A Test

The three of them shuddered when they saw that name. They all found it deeply unsettling, because each of them knew perfectly well that they had never told anyone.

"Ghost? Then, Mr. Ghost, how did you know we were planning to rob a bank? Don't tell me you really are a ghost!" After his initial panic, Jack asked again. He simply could not believe the other party. If this went wrong, it could cost them their lives. He still had three children to support—how could he trust a stranger so easily?

"Heh heh, I am indeed a ghost, but I exist in the virtual world of the internet. I am omnipotent! Your name is Jack. You spoke with that Jerry this afternoon, and you discussed robbing a bank, didn't you?" Mo Fei laid the facts before them. Jack turned to look at Jerry, whose face was filled with terror.

"Just because of that phone call?" Jack asked again.

"After that, I observed you. At seven tonight, you gathered at Jerry's house. Half an hour later, you drove to the Bear Stearns Wall Street Branch to scout the place out, then returned here to check the traffic conditions. You gave your daughter a few dozen dollars to go watch a movie and told her you would pick them up later, right?" Mo Fei revealed everything. Cold sweat ran down all three men's foreheads. They had been under surveillance the entire time.

"Who the hell are you?" Jack was somewhat enraged. The other party had monitored them without a sound, and they had not noticed a thing. More importantly, this guy even knew everything that happened inside their homes.

"There is no need to worry. All my methods come from the virtual world of the internet. To show my sincerity, I have even revealed my trump card to you!" Mo Fei sent the words with a smile. He did not care if they knew this. So what if they did? Could they crawl through the internet cable and punch him?

"A hacker?" Jack asked tentatively.

"Heh heh, hackers are far too low-level. I am omnipotent on the internet, while they are not. I am a true ghost. All right, the testing ends here. Now let's discuss the robbery. Will you cooperate with me?" Mo Fei stopped explaining and went straight to the point.

"Why should we trust you?" Jack did not want more complications, but in this situation, he had no other choice. Still, there were things he needed to ask.

Mo Fei did not want to say too much to them. Explaining too much would make it seem like he was the weaker party, and that was fatal.

"You do not need to trust me. I only need you to obey me. Otherwise, wait for bankruptcy. You will also have to go ahead with the robbery, because once you act, I will sabotage it—for example, by calling the police in advance. What do you think?"

"You..." Jack immediately lost his momentum. There was truly nothing he could do about that. If they did not rob the bank, how were they supposed to get the money? According to the American college schedule, Jennifer had only a little over ten days before she needed to report in. Could she just not go because they had no money? No, absolutely not!

"What is it? Angry? There is no need to be. According to your plan, your chance of success is infinitely close to zero. Your only chance is if the entire NYPD suddenly turns stupid; then you might succeed. But if you listen to me, you will have nearly a one-hundred-percent chance of success. What is there to hesitate over?"

"How can we trust you just because you say so?"

"Simple. Of whatever money you rob, I want one quarter. Not too much, right? Then I will prove my abilities to you. Simple enough?"

"How will you prove it?"

"Go open an anonymous account at a bank, one that can only be accessed with a password. When you enter the password, I will control it remotely. I can directly infiltrate the bank's system. How about it? What do you think of that? Oh, right. I have already deleted the video file from your scouting trip tonight. Not completely deleted—I erased the image of that pickup truck from the footage. What does that tell you?"

"Really?" Jack froze for a moment, then hurriedly typed his question.

"Of course. I can only get my money if you are safe. But if you do not deposit the money into that anonymous account in the end, then bear the consequences yourselves!"

"All right. I'll open an account tomorrow. You can enter the password then. If it works, I'll believe you! How do we contact each other?"

"Give me your phone number. Wear this Bluetooth earpiece tomorrow, and I'll contact you by phone!"

"Aren't you all-knowing?"

"Heh heh, that would be too troublesome. I only need to enter the telecom provider's server using your name to find your phone number, but the more I do, the more traces I leave behind. Do you understand?"

"My number is..." Jack entered his phone number. "I'll go to the bank at ten tomorrow morning sharp. As for which bank, find that out yourself!"

"Fine. It will be a perfect chance to prove what I can do!"

The computer then returned to normal. Jack hurriedly shut it down. "Let's go!" He turned and left Jennifer's room, taking the other two straight out of the house. Instead of getting into the car, they went to an empty alley and looked around, making sure there was not a single electronic device nearby.

"What do you two think?" Jack asked.

Roy looked completely lost. He was the least decisive of them, while Jerry pondered for a moment before saying, "We can give it a try. If he really is that capable, then I think we can work with him. Especially if he can control electronic devices—that is our weakness. With him, we will have a better chance of succeeding."

"That's what I think too. But I'm afraid he might betray us in the end. Did he really erase the footage of your pickup truck? We don't know. We can only gamble. Otherwise, we'll all go bankrupt. You two wait at home for my news tomorrow. I'll go alone!"

"Okay!"

At nine-thirty the next morning, Jack left his home and headed toward a bank. It was a Morgan Bank branch two blocks from his house. When he reached the entrance, his phone still had not rung.

Jack hesitated, but finally gritted his teeth and went inside. "Hello, sir. What service would you like to handle?" Jack stood before a service counter. Across from him was a young white man who asked politely.

But Jack harbored deep resentment toward banks, and his expression remained grim. "I want to open an anonymous account!"

"Certainly, sir. What withdrawal method would you like to use?"

"A password!"

"Please wait a moment!"

Anonymous accounts did not require identification. Anyone could open one, and their security was extremely poor. Still, many people were willing to open such accounts, and banks did not care what they were used for. Such accounts were sometimes quite popular.

"Please enter your password!"

"Bzz... Bzz..." At that moment, Jack's phone vibrated. He hurriedly tapped the Bluetooth earpiece in his ear and answered the call. "In three seconds, type on the keyboard. Enter anything you want!"