16: Chapter 15 Balance
He had waited for a long time.
The other party did not reply again.
Gu Shen’s hands left the projection keyboard, feeling a bit regretful.
This should be an expected response, right?
Some things are important, yet not that important…
Gu Shen didn’t want to delve too deeply into Chu Ling’s identity and motives.
For now, he just needed to know that this girl was on his side, sincerely helping him, and that was enough.
He had carefully reviewed the last two files transmitted.
His old residence was cordoned off 20m away with a twisted protective line, strictly barring outsiders, complemented by a few covert surveillance cameras, forming a tight supervision perimeter.
All these points had been marked by Chu Ling.
And that’s where the loophole appeared—
Due to the fire incident, several of the building’s own cameras were damaged, so the temporarily dispatched security personnel’s stationed positions just so happened to have a few blind spots…
The first file detailed two routes suitable for infiltration.
During staff changeovers, the duty personnel would patrol once after handing over.
That was the best opportunity to avoid surveillance and enter the old building.
From this perspective…
infiltrating wouldn’t be difficult.
But according to Chu Ling’s calculations, around 11 p.m., during the personnel change and inspection, there would be about a 1-minute gap; by the time he retrieved the ruler, the new batch of stationed personnel would already be in place.
If he were to return the same way, he might be discovered.
Therefore, the escape route had to be re-planned.
“Escape plan: Leave from point a on the rooftop, using the height difference to move to the adjacent old building b that hasn’t been sealed off.”
Gu Shen’s expression changed slightly as he stared at the three-dimensional escape map.
His old residence was marked as point a, there was another slightly shorter tube building diagonally across, which Chu Ling had marked as point b.
Jumping from the building, simple and crude.
“You can’t be serious…”
Gu Shen looked at the spatial gap and height difference between the two 3D maps, feeling somewhat desperate.
He fiercely grabbed the orange cat and lifted it to his face: “Hey, do you know that if you slip and fall, you’ll die?
Is there no other plan?”
The innocent kitty meowed, struggling hard.
But the evil man was too strong, resistance futile, and it had to comply.
It seemed that Chu Ling had already disconnected…
He was very clear that this seemingly most irrational escape route, was actually the most sensible.
Going back the same way, there was a good chance of being discovered by the security staff.
So, jumping was the only option?
To prepare for tonight’s action, Gu Shen planned to purchase a set of portable equipment that could link to Deep Sea.
Real-time communication with Chu Ling, getting the latest updates, would greatly increase the success rate of the operation.
But Gu Shen was also very aware that his every action now was probably being monitored.
As Nan Jin had said, due to the “special pardon,” the Judgement Institute had many people eyeing him…
thus his electronic bills would likely be pulled up by interested parties.
Now was a good opportunity.
After the fire, moving to a new house, there was a lot of “household items” needed to be bought, and personal items to connect to Deep Sea were in urgent need.
Casually buying them shouldn’t raise any suspicions about his intentions.
Less than four hours left until the real action.
With time pressing, Gu Shen quickly packed up and left the apartment with the card Nan Jin gave him.
Having lived in Da Teng City for seventeen years, Gu Shen always resided in a far-flung and sparsely populated area.
The moment he left the apartment, he felt everything around him was so unfamiliar…
The clamor and noise carrying the warm wind hit him full on, the crowd surged, neon lights just turned on, steel buildings stood in dense array, and the majestic currents of electronic streams washed over the massive screens in the central square, which were broadcasting a family gathering commercial.
This era, this world, was so vast.
The silent and invisible electricity, networks, spanning five continents, linked everyone together.
Everyone was like a droplet in the sea waves, tightly packed, and making a sound could splash water.
Yet he was the exception.
All along, Gu Shen felt like he was a solitary grain of sand on the beach.
Deep Sea connected the whole world, but not him.
Gathering his coat, he donned his hat, and squeezed into the crowd.
The apartment was in the bustling heart of the city center.
