Chapter Ninety: Borrowing a Shell

The next morning, Fang Mu woke up and stretched with a satisfied sigh.

After washing up, he glanced around the room, clicked his tongue, and began to wonder whether it might be time to move into a slightly larger place.

His current rented room was nothing more than a tiny single unit, barely a hundred square feet. There was no living room to speak of, and even the bathroom was just a partition.

Walls hemmed him in on all sides, and once the light was switched off, daytime felt no different from midnight.

A place like this was little more than a foothold in the Battle City. It offered not the slightest comfort.

In the past, he had had no choice, and besides, Fang Mu spent the vast majority of his time out in the wilderness, so it had never mattered much.

But now he had the means. There seemed to be no reason for him to keep living in such cramped quarters...

"All right, then it's settled. Once I sell this batch of serrated hyenas, I'll go look for a proper house."

Fang Mu had made up his mind.

He dried the water from his face, then took out the black outfit from his spatial gear.

After pulling on the hood and mask and looking at himself in the mirror, he left the rented room...

...

...

Next, Fang Mu found the nearest automatic teller and withdrew one hundred thousand credits in cash from his account.

The largest denomination of a credit bill was one thousand, so one hundred thousand credits amounted to only a small stack. After putting the money away, he left the machine and headed east.

The surrounding area was full of tall corridor-style apartment blocks. After walking for about half an hour, he arrived before one of them. He took out his communicator and checked the time...

It was almost time for the appointment.

So he went inside.

Taking the stairs to the third floor, he finally stopped in front of Room 314.

Checking the time once more, he raised a hand and knocked.

Thump, thump.

Soon, a hoarse voice came from the speaker by the door. "Who is it?"

"The person we agreed to meet yesterday," Fang Mu said calmly.

There was a brief pause on the other side. After a moment, the voice returned. "Wait a moment."

Fang Mu waited patiently.

A moment later...

With a faint swish, a small hatch in the door opened, and the same hoarse voice came from within. "Where's the money?"

Fang Mu said nothing. He simply pushed the banknotes through.

The person inside took the money. After a moment, the hatch opened again with a soft rustle, and a large envelope was handed out.

"Everything you asked for is in here," the hoarse voice said.

Fang Mu took it and said evenly, "You're sure everything I asked for yesterday can be handled?"

"Rest assured. Honesty is what we trade on."

Fang Mu was silent for a moment. Then he nodded and accepted the envelope.

He opened it, glanced inside, and confirmed that everything he wanted was there. Satisfied, he put the envelope away and turned to leave.

The small hatch clicked shut behind him.

The entire transaction had taken less than three minutes.

After leaving the apartment block, Fang Mu first bought a new communicator, then returned to his rented room. After removing his mask and letting out a breath, he tipped the contents of the envelope onto the table.

Inside were several data chips, each with a small label attached, bearing different pieces of information.

Among them was even an identity chip.

Fang Mu powered on the neural computer and placed the identity chip into the reader. Soon, a line of information appeared on the virtual screen.

Name: Yang Lin. Sex: Male. Identity number: 988467398702143854. Native place: Tianyao City, and so on.

Along with the text, a three-dimensional projection of a young man appeared: average build, neither fat nor thin, with a rather plain face.

After studying it carefully, Fang Mu nodded. He removed the identity chip, and the projection vanished at once. Then he began searching the information on the remaining cards across different websites.

One item after another, he entered them and checked them off. At last, Fang Mu let out a soft breath, and a faint smile surfaced on his face.

"Not bad. Pretty reliable..."

So far, everything had gone smoothly. With no further hesitation, he took out one of the cards and retrieved the communicator he had just bought.

This communicator was far more advanced than the one he had been using. After opening the packaging, he installed one of the chips from the envelope into the new device.

Then, using the brand-new communicator, he dialed a number.

Before long...

"Hello, this is Black Tower Information Services. How may I help you?"

"I need a private consultant to help handle some matters..."

Fang Mu began speaking.

He talked with the other side for a while. The other party gave him a number, which Fang Mu noted down before ending the call.

Then he got up, took the bank card from the envelope, and went out.

This time he was gone for a long while, taking a hover car to more than twenty different ATMs. Each time, he withdrew cash from his personal account in amounts ranging from several tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand credits.

Then he went to different machines and, in batches and varying amounts, deposited the money into another bank card.

Only then did he return to the rented room.

By then, it was already noon.

He took out the new communicator and linked it to the bank card...

The process required identity verification. First came the identity chip. Then a video check.

Fang Mu wrapped several bandages around his face so that he looked injured.

Naturally, the video verification failed. But then came fingerprint verification and iris verification.

For those, Fang Mu had already prepared.

Inside the envelope was a fingerprint mold and a contact lens. Using the communicator's built-in scanning function, he completed both checks without a hitch.

The bank card was successfully linked.

Only then did Fang Mu finally exhale and allow a little smile to show.

Now the preliminary preparations were complete.

He then dialed the number the Black Tower Information Services staff member had left him.

The call connected quickly, and a man's voice came from the other end. Fang Mu began speaking with him.

After a moment...

"All right, I understand, Mr. Yang. No later than tomorrow, I'll give you an answer."

"Then I'll trouble you, Consultant Li. Let's sign the agency contract online."

"Very well. Please keep an eye on your messages."

Not long after hanging up, an email arrived in Fang Mu's inbox on the neural computer. When he opened it, he found a website containing a commissioned contract.

There were page after page of clauses, but the general meaning was this: Yang Lin, legal representative of Feathered Wing Company, appointed Li Changbin of Black Tower Information Services as the company's consultant for one year.

Signing it required verification of identity information, just like linking the bank card. At the end, the website displayed a line reading: Contract completed.

Then Fang Mu transferred five hundred thousand credits through the newly linked bank card to the account number the other party had provided.

Having finished all this, Fang Mu let out a long breath and relaxed.

After an entire day of running about, everything was finally done.

He thought it over and decided this was the best method of concealment he could manage at present. So he didn't dwell on it any further.

Stretching lazily, he began tidying the items on the table.

"Now, all that's left is to wait..."

Rubbing his stomach, which had begun to feel hungry, Fang Mu got up and went downstairs.

He had eaten serrated hyena meat for a month straight. Even if most of the time it had been roasted before being eaten, how could that compare with the delicacies of Battle City?

Fang Mu intended to treat his stomach to something worthy of it...