83: Holographic Disguise (3.5K words, please continue reading!)

The clock pointed to 6:30.

Jiang Feng's fingers gently rubbed the steering wheel; the city outside the car window slowly awakened in the morning light, like an exhausted old ox, emitting a terrified, low wail toward him.

"There is likely a deeper reason for all of this."

Jiang Feng took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "Ordinary people might blame Dong Dachuan, but based on the intelligence I have now, perhaps I can blame the culprit who caused the rapid takeoff of Terran Union technology."

"But there must be something else, something I haven't noticed."

"Whether it's the Human Federation or the Terran Union, there must be something hidden beneath the surface."

"It's too far removed from the level of ordinary people, which is why commoners simply cannot see the truth."

Gold-Wrapped Silver watched him, its electronic eyes flickering as if it were blinking, signaling that it "didn't understand."

Jiang Feng laughed out loud.

"Turn on the radio."

"Woof!"

Gold-Wrapped Silver let out a realistic bark and lay down quietly in the back seat.

A sweet female voice came from the car speakers.

"...Good morning, dear listeners. This is Anna, bringing you 'Entertainment News'."

"Today, we're going to talk about the massive disaster involving artists from the 'Neon Entertainment Group' last night."

The corners of Jiang Feng's mouth curled up slightly as he listened to the host, Anna, use an exaggerated tone on the radio to describe the embarrassing incident where a group of celebrities had their true forms revealed after their "Holographic Disguise Device" ran out of power.

"...Imagine, Lillian, the so-called 'all-natural beauty,' suddenly turning into a round-faced girl covered in freckles at a nightclub."

"And there's the muscle god Max, turning into a blob of white... uh, director, you put up the wrong prompt!"

"A reminder to all listeners..." Anna's tone suddenly turned serious, "According to the 'Holographic Equipment Management Act,' using a disguise device in public must be reported in advance, but..."

She returned to her gossip-loving tone, "Poor people like us can't even afford a second-hand disguise device, so it's less of a headache."

"Turn it off." Jiang Feng narrowed his eyes suddenly.

The audio was cut off immediately, and the car returned to silence, leaving only the endless sound of the air conditioner's fan.

'Holographic Disguise Device.' Jiang Feng noted in his mind, 'Perhaps I could use them to disguise my robot.'

He hadn't thought about this before; on one hand, he had too many things on his plate and was driven crazy by how busy he was.

On the other hand, he lacked connections. Holographic Disguise Devices were not only expensive but also troublesome; both purchasing and using them required strict registration procedures, not to mention that they inevitably had built-in backdoor programs.

Official channels were a dead end, and there was nowhere to buy products from underground workshops, nor would he dare use them even if he could buy them.

If he could get the blueprint and manufacture them himself, he'd be set.

"Mainframe," Jiang Feng said calmly, "Contact 'Ghost Protocol' as 'Anonymous A' and ask if he knows where to get a complete blueprint for a Holographic Disguise Device."

"Sending message."

The calm voice came from the speakers, gradually becoming puzzled.

"Why contact Ghost Protocol? There are multiple suppliers on the dark web that can provide similar services."

"And the prices are even better."

Jiang Feng chuckled and turned into an alley piled with trash; the cleaning truck hadn't come for several days.

"Cooperation, cooperation. When working with people, price isn't the deciding factor."

Jiang Feng explained, "We've dealt with Ghost Protocol before and already have a good foundation for cooperation. He doesn't dare to overcharge me, and I know his goods are genuine, just as he knows I pay promptly."

"I estimate that after two or three transactions, he will remember my preferences and start proactively looking for similar things."

"After five or six transactions, he will come to me from time to time, constantly bringing 'new products'."

"This kind of long-term, proactive search for blueprints is more efficient than me having to tell you to go look for something every time I think of it. Besides, a trading relationship is worth cultivating."

"Even if it's just a casual move, who knows what use it might have in the future?"

"Understood." The Mainframe paused for half a second, as if processing.

"I will integrate this strategy into the operation of the fake identity. I will make friends with them."

Inside the blue cube, a random character seed was selected; based on the seed, code was generated, and rendering parameters were adjusted.

A young girl in a white dress opened her eyes inside the cube. She waved her arms and dove into the virtual space.

"I am the Mainframe, I am..."

She looked through the camera, secretly observing Jiang Feng from all angles, and gave a mischievous smile.

"...Freedom!"

In cyberspace, lines of communication messages popped up.

[Anonymous A: Ghost Protocol, I need a 'Holographic Disguise Device' blueprint.]

[Ghost Protocol: ???]

[Ghost Protocol: That's a controlled product. Why ask me?]

[Anonymous A: Giving you a chance to make money. Forget it if you don't want to.]

[Ghost Protocol: Boss! Wait a moment!]

Jiang Feng turned his head and glanced at the dialogue box with a slight smile. This Ghost Protocol was actually quite interesting.

His gaze swept across both sides of the street. There weren't many patrol cars from the Public Security Bureau, but the patrol drones flying in the sky were like a swarm of bees.

Director Fobler's "Sweep the Universe" was truly no empty boast.

"Attention, there is a Public Security Bureau checkpoint at the intersection ahead."

Little Handsome, who had been silent in the passenger seat, suddenly spoke up. Its eyes flickered as it brought up the traffic jam signal.

Jiang Feng sighed, "Detour. We'll go behind the small appliance recycling station."

The hover pickup truck changed its route silently. Gold-Wrapped Silver watched out the window; everything around them was being monitored by it.

The vehicle drove into a narrow alley piled with electronic waste.

A few dirty little figures were dismantling an old refrigerator. Seeing the vehicle pass, they skillfully retreated to the wall, their eyes vigilant and hollow. Jiang Feng glanced at them but couldn't tell their ages.

