Several days later, tables and chairs had been set up along three walls of the underground Incubation Room. Only enough space for one person to pass between the tables and shelves had been left, and the tables were packed with computers side by side. There was no choice; in these extraordinary times, they could only make do.
At that moment, Tang Yi, Tang Er, and the others were staring intently at the computer screens in front of them.
They had now infiltrated the Citizen Archives Center and were adding Tang Yi's false identity to the mainframe.
Their long hours of study and practice had brought the Splitters' hacking skills almost to the maximum level. Breaking into these databases was a piece of cake.
Although Xia Kingdom backed up this data on offline physical servers, all they needed was the time between data updates.
"Done! Your identity has been added to the archives. The next data refresh is a month away, so you have one month to go out and move around." Tang Er spoke gravely to Tang Yi beside him, emphasizing the words "one month."
"Besides that, we also need to hack the Net System that now covers the entire country. With our current abilities, we can only ensure that one person at a time can go out without being identified by the Net System," Tang San added.
Nowadays, with cameras everywhere, the moment you stepped beneath one, your identity information would be recognized. That was Xia Kingdom's world-leading Net System.
For Tang Yi to reach the airport without any risk, Tang Er through Tang Sixteen—fifteen people in all, after four new Splitters had been created—would need to work together to control every camera that might scan him.
"Here are your fake documents. I had a forgery gang make them. As long as your information is still in the customs database, these documents will pass as real!" Tang Shizhe handed Tang Yi several documents, including forged visas and other materials.
"I won't let you down!" Tang Yi took the documents, slipped them into his jacket pocket, and turned to leave the basement.
His luggage was already packed on the living room floor: three thousand dollars in cash, a universally accepted credit card, and a change of clothes.
Tang Yi got into a taxi he had called through Didi and left the factory district, heading for the international airport in the neighboring city.
Meanwhile, Tang Er and the others were using their computers to keep swapping out the footage captured by the Net System's cameras, looping several minutes of footage over and over.
Every camera within a five-hundred-meter radius that might capture the taxi carrying Tang Yi was hacked.
Some systems were not connected to the outside internet, but nobody could guarantee that the phones at those offices had their mobile data turned off.
As long as those phones were within range of the internal Wi-Fi network, the Splitters could easily use them as stepping stones to break into those isolated intranets.
The journey went smoothly, and Tang Yi successfully made it to the airport.
After checking in his luggage, Tang Yi went to the customs security checkpoint. Fortunately, Tang Er and the others' work had been effective, and no one noticed that his information was fake.
"First stop, Wa Country. Here I come." Tang Yi took a deep breath and stepped onto the jet bridge.
Several days later, the second-tier shell company Dao Investment Corporation was established in Wa Country.
Then, several days later, Andri Investment Company also appeared on the land of Eagle Country, beneath its star-spangled flag.
The remaining three companies—Suwei Investment in Bear Country, Woshi Investment in Ao Country, and Shashi Group in the land of the setting sun—were established in turn.
Twenty days later, Yoniu City, Eagle Country.
In an upscale roadside café, Tang Yi sat by the window in a suit, idly playing with the Omega De Ville watch on his wrist. A diamond-studded steel pen was clipped to his breast pocket. Every detail made it clear that he was a nouveau riche.
Several minutes later, a middle-aged blond man walked into the café. He glanced around, then headed straight for Tang Yi.
"Are you Mr. Lin?" the blond man asked politely when he reached Tang Yi.
"Yes. You must be Jiro." Tang Yi nodded. He had been waiting at the café for this very Mr. Jiro.
"I'm Jiro. I'm very sorry—I got caught in traffic and arrived late." Jiro bowed apologetically to Tang Yi.
Tang Yi didn't know where Jiro had learned to bow when apologizing, but his first impression of him improved a little.
"Have a seat." Tang Yi gestured for Jiro to sit across from him, then waved to the server. "Another coffee, please."
"I heard from the headhunter that you've founded five companies, but they all eventually went bankrupt?" Tang Yi asked as he took the pen from his pocket and toyed with it. At the same time, he studied the middle-aged man closely.
His slightly graying blond hair, neatly trimmed beard, and gold-rimmed glasses gave him a mature, dignified air, but none of it could conceal the despair in his eyes.
Tang Yi had found this middle-aged man through big data. His fifth company had gone bankrupt just recently.
For some inexplicable reason, whenever Jiro built a company's assets up to more than ten million, it soon went bankrupt. Jiro no longer dreamed of starting his own business; he planned to find a company where he could work steadily.
But the companies he had applied to all thought his abilities were limited. If he could run a company worth only ten million into the ground, how could they dare hire him to work for their companies worth tens or hundreds of billions?
"That's right, but my companies all went bankrupt because of unexpected circumstances!" the middle-aged man hurriedly explained.
"I know. It's all in your file." Tang Yi nodded. Suddenly, he sat up straight and leaned forward, fixing his eyes on the middle-aged man.
"What Sman Group needs isn't a general who'll conquer new territory for the company. We need an obedient puppet. You need to understand that." Tang Yi spoke rather sternly.
"I—I understand." The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the disappointment in Tang Yi's eyes, he quickly answered.
The mortgage on his house and the loan on his car were already close to crushing him. On top of that, he had a daughter in college and a wife who stayed home as a full-time homemaker to support.
"Good. If you're willing to be our puppet and work for us, you can have this job with an annual salary of five hundred thousand dollars." Tang Yi narrowed his eyes, his tone turning seductive.
He wouldn't have to rack his brains to grow the company. All he had to do was obey them, and he'd get a salary of five hundred thousand dollars a year. Tang Yi refused to believe the man would turn him down.
"Fine. I accept!" The middle-aged man nodded firmly. He had no way out now!
"Here, sign this contract, and we'll be family." Tang Yi placed a contract in front of the middle-aged man.
"Thirty-year term of employment, with an annual salary increase of no less than five percent..." The middle-aged man lowered his head and read the contract carefully. A moment later, he signed his name on the last page, then added his signature beside several key clauses.
"Welcome aboard, Mr. Jiro. We're family now." Tang Yi smiled and handed Jiro the company's development plan.
"Wait for instructions from our board of directors. We'll let you know what to do next."
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