Chapter 139: No Place to Return in Times of Trouble

At this time, on the other side of Blue Star, it was around nine o’clock at night in the United States.

Du Qiu, after driving for an entire day, had traveled a thousand kilometers eastward to reach the Midwestern city of Danford.

Du Qiu would change his car here again, but of course, there was another more important matter—he was going to obtain a fake identity card in this city.

Starr Ocean had already found a website on the dark web that sold fake identity documents and had ordered several fake identity proofs.

Star Ocean had verified that the gang selling the fake IDs was indeed located in Danford; this allowed for the request to be fulfilled and locally delivered within the same city in one day.

That’s right, Star Ocean had provided them with an address in Danford.

This address was also found by Star Ocean; it was a vacant residence owned by a Japanese person who was not in the United States at the time.

The owner had multiple residences in the United States, with this one frequently vacant. The person’s arranged cleaning staff would come once a month to clean up.

Du Qiu could quietly stay here for two days, waiting to receive the identity proof, after which he could speed up his journey eastward.

The reason why identity proof was essential at this time was that the closer one got to the east, especially near New Castle City, the greater the population density compared to the western and central parts, which naturally meant more American police.

If one were to encounter a spot check without an identity proof on hand, Du Qiu would undoubtedly be treated as an illegal immigrant.

Regarding whether the fake identity proof could pass police inspection, firstly, Star Ocean had already confirmed that the craftsmanship of the fake IDs was to the extent of being deceptively real.

Secondly, for police to confirm whether the identity information is fraudulent, they would need to validate online, and this would turn into an advantage for Star Ocean, who could ensure the identity information appeared genuine.

Du Qiu had bought several fake identity proofs and had arranged each of the several facial masks he brought with him.

There were identities of American nationality, Japanese, South Korean, and German, though they were of different nationalities, all were ethnic Tang.

Of course, he would soon have a Tangier Federation nationality as well, but the identity proof would certainly be real, as it was arranged by Hao Ren.

Last night, after speaking on the phone with Hao Ren, an exit strategy from the United States was determined.

Hao Ren also hurried to discuss the related matters with his father.

Du Qiu let Hao Ren tell his father that after helping him escape the United States, he would set up an industrial park in the Tanga Federation with an initial investment amount of $200 million USD.

This made Hao Ren quite excited; with such a plan, the likelihood of his father agreeing to help was practically 100%.

Du Qiu, of course, knew that if it were solely based on personal friendship with Hao Ren, it was impossible to persuade a minister of a small country to contend with the United States.

Even with the investment amount Du Qiu was pledging, he was apprehensive inside, because if things went awry, the Tanga Federation would offend the United States.

Although the Tanga Federation has always had friendly relations with the Tang Country, interests come first between nations.

“Sir, the package is now out for delivery, you will need to step out to sign for it soon.”

The timely voice of Star Ocean came up, and Du Qiu immediately prepared himself; he was currently using a facial mask with a Japanese identity.

Since this is a Japanese person’s residence, he naturally had to be a Japanese person.

Only a little over ten minutes later, Du Qiu returned to the house with a package.

He opened the package and took out the neatly packaged fake identity proofs one by one, inspecting each of them.

Internally, he couldn’t help but admire the level of craftsmanship of the fake ID gang; anyway, he could not tell at all that these documents were fake.

“Star Ocean, you made a good choice, the level of these fake IDs is really high.”

“Sir, this can only work with ordinary police. If you encounter officers from the immigration bureau or customs inspection, they will definitely notice the discrepancies.”

Du Qiu was immediately disheartened; it seemed he still had to smuggle out of the country.

“Alas, if I could have multiple identities, I wouldn’t have to worry about being tracked by the GIA of the United States.”

“Sir, actually, this is feasible, but it might require you to make some effort to visit several different countries’ embassies.”

“How so?”

Star Ocean explained, “I can infiltrate some countries’ civil registration systems in advance, find the relevant personnel identities from them, clone them with slight modifications afterward.

Then, sir, you can go to the embassy reporting a loss using this person’s appearance. With me matching the systems, there will be no issue when the embassy checks.

Thus, they will certainly issue you a replacement for the identity document. That way, you’ll get a genuine identity proof.”

Du Qiu asked with some doubt, “But, wouldn’t this involve the other country’s exit records and the United States’ entry records, not to mention the records of this person applying for a visa to the United States? These things would be difficult to match one by one, wouldn’t they?”

Star Ocean continued, “Nowadays, it’s the internet age; these entry and exit systems, due to the requirement to interconnect with different countries, are actually connected to the internet, just with special firewalls.”

With this explanation from Star Ocean, Du Qiu immediately understood; Star Ocean probably figured out the various identity systems the previous night.

Otherwise, it would not suggest such a plan: to just get an identity proof, Star Ocean had done so much groundwork, from fake to real, and designed contingency plans.

Artificial intelligence of such strength is indeed extraordinary.

