"What kind of junk mail?"
As Mugalen was carrying his hunting shotgun, preparing for today's hunt, he pulled out his phone and discovered an email sent by soone unknown. When he opened it, the array of colors almost blinded him.
Cursing under his breath about his brain being polluted, Mugalen muttered, "Damn service providers must have sold my information again!"
After saying that, Mugalen deleted the email and slipped his phone back into his pocket, humming an unnad tune as he closed the car door.
An alley in Los Angeles.
Bi Fang, who sent the email, had waited for quite a while but did not receive the expected response.
Yao Jun scratched his head beside him, "Are you sure this will work?"
"Let's wait a bit longer, maybe he doesn't have his phone on him," Bi Fang hesitated but chose to continue waiting.
Mugalen wasn't his loyal dog. He wouldn't even instantly reply to a ssage on QQ, let alone an email.
No matter how carefully a hider conceals his tracks, there's always the danger of security breaches in any digital information exchange.
Therefore, professionals employ multiple thods to ensure the safety of their information.
Using anonymous networks or fake email addresses to send encrypted ssages is just the first step.
Spies of the past would hide microdot photographs with information in the head of a pin; today, they embed text docunts within digital images that only reveal themselves after being decompressed.
Before composing a ssage, Bi Fang would paste an inconsequential image onto the docunt, then type sensitive information above or below it, changing the font color to white to further enhance security.
Afterwards, the size of the image file sent serves as a decoy, masking the extra space taken up by the text.
Choosing Mugalen was not only because he was an ordinary person but also because he was a forr special forces operative. For such a mode of ssage transmission, he was expected to have his own alertness, making it more likely for him to notice.
An hour later.
The photographer, feeling his hands grow sore from holding the cara, set it down and took out a piece of bread from his backpack to nibble on, offering so to Sean beside him.
Through Yao Jun's persuasion and Bi Fang's finding of Sean's own deeds, Sean finally let go of his doubts and sat down with them.
The reason they didn't leave imdiately was that the group discovered Sean had his own bank card!
Though it had no money, it was an important ans to get one's hands on borrowed money.
Not all holess people are dangerous. Sean had graduated from high school as an outstanding student, then earned his Bachelor's degree in Economics at Yale University, receiving multiple scholarships along the way.
After graduation, he went into banking on Wall Street. Later, he moved to Hollywood and established his own photography and film company, achieving modest success and even buying his own property at Silver Lake.
But looking at Sean now, one could tell he had encountered setbacks since then.
His life, once smooth sailing, hit a snag when his partnership dissolved. Soon after, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. One blow after another took a massive toll on both his mind and body.
After moving several tis, he ended up living in his car. Then he lost the car too.
Skyrocketing housing prices ultimately forced Sean to join the ranks of the tent dwellers, who weren't even allowed in parks because the sprinklers would turn on periodically—not to water the plants, but to drive away the holess.
Until now, when Bi Fang and Yao Jun "drafted" him.
"Dude, your life is pretty amazing," the photographer said with admiration.
"That's all in the past," Sean replied with a smile, pleasantly munching on the bread the photographer had given him.
This was his first al of the day.
Luckily, Bi Fang's duo wasn't really into illegal activities. Things were not bad for Sean in his current situation, whether buying a phone or helping with a money transfer to complete a ga, he would get his paynt.
Even if the Los Angeles sunshine is bright, shadows still fall at the corners of the city's foundations.
The holess are another inescapable facet of this city, they are both a phenonon and individuals.
They tread through the city's shadows to a different beat, while city dwellers glance sideways, and the mainstream voice remains deeply hushed.
Yet, under the do of sky, this community coexists with the fate of the city in their own way.
Everyone was getting a bit bored waiting.
"I think he might have seen it but didn't think much of it, should we try again?"
Another hour passed, and Yao Jun also started nibbling on toast. Without squirrel at as filling, it was a bit dry and lacked grease.
"Alright, then let's resend it."
Bi Fang thought for a mont and felt that the content might be the issue. He thumbed through his phone, pondering for a while, then logged onto Twitter. After browsing for a bit, he chose a photo of a certain well-known sexy blogger and posted it.
Yao Jun choked on a mouthful of toast, his eyes wide with admiration, "You're damn right, you're a genius."
"Cough cough."
The n present couldn't help but shift their gaze, looking down slightly.
...
"Hey, a full haul!"
Mugalen strung his catch on a rope and pulled it onto the truck, then took out his phone that had suddenly started vibrating, his face creased with annoyance, "What the hell, another spam mail, damn... this..."
Mugalen intended to delete the email once again, and then block the sender, but this ti, he hesitated for a brief mont. His eyes lingered a few tis, and in those few monts, he noticed sothing different...
Were there words under the picture?
Once his attention was piqued, everything that followed was simple. Mugalen was trained and knew how to inspect properly. He soon saw the whole ssage.
After reading the content.
A scamr?
No, it couldn't be a scamr; no scamr could be this professional. He hadn't even learned these techniques himself, but on second thought, they were incredibly useful.
So it was real?
After pondering, Mugalen decided to probe a bit first.
Many citizens with a heightened sensitivity to their lifestyles often hope to reduce their digital footprints. So they tend to share email accounts with those they are close to.
They don't use these accounts to send and receive emails but maintain secure communication by saving and viewing drafts back and forth. This way, no suspicious internet traffic is ever generated.
Mugalen wasn't one of them; while frustrated that his information often leaked, he wasn't at that extre. However, he knew if what the other person said was true, that's what he should do.
After a round of simple information exchange, Mugalen finally confird that the other party was indeed Bi Fang.
Obviously, Bi Fang now needed his help!
Quite the rarity.
Mugalen felt a surge of excitent and after a mont of thought, he typed on the email:
"I've heard that you Huaxia have sothing called 'nine out thirteen back'?"
Where the hell did you learn this stuff?
Bi Fang contained his frustration internally, typed rapidly, and hit send.
"Get lost! Send the money! Hurry up!"
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