novelraw Page 44
Page 44
The young man's eyes rolled back instantly, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground, completely losing consciousness.
The whole process happened in the blink of an eye.
From the moment Mo Jiang scoffed to the moment he subdued the armed youth, it took only two or three seconds.
The Asian teenager who had been robbed was still holding his backpack with both hands, staring blankly at everything that was happening in front of him, his mind completely blank.
Mo Jiang ignored the stunned boy.
He crouched down and skillfully began to grope the unconscious young man.
Soon, he pulled out a worn-out wallet, an old cell phone, and the pistol that had fallen to the ground.
If I want to stay here for two days, I'll need to figure out where to eat and where to stay.
Although sleeping on the street wouldn't be a problem given the current weather and my physical condition, there's no need to abuse myself like that.
He didn't have any US dollars from 2012 on him; he hadn't touched cash for many years since Alipay was introduced.
As for his own phone, after learning that this was a watchdog world teeming with hackers, he had no intention of turning it on at all.
The young man only had about ten yuan on him; it was unclear whether that was a lot or a little.
Mo Jiang figured it wouldn't be easy to survive on that little bit of money for a couple of days.
After doing all this, he turned to look at the Asian boy who was still in shock.
The boy looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, probably a high school student.
Mo Jiang had met Koreans and Japanese people, but this young man's temperament was quite different from theirs.
"Immigrant? Or international student?"
"Immigrants..."
This time, the boy's answer was in fluent and clear Mandarin.
"You dare to walk through the alleyways of Chicago? Go home and take the main roads!"
Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, is also known for its high crime rate, as almost everyone in the country is armed due to the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Free America, gunfights every day.
Birth is random, death is arbitrary.
These are not just memes, but real events that have actually happened on this land.
American police? They have no obligation to protect citizens.
"Wait."
The boy jolted awake, turned around trembling, and was already considering whether to hand over the money he had earned from his part-time job.
He mistook Mo Jiang for a robber like the armed youth, given how skillfully Mo Jiang had handled the loot earlier.
Mo Jiang scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed, and asked, "Do you know where I can find cheap hotels? That's all I have."
As he spoke, he took out a dozen or so yuan that he had taken from the gunman.
This amount of money was definitely not enough for two days' food and lodging, so the boy consciously took out his wallet and handed it over to avoid any possible beating.
"I... I only have this much left."
Mo Jiang's face immediately darkened. "What are you doing? What are you doing! Take your wallet back!"
"I'm asking you if you know any cheap hotels, not asking you for money! If you don't know, then get the hell out of here!"
It was obvious that the boy in front of him had misunderstood him.
Faced with an armed robber, Mo Jiang could only feel proud of his strength and skill after robbing the man.
But robbing a student who can't resist?
If this gets out, he'll lose all face.
That bastard Liu Zhen would laugh his teeth out.
Mo Jiang left the alley with a gloomy expression; it seemed that the dozen or so yuan wouldn't be enough for two days' living expenses.
He could go back to the modern world, but the flow of time is different in each world. Before Mo Jiang figured out the ratio of the flow of time between the Watch Dogs world and the main world, he didn't plan to leave rashly.
Otherwise, if he doesn't return for two days, Aiden might not wait for him to come and get his identity.
This fox has a lot on its plate right now: treating Lina, comforting her sister's family, contacting its partner Damian, investigating Lucky Quinn, and preventing the other side from sending more assassins.
With so many things on my plate, creating a legal identity for Mojiang is simply not a priority.
If it involved the safety of his family, Mo Jiang would have done the same.
The author says:
Author's note: I would like to recommend two books to everyone.
"Yes, Prime Minister of Japan" tells the story of an undercover agent sent to Japan who becomes the prime minister.
In "The Magical Water Margin, They All Call Me Brother," Liangshan has become a mountain of mothers, with all 108 heroes being sisters. Brother, it's time to establish a second Song Dynasty.
78. If Lucky Quinn could rise from a gangster to become the underground emperor of Chicago, so can I, Mo Jiang!
What other way can I get money for two days of food and lodging?
Looking for a place to sell two gold coins? Ever since he learned that he would be traveling to more worlds, Mo Jiang has been carrying two gold coins with him in case of need.
But this idea was quickly rejected.
In China, doing this kind of thing would at best result in being relentlessly pressured to lower the price; in Chicago, you'd most likely be murdered and swallowed up by someone else.
Robbing gang members?
Or perhaps you could rob a bank and use your time-traveling abilities to escape?
Mo Jiang quickly dismissed these ideas, as finding lone gang members would be difficult and time-consuming.
As for robbing a bank...
Murray didn't feel any guilt about robbing a bank; after all, who isn't a five-star good citizen of Los Santos?
However, the existence of the ctOS system made him abandon this plan.
ctOS (Central Operating System) is a super-information central operating system developed by Bloom. This system connects to the city's infrastructure network through a supercomputer, controls public facilities such as traffic lights, power grids, and surveillance cameras, and collects and stores sensitive information such as residents' bank accounts, social media, and medical records.