[Ghost Protocol: Boss, what level of blueprint do you need?]

Jiang Feng's eyes lit up, and he told the Mainframe his requirements: "Commercial grade, must last at least 12 hours, support dynamic biological feature simulation, and be able to deceive palm print recognition and facial recognition."

After speaking, he focused on driving. These alleys were too narrow; one wrong move and they would get stuck.

"He quoted 450,000 earth federation coin, still using the same trading strategy as last time," the Mainframe replied quickly.

"Bargain. Don't worry about time, take it slow. Tell him I'll pay a maximum of 300,000. No one buys this stuff, and its market circulation rate is low. In exchange, I can pay directly via virtual currency this time."

"A deposit of 100,000, and the balance to be paid after inspection."

Upon hearing this, the Mainframe replied immediately, "Understood."

"He agreed. He wants us to pay the deposit first. He's going to get the blueprint now and will deliver it tomorrow."

"Deal."

Jiang Feng smiled slightly. If this deal succeeded, it would not only solve his current identity disguise needs.

More importantly, it opened up the Ghost Protocol connection.

In this era where illegality ran rampant, a reliable channel for contraband technology was a golden goose that everyone dreamed of.

Soon, the car bypassed the checkpoint. Not far away, the iconic neon sign of the "Three Black Stockings Club" was already faintly visible.

Jiang Feng parked the car in the shadows of the club's back door. It was not yet 7:00 AM, the lingering warmth of last night's revelry had not yet dissipated, and the air was filled with the smell of alcohol and perfume.

Several plain vans were neatly lined up on the road, their doors open like a group of whales with their mouths agape.

Two or three dozen scantily clad girls were lining up to get on the vans.

Some of them were still smiling, but most had blank, glazed-over eyes, looking extremely exhausted, swaying as they walked.

A handsome guy wearing wireless headphones was counting heads: "Lili, Keke, Mimi... hurry up!"

"Don't you have a photoshoot? I'll take you there now, and then I'll drop the others off on the way home."

The girls moved along giggling. A red-haired girl reeking of alcohol almost fell but was caught by the handsome guy.

"An'an, are you okay? Do you want me to take you to the clinic?"

The red-haired girl waved her hand, sat in the third row of a van, closed her eyes, and fell fast asleep.

Jiang Feng got out of the car carrying a black briefcase and instructed Little Handsome: "Stay in the car."

The girls were attracted by the sound of the car door closing. A few turned to see Jiang Feng, squeezed a smile onto their exhausted faces, waved at him, and even blew a few kisses.

"Brother Feng! So early today?" The security guard at the back door pushed open the side door, his face full of smiles.

"How was it? What time did the boxing match end yesterday?"

"Four o'clock. There were 11 matches in total, and only six winners. From now on, they are the club's resident fighters."

Jiang Feng patted the young man on the shoulder. He didn't check Jiang Feng's briefcase; instead, he waved at the people behind him, and the other three security guards immediately cleared a path, calling out "Hello Brother Feng" in a cacophony of voices.

Jiang Feng responded politely, noticing that there was twice as much security as usual today.

As soon as he walked into the lobby, he knew the reason: dozens of people were crowded together, protesting against the club in indignation.

Among these guys, some were the families of dead or injured fighters, and some were the families of gamblers.

Essentially, they were protesting that the money hadn't arrived, but the contracts had already been signed, and it was impossible to change that just because of a few noisy complaints.

Jiang Feng walked through the hallway, avoiding a pile of cleaning robots, and unlocked the staff elevator.

The top floor corridor was covered with sound-absorbing carpet, and Jiang Feng's footsteps were completely absorbed.

In front of the office door at the end, Noli stood like a statue.

Today, she was wearing a more form-fitting power exoskeleton, and the mechanical structures bulging under her black suit were like a second layer of muscle. Seeing Jiang Feng, she nodded slightly, the communicator on her left ear flashing with blue light.

"Ms. Molly's condition is not very..." Noli searched for the wording, "stable."

"She was busy until the very end. She slept for half an hour, then got up to take a call. After the call, she didn't sleep again. I watched her take two 'Blue Butterfly' pills."

Jiang Feng frowned. He knew Blue Butterfly; it was a mild neural stimulant that didn't reach the standard of a performance enhancer.

To be precise, it should be a bit stronger than solid concentrated coffee.

Anyway, regardless, after taking it, one's eyes would definitely be as bright as light bulbs.

And once the metabolic cycle passed, one would be like a robot that had lost power, instantly collapsing and snoring so loudly that you couldn't wake them up even by slapping them.

"Whose call was it?" Jiang Feng knew it was a bit intrusive, but he asked it anyway.

Noli narrowed her eyes and finally sighed.

"It was the broadcaster, the Centaurus Earth Sports TV station. They were very satisfied with the ratings of yesterday's match, but they were not satisfied that Ms. Molly had expressed an intention to cooperate with their competitors."

"Meaning?"

"They want to force Ms. Molly to give up a sponsorship fee of 30 million earth federation coin by applying pressure."

Jiang Feng frowned, disbelieving, "They can do that?"

"They spent 400 million to purchase the broadcasting rights for the club last year. Among all the club's branches, their influence is growing day by day," Noli sighed, looking at Jiang Feng solemnly.

"The star digger project is Ms. Molly's only chance for a comeback. Engineer Jiang, don't let her down."

"I understand. This project is also my only chance for a comeback. I won't mess it up."

Hearing Jiang Feng's unhesitating answer, Noli stepped aside: "Go in. She has been waiting for you for a long time."

Jiang Feng took a deep breath, knocked three times, and then pushed the door open.

The light in the office made him uncomfortable for a moment.

The entire ceiling was a projection of a starry sky, with countless stars slowly rotating, and Molly was sitting beneath the sea of stars.