Andy’s concerns.

“From the information the buyer provided, the owner of that porcelain very likely has powerful network skills. It’s better that we be cautious. After all, I’m hoping to retire peacefully.”

The old man, Jimmy, reassured him. “Don’t worry. I haven’t even mentioned the target’s name to Li or Hancock. No matter how good their tech is, they have no way of knowing the specific meaning of our code words.”

“That’s good.” Andy took another puff of his cigar. “Hah, so what’s the plan? The buyer’s commission is a billion dollars. If we pull this off, we can all retire on the spot.”

“This won’t be easy money,” Mr. Jimmy sighed softly.

After a moment, a thought struck Andy. “Mr. Jimmy, I have an idea that might just work.”

“Is that so?” Mr. Jimmy began twisting his wedding ring again.

“It’s too difficult to find an opportunity in Cyrus. It’s not our home turf, after all. Can we figure out a way to lure the porcelain out? Even to the Xiangjiang River would be fine.”

“Lure it out?” Mr. Jimmy’s fingers twisted his wedding ring more rapidly—a subconscious habit of his when concentrating deeply.

Suddenly, he froze. Then he stood up, walked over to a row of safes, opened one, and pulled out an intelligence report written in cipher.

Familiar with his old partner’s ways, Andy felt the corners of his mouth lift into a slight smile. “Looks like you’ve already found a breakthrough, Jimmy.”

“The target has relatives in Xiangjiang River. We might be able to use this relative to lure our target to Xiangjiang River.”

Andy took a long, satisfying puff of his cigar, his mood brightening considerably. “Hah… If we just use coercion, we’ll likely slip up. Besides, that family might already be under surveillance.”

Mr. Jimmy tapped the intelligence file in his hand and said confidently, “Heh, no need for coercion. The family has twin sons, and they just turned nineteen this year.”

“Oh? You’re not thinking of a honey trap, are you? Our company has plenty of trained, young Asian women, but if they approach the targets for no reason, it’ll easily arouse suspicion,” Andy reminded him, his eyes narrowed.

“Heh, you’re still too green, Andy.” Mr. Jimmy shook his head and walked into the adjacent computer room.

Using a pre-arranged cipher, he sent an email to the buyer and then quietly awaited a response.

Half an hour later, an email from Dubai appeared in his inbox. Mr. Jimmy printed it out.

The two returned to the office, the one shielded from electromagnetic waves and devoid of any electronic devices.

After making another strong black coffee, Mr. Jimmy’s face was all smiles. “I knew it. The buyer is incredibly powerful. My plan is already halfway to success.”

Andy, relighting his cigar, also saw the ciphered reply and smiled as well. “A marriage alliance? Looks like the buyer is even more powerful than I imagined.”

“A mid-tier tycoon from Xiangjiang River wants to build connections through marriage, and the matriarch of that family is clearly an exploitable person. She’ll definitely be interested in a marriage alliance.”