“Well, good, I’ll enjoy visiting several consulates in New Castle City and settle the identity issue. Maybe then, I’ll be able to boldly leave the United States and fly directly to Magic City.”

“Sir, that should be possible. However, you may not be able to fly directly to Magic City.”

“Why not?” Du Qiu asked in surprise.

Star Ocean said, “After Magic City Tianhong Branch opened an investigation and confirmed your charges, you are now wanted by the police. If you return to Magic City as yourself, you will surely get caught.”

“What? How could there be conclusive evidence for this case? I have never embezzled funds.”

“I just found out some information; it seems that the general manager of Dream Technology, Sun Hongming, submitted a piece of evidence to the police. It’s a document of your signing authorizing the transfer of ten million from Xingguang Precision.”

“Sun Hongming? He… he betrayed me?”

Du Qiu suddenly sat down on the tatami mat, somewhat stunned.

Du Qiu never thought that Sun Hongming would betray him because he had always treated Sun Hongming well with complete authority, increasing salaries and benefits.

Even upon understanding Sun Hongming’s desire to obtain shares, a joint venture company Xingguang Precision was set up intentionally, which could let this subsidiary go public in the future, allowing Sun Hongming and a group of veterans to get better entrepreneurial returns.

Recently, Xingguang Precision was in contact with some capitals, preparing to go public on the domestic science and technology board. As it has the potential to be a unicorn, its valuation has been rising even throughout a capital winter.

During this time of his severe illness and hospitalization, he still took care to arrange things for his family, allowing him to recuperate in peace.

Even in the past few days, when he has been entering the dream realm, he searched within the Custodian’s database to see if there were any methods to combat cancer in order to save Sun Hongming’s life.

Star Ocean said, “Sir, do you need me to conduct a comprehensive search of Sun Hongming’s relatives, to check their recent account and communication device anomalies?”

Du Qiu slammed his palm on the tatami, saying, “Search! Investigate all of Sun Hongming’s immediate family members for me. I want to know if he has been threatened.”

“Understood, I will commence immediately. Also, should I monitor these individuals’ communications at the same time?”

“Yes, and not only that, but use some monitoring systems to also surveil their recent activities. If anything abnormal is discovered, inform me immediately.”

“Yes, sir.”

This was the first time Du Qiu had actively commanded Star Ocean to undertake large-scale surveillance. Although he knew Star Ocean could easily do it, he had never unscrupulously used this capability of Star Ocean.

Only when someone encountered trouble would he let Star Ocean pinpoint and search related information.

After all, too much invasion of personal privacy could cause one to lose some of their original intentions and potentially open up the dark side of human nature.

But at this moment, the anger of being framed prompted Du Qiu to issue instructions to Star Ocean actively.

Up to now, Du Qiu still couldn’t understand why Sun Hongming would frame him.

He first ruled out the motive for Sun Hongming to seek money.

Even though Dream Technology had only been open for just over eight months, the dividends that could be distributed to a few entrepreneurial core members had already amounted to tens of millions, considering Sun Hongming’s contributions.

Besides his wife and children, Sun Hongming’s direct relatives included his parents, who were still alive, and he had two elder sisters back in his hometown.

Leveraging Star Ocean’s astonishing computing power, the first round of checks was completed quickly, revealing no unusual funds movement in their accounts.

No anomalies were found in their preserved communication records either.

Thus, they could only rely on subsequent monitoring to see if anything would turn up.

Hearing Star Ocean’s report, Du Qiu said, “Star Ocean, use our communication software to connect with Liu Yaofeng.”

“Yes, sir.”

Du Qiu took out the glasses and put them on, only to see that the glasses had already connected to Liu Yaofeng.

[Liu Yaofeng]: “Boss, you finally contacted me. How are you holding up? Everyone here is disconnected, and we are panicking.”

[Du Qiu]: “I’m okay. Take good care of the company. Arrange for ‘Little White’ to go public as soon as possible. I guess we definitely can’t sell the environmental protection equipment now.”

[Liu Yaofeng]: “Yes, we have received notification. The environmental protection equipment has been banned from export.”

[Du Qiu]: “I am asking you, why would Sun Hongming betray and set me up?”

[Liu Yaofeng]: “What? What did he betray you on?”

Seeing this message, Du Qiu knew that Liu Yaofeng probably hadn’t received the information yet; Star Ocean was indeed faster.

[Du Qiu]: “He provided evidence to Tianhong Branch, proving that I embezzled company funds. I’m now wanted by the police because of this.”

[Liu Yaofeng]: “Ah?! How… could he do such a thing? I will go ask him!”

[Du Qiu]: “Yes, see what he has to say. If he doesn’t have a reason that convinces me, I will not let him go.”

[Liu Yaofeng]: “Boss, what do we do now? How can you return to the country if you leave the United States?”

[Du Qiu]: “I may not be able to return to the country. Only you are allowed to know the messages that can reach me right now. Don’t tell anyone else for now.”