Adam did not stop after leaving the jewelry shop.
If anything, the real work had only just started.
Still disguised as an old man, he made his way into a downtown district where cheap apartments, laborers, hustlers, and low-level criminals all mixed together without pretending otherwise.
Adam had lived around places like this before.
Not by choice.
By ruin.
This time, his reason for coming was different.
He entered a well-known coffee shop in the area and chose a seat with a clear view of the door. The place was noisy enough to hide conversation but not so noisy that faces disappeared.
He looked the part well enough. An old man in clean clothes, a cane beside his chair, and a small bag resting near his leg. The bag held only a little cash and nothing important.
'If anyone here tries to steal, let them take the wrong bag.' Adam thought.
Even now he did not have the physical strength to fight freely. He had started exercising. He would learn martial arts soon enough. But that belonged to the future. For now, caution was still his main weapon.
He waited.
He was waiting for a man.
Right now, almost nobody important knew that man's name.
Soon, they would.
Not because the man would rise.
Because something terrible would happen to him.
'I know what becomes of you. That's why you're useful now.' Adam thought.
A few minutes later, the target arrived.
Middle-aged. Rough face. Cheap clothes that looked as though they had not been washed properly in days. He entered then took a seat in the corner. A notebook came out in front of him, and he started writing.
Adam watched him quietly.
In his last life, this man had helped drag Adam deeper into debt. He arranged loans, collected payments, and delivered pain when people missed them. He had personally beaten Adam more than once.
Today he needed the man's network.
'You hurt me before. That means I know exactly what kind of creature you are.' Adam thought.
The man glanced toward him once, clearly wondering why an old stranger was sitting so calmly in a place like this, but he looked away again.
Adam smiled.
He stood, took his coffee, and walked over to the corner table.
The man looked up properly this time and frowned. "Old man, do I know you?"
Adam sat down without asking permission.
"I know you," he said. "You don't know me. But your boss should know your dirty little secret."
That got a reaction.
The man's shoulders stiffened.
In his previous life, Adam had learned something about this man that very few people knew.
He was sleeping with his boss's wife.
And some time from now, that truth would come out. When it did, the man's boss would cut his head off and leave it on display for the entire market to see.
The man tried to recover quickly. Sweat had already started forming at his temples. "What nonsense are you talking about, old man? Is your head broken?"
Adam leaned back, unmoved.
"I know you," he said again. "I know your boss. And I know one very good secret."
The sweat worsened.
The man tried to smile, but fear had already started eating through it.
'There it is. You know I'm not guessing anymore.' Adam thought.
The man stood suddenly. "I don't have time for this."
Adam looked down into his coffee and spoke without raising his voice.
"If you walk away, my man will go to your boss and tell him everything."
The man froze.
Adam could almost see the thoughts crashing through his head. Was it a bluff? Was it a guess? Was the old man fishing in the dark? Or did he truly know?
A second later, the man turned back and sat down again.
His smile was worse now. Tighter. More desperate.
"What truth?" he asked. "What are you even talking about?"
But not smart enough to hide the fear.
Adam looked at him and said quietly, "You must be very happy, sleeping with your boss's wife."
The man's face emptied.
Then panic flooded in.
He reached across the table and grabbed Adam's wrist with both hands. "Sir, please," he said. "Please, forgive me. I'll get you money. Whatever amount you want, I'll find it. Just don't tell him. Call your man back. Please."
For a split second, Adam was honestly surprised.
He had expected resistance.
Not collapse.
'You gave in faster than I expected.' Adam thought.
Still, he kept his expression cold.
He pulled his hand free sharply.
"You're mistaken," Adam said. "I have no intention of telling your boss."
Relief flashed across the man's face.
Then Adam added, "For now."
The relief died instantly.
The man swallowed hard. "What do you want?"
Adam leaned back slightly.
"I have a job for you, Bruno," he said.
The man stared at him.
Men like him had spent their entire lives inside deals built on threats, leverage, and weakness.
Adam reached down toward the bag beside his chair. Hidden by the table, he used the inventory and pasted three diamond necklaces inside it. He did not trust Bruno enough to expose the trick carelessly.
Then he lifted the bag and set it on the table between them.
Bruno frowned and opened it.
His eyes widened.
Adam raised one finger to his lips.
Silence.
Bruno shut his mouth at once.
"These are illegal pieces from our stock," Adam said. "You'll move them through the underground market in this city. Three percent is yours. The rest goes to our organization."
He chose that phrasing very carefully.
Not mine.
Our organization.
He wanted Bruno thinking about groups, networks, unseen eyes, and consequences.
Bruno's attention locked on two details immediately.
Three percent.
Organization.
He looked back into the bag, then at Adam, then back into the bag again.
Three percent on a small first package was not nothing. And men like him understood what small first packages meant.