30: Coincidence?
"Where's the item?"
"Wasn't the item already delivered to your subordinates?"
"But they said they didn't even see you."
"How is that possible? I clearly handed the briefcase to that person in white clothes, and she even waved at me."
In a remote village in the outskirts of Central City, the previous black-clothed person was arguing with a hunched old man.
He had come to demand the remaining payment from the old man, but the old man claimed he hadn't completed the task.
This made him quite furious. He had clearly delivered the item intact to this old man's subordinates, but now they were saying they hadn't even seen him.
Wasn't this just trying to renege on payment?
"But the item didn't reach my hands."
"Heh, who knows whether the item reached your hands or not? I only know I already handed it to your two subordinates." The black-clothed person sneered. "One black, one white, at an intersection on that street."
"Are you questioning me?" The old man said coldly, his expression quite terrible, clearly showing his anger was no less than the black-clothed person's.
"Heh, whether I'm questioning you or not, don't you know in your heart? I clearly delivered the item to the people you mentioned at the predetermined time and location, but in the end you say I didn't deliver it to your hands." The black-clothed person also didn't give the old man face, crossing his arms with an expression that said he hadn't lied.
"You..."
"You what? If you don't believe me, go check the surveillance footage and see if I delivered the item to your subordinates' hands."
The old man waved his sleeve: "I've already sent people to investigate, but for some reason, all the surveillance in that area had problems tonight."
Their original plan didn't include destroying all the surveillance along the way. After the handoff, both parties would escape into surveillance blind spots anyway, so there was no need to break those cameras and attract other people's attention.
However, when the old man wanted to check the surveillance footage of that road at the time, he discovered that all the cameras on that road had broken down for various reasons during that period.
Not a single working camera on the entire street.
This was really too suspicious.
"Ghost Shadow, Old Eagle, I have a theory, if you two are interested in hearing it?" Just as the two were deadlocked in their argument, a petite black-haired girl slowly walked over to them.
She was wearing the uniform of a fairly well-known high school in Central City, looking just like an ordinary pretty high school student.
But when the old man saw the girl, he immediately showed a respectful expression, bowing and saying very solemnly: "If Miss Su is willing to provide guidance, this old one will listen attentively."
"What about you, Ghost Shadow?"
"Since this old man respects you so much, you're obviously not just anybody. Fine, I'd like to hear what insights you have." The black-clothed person didn't refuse either.
He understood this old man. This person called Old Eagle was a famous figure in the underworld, so what kind of ordinary person could earn such respect from him?
However, the black-clothed person considered his ability to judge people fairly good, but looking left and right, he couldn't see anything special about this black-haired girl except that she was cute.
Could she be some family's young lady?
But when had Old Eagle ever given such face to these second-generation rich kids?
Besides, what they were discussing here was confidential—why could this girl just walk over casually?
"Could this young lady be Old Eagle's client this time?"
"Talk less." Old Eagle replied coldly.
This reaction already explained some things.
"It's fine, it's fine. We'll have many future collaborations." The girl said with a smile. "Ghost Shadow, what were the heights and builds of those two people you encountered earlier?"
"Heights and builds?" The black-clothed person thought for a moment, gesturing with his hands. "The person in white was about the same height as Miss Su, the one in black was a bit taller. Although they were wrapped up tightly, based on my judgment, they should both be women."
"Women?" The girl looked at Old Eagle with interest.
Old Eagle's expression was somewhat helpless—none of his subordinates matched the black-clothed person's description.
They had given the item to the wrong people.
"Sigh, wrong, all wrong. The people I sent out were all men, about the same height as you." Old Eagle stamped his feet in frustration.
This was a big deal, and he wasn't willing to give up.
"This is interesting. I'm not in a hurry to get that book, but I want to know—why did this supposedly foolproof plan have such a flaw?" The girl touched her chin, raising a question that both the black-clothed person and the old man had subconsciously ignored.
"At our predetermined time and location, someone sent people dressed the same as ours to intercept the goods. Don't you two feel this is a bit too coincidental?"
Logically speaking, could there really be such coincidences in the world?
It couldn't possibly be that two groups of people had telepathically chosen the same place and same outfits, causing this mix-up, right?
Such a lottery-winning level of coincidence was impossible no matter how you thought about it.
"Old Eagle, it seems your channels aren't as safe and hidden as you thought."