The nearest supermarket was a 5-minute walk away.
Pushing the shopping cart, Gu Shen selected some daily consumables and headed to the electronics section.
A petite and adorable pink wheeled robot slowly approached Gu Shen, its two pincers took hold of the shopping cart to help push it, and it inquired enthusiastically.
May I help you find something?”
Large supermarkets had already popularized unmanned shopping, where intelligent machinery could perform most of the shopping guide tasks.
But Gu Shen knew that beneath that pink and soft cute robotic shell flowed not emotions, but emotionless code, and the cloud database in the background would store every conversation the robot had with customers.
Nowadays, Deep Sea connections had become an indispensable necessity.
Almost every new electronic product was capable of providing wireless network connection services.
Before coming here, Gu Shen had entertained the thought, if he bought Holographic Glasses or a Holographic Helmet…
he wondered whether Chu Ling’s technology could achieve synchronized construction cross-sectional diagrams, as well as real-time personnel movements.
He glanced at the price of the Holographic Glasses…
Then he peeked at the Holographic Helmet, 39,999.
It seemed this was just the mini version, there was also a plus, and a plus max.
incredibly expensive!
He only had five thousand in his bank account.
The pink robot accompanied Gu Shen, starting and stopping alongside him, sensing Gu Shen’s hesitation, it began a passionate pitch: “This model is the latest Holographic Glasses by Huazhi Group, equipped with the most recent lifi technology, capable of 256 hours of battery life, perfectly addressing everyday work and entertainment needs…
The promotional price is just 12,999, and if you decide to apply for a membership card, you can also enjoy…”
Gu Shen, starting to feel a headache, cut off the chatty robot mercilessly, “I’ll just buy a pair of wireless earphones, the basic model will do.
Holographic Glasses and helmets were certainly useful, but the latter was too bulky and not convenient for movement.
it wasn’t that Gu Shen felt sorry for the money; with Nan Jin’s bank card and his own savings, buying a pair of glasses should not be a problem.
What mattered most was the “electronic bill” for this shopping trip—it was just a routine purchase for relocating to a new home; there was no reason to buy a pair of Holographic Glasses right off the bat.
“Very well, please follow me.”
The robot paused briefly, then led Gu Shen with a left turn followed by another left.
Gu Shen chose a very affordable pair of wireless earphones, less than two hundred yuan, capable of linking to the Deep Sea.
He had had his eye on this pair for a long time, and now was the perfect opportunity to purchase them.
The pink robot assisted Gu Shen with his cart all the way to the self-checkout machine.
Its base slowly rose as it used its round suction-cup hands to take out each item one by one and place them on the counter.
“The total comes to 556.5 yuan.”
Although it hurt a bit, it was acceptable.
Without hesitation, Gu Shen immediately produced his scarcely-filled bank card to pay.
Although the Judgement Institute had arranged a luxurious apartment for him and provided a bank card for “sufficient daily expenses”…
unconditionally accepting favors was not in Gu Shen’s nature; he still had money, and this money was also “sufficient for daily expenses.”
Of course, there were also considerations for the possibility of an “electronic shopping list” being investigated in the future in his decision not to use the provided card.
After paying, Gu Shen took out another card.
“Check the balance on this card too, please…” his emotions were mixed.
The Judgement Institute was generous, solving his housing issue—how much would this card hold?
Reflecting on Nan Jin’s expression, for sufficient daily expenses…
If those guys had investigated his daily life, they should know that he spent just two or three thousand a month to cover it.
Gu Shen stared blankly at the screen, lost in thought.
Personal, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands…
The amount Nan Jin left him wasn’t so exaggerated that he had to count the digits to ascertain the sum, but Gu Shen still counted several times to make sure he hadn’t made a mistake.
Gu Shen stared at the screen, feeling somewhat dazed.
Five hundred thousand.
In the bank card Nan Jin gave him, there was a total of five hundred thousand.
He had never seen this much money.