frightfiction Chapter 1331 Starting a Business at a Loss
Chapter 1331 Starting a Business at a Loss
Chapter 1331 Starting a Business at a Loss
After subduing the unidentified man, who resembled Shuichi Akai, in a rather brutal manner and confirming that he was indeed unable to move, Judy secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If this person is Shuichi, doing this will ensure that he has no chance to leave our sight. If this person is not Shuichi, then his purpose in appearing in front of us is even more worthy of investigation, and it is also necessary to take him back to confirm the situation.
In any case, it's always best to tie it tightly.
The robbers, who had been keeping a close eye on her as a foreigner, were completely taken aback by her.
They were wary of this foreigner whose behavior was a bit unusual, but seeing how rough and clumsy she was, compared to the Japanese around her, they couldn't help but wonder if it was some kind of misunderstanding caused by cultural differences.
What if Americans are simply used to various security incidents, so they have a good and relaxed attitude?
After securing the person, Judy handed the tape back to the robber who was watching her, putting on an obedient and submissive appearance, but in reality, she had already planned the order of her actions.
Following the robbers' pattern, once they've dealt with the group that came together, the next step should be to handle the lone individuals.
As for the purpose of doing so, Judy had a pretty good idea.
Either one of the hostages on the ground is their inside man, or they have some other means of transferring funds, and are prepared to change their appearance and blend into the crowd once all vision is blocked.
It's not some new criminal innovation, it's just that I don't know where they get the confidence that they won't be discovered.
Judy cautiously assumed that the criminals with such a powerful firepower were not a bunch of fools, and began to think about how to confuse the kidnappers who came to tie her up, whether she should pretend to cooperate and accept a certain degree of restraint, and so on.
Just as she had figured out the process, subtly exerting force with her high heels, and preparing to react immediately when the person approached so as to guide them aside and subdue them, a spot of light flashed on her glasses.
The flashing of the light was rapid and regular, and almost subconsciously, she understood the other party's meaning from these brief signals.
The dotted lines, AS, represent waiting for a signal or waiting for the next instruction.
Judy, feeling a sense of familiarity with this scene again: "————"
"Take her over there a little by herself." While Judy was still in a daze, the robber who approached had already tied her wrists, and after confirming her obvious foreign features again, he made a gesture to his accomplice.
This woman is troublesome no matter how you look at it, and if foreigners are involved, the situation might become even more complicated. It would be better to take her closer to the predetermined detonation point and let the explosion take care of her once and for all.
Upon receiving the signal, the accomplice's mouth, hidden beneath his mask, clearly opened wide. Without a word, he grabbed Judy and, as she stumbled, dragged her to the front row to sit down.
This time, Judy did not resist their actions.
She tried to figure out where the reflected light came from by using the reflection in the lens, and then quickly realized that the person who sent the signal was probably hiding deep in the corridor where he could not be directly observed.
Judging from this, it's either Coolkid or some other detective kid, or it's Tang Ze.
Judy felt a little more at ease and stopped making any unnecessary movements or struggling. Her eyes and mouth were also ruthlessly sealed by the kidnappers.
"They even remember to take off people's glasses," Tang Ze couldn't help but mutter under his breath.
"It's just that the glasses don't stick together properly," Conan reasoned simply.
However, he admitted that taking off the hostage's glasses and stuffing them into his pocket before binding them with duct tape did look ridiculous, especially considering how polite he was being.
"How could that be?" Tang Ze blurted out a chilling remark. "Wouldn't it be enough to just stick them around the perimeter? Touching a hostage's belongings without permission is not a good habit."
Conan, who had already found a good angle to curl up in the shadows, stiffened for a moment and couldn't help but look up to check.
He then quickly discovered that it was difficult to judge Akechi Goro's true emotions, whether he was laughing or not, so he couldn't tell whether the other person was serious.
"—Based on experience?" Conan could only manage to squeeze out one last sentence.
Tang Ze lowered his gaze, pointed to Judy who had settled down in the center of the room, and then to Conan's glasses; everything was understood without words.
