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Chapter 145: Chapter 131 Capital Tracking (Seeking Votes!) _1
The first sentence in the ugly black and white dialogue box was clearly automatically generated by the software.
"CAN I HELP YOU?"
In preparation for this ’transaction’, Tang Qing had deliberately studied financial English vocabulary a few days earlier, as well as read some financial news from foreign countries. If not, the upcoming conversation would likely become problematic - it would be too embarrassing to rely on a translator tool.
Using English, Tang Qing typed: "I need some anonymous bank accounts in both the U.S. and Germany, capable of unlimited free transfers between them. I have a large amount of U.S. dollars that need to be exchanged for Euros."
Such a request naturally requires a clear explanation of its intended use. After all, there are many types of bank accounts, including many which the public is unaware of. "If there are restrictions on international transfers, exchange amount, or types of exchange, it will only hinder me," Tang Qing thought. Furthermore, the parties already knew that such activities would be taking place.
Tang Qing had previously asked the system about euro account related matters. The system informed him that an account with a bank in any Eurozone country can be tied to the system. The reason for choosing Germany is because Frankfurt in Germany is one of the world’s major free foreign exchange markets. Its banks have both size and strength, and are not particularly sensitive to fluctuations in the U.S dollar.
"So, you’re saying that you have a large quantity of U.S. dollars on American soil which you need to convert to German Euros using cross-border direct transfers; with no limitations regarding amount, currency type, inbound and outbound transfers. Is that correct?" the other party typed.
After reading the text twice and confirming the other party’s accurate understanding, Tang Qing typed: "YES."
"No problem. Do you wish to use the same bank (inbound and outbound), or different banks?" asked the other party after a moment.
"Different banks. However, both banks must be highly capable as I do not want to end up finding the other party unable to settle my transfer," replied Tang Qing. He would rather use different banks as he believed using the same bank could increase the chances of detailed scrutiny.
The situation of a branch of Citibank in Europe, particularly in Germany, containing the transferred funds being deposited into the US account, does not seem to present a problem. Despite this, once the transaction volume became conspicuous enough to prompt an investigation, the likelihood of an accurate investigation was high. In contrast, different banks at least offered some form of ’barrier’ to this.
"Rest assured, this site’s reputation ensures that you will not run out of money to exchange. These accounts are special trading accounts and all major banks will co-insure them. The account funds should arrive within half an hour at the latest and we provide 24-hour service all year round. The price for each account is $10,000, with a lifespan of 3 years. After 3 years, the accounts will automatically be forcibly closed. You must transfer out the funds inside beforehand, otherwise we and the bank will not be responsible for any losses. Each transaction into or out of this type of account must be at least $1 million. Both banks will deduct a service charge of 0.005% of each transaction as a compensation for exchange rate risks. The service charge will be collected directly from the transferred funds. How many accounts from the two countries do you need?"
After reading through the text twice, Tang Qing concluded that the service fee was not high. A single transaction would only cost 0.01%, lower than his previous calculations. Clearly, these were true special accounts. Transactions involving less than $1 million were not deemed worth their time. He had never heard of such accounts in his past life. Overall, he was rather satisfied.
However, his current savings fell short. After giving 4.5 million to Zhou Li, Tang Qing only had a bit over 700k left, not even enough to make up $100,000. Even though he could take out a loan, he prefers to avoid them if possible. So he decided to ask first, and typed:
"Prepare 100 accounts from different banks for both countries, with 5 to 10 banks at each end. I’ll pay a deposit of $50,000 first; on 2nd February, at this exact time, you deliver everything to me in one go, and I’ll pay the remaining amount. How’s that?"
Within 20 seconds, they replied with: "Yes, sir, that’s possible. This is an account from Citibank in the U.S., when would you like to make the payment?"
Seeing the other party’s agreement, Tang Qing sighed in relief. If they insisted on being paid first, he would have to wait. As such, he replied "Now, just hang on a few minutes."
After pressing Enter, Tang Qing immediately had the system transfer the $50,000 to that account.
Of course, Tang Qing could not use a domestic account, since the transfers would not go through. Neither could he directly transfer using the system. Each time he remembered that the system has the capability to do so, but still chose not to offer direct transfer services to non-task clients, Tang Qing was speechless. Each time he asked why, the system just gave a non-committal response.
This is really fucking ridiculous.
