Balance

Waited for a long time.

The other party did not reply again.

Gu Shen took his hands off the projection keyboard, feeling a little regretful.

This should be an expected response, right?

Some things are both important and not so important... Regarding Chu Ling's identity and motives, Gu Shen didn't want to investigate to the very end.

For now, he only needed to know that this girl was on his side and sincerely helping him, and that was enough.

Gu Shen carefully read the two documents that were transmitted last.

His original residence, the Old Building, had a crooked Defense Line set up 20 meters around it, strictly forbidding outsiders from entering. Coupled with several hidden surveillance cameras, it formed a tight Surveillance Line.

These points were all marked by Chu Ling.

And the loophole appeared—

Due to the fire, several cameras in the Old Building were damaged. As a result, the temporary protection personnel stationed there had several blind spots... The first document detailed two routes suitable for sneaking in.

During shift changes, the on-duty personnel would patrol once after the handover.

This was the best time to avoid surveillance and enter the Old Building.

From this, it seemed that the difficulty of sneaking in was not high.

But the problem was that according to Chu Ling's calculations, the personnel shift change and patrol around 23:00 only had a gap of about 1 minute. By the time he got the Ruler, the new batch of stationed personnel would already be in place. If he returned the same way, he might be discovered.

Therefore, the escape route had to be re-planned.

"Escape plan: Leave from Point A rooftop, use the height difference to go to the adjacent, unblocked Old Building B."

Gu Shen's expression changed slightly. He stared at the three-dimensional escape map. His residence, the Old Building, was marked as Point A, and diagonally across was a slightly shorter apartment building. That location was marked by Chu Ling as Point B.

Escape by jumping off the building, simple and crude.

"No way..."

Gu Shen looked at the distance between the two three-dimensional diagrams and the height difference, feeling a little hopeless. He grabbed the Orange Cat fiercely and held it up in front of him: "Hey, do you know that if we fail, we'll die if we jump down? Are there any other options?"

The innocent little kitty meowed, struggling hard.

Unfortunately, the evil person was too strong, and it couldn't resist, so it could only obey.

It seemed that Chu Ling had disconnected... Gu Shen sighed. He also knew very well that this escape route, which seemed the most unreasonable, was the most reasonable. Returning the same way had a high probability of being discovered by the watch personnel.

Could he only jump?

For tonight's operation, Gu Shen planned to purchase a device that could connect to the Deep Sea.

Real-time communication with Chu Ling to get the latest updated information would greatly increase the success rate of the operation.

But Gu Shen was also very clear that his every move should be watched.

According to Nan Jin, because of the "Amnesty Decree," many people from the Tribunal were already watching him... so his Electronic Bill should also be accessed by those with ulterior motives.

Now is a good opportunity.

After the fire, moving to a New Home, there are many "daily necessities" that need to be purchased. Connecting to the Deep Sea's personal items is a must. Buying them casually, no one should suspect his intentions.

19:01.

Less than 4 hours until the real action.

Time was tight. After a simple packing, Gu Shen took Nan Jin's card and left the apartment.

Having lived in Da Teng City for seventeen years, Gu Shen had always resided in a remote area with few people. The moment he left the apartment, he felt that everything around him was so unfamiliar... The hustle and bustle of the hot wind came head-on, the crowds surged, the neon lights began to shine, and the magnificent electronic torrent washed over the giant screen in the central square, which was playing a GG advertisement of family reunion.

This era, this world, is very big.

Invisible and silent currents, networks, spanning five continents, connect everyone together. Everyone is like a drop of water in the waves, closely relying on each other. Making a sound can splash a wave.

But he alone was an exception.

All along, Gu Shen felt that he was a lonely grain of sand on the beach. The Deep Sea connected the whole world, but it did not connect him.

He pulled his coat tighter, put on his hat, and squeezed into the crowd.

The apartment was located in the bustling area of the city center. The nearest supermarket was a 5-minute walk away. Gu Shen pushed a shopping cart, selected some daily necessities, and came to the electronic equipment area.

A small and cute pink roller robot slowly came to Gu Shen, and two pliers clamped his shopping cart for him, helping to push it, while enthusiastically asking.

"Hello, sir! What do you need?"

Unmanned shopping has become popular in large supermarkets, and intelligent machines can complete most of the shopping guide tasks.

But Gu Shen knew that under the pink and soft robot shell, only emotionless code flowed, and the cloud database in the background would store every conversation between the robot and the customer.

Nowadays, connecting to the Deep Sea has become an indispensable need.

Almost every new electronic product can provide wireless network connection services.

Gu Shen was thinking before he came, if he bought holographic glasses or a holographic helmet... he wondered if Chu Ling's technology could synchronize the cross-sectional drawings of the building and the real-time dynamics of personnel.

He glanced at the price of the holographic glasses... 12999.

Then he glanced at the holographic helmet, 39999.

This seemed to be just the mini version, there were also plus and plus max versions.

This is... too expensive!

He only had five thousand yuan in his bank account.

The pink robot accompanied Gu Shen, stopping and going. Sensing Gu Shen's pause, it began to enthusiastically introduce: "This is the latest holographic glasses launched by Citigroup, using the latest lifi Technology, which can achieve 256 hours of battery life, and can perfectly solve daily office and entertainment needs... The current promotional price is only 12999, if you are willing to apply for a membership card, you can also enjoy..."

"Okay, okay..."

Gu Shen felt a headache listening to it, and he ruthlessly interrupted the talkative robot: "I'll just buy a pair of wireless headphones, the basic model will do. Take me there."

Holographic glasses and helmets are certainly useful, but the latter is too bulky and inconvenient to move.

As for the former... it's not that Gu Shen is stingy with money. Nan Jin's bank card plus his own balance should be enough to buy a pair of glasses.

The most important thing is still the "Electronic Bill" for this shopping trip. It's just a routine purchase for moving to a New Home; there's no reason to buy a holographic headset right off the bat.

"..."

"Okay, please follow me."

The robot paused for a moment, then led Gu Shen to turn left and then left again.

Gu Shen chose a very affordable wireless headset, less than two hundred yuan, capable of connecting to the Deep Sea. He had been eyeing this headset for a long time and now was the perfect time to buy it.

The pink robot helped Gu Shen push the cart, all the way to the self-checkout machine. The base slowly rose, and with its circular suction cup hands, it took out the items one by one and placed them on the counter.

"The total cost is 556.5 yuan."

Hmm... not expensive.

Although it stings a little, it's acceptable.

Gu Shen didn't hesitate and immediately took out his pitifully balanced bank card to pay.

Although the Tribunal had arranged a high-end apartment for him and given him a bank card with "enough for daily expenses"... he wasn't one to accept favors for no reason. He still had money, and that money was "enough for daily expenses."

Of course, not using that card to pay was also out of consideration for the future "electronic shopping list" being traced.

After checking out, Gu Shen took out another card.

"Let's check the balance on this card..." He felt a little complicated. The Tribunal was generous in solving his housing problem, so how much would be on this card?

Recalling Nan Jin's expression, if it was enough for daily expenses... five thousand? Ten thousand?

If those guys had investigated his daily life, they should know that his monthly expenses were only two or three thousand.

"Beep—"

Gu Shen stared blankly at the screen.

Tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...

Actually, the money Nan Jin left him wasn't so exaggerated that he needed to count the digits to determine the amount, but Gu Shen still carefully counted several times to make sure he hadn't miscounted.

"..."

Gu Shen stared at the screen, feeling a little dazed.

Five hundred thousand.

Nan Jin had deposited a full five hundred thousand into his bank card.

In his life.

He had never seen so much money.