Turn out more gold

The scattered individuals each had their own hiding spots.

Lin Mo had already marked their positions with his spiritual sense.

They had suddenly scattered because of a message from Diamond Dog.

As soon as Zhuge Chen opened the door to his hideout, he saw Lin Mo sitting in his chair, eating instant noodles.

"How did you know I'd come here?"

"I'm Superman!"

"Then, Superman, tell me: who's behind Diamond Dog?"

"Beats me." Lin Mo turned his head to look at Zhuge Chen, who was locking the door with a helpless expression.

"Then go find out. You're so capable, Lin Mo. If you can uncover the mastermind behind Diamond Dog, maybe we'll figure out why they're collecting all that gold."

Lin Mo set down the instant noodle cup and looked at Zhuge Chen seriously.

"Then you tell me: how did you join Diamond Dog?"

Zhuge Chen chuckled. "Don't overthink it. I'm just an outsider—hardly a member. Diamond Dog might be borderless, but they have extremely strict tests for joining. This is one of them. Fail, and you don't pass."

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow. "Knowing you, you'd usually do whatever it takes to succeed, right?"

"Normally, yes. Failing means waiting for the next chance. But I figured you should handle this one. This time, Diamond Dog sent someone down. When they collect the gold, they have to show up in person."

Oh. The plan had to change.

If it were just about stopping them, Lin Mo could kill the remaining few right now. But he felt it was better to take out the Diamond Dog branch entrenched here.

Zhuge Chen's crew were all outsiders; they probably didn't even know the higher-ups.

So he'd have to let the line run long to catch the big fish.

-- System: Don't mess this up --

"No. Absolutely not!"

Long Tianqi's voice was final, brooking no argument.

Her brows were knit tightly. As Director General of the Yanhuang Awakening Bureau, the responsibility on her shoulders wouldn't allow her to gamble with the nation's lifeline.

Twelve hundred tons of gold.

The significance behind that number was enough to crush anyone's nerves.

It wasn't just a pile of cold metal—it was the foundation of the country, the anchor stabilizing hundreds of millions of lives.

And now, Lin Mo wanted to use that anchor as bait to catch some hidden shark.

Crazy.

That was Long Tianqi's first thought.

What's more, these people clearly had some kind of spatial transfer method—otherwise, gold reserves scattered across different countries wouldn't have vanished without a trace.

That meant if they made a move, the gold in any vault could disappear just as easily.

This was a risk she couldn't take.

Seeing Long Tianqi's expression—like she was ready to fight him to the death if he so much as touched the vault—Lin Mo wasn't surprised at all.

As if he'd expected this reaction, he flicked his wrist. A gold brick appeared out of thin air, and he casually tossed it to her.

The motion was as effortless as throwing a dust cloth.

"Here. Don't get worked up. I'm providing the bait this time."

The gold bar arced across the air in a not-so-elegant parabola and landed with a thud on the desk in front of Long Tianqi.

She instinctively reached out and pressed down on it. The weight and cool touch confirmed it was genuine gold.

Although the shape was a bit odd.

But then, the sensation under her fingertips shifted.

The heavy, metallic feel vanished, replaced by a rough, lighter texture like stone.

She jerked her hand back and looked down. The gold brick was gone—in its place was a gray, coarse rock.

"This... this!" Long Tianqi stared, her tongue nearly tied.

"A roadside pebble. I just used a little gold-making spell." Lin Mo spread his hands, his expression casual, like he'd just run a boring chemistry experiment.

"It'll last for a while, if you need it."

Lin Mo gestured with a finger.

The gray surface of the ordinary stone rapidly faded, giving way to a silvery luster. In a blink, it became a high-purity silver ingot.

Before Long Tianqi's mind could process that, the silver began to turn transparent, refracting brilliant light from within.

Diamond.

A fist-sized, perfectly cut diamond.

All that was missing was turning into a Champion from LOL.

Even so, Long Tianqi forced herself to maintain what little composure she had left. Her voice came out dry from the effort of holding back. "How long will it last?"

"One or two months."

Lin Mo thought for a moment. "As long as I don't actively dispel it, and it doesn't get hit by energy far beyond my power, it'll stay like this."

Long Tianqi's breath caught for a second.

She looked at Lin Mo with completely changed eyes.

A wild, bold idea took root in her mind.

"If... just if."

She wet her lips, her voice carrying an uncontrollable excitement. "We take the gold you make—lots of it—and trade it to the Americans for their currency. Then use that money to buy up their technology and resources..."

You're a regular genius, aren't you?

Lin Mo couldn't be bothered to entertain Long Tianqi's delusions.

He was a Jindan-stage cultivator—using this power for profit was insultingly petty.

Ignoring her fantasies, Lin Mo moved his finger again.

The massive diamond on the table scattered its brilliance, reverting to an unremarkable silver ingot.

"My plan is simple."

Lin Mo finally laid out his full strategy. "I can temporarily turn the real gold in the vault into silver or some other metal.

Then I'll use different metal to fake the gold as bait.

When they steal the bait, the real gold stays safe, and we follow the trail back to Diamond Dog."

Step by step. Flawless.

Long Tianqi fell silent.

Her chest heaved as a war raged inside her.

Theoretically, this plan had very high feasibility and minimal risk.

But... it was the national treasury.

Using the national treasury, even just with misdirection, wasn't something a Director General could decide alone.

The stakes were too high. Any single slip-up could bring unimaginable consequences.

After a long pause, she seemed to make up her mind. Raising her head, she met Lin Mo's eyes.

"I'll have to report this immediately. Only the top leader can approve your plan."

Lin Mo sat confidently on the sofa, knowing Long Tianqi would agree.

The leader's opinion mattered, too.

Long Tianqi made a secure call.

A moment later, she hung up and looked at Lin Mo with a complicated expression.

"The leader agreed to your plan. But he hopes you can conjure up a little extra gold."

After saying that, a hint of mischievousness crept onto Long Tianqi's face.