The Omniscient

Chapter 55: Taking the Fall for Everything

Tielong had shaken off all pursuit and reached a quiet spot by the riverside. The area was desolate, with no one around.

He knew that continuing to drive this car would only lead to eventual capture. Without hesitation, he pried open a car parked along the roadside, transferred the two large cash boxes containing six million yuan into the stolen car’s trunk, and then tossed away his SIM card.

From his pocket, he pulled out a keychain and selected one key, dismantling it to reveal more SIM cards hidden inside.

“Ring, ring!” His phone suddenly rang.

At a moment like this, anyone calling his hidden number couldn’t possibly be the police. Glancing at the caller ID, he sighed and answered.

"Tielong, Dad’s been arrested!" cried Dongmei, his wife and Old Ma’s daughter.

"I know," Tielong said gravely. "Someone set us up. I only realized what was happening when the sirens started blaring... Jin Ya and the suppliers wouldn’t have tipped off the police. There must be someone else behind this..."

Dongmei sobbed, "Everyone’s been caught! You’re the only one who got away."

Of course, he had to flee. Guns could be discarded on the spot, but cash and bodies? That was another matter entirely.

Cao Jing had been killed by his hand moments earlier. When the police sirens started wailing, Tielong hesitated for only a second before making the decisive choice to grab the evidence and escape. That was just the kind of person he was—always capable of making the most logical decision in the heat of the moment.

However, what Tielong didn’t know was that under normal circumstances, Old Ma might have figured this out. But because of Cao Jing’s dying accusation, Old Ma was now paranoid and unable to think clearly. He couldn’t fathom who had tipped off the police.

"But Dad said you betrayed him! They found twenty kilograms of heroin in the truck!" Dongmei sobbed.

"What?" Tielong was stunned. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. How had he become the traitor?

How could that be? How could there be heroin on-site? Then it hit him—the truck had been driven away by Jin Ya’s men and then brought back before the police arrived.

It didn’t make sense. Why bring it back? Did Jin Ya plant his own drugs in it? That would be suicidal!

From Tielong’s perspective, the situation reeked of conspiracy. He was certain he wasn’t the traitor.

Jin Ya wouldn’t sabotage himself. Considering the unknown tip-off, Tielong realized that a terrifying external force had been manipulating both sides, toying with them. In the end, this hidden force used the police to take down all three groups in one fell swoop.

Old Ma, Jin Ya, and the suppliers were all finished.

And the scariest part? Tielong hadn’t noticed the manipulator’s existence until this very moment—when he was inexplicably branded the traitor.

Tielong’s mind raced. "There’s at least one mole in Old Ma’s group. It’s probably not Cao Jing. Could it be Li Kun? Most likely Li Kun."

"I get it. Li Kun isn’t actually loyal to Jin Ya. He’s secretly working for another, more powerful force! The Illuminati, perhaps? If it’s them, it would make sense."

"Li Kun pretended to accept Jin Ya’s bribe while continuing to stay close to Old Ma. On the surface, he was Old Ma’s trusted lieutenant, but in reality, he was fueling chaos between the two sides to execute the Illuminati’s plans! A triple agent, that bastard!"

"The enemy even predicted I’d escape and framed me as the mastermind behind it all."

Tielong’s thoughts spiraled, but he quickly realized this was only one possibility. If he continued down this path, he’d see conspiracies everywhere.

The only certainty was that the tipster had manipulated everyone. And as the sole escapee, he now looked like the most likely informant.

"Damn it. If I stay, I’ll be arrested. If I run, I’ll take the blame for everything," he thought, his teeth grinding in frustration. But there was no way he could explain himself to Old Ma now.

Explain what? He was on the run! Old Ma’s group had been caught red-handed. His explanations would mean nothing. Was he supposed to call the narcotics squad and plead his innocence?

Now, he couldn’t go home, couldn’t contact his former allies. His only option was to survive—to live. Only by staying alive could he seize another opportunity. And for now, he had to shoulder the blame.

"Wintermei, listen to me. Do you trust me?" Tielong asked.

"I do!" Dongmei cried.

Tielong said, "It wasn’t me. Listen, Li Kun is the real mole. He’ll try to escape from prison. Tell the police not to let anyone rescue him! As for Old Ma… he’s done for."

"What about you? What will you do now?" Dongmei asked.

"I need to lie low. I’m heading to… America. I won’t use this number again. I’ll contact you later. Dongmei, you’ve never been involved in our business, so the cops won’t do anything to you. Keep quiet." With that, Tielong hung up.

Meanwhile, at the narcotics squad headquarters, the captain was wearing headphones.

Dongmei set down her phone, wiped her tears, and said in a low voice, "He said he’s going to America."

"I heard," the captain replied.

Nearby, Old Ma’s eyes were red with anger. "It was Tielong who betrayed me! He’s behind everything. He’s the mastermind! I’m just a pawn! Captain, the Illuminati is real—you have to believe me!"

The captain removed his headphones and ordered his team to locate Tielong based on the call’s origin.

Then, he turned to Old Ma. "I’ll forward your Illuminati theories to Interpol. For now, tell me this—how is Tielong getting to America?"

Old Ma shook his head. "Believe me, he won’t use my routes. He has his own way."

"Fine. Then start by telling me about your routes," the captain said with a smirk.

Old Ma sighed, realizing he’d drag even more people down with him.

Elsewhere, Tielong threw away his SIM card, pulled another one from his keychain, and dialed a number.

"Brother Hai, I need you to arrange a boat to Thailand," Tielong said.

