Chapter 56: Chapter 54: Pursuit

David sipped his coffee and said, "Yes, if you can report illegal groups like yours, enabling us to collect the taxes, then you can likewise obtain tax relief."

MacDonald appeared slightly downcast but still asked, "Report...Well, I don't have a suitable target right now, but if I do in the future, can I contact you any time?"

"Of course, as long as the information is useful, I'm always welcome to hear from you!"

With David's response, MacDonald decided that in the near future he needed to socialize and exchange more with his colleagues to see if he could leverage any information.

After all, he also understood that the IRS was required to keep taxpayer information confidential, so as long as he provided valuable information, he figured nobody would know it was him!

...

Two hours later, Dan seemed to enter a highly intense phase; his hands moved across the keyboard like playing a fast-paced piano piece, losing himself in the process.

David didn't want to disturb him, but since a considerable amount of time had passed, he approached Dan and asked, "How's it going?"

Dan slowed his pace a bit, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and replied, "This guy's skills are definitely top-notch. I gathered several of my friends to 'encircle' him, but he used 'Rootkit' to escape!"

Nisen, somewhat puzzled, asked, "Rootkit, what's that?"

"Rootkit is a tool used by attackers to hide their tracks and maintain root, or full access privileges. Once an attacker gains root access to a system remotely, they install a rootkit to ensure long-term control of the system!"

This barrage of hacker jargon left both David and Nisen completely bewildered.

"If it can't be done, let it go."

Initially thinking this was a high-profile case, David hadn't expected it to not only waste so much time but also to be such a nuisance.

With the time spent, he could have been cracking other cases!

Hearing this, Dan grew anxious and quickly responded, "No, no, no, I want to try one more time, please give me another half hour!"

"Half an hour... Alright then!"

David thought it over; given the time already wasted, he didn't mind an additional half hour.

The half-hour passed quickly.

But unexpectedly, David was generous and showed no intention of taking advantage of the situation to demand a higher tax rate, which pleasantly surprised him.

"Alright, it's getting late. Prepare your money now and go through the process at our IRS," David announced.

...

Returning to the Lake District Sub-Bureau Branch, David and Nisen split up to take action immediately.

David was responsible for handling the financial accounting and storage of Camilla and the others' funds, while Nisen started to look into the records for Constance Residential Area.

Although there were about 400 to 500 households in the residential area.

Those with only elderly or household heads with no access to computers could be directly excluded.

After another round of selection from their IRS database, maybe only 200 to 300 households would remain.

"Here is 182,160 US dollars, count it..."

"Here is 186,120 US dollars, count it..."

"Here is..."

"Considering the tax relief, here's my 49,800 US dollars, count it..."

Camilla and the others presented their respective tax amounts, but when it was Dan's turn, the others had complex looks in their eyes.

Each of them had started from a payment of 100,000.

Yet Dan only had to pay less than 50,000, which understandably left them envious.

David carefully calculated each amount and, finding no error, nodded and said, "Alright, your taxes and information have been archived; you may go now!"

After their departure, David immediately called over Mary, pointing to the stack of cash, he said, "This is 749,800, count it!"

Seeing such a substantial sum, Mary was initially startled but quickly regained composure and began counting the money.

About ten minutes later, she nodded and said, "The amount is correct; I'll proceed with the storage work now!"