There were three things in the world that were absolutely not to be touched in three different countries.
They were—tax evasion in America, drug trafficking in China, and becoming a hostage in Russia.
In America, once tax evasion was discovered, losing everything was the least of it.
In China, drug traffickers got a bullet, no questions asked.
As for becoming a hostage in Russia... the hostages were often the first to be shot dead by the police or military, after which the terrorists would receive the following message—"The hostages have already been killed by us. You have nothing left to threaten us with. Surrender immediately!"
Rather than becoming a hostage in Russia, it would be better to ask the terrorists for a gun and join them. You might even survive that way.
The IRS, the US Tax Service, could be said to be an existence feared by all Americans. This department possessed authority equal to, and sometimes even greater than, agencies like the FBI and CIA!
From sending agents undercover to deal with mob bosses the FBI could not catch, to dispatching ordinary employees to monitor a restaurant's income for an entire year and investigate tax evasion... in short, whether large or small, as long as it involved tax evasion and the IRS had its eye on you, no American could remain calm!
That was one of the reasons Zhou Yi had directly chosen this profession!
What was even more interesting was that this was a private company, a private company employed by the federal government, not some state apparatus!
It was downright absurd.
"America really is a magical country..." Zhou Yi mused as he sighed inwardly.
Zhou Yi entered a phone store. After asking about a particular model, he opened his shoulder bag, took out some money, and bought himself a phone.
This shoulder bag had been issued by the system. It contained not only ten thousand dollars in usable cash, but also all kinds of identification—his passport, green card, IRS Employee ID, and so on. Everything was complete, valid, and able to withstand any investigation.
During the previous Fast & Furious World, Zhou Yi had received an identical shoulder bag. Other than some differences in his identity documents and work credentials, everything else was basically exactly the same, apart from the dates on them.
Back then, in order to verify something, Zhou Yi had specifically looked into it himself. He discovered that the identity the system had created for him in the previous Fast & Furious World was practically flawless. Any information that might have been wrong, such as his parents in that world, was completely impossible to verify because they were all "dead," leaving only records behind!
Although Zhou Yi knew those files were all fake, as long as they could not be verified, they were real!
"I have to say, it really is considerate. Otherwise, I'd have had to waste a ton of time getting identification sorted out and figuring out how to get hired," Zhou Yi thought. "Not only does it not talk back or play mind games with me, it also doesn't issue any mandatory missions with threats of obliteration for failure... compared to those flashy trash systems other people have, it's simply too good!"
Zhou Yi did not know whether his system had any consciousness, but that did not stop him from flattering it... ah, no, appreciating it.
As for why Zhou Yi had chosen the profession of IRS Employee?
Aside from the IRS genuinely having great authority and enough freedom, the main reason was, of course—
Zhou Yi had just walked out of the store with his phone and SIM card when he turned around and walked back in.
His sharp hearing had caught what the clerk muttered—"Didn't expect this yellow-skinned monkey to have so much money. He must've stolen it from somewhere."
That was intolerable.
But Zhou Yi did not intend to resort to violence. Instead, he planned to make use of the authority he now possessed.
It was a good opportunity to test a few things as well.
The clerk looked at Zhou Yi in confusion as he returned, then asked, "Sir, is something wrong?"
It had to be said that the man's acting was decent. At least, there was not the slightest impatience on his face.
"I'm sorry, but I'm an external investigator from the Langley City Tax Bureau, responsible for investigating tax evasion at your store. I noticed that you accepted my cash payment and had no intention of issuing me a receipt afterward." Zhou Yi's expression was cold as he took out his ID and displayed it before the clerk. "You may remain silent, but anything you say can be used as evidence in court!"
The clerk's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.
WTF?
Was this really necessary?
This was just a tiny phone store!
You looked Asian, so you surely wouldn't know much about America. That was why I wanted to dodge the tax on this sale. The money saved would earn me half as a bonus from the boss, enough for me to pick up a girl!
And then you pulled out an ID and wanted to arrest me for tax evasion?
The clerk did not know it, but if he had, he would have shouted—"Entrapment! This is entrapment!"
Of course, what he also did not know was that if he had not been so loose-lipped behind Zhou Yi's back, Zhou Yi would never have targeted him for entrapment.
"No, sir, don't do this." The clerk's legs went weak as he trembled. He was not entirely sure whether the ID in Zhou Yi's hand was real, but what if it was?
The name of an agency carried weight.
The clerk knew that if he had really caused trouble, and the person before him truly was an IRS Employee, then he was completely finished!
And he would drag his boss down with him!
"You're the clerk. Where's the owner of this store? Call him over." Zhou Yi said, "I need to ask him a few questions!"
"I... I'll call the boss right away!" The clerk trembled, completely at a loss as he dialed his boss's number.
"What?" The boss was stunned after listening to the clerk fumble through the explanation. "Are you sure? An external investigator from the Langley City Tax Bureau?"
"Yes, yes." The clerk had regained some of his senses by now and added in a low voice, "I just saw that he was Asian, so I..."
"You said he's Asian?" The boss was even more astonished. "How could an Asian possibly be with the tax bureau? Are you sure he isn't holding a fake ID?"
"I don't know how to tell whether it's fake!" the clerk said aggrievedly.
"Fine, have him wait for a while. I'll be right there!" the boss said. "There's a ninety percent chance it's fake! I'll bring my police friend with me. Once we expose him, we'll arrest that damn con artist immediately!"
"Yes, boss!" With his boss backing him up, the clerk regained his nerve and prepared to reply to Zhou Yi with confidence.
But the moment he looked up and met Zhou Yi's deep, contemplative gaze, he immediately shrank back again and said weakly, "Our boss said he'll be here soon..."
"Heh..." Zhou Yi sneered twice. He did not pay the clerk much attention, merely standing where he was and playing Snake on his phone.
Naturally, he had heard what the boss said on the other end of the call, but there was nothing surprising about that.
White supremacy was deeply entrenched in America. Whether toward Asians or Black people, the overwhelming majority claimed to treat everyone equally while actually being discriminatory.
As for Zhou Yi, when he had first transmigrated and arrived in the Fast & Furious World years ago, he had encountered many such incidents as well. It was only after he became wealthy that he had basically stopped running into them.
So, in the end, money was what truly mattered. Most of the time, money represented both influence and strength.
Before long, a fat owner and a fat police officer entered the store.
Chatting with the great writers had given him so much inspiration...
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