So, he could only choose a stupid method.
Resolving the account issue was relatively easy. There are always, for various reasons, bank account information that’s been made public around the globe. All that’s needed are the account and password for the system to be able to link up. A few days ago, Tang Qing just did a search and found many US accounts, tried linking 7 or 8 before finding one that succeeded. Which makes sense, as it wouldn’t forbid public accounts from changing their passwords.
"$50,000 has been transferred, please check," said Tang Qing after the transfer. He wouldn’t think that lag, like in local accounts, could apply to their accounts. Their accounts must be capable of real-time transactions, otherwise the embarrassment would be huge. 𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝒐𝙢
As expected, in less than half a minute the other party replied, probably even accounting for the typing time.
"Good, we’ve received $50,000. We will prepare the account information as quickly as possible. This is your order number, please remember it or keep it safe. When it’s time, please input the number in the user interface, then we will process the order."
Then the other party sent a code consisting of six mixed-up letters and numbers. Tang Qing glanced through it three times, then memorised it firmly.
Seeing that there was nothing else, Tang Qing bowed out of the New Year and briskly took his leave. Speaking with such individuals gave him a sense of peril.
These people were the big fish lurking beneath the normal world, those who played with money on a global scale, none of them were plain and simple.
"Alright. I’m logging off now, Transacting at this time, on the second." Typed Tang Qing.
"Understood, we appreciate your support."
After closing the browser, Tang Qing saw he had more than an hour left. He didn’t intend to stick around long, so after restarting the computer, he yielded the station to a nearby high school student. It was only because the student was closest to him, which caused the surrounding grade school students to look on enviously.
After leaving the Internet cafe, Tang Qing sauntered back to school for class. Although school was dry and boring, having a place where he could sit quietly was quite settling to him. He cherished these moments as they offered countless memories for the future. He no longer had that urge to escape from here like he did in his past life. He only wanted to take things slow, wishing time would progress even slower.
Life is so short, why the rush towards death?
........
Africa.
Twenty kilometers south of a certain country’s capital, a vast manor spread across hundreds of acres existed.
At this moment, deep into the night, bright lights illuminated the complete estate.
The manor was continuously patrolled by bodyguards, armed with guns, both black and white men included. Occasionally, surveillance teams leading hunting dogs would pass by. The security level was extremely high, clearly indicating the protection of something important.
The outer area of the manor was fenced in with barbed wire, and more than a hundred cameras created a fool-proof surveillance system of the surrounding environment.
Little did anyone realize that beneath the manor, a vast underground space existed.
Despite it being pre-dawn above ground, several dozen people were busy in the underground space. Looking at the hundreds of vacant places, it seemed they operated on a rotary shift system. Every person had a high-performance computer in front of them, some making calls or investigating something periodically.
The white ’Customer Service’ agent who had been dealing with Tang Qing turned to a data operator nearby as soon as Tang Qing disconnected the chat, asking, "Have you clarified the client’s details?"
The white data operator nearby, removing his headphones, furrowed his brows and replied:
"No trace found. The money transfer is from an account at Mellon Bank belonging to a common man named Kruze from Texas, 21 years old, with a high school degree, currently working at a bakery. His financial circumstances are not too good. According to our search, this account has appeared on sixty-three websites before. It’s a public account, but the reason for it to be public remains unknown. This account accepted a transfer of $50,000 just a moment ago. Our standard tracking system hasn’t found the exact source of these funds. Moreover, this person transfers funds very swiftly, each transaction lingering only for milliseconds, clearly indicative of using a specific money-transfer software. This person also used an open-source anonymous browser, so his location can’t be found in the short term unless we place an application to buy the user’s location from the browser’s designer. Should we apply for a second search, Team Leader?"
A Team Leader isn’t considered a significant role internally or in terms of office hierarchy since there is only one other teammate. One takes care of business, the other technical aspects, with the importance of business weighing slightly more.
The ’Customer Service’ agent had a growing curiosity, although his team leader authorization level wasn’t high enough to grant that direct order. Only the chief of the place had that authority, and this was just an ordinary procedure of database backup. It wasn’t mandatory to find the client’s address.
"Forget about it. Let’s treat it as routine work; there’s no need to dig that deep. Give an order for the younger one.
"Understood."
PS: The second Chapter, thank you all for your votes of support, appreciated!