If Vermouth hadn't been so clumsy, constantly touching people's glasses, would she have gotten herself into so much trouble?
Sitting down next to him, Tang Ze took the opportunity to whisper in a somewhat gloomy tone.
"Developing good habits is very important. Police officers can make countless mistakes, but if they make just one correct move, the murderer is finished. Who knows if a child let go out of pity might become the bullet that pierces their own heart?"
Vermouth is a classic example.
He wasn't thorough enough in being a good person or a bad person; he couldn't convince others, nor could he stand firm in his own convictions.
When she is forced to draw her sword against the weaker, she is always aware that she is playing the same role as the one who oppressed her, so she always hesitates and is indecisive when she swings her sword.
This wavering was undoubtedly fatal. She had done so many bad things, but it was precisely that one act of kindness that shattered the mask she had built over the years and drove her into a dead end.
Hearing his words, which almost revealed his evil intentions, Conan calmed down.
He remarked that Kumail was unusually mild-mannered today, and that his eerie tone sounded much more appropriate.
"Are you saying that the detective has to always be right? I'll try my best, thanks for reminding me."
Wow, that's quite a back-and-forth exchange! You've built up your resilience.
Tang Ze, having failed to amuse his companion, shrugged and hid even deeper in the shadows, watching the group of fools pull off their antics.
"Um—the money's all here—"
After a long day of hard work, the bank manager finally managed to retrieve all the cash from the three ATMs. He neatly stacked the banknotes and cautiously began to ask questions.
"Hey, is that all? Your bank is so poor!" The robber shouted, looking at the few cubes in his hand. He took two steps closer and asked, "What about the rest? Are they hidden in some big vault or safe?"
Tell me where it is, or I'll blow it up!
"Huh? What?" The bank manager was genuinely confused.
This is just a small branch office; the entire lobby is only a cramped little over 100 square meters.
If you really wanted to rob a large bank, why come to a small branch in a shopping district? Couldn't you go to one of those branches that are three or four stories high, or even an entire building? What's wrong, don't you know the way?
If you don't know the way, you can ask for directions. Why are you causing trouble for our small bank?
Before the bank manager could react, he saw the approaching robber raise his hand and show him the card in his hand.
The bank manager's gaze fell on the card, and after seeing the words on it, his expression became even more blank.
What? What does this person mean? What does it mean to transfer 10 billion yuan to these accounts?
What's going on here? Did an online scam fail, and now they're resorting to violence and threats? Well, even violent robbery isn't done this way, is it?
He pursed his lips awkwardly, about to explain something, when the kidnapper's gun was already pressed against his face.
"Don't speak. Just do as it says on the paper. If you make a sound, I'll smash your head open!"
The bank manager immediately closed his mouth, gave the person in front of him a strange look, and nodded.
Okay, you asked for it yourselves, so don't blame me.
The bank manager was escorted to the computer at the counter. The other robbers, who had almost finished their procedures, confirmed that the hostages were properly tied up and relaxed their stance.
Their entire plan was progressing quite smoothly, with only two final steps remaining before everything was completed.
It was worth all the time they spent preparing and all the meticulous calculations they made.
Once the explosion occurs and the police raid the bank, if they manage to deceive the police, all they need to do is rush overseas as quickly as possible, and the money will be theirs.
Unaware of what the robbers behind him were dreaming of, the bank manager, under the threat of gunfire, had no choice but to turn on his computer, log into the management page, and, as the robbers demanded, connect to the account fund management account and enter the account number.
Even though he had guessed the robbers' background beforehand, Conan still almost couldn't help but raise his hand to his forehead as he watched this indescribable scene unfold before his eyes.
He now understood the real reason why this group of people, despite having so many guns at their disposal, were still carrying out such inefficient robberies.
With that level of intelligence, aside from violent robbery, you'd have to be able to successfully commit fraud.
"Do you think they might be planning to commit telecom fraud or cybercrime, and after preparing the channels, they realized they didn't know how to commit fraud, so they decided to rob a bank?" Conan couldn't hold back any longer and discussed in a very low voice while waiting for the bank manager to make the decision.