In 2006, the Chicago city government launched the "Virtual Security Initiative" to establish a prototype system, which was officially launched in 2011, enabling networked control of 93% of the city's public facilities.
This version uses a crime prediction algorithm to mark citizens who have not committed crimes but pose a potential threat as subjects of observation.
With this system in place, if Mojiang dares to reveal anything special, he can easily be spotted by the ubiquitous cameras.
In the same area, there are even more cameras here than in China in 2025.
"Information surveillance, information theft, invasion of personal privacy, and even covert profiling..."
Mo Jiang shook his head helplessly, "Now I know where all those claims about Americans ignoring human rights, privacy surveillance, and citizen points really come from."
"It's incredibly unfree that the democratic and free United States of America engages in this kind of surveillance."
Chicago in 2012 was turned into something like 1984.
Is your Second Amendment just for show?
Now that you mention it, it seems like it's really just for show. We've been ripped off by health insurance for so long, and all we get is Luigi.
Just as Mo Jiang was considering whether to swallow his pride and ask Aiden for some money, a timid voice came from behind him.
The sound was very soft; if Mo Jiang hadn't had such keen senses, he might have missed it entirely.
"Um, don't you have anywhere to stay right now?"
Looking back, the student was following behind Mo Jiang with his schoolbag. When he saw Mo Jiang turn around, he immediately said, "I...I'm also going out this way."
She was afraid that if she spoke too late, people would suspect that she was stalking him.
"No identification, eighteen yuan, two nights' stay. Do you have connections?"
The student glanced at Mo Jiang, gritted his teeth, and said, "Come with me, I have a way."
……
The student did have a solution, but his solution made Mo Jiang not only cover his forehead.
This kid's family runs a small hotel, and he was talking to his parents about having them set aside a room for Mo Jiang.
Eighteen yuan for two nights' stay, with three meals provided at fixed times.
This is the price offered by the owners, but calling it a price is more like offering some kind of assistance.
It's hard to say that Sun Ke's help wasn't involved; he was trying to repay Mo Jiang for saving him from being robbed.
Sun Ke, that is, the student's name.
As immigrants, the couple who own the business know what kind of people are those who have no money and no legal status: either they came through illegal channels or they came illegally.
In fact, there isn't much difference between either one.
After closing the door, Mo Jiang observed the room. Although it was small, it had a bed and a bathroom.
Although the window doesn't face the sun, considering the price of eighteen yuan for two days, it's not too much of a concern.
If you're not used to the place, that's Mo Jiang's fault, not the room's fault.
After locking the door, Mo Jiang sat directly on the bed and took out his notebook from his bag.
After some thought, Mo Jiang activated his spiritual power and circulated his internal energy to enhance the sharpness of his senses.
He sensed a faint gaze in the air, not a human gaze, but rather the gaze of the household appliances in the room.
The ctOS system extends its reach to every corner of the city, even to a small hotel.
Mo Jiang used tissues in the room to block the gazes he sensed, making sure no one escaped before lying on the bed, covering his entire body with the blanket, and starting to write in his notebook.
This city is full of security cameras; I need to avoid revealing my special abilities as much as possible.
If possible, find a hacker as an accomplice as soon as possible, at least to make me disappear from the surveillance footage.
[We can't challenge the official forces for now, and we can't rob banks either. If we're locked down by ctOS, we'll have to abandon this world.]
Starting tomorrow, I'll find a less damned gang to subdue it.
After writing down what he needed to do in the next two days, Mo Jiang stuffed the notebook into his bag. He wasn't worried that anyone would see the words inside.
Even if someone sees it, they will most likely think it was written by someone with chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) or delusions.
Moreover, taking the bag from him would be impossible if he didn't want to.
Mo Jiang might fear the crossfire of light weapons in open areas, but if it were simply a matter of taking his satchel, he would be a hundred men kneeling before him.
Ignoring firearms, his individual combat ability is far ahead of others.
Now that the problem of food and lodging for the next two days has been solved, Mo Jiang plans to take over a gang.
Chicago is a city full of clubs and organizations, and for someone like him who has no connections, these clubs are the best stepping stones.
The gang played a crucial role in Lucky Quinn's rise to become Chicago's underground emperor.
"Chan Ho-nam... ugh, I mean Lucky Quinn was able to rise from a triad henchman to become the underground emperor of Chicago. I, Mo Jiang, can do the same!"
……
The next day, Mo Jiang got up early and didn't wait for the small hotel to provide breakfast. Since his stomach had changed, as long as he wasn't engaged in intense fighting, he could go a day or two without eating without any problems.
He had more important things to do than eat breakfast.
Market research!
Chicago is not the Middle Ages; you can't just sell it for a price with some sugar, salt, and spices.
To understand what the Chicago market truly needs, he has to spend some time conducting research.
Of course, while investigating, we should also look for any relatively "clean" gangs that we can recruit as underlings.
Mojiang's "clean" standard is that there is no drug trafficking and no forced prostitution.
He felt the probability of finding a gang that met both criteria was slim, but he would look for one anyway, just in case he came across one.
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