Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

The dim orange light stubbornly held onto a patch of brightness, having prepared for the approaching deep night.

Los Angeles is the second-largest urban area in Ugly Country, an extreme metropolis of steel, surrounded by concrete and rebar buildings, crisscrossed with alleys pooling with shadow.

This place might be piled with rubbish, waterholes reeking of stench overlaying the ground, or it might hide many secrets unknown to the public, yet dangerous enough.

At this moment, in an equally deep alley.

The wall at the front of the alley was covered with large, exaggerated graffiti in cold tones, and a homeless man, barely clean, was looking around nervously. Anyone normal could tell he had "ghosts" in his heart.

Not too many people passed by the alley at night, and even if someone noticed, they simply walked past quickly, treating him as air.

After looking around for a while, only when a noise came from within the alley, did the homeless man's heart sink, and he finally made up his mind to enter.

"The goods?"

"Here... here they are."

Faced with the "intimidation," the homeless man shivered all over and hurriedly reached into his pockets, pulling out a palm-sized cardboard box.

The label on the box indicated it was a cellphone.

Of course, that must surely be just a facade.

The homeless man thought to himself.

Before everything was lost, he too was a normal person, well-educated, and had watched thrilling crime movies. He believed this must be some unmentionable, dark transaction.

Why did he have to stumble upon this kind of thing?

The homeless man sighed deeply inside, feeling utterly unlucky. All he had wanted was to see if there was free food distribution in front of the church, and yet he ended up being "recruited" by two "sneaky" people.

Although they said he could refuse, that he had a choice, Sean, who had been homeless for over a year, had already witnessed the darkness of the city and was well aware of certain unspoken rules.

Countless experiences told Sean: when you encounter certain individuals, and they ask you to do something seemingly normal, you have no choice.

Not to mention, something about one of the duo gave him the sense that they were not to be messed with.

Having been with the homeless community for a long time, Sean had seen many dangerous characters and developed many sharp instincts. He could sense trouble from many with just a glance, but none of them could compare to the person before him now.

It was not just about being dangerous, it felt more like—encountering some large carnivorous animal...

Better to agree obediently than wait for the coercion, to maintain some dignity.

"And here's the remaining money."

"Didn't I say, the rest is your payment. Just keep it,"

Bi Fang refused the change, eagerly taking the box Sean handed over and immediately opening it.

Sean's eyes widened. Am I allowed to see this without paying a price?

The box was quickly unpacked, inside was a cheap-looking phone. No matter, as long as it worked.

Bi Fang pressed the power button, the screen quickly lit up, and he did not notice Sean trembling slightly beside him.

It was actually a cell phone!

Sean had thought it would contain some contraband, but the situation seemed trickier than he had imagined. What could be in the phone?

The private details of high-ranking officials? The leverage over some politician? Or something even more deeply connected to the transaction?

This is far more dangerous than contraband!

The former deals with the police, while the latter is life-threatening!

"I always feel there's something off about the way you're thinking."

Yao Jun draped an arm around Sean's shoulder, stopping the trembling. He looked around and noticed that the atmosphere was indeed somewhat off, which inevitably made the other party fearful. He joked, "You don't really think we're engaged in some kind of illegal criminal activity, do you?"

Isn't that so?

Sean forced a smile.

"Relax, buddy, this is just a reality show..."

Bi Fang, who was operating nearby, was startled upon hearing this. He really hadn't noticed that point.

Cell phone stores are bound to have surveillance, which can lead to exposure, so it's necessary to ask for help, preferably from the homeless.

While seeking homeless individuals to make purchases on one's behalf, it's essential to choose someone reliable; otherwise, if they take the money and run, you're screwed, and you also have to be wary of getting entangled with gang members.

The man before them stood out among the homeless, his clothes though shabby, were not unkempt. Faded and bleached from washing, they gloomed a ghastly white under the streetlight, signaling he was relatively trustworthy and not someone who had given up on himself.

By the time Yao Jun finished explaining, Bi Fang's operation was also finally complete.

He sent an anonymous email using the new phone.

Phones in the Ugly Country could be fitted with a physical SIM card, but most Ugly Country carriers operate without one, a minor detail that differs from Huaxia. Hence, phones here could be bought and used right away.

Sending an anonymous email isn't that hard.

To modern hackers, password-protected email accounts and Wi-Fi connections are child's play. These information geeks are a fusion of burglars, swindlers, and experienced creeps.

To defeat them, a member of the Ugly Country Navy research lab developed an anonymous network called Tor, which can be used as a secure communication tool.

Tor encrypts and relays information through a series of volunteer servers around the world, thus avoiding traceable digital forensics.

By disguising the origin of the sender, the network protects the sender's geographical location from being discovered by third parties, and the use of an anonymous email account unlinked to one's name or identity offers additional protection.

It's well known that free Wi-Fi hotspots lack security and are vulnerable to hacking, yet they are extremely useful for those in need of anonymity.

To set up an anonymous browsing session, one must divert to somewhere outside of regular modes and then access free Wi-Fi that doesn't require a username or password. Next, you download Tails, an operating system based on Tor, which is easy to use and doesn't save any browsing history.

Once loaded, you create a brand new, completely anonymous email with Tails. After that, it's simple.

Still, this approach is not foolproof because investigators aiming to catch a culprit not only monitor the suspect's network but also their friends and family.

Bi Fang's circle of friends is vast. Businessmen like Lin Chang are naturally not monitored as it would cause serious problems.

Contacting him would be cheating, so Bi Fang wouldn't do that. Fortunately, he also had several foreign friends, like Jerret, Mugalen, even the Disney employee he had just met, and so on.

This time, Bi Fang contacted old Mugalen.

Mugalen had appeared on several variety shows, and although not very famous, he was still pretty average within Bi Fang's circle of friends. They had a good relationship, having visited each other's homes—it made him a good "money borrowing" candidate.

Once the undercover tracking started, the only funds available for use were the Five Hundred Ugly Gold provided by the show. However, money borrowed from friends and family during the escape was also permissible by the rules, as long as you managed to stay hidden.

"Going round in circles, I actually ended up back where I started,"

Bi Fang said self-deprecatingly.