"Well, this is a rare call, Tielong. Why not ask Ah Shui?" Brother Hai chuckled.

"I don’t trust him," Tielong replied.

"Really? You don’t even trust Old Ma’s network? I’ve been running trips to Nagasaki lately; Thailand’s not on my route—it’s not profitable," Brother Hai said, puzzled.

"Two million. And prepare two boats—one to America and one to Thailand," Tielong said firmly.

"Oh… running from trouble, are we?" Brother Hai finally caught on.

Tielong remained silent.

"Alright, I get it. I trust you, Tielong. With your skills, you’ll slip past the cops easily. Are you in a hurry?" Brother Hai asked.

"The sooner, the better," Tielong replied.

"Which dock do you trust most right now?" Brother Hai asked.

"Baoshan Dock," Tielong answered.

"Got it. Give me two hours," Brother Hai said.

Tielong hung up and threw away the SIM card.

Tielong mentioned going to America on the phone, but deep down, he had already realized that even his wife was no longer trustworthy.

How could someone like Old Ma, a major criminal, casually make a call to inform his daughter about what had happened?

At that moment, Tielong understood—the narcotics squad must have been on the other end of the line too.

Dongmei, his wife, had never been involved in their dealings. Now, with her father sentenced to death and her husband a fugitive, it wouldn’t take much for her to turn against him. If Tielong went on the run, Dongmei’s life would also become a nightmare. The police would watch her every move, monitor all her calls, and she’d live in constant fear of the day he returned and dragged her into deeper trouble.

Tielong cared for Dongmei, but he knew her well enough to understand what choice she would make.

After tossing the SIM card into a trash can, Tielong was about to open the door of his original car when the backseat door suddenly swung open.

Ah Lei, his eyes bloodshot, stumbled out and lunged at him, fists swinging.

“Tielong!” Ah Lei roared as he struck.

Tielong wasn’t surprised to see him awake; after all, Ah Lei had only been knocked out earlier and had been unconscious long enough to recover.

Bam!

Thud!

Tielong easily knocked Ah Lei out again and dragged him back into the car.

This time, he drove the car down to the sloped riverbank, where the cold water lapped against the shore. Propping the gas pedal with an object, he released the handbrake and locked all the doors and windows.

After stepping out, Tielong pushed the car into the freezing river.

As the vehicle sank into the water, bubbles rising to the surface, Tielong calmly returned to the embankment.

He opened the stolen car, inserted the ignition key, and quickly drove away.

The car was empty.

During the few minutes it took for Tielong to sink the original car—and along with it, the bodies of Cao Jing and Ah Lei—Huang Ji and Old Wang had already made off with the cash boxes.

It was a flawless opportunity. For the first time in his life, Tielong hadn’t checked the money.

It made sense. Moments earlier, he had stolen the car with his own hands and personally loaded the cash boxes into the trunk. How could they have vanished in the span of a few minutes while he disposed of the car?

The idea was inconceivable. Tielong was certain no one could have pulled something like this off. After all, he was on the run, with police hunting him everywhere. If someone had tracked him to this spot, they’d be there to arrest him, not to steal his cash.

At that moment, safeguarding the money was the last thing on his mind. His only concern was how to save himself.

Even better, since Tielong had already pried open the trunk earlier, Old Wang had no trouble opening it later. And because of this, Tielong wouldn’t even notice anything amiss.

“He has no idea we were tracking him,” Old Wang remarked from a dark alley nearby, holding the cash boxes.

“Tielong broke through the blockade, and all his pursuers were police cars. He never considered the possibility of someone else following him. After losing the cops, he moved with clear intent, avoiding roads with surveillance cameras,” Huang Ji explained.

For this last stretch, Old Wang drove while Huang Ji navigated.

After Tielong had shaken off the police, Huang Ji predicted, “He’ll definitely take a route without cameras.”

They overtook Tielong’s path, pulling into an alley. Driving through several unmonitored backstreets, they reached the quiet riverside, parked, and waited.

As expected, Tielong followed the same route, stopping by the roadside to steal an empty car and transfer the cash.

Huang Ji and Old Wang witnessed the entire process.

Tielong would never have guessed that the car tailing him had already passed him and was lying in wait.

“There were two good escape routes from the riverbank. How did you know he’d take this one, the same one we did?” Old Wang asked.

“He had to destroy his original car and switch vehicles. That’s standard procedure. And the best spot nearby to dispose of a car is the riverbank,” Huang Ji replied.

Old Wang nodded in agreement; he had also thought of this.

Huang Ji continued, “While there were two good routes after reaching the riverbank, only one was viable.”

“Only one? That can’t be. Look at this map—he could’ve gone into the left alley, exited through the residential area’s back gate, and it would’ve worked just as well,” Old Wang said, puzzled.

Huang Ji shook his head. “After ditching the cops, does he just go home? Of course not! Old Wang, you only considered Tielong’s best escape route. You didn’t factor in the range of the police search.”

“This…”

Old Wang, an experienced operator, immediately grasped the point after Huang Ji’s hint.

Looking at the map and recalling the area where Tielong had evaded the police, Old Wang mentally reconstructed the search radius. The left route, while seemingly good, would have led to a back road likely patrolled by the police.

Tielong had accounted for the continued police search and chose the path that avoided their range entirely.

“Tielong is a smart man,” Old Wang remarked, though with a note of pity.

There was no doubt Tielong was Old Ma’s most capable subordinate—experienced, decisive, and resourceful.

He had predicted the police’s movements and chosen the optimal escape route.

But Huang Ji had anticipated his anticipation, lying in wait ahead of time.

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