Chapter 52: The Distinguished Level 5 Premium Member

Ke Ling and Ke Li exchanged a glance, both seeing the helplessness in each other’s eyes.

Could this depth charge really blast the fish?

The answer was yes.

And it worked fast.

Click counts on Yang Liuqing’s post visibly increased.

A Level 5 Premium Member posting on the Dark Web still carried some influence.

Initially, those drawn in by the title just treated it as entertainment.

But when they saw Yang Liuqing’s photos, their eyes lit up, and they replied asking for more.

The photos had been carefully cropped, but some Urban Village elements were still visible.

This was the latest intelligence that even Dian Jing didn’t have.

And it came from a Level 5 Premium Member’s hands.

On the Dark Web, a Level 5 Premium Member wasn’t considered very high.

There were plenty of Level 6s, 7s, and 8s.

But Level 5 Premium Membership was a credit threshold.

It showed that one’s spending had reached a certain level with no bad transaction records.

The intelligence this guy released was most likely legit.

More and more people browsed the post, and replies, comments, and private messages steadily rose.

Yang Liuqing ignored them all, stoking the hype first.

“You really know how to build momentum.”

Ke Li marveled.

As expected, old tricks never go out of style; it all depends on whether people fall for them.

The Shock Department still had its market.

“Master really knows his stuff.”

Ke Ling felt her understanding of this world was far too shallow.

“Wow, it’s a hot post now! Xiao Qingqing, cast the bait!”

Seeing the post’s heat rise, Ke Li quickly called out.

Yang Liuqing wasn’t in a hurry:

“Wait, the big fish hasn’t surfaced yet.”

These small fry were just there to create buzz.

Dian Jing was the real target.

“Master, what if Dian Jing isn’t watching the forum? Wouldn’t we miss our chance?”

Ke Ling reminded.

“Good point. We need to make a bigger wave so she takes notice.”

Yang Liuqing took the advice and implemented the second plan.

He set two unimportant yet somewhat misleading photos to be viewable only after payment, and they’d only be revealed together after two minutes, to prevent anyone from reselling them.

“Is 10,000 USD okay?”

Yang Liuqing asked.

“Master, is there a way to withdraw it?”

Ke Ling blinked.

Yang Liuqing shook his head:

“This is an exclusive account; the money can only be withdrawn to a specific card. But this money definitely has to be made. It’s fine to make them bleed a bit.”

“Xiao Qingqing, set it at 100,000 USD. They have money to burn anyway.”

Ke Li said with a grin.

“Is 100,000 USD too expensive? I’m afraid fewer people would buy, and it wouldn’t reach Dian Jing.”

Yang Liuqing tapped his lips with his index finger, hesitating.

“Master, let’s split the difference at 50,000 USD.”

Ke Ling gave a reasonable price.

Yang Liuqing edited and posted it.

The next moment, the forum exploded.

The price of this intel couldn’t be called cheap, nor could it be called expensive.

The catch was that showing it exclusively to paying users meant no one could jump ahead.

At the same time, it also indicated that the intel was highly likely to be genuine.

“Five, seven, eight, nine, twenty buyers!”

Ke Li was stunned.

She thought at most a few people would buy; she didn’t expect the number to surge to twenty.

“Huh? We just spent 1 million not long ago, and we’ve already earned it back?”

Ke Ling was also surprised.

“So making money is really that easy for me?”

Yang Liuqing wanted to cry but had no tears.

This was his first time earning so much money.

“The fan-service girls truly don’t deceive. Selling photos really is outrageously profitable!”

“Wow, 1.5 million!”

Ke Li’s eyes gleamed.

“In a moment, we’ll see a bunch of private messages cursing at Master.”

Ke Ling covered her mouth, stifling a laugh.

Two insignificant photos sold for an astronomical price.

It would be a wonder if these people didn’t fly into a rage.

This was exactly the effect they wanted.

Real intel would only be fed to the big fish.

The little fish joining the crowd were irrelevant.

At the end of the day, a Level 5 Premium Member’s credit value was definitely far below Dian Jing’s.

Even if the exact address were released, it wouldn’t have much effect.

If someone saw through the scheme to lure the tiger away from the mountain, it would cause trouble instead.

Two minutes passed, and sure enough, the forum exploded again.

Yang Liuqing ignored it all, letting them vent.

The post’s popularity skyrocketed, and the Dark Web Administrator pinned it directly to the top.

Dian Jing, who had been raking in money and was about to rest, heard the AI Alert and hurried over to check.

“Wow, I want to earn this money too!”

She quickly contacted Yang Liuqing.

‘This person who came to buy intel from me before actually became an information broker this fast. Not bad at all!’

“Master, the fish has taken the bait.”

Ke Ling spotted the name Dian Jing among the flood of private messages.

“Xiao Qingqing, how much should we bleed her for?”

Ke Li smirked.

Yang Liuqing pondered for a moment:

“1 million USD is too little; it would arouse suspicion. How about 2 million USD?”

“Sounds about right. Too expensive or too cheap would both arouse Dian Jing’s suspicion. We should let her verify it herself, rather than telling her the location ourselves.”

Ke Ling nodded slightly.

This price was highly deceptive.

Not too little, not too much.

Opening the private chat, Yang Liuqing saw Dian Jing’s not-so-urgent message.

[Hello, I’d like to purchase all the intelligence you have on Yang Liuqing at a high price.]

“Xiao Qingqing, I bet fifty cents she’s in a hurry.”

Ke Li seemed to see the expression on the other side.

“No bet. As an information broker, it would be strange if she weren’t in a hurry. This is a perfect money-making opportunity.”

Yang Liuqing looked like someone whose crafty scheme had succeeded.

“Poor Dian Jing. She’d barely swallowed 1 million before having to spit it back out, principal and interest.”

Ke Ling’s lips curled slightly.

The other party probably would never have imagined, even after racking their brains, that the target himself had come to the Dark Web to sell his own intelligence.

Yang Liuqing replied:

[2 million USD, no bargaining. I’ll sell you all the intelligence I have on hand.]

Dian Jing hesitated on the other side:

“Fine, but I want a new photo to verify the goods. Of course, I’ll give you a 200,000 USD deposit. Pizza Coins or cash?”

“Cash, in US dollars.”

Yang Liuqing wasn’t interested in Pizza Coins.

That stuff was classified as illegal digital currency in the country.

Sending a pickup code meant any future intelligence purchase would require another transaction, with the administrator taking a cut.

Dian Jing looked at the information on the screen and furrowed her brow slightly.

‘Wasn’t this person from the underworld? Why spend Pizza Coins but accept US dollars?’

‘The money that was so hard to launder clean would just flow back?’

‘I can’t make sense of it. It’s just baffling.’

“Fine, 2 million USD it is.”

Dian Jing felt a pang of heartache.

Even though she knew she could make a killing afterward.

But the money she spent now was still a loss she felt now.

She transferred a 200,000 USD deposit to Yang Liuqing.

The other side immediately sent a new photo.

“As expected, I can’t tell where this is. This person isn’t so easy to deal with.”

Dian Jing clicked her tongue.

The thought of obtaining important intelligence at a low price vanished completely.

“Deal.”

She somewhat helplessly transferred the remaining amount.

Yang Liuqing readily sent over the photo set.

“I told you being a fan-service girl is lucrative.”

“Master, why not switch careers?”

Ke Ling stared at the amount on the screen and said slowly.

“Xiao Qingqing can focus on selling photos from now on, and we’ll be the lighting and camera crew.”

Ke Li teased.