In theory, the Saint Miguel shipwreck map had been passed down for centuries. If others obtained it, that was possible too. And the sunken ship lay there at the bottom. Anyone could salvage it.
So Grant obtaining the shipwreck treasure and auctioning it off posed no issue.
But the problem was…
The time between the shipwreck treasure and the Allen Art Company theft was too short.
Lu Zheng had not told Grant about the Allen Art Company matter. Nor had he expected Grant to directly reveal the Saint Miguel name.
Thus, what might have been fine now risked complications.
Lu Zheng asked, “Could the auction process not be complete yet?”
Lin Wan shook her head. “I handled a few auction-related cases. Payments never exceed a week.”
Alright, then something had gone wrong indeed.
Unlucky!
Well, who knew who would end up unlucky in the end.
Lin Wan asked, “What do you plan to do?”
Lu Zheng sighed helplessly. “What can I do? Only go to America again… Wait, no. I can check online.”
Lu Zheng had long maxed his electronic information technology skills. He just never focused on it daily, always cultivating the metaphysics system instead. Yet that did not mean he was weak in this ability enhanced by over a dozen strands of fortune light.
“What do you need?”
“A computer, a network cable.” Lu Zheng snapped his fingers, quite arrogantly.
…
After dinner, they went home.
No need to bother twice. Lu Zheng directly hijacked Japan’s supercomputer as a proxy. Then he breached Sotheby’s headquarters network.
A flurry of dazzling operations left Lin Wan stunned.
“Bloody hell, just as I thought!” Lu Zheng slapped the table.
“How is it?” Lin Wan asked eagerly.
“Sotheby’s auction proceeds from the Saint Miguel shipwreck treasure were all transferred to a CIA secret account.”
“CIA? Not FBI?”
Lu Zheng nodded and guessed, “Perhaps because Allen Art involved overseas crime? But either way, the money never reached Grant’s pocket.”
“Grant is just a Miami thug. How dare he cross the CIA?” Lin Wan shook her head.
“Do you think he confessed about us?” Lu Zheng asked.
Lin Wan said, “Definitely.”
But fortunately, Lu Zheng had never trusted Grant. So Grant knew nothing of Lu Zheng and Lin Wan’s existence. And the dream entry and telekinesis relied only on Grant’s word. Most would dismiss them as tricks.
Like psychological suggestion or remote high-tech gadgets?
And now…
If Lu Zheng guessed right, the CIA had already set a dragnet around Grant. Just waiting for him to show.
After all, whether psychological suggestion or high-tech traps nearby, he would need to get close.
Just too bad. They guessed wrong.
“What if we transfer the money out directly? What consequences?” Lu Zheng sought Lin Wan’s view.
“The CIA would go berserk.” Lin Wan said. “No one takes money from them. They will chase it to the end.”
Transferring from an unknown account versus a CIA secret one. Two different things.
“No one? In that case…”
Lu Zheng unleashed another round of flashy operations.
Lin Wan asked worriedly, “What are you doing?”
“I split the eight billion USD in this encrypted account into three hundred thousand portions. Passed through at least ten thousand transfers. Then batched into a Central Asian country’s overseas account at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.”
Lu Zheng said calmly. “America blacked them out of seventy billion. Repay eighty billion with interest. Quite fair, right?”
“Then…” Lu Zheng directly hacked the CIA headquarters network.
Though the Prism program and WikiLeaks leaks made the CIA hide most top secrets on air-gapped servers. Still, he could grab some black ledger on this secret account.
Then he packaged those files and sent them to the Russian news agency.
“Dare to steal my money?” Lu Zheng scoffed. “I will make you pay through the nose! And lose face big time!”
With everything done, Lu Zheng continued, “I still need to go to America.”
His operations thrilled Lin Wan. Hearing he would go to America, she asked, “You finished it all. Why still go?”
“To find Grant.”
Lu Zheng curled his lip. “Direct transfer to Grant’s account risks alerting the CIA. Linking the two matters.
But if Grant meets a sudden mishap, his underlings fight over scraps. Then his wealth vanishing mysteriously makes sense, right?”
Lin Wan wrapped her arms around Lu Zheng. She chuckled softly. “You are an immortal now. Why fuss over such small change.”
“That is different. What is mine is mine.” Lu Zheng said seriously.
“Fine, fine. When do you go? Quick there and back.” Lin Wan laughed.
“You not coming?”
“I still have work. Besides, going means just watching the show. Most time on the road. I will pass.” Lin Wan shook her head.
“I am in no rush. Tomorrow Sunday. Let us watch a movie. Monday then.”
“Sure!” Lin Wan smiled happily. Then she flipped over and straddled Lu Zheng.
…
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan began their evening digestion exercise. While in America, it was morning. Some CIA agents eating burgers and burritos suddenly lost it.
That afternoon, as they analysed how the money vanished, the bear published their black ledger on its site.
At once, the White House, FBI, NSA, and media swarmed with calls. The CIA director’s phone turned hotline.
“Russian hackers! Must be Russian hackers! Damn it! We have an insider. Or no one cracks our keys!”
“The ledger is in Russia. Where is the money?”
“We are tracing. They split it into three hundred thousand parts. Wild transfers through global banks. Hard to track.”
“Hard or not, track it!”
“Yes! Our security team is on it full throttle. But it takes time.”
“How long?”
“At least… at least a month!”
The answerer lacked confidence. These accounts kept transferring too. If not for the eight billion USD volume, they could not trace at all.
“Ten days! In ten days, tell me who has the money!”
“Yes, sir!”
…
Across the ocean, Sunday night.
Lin Wan told Lu Zheng to wait. She went into the dressing room. Emerged after a while.
Short skirt, black stockings. Lu Zheng stared dumbfounded.
“Sir, this is flight CH2022. What can I do for you?”
“Hiss…”