Although it's inappropriate to discuss them together, he estimated that even a professional player like Kumail would find it difficult to comment on such outrageous moves, and he was eager to hear his opinion.
Tang Ze, standing to the side, was also barely able to contain himself.
This group of people is hilarious. Is foreign exchange really that easy to deal with?
Early telecommunications and telephone fraud did indeed involve transferring funds through overseas channels. The problem was that the amount of money involved in each transaction was not large. After being quickly diverted through multiple accounts and flowing overseas, it became difficult for domestic supervision and enforcement to trace the funds.
Even setting aside the fact that any abnormal fund transfer would inevitably trigger system alerts, the funds that a bank would hope to raise through robbing would not be easily diverted by an individual using their privileges to move funds through the backend.
According to Japanese regulations, the most compliant and secure way to handle funds exceeding 500 million yen is through business-to-business transfers; large-scale business transactions cannot be conducted using personal accounts.
Throughout the entire process, the company must also provide relevant capital contribution certificates, which must be processed by the banking department. The purpose of the remittance must be clearly indicated, and proof of funds must be provided to facilitate auditing and verification, etc.
Cross-border procedures are even more complicated. Japanese banks are quite conservative and strict in their management of this aspect. Even if they come up with a pretext, it has to be clever and have a specific purpose.
Guess why such a small phantom thief gang has an accountant position? It's because they have too many funds with unclear sources that require allocation, and they must handle the flow of money properly through reasonable means, right?
Otherwise, why would they bother picking up money in the subway? They could just have Noah transfer the money directly from the bank.
Is it because he doesn't like easy ways to make money and wants to prove himself through personal effort?
"I can't say for sure," Tang Ze could only say. "Getting a fully automatic rifle would be harder than the robbery itself. I'm serious."
Although Conan couldn't see Kumail's expression clearly, he could tell from the sound that Kumail was probably trying to suppress a laugh.
And you know what? That makes perfect sense. Even the United States, which is free to fire, can't buy fully automatic weapons without modifications.
These kidnappers can even get their hands on fully automatic rifles. Wouldn't it be a faster way for them to make money by getting weapons instead of robbing banks?
Conan honestly expressed his doubts, to which Tang Ze gave a straightforward answer.
"They are the ones who bought it. It's going to be very difficult to find someone even more foolish than them to take over."
"Is it very expensive?"
Before I arrived in Japan, the suggested retail price of the consumer version of the MP5, the SP5, was approximately 2799 yen.
US dollars. The one he held was the fully automatic version, easily fetching five figures on the black market. It would be even more expensive here; the cost of one might be comparable to the custom-made versions for CIA and FBI agents. Tang Ze, who hadn't actually been to this version of America but genuinely knew the FBI, shrugged.
They robbed the bank and only managed to steal a few hundred million yen, which is only a few million US dollars.
The cost of just these five weapons, plus the explosives in the box, could easily reach 100 million yen.
Furthermore, since this was a robbery destined to fail, their entire criminal plan resulted in nothing more than them losing money by reselling the tools to their dealers.
"So, those few—" Conan's lips twitched as he figured out the logic.
"It's true that some people can lose money in any kind of startup," Tang Ze exclaimed sincerely. "That's quite a rare sight."
Most people who can't make money through legitimate channels turn to criminal law for advice, but these guys can go bankrupt by engaging in illegal activities; it's truly a talent.
The robber, who had been stalking the bank manager for half the day while the two unserious detectives cricketed nearby, roughly rubbed his itchy nose through his mask. Seeing that the bank manager had finally finished the operation, he straightened up in front of the computer and could no longer suppress his smugness.
Before the bank manager could say anything, he stabbed him in the neck with a stun gun.
The bank president, who wanted to make a disclaimer, collapsed silently without uttering a sound.
Conan, watching this scene from afar, was utterly speechless.
6
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That's really something; if a startup wants to lose money, not even ten horses could stop it.
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