Chapter 36

Translator: 549690339

After a series of tedious recharge operations, Lin Mo successfully used a VPN as a ladder and smoothly entered the foreign internet.

This was not any high-level technology; basically, anyone with decent internet knowledge could perform such operation.

Lin Mo had always liked fiddling with computers during his school days, and with his roommates, he taught himself a lot about this field.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so knowledgeable about the 4090 graphics card.

Following that,

Lin Mo went on a cryptocurrency website and, after some effort, bought some of the hottest Litecoin from abroad.

Although the buying and selling of virtual currencies were not allowed in China, they were still the safest during certain special transactions.

Even if somebody could trace Lin Mo’s funds to the cryptocurrency website, they couldn’t pinpoint where his Litecoin went next.

After purchasing the currency, Lin Mo found some websites he often visited during university on the Tor browser.

The website Lin Mo knew about was more like a hacker technology exchange forum where members often created software with strong encryption features. Some software was publicly released; other software required payment before it could be downloaded and used.

This website did not accept any national fiat currencies, only Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and a series of other currencies which themselves were inherently secretive.

It had been many years since Lin Mo had entered this forum, and he was a bit rusty. After a long search in the forum, he finally found the software he needed and paid the corresponding currency, successfully entering the usage page. The software’s functionality was simple: making phone calls, sending text messages.

Clearly, Lin Mo had gone through so much trouble and had fumbled for nearly an hour just to use this software to contact Zhang Ziyue’s father.

Of course, he could have done this without such hassle since there were network phones available domestically as well.

SKY, TouchPal, UU Call, etc….

But those were after all domestic products, not secure, likely to be traced and locked, thereby exposing his identity.

In fact, foreign ones weren’t safe either, but Zhang Ziyue’s father wasn’t such a powerful figure that it would matter; this level of precaution should be sufficient.

Cowardly? Indeed, one could say he was cowardly, but as a 30-year-old regular person, with a wife and child, parents, a sister, a family, and countless vulnerabilities that could be exploited by others, his life was too fragile to withstand much turmoil.

So how could he not be cautious?

If he could take a hard stance, he wouldn’t even need to resort to domestic network phones; he could just confront Zhang Ziyue’s parents directly at the school during the day, thus avoiding feeling frustrated and aggrieved, which would have been exhilarating!

But that was not an option!

It wasn’t that he couldn’t solve the problem; rather, it would plant seeds of potential trouble for the future!

What if, after regaining their composure, they turned their aggression towards his daughter, towards his wife, what then?

Lin Mo would not allow such a thing to happen!

Therefore, he chose to operate from behind the scenes, manipulating everything!

On the surface, he appeared to be a good-for-nothing countryman, but in secret, he could easily overturn everything!

Lin Mo’s hands rested on the keyboard, his eyes bloodshot as he stared intently at the computer screen and slowly typed a line.

“Hello, Mr. Zhang HongHao, we are the Abyss Organization. May I ask, do you believe the closest person to you could harm you?”

After editing the content, Lin Mo hesitated for a moment, then firmly gripped the mouse and pressed the send button.

The so-called Abyss Organization was a fabrication conjured by Lin Mo to intimidate others.

As for the name “Abyss,”

it was inspired by a famous quote: “When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”

The page flashed, indicating that the message was sent successfully.

After sending the message, Lin Mo did nothing but quietly watched the lower- left corner of the software page.

Soon,

a red English word appeared in his field of vision.

“READ.”

“Read” was the direct translation into Chinese, but when it appeared in the lower-left corner of the software, it also meant “seen.”

Once the other party opened the message, you could see the read receipt. This wasn’t some high technology; many phones have this function.

Open settings, find message settings, then turn on message delivery acknowledgments.

As for the software Lin Mo purchased, this was merely the most basic function.

After waiting a bit longer, the other party didn’t reply to the message.

This was within Lin Mo’s expectations.

Most people, upon seeing such a message, would probably assume it to be spam or a phishing attempt and choose to ignore it.

It didn’t matter.

Lin Mo’s hand rested once again on the keyboard and he tapped out another text message.

[Zhang HongHao, male, 34 years old, graduated from Rakshasa City’s University of Finance and Political Law, former cadre of the Comprehensive Department, deputy chief clerk, chief clerk, currently the director of the Office of Science and Technology Innovation Center Construction.]

[His wife, Chen Ru, female, 32 years old, a graduate of Rakshasa City’s Jiaotong University, currently a member of the Development and Reform Commission, with a sub-department-level professional title.]

[Son, Zhang Ziyue, male, 10 years old, studying in Future Star Primary School third grade (class 2).]

Lin Mo sent the edited message again.

Lin Mo had received the phone number of Zhang HongHao and the information about his family some time ago through intelligence provided by the system.

He didn’t need to remember it, simply by browsing the system’s intelligence page, he could find it quickly.

Less than 2 minutes after the message was sent, the software had already received a very brief reply.

[Who are you.]

The fish had taken the bait; a sharp glint flashed in Lin Mo’s eyes.

This was the first time in his life he had experienced a cerebral duel with an official from a distance.

Fortunately, they were separated by the internet, and Lin Mo wasn’t worried that he could track down his identity.

[Good day, Mr. Zhang HongHao. As I said earlier, we are the Abyss

Organization. I have some intelligence here that should be of great interest to you, and if you wish to know it, you will need to pay 100,000 yuan. ]

[We in the Abyss Organization do not deceive the young or old, and you may also choose to hear the information first and then decide whether to pay.]

Meanwhile.

In a luxurious villa in Rakshasa City.

A man in his early 30s, dressed in a sharp suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looking gentle and refined, was sitting on a soft sofa, staring grimly at several text messages on his phone.

He was Zhang Ziyue’s father, Zhang HongHao.

At first, Zhang HongHao thought it was some new type of scam message and didn’t plan on paying it any mind, but as he saw the other party list his personal details consecutively, he couldn’t help but grow more cautious.

[Hello, Mr. Zhang HongHao, we are the Abyss Organization. Are you confident that the person closest to you would never harm you?]

“The Abyss Organization? What is that?”

“Who wants to harm me?”

“What exactly does all this mean?”

“A prank?”

Uncertain, Zhang HongHao chose not to reveal more of his own thoughts but sent back an even shorter message instead.

[Speak.]

After sending the message successfully, Zhang HongHao furrowed his brows and unconsciously fixed his gaze tightly on the phone screen.

However, after a while, no message came through.

“Is it really just a prank?”

Just as Zhang HongHao was perplexedly letting out a sigh of relief, buzz buzz, his phone vibrated once more and a new message appeared before him….

[New books are hard to launch, seeking monthly passes, seeking recommendation tickets]