Chapter 52: The Tiger of Kross

Strictly speaking, even "illegal online lending" is not something you can just apply for whenever you want.

Lending platforms evaluate an applicant's personal file to determine eligibility, loan limits, and a series of other factors. If you were a penniless vagrant like Paul from a little while ago, getting a loan would probably require digging out a kidney and pawning an arm as collateral.

The reason Song Shi did not need to do this was because of the fabricated personal file he created.

A newly graduated, poor student with upper-medium academic ratings, an untainted family background, infinite potential, an unbroken spirit, yet still somewhat immature—this constituted a remarkably high-quality target for lending. That was why the Cross Tiger Gang had been willing to show up for an offline meeting and fork over one hundred and ten thousand all at once.

"Let me think... I'll just forge another one."

Song Shi thought to himself.

The more forged profiles a person had, the easier it was for flaws to show, which would bring about a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Considering the searches and retaliations by "Emerald Pharmaceuticals," using his own technical skills to craft just one more was pushing his absolute limit.

"It is about time to find someone who handles electronic warfare. But at this point in time, Tremuk is probably still 'mining' in who knows what quarry, and He Banwen is likely just graduating from junior high... Tch, what a headache."

These two were Song Shi's collaborators in his previous life, and both had been renowned master hackers.

Whenever he encountered tricky missions, Song Shi would seek them out, letting the latter handle intelligence provisioning and cyber-electronic warfare, while he himself could plunge wholeheartedly into physical assaults—burning, blasting, and smashing all the way through.

It was just that, considering it was only the New Calendar year 2150, these two were probably not going to be of much use yet...

Sighing inwardly once more, Song Shi summoned his personal interface and began forging a new file.

Time passed imperceptibly.

When Song Shi raised his head again, everything was finished.

He uploaded this new profile, overwrote the original "He Yue," and casually opened a row of dazzling illegal lending platforms to begin applying for loans.

Though these platforms looked numerous in count, they were basically just different skins slapped onto the same source code, and the actual number of masterminds behind them could be divided by five. Under such circumstances, once a person applied for a loan on one platform, their information profile would rapidly synchronize with the rest, facilitating quick evaluations and adjustments.

Strictly speaking, even...

Therefore, the result did not exceed Song Shi's expectations.

Without conducting any offline audits, these platforms were only willing to issue micro-loans, which, when scattered and added all together, amounted to a mere twenty-five thousand credit points or so.

And when Song Shi opened a brand-new platform hoping to borrow more, that platform simply hid the loan option altogether, adopting a cold, indifferent attitude that shut people out. It left him feeling regretful, prompting him to mentally critique their customer service.

Next, Song Shi sought out [Cotton Hamster] once more.

This time, driven by credit points, the other party quickly sent over a document containing intelligence on the primary personnel of the "Cross Tiger Gang," the approximate configuration of their garrisoned armed forces, and other details. It cost a total of twenty thousand credit points—and that was only after Song Shi barged and negotiated a lower price.

Just as the other party had stated earlier, the "Cross Tiger Gang" was a small-scale gang that had popped up over the past two years. Including peripheral members, they only had a little over a hundred people in total.

The leader of this gang was a Westerner named Grove.

Grove was originally a low-ranking cadre in a medium-sized gang. However, three years ago, that gang was severely crippled by the "Enlightener" faction in Palose due to trafficking and modifying children. It never recovered from that blow and was quickly consumed and annexed by other gangs.

Sensing that the situation was turning south, Grove seized the opportunity early, embezzled a sum of the gang's funds, and went on the run.

Relying on this money, he equipped himself with a decent set of cybernetic implants, recruited followers, rapidly pulled together a crew, and seized a territory centered around the Cross District—which became the predecessor of the "Cross Tiger Gang."

He had also built up a bit of a reputation for himself and was now known as the "Tiger of Cross."

The document also included several attached photos. In the pictures, the buzz-cut man possessed a bulky physique with a glistening, oiled bare upper torso. Tattooed across his chest was a fierce, roaring tiger, and Grove himself was baring his teeth and snarling at the camera alongside the tiger.

Yet what truly drew attention were the man's two massive arms, which were clearly disproportionate to a normal human. They were likely implant prosthetics similar to "gorilla arms." Whether the output of those things could punch through an armored vehicle was unknown, but casually crushing a few tigers to death would probably pose no problem at all.

Then there were several key members, commonly referred to as cadres.

Song Shi quickly skimmed through them: they were basically randomized character-generation templates consisting of motorcycle leather jackets, multicolored hair and bizarre hairstyles, metal chains, buttons, rings, sunglasses, tattoos, and work boots. They were minor fodder who would go down with a single headshot, not worth wasting mental effort on.

"Tch... Is there some kind of industry standard for your fashion choices? It's practically leaning into stereotypes."

Speechless, Song Shi shifted his gaze to the rest of the document.

At present, almost the entire "Cross District" served as the territory of the Cross Tiger Gang, and their core stronghold was located in a cold-storage warehouse within the district.

Yes, a cold-storage warehouse.

Because they ran a legitimate business—"Cross Cold Chain Logistics." True to its name, its primary operations were cold chain transport, including but not limited to biological organs, cold-stored pharmaceuticals, chemical raw materials, and various synthetic meats of dubious origin.

This was Grove's brainchild. He understood that if he just kept relentlessly dealing in organ trafficking, usury, and running underground casinos, not only would it remain unpresentable, but the risks were also high.

Between pressure from competitors fighting for turf, the Security Bureau skimming off the top every now and then, and the constant risk of being thrown out as a prime example of a crackdown to act as a cooling agent for temporary public outrage, Grove had a moment of profound realization and opened this cold-chain transportation company. Relying on pricing and logistical advantages, it was doing quite well.

According to the intelligence in the document, they were even preparing to break into the building materials industry to ruthlessly reap the profits of a blue ocean market. A major acid-rain storm had recently scoured the entire Deep Moss District, severely damaging many structures. With numerous casualties resulting from collapses and corrosion, it was prime time to buy the dip.

"—Blue ocean market profits?"

Gazing at the document, Song Shi sneered. "Planning to expand the market, are we? Cross Tiger Gang, it seems you really do have plenty of idle cash."

Glancing at the sky outside the window, where it had just turned past seven in the morning, Song Shi closed the document and walked into the bathroom.

First, he turned on the faucet, rinsing away the blood-stained clothes, monomolecular blade, and powered bracers, watching the blood-red wastewater flow across the floor and slowly submerge into the drain.

"Time is short, I must strike swiftly... The 'Tiger of Cross'?"

Song Shi closed his eyes, and a golden-red flame silently welled up, enveloping his entire body as he sat cross-legged before the acrylic bathtub. Formless psionic energy began to surge along with his thoughts, initiating his daily routine of practice and refinement.

"Just wait a moment."