Chapter 392 - 263: Lin Qi’s New Vehicle
After contacting his father, Lin Qi went to rest.
...
Neon lights blazed, making Red Fruit City even more magnificent by night than by day.
When the sun rises, those who indulge in the dreamlike nightlife must once again face the harsh reality of the Cyber Society.
Lin Qi, however, was not woken up by his wage-slave alarm clock today.
What woke Lin Qi was a call.
He had just opened his eyes, still groggy, but he had already answered the call subconsciously.
"Mr. Lin Qi, the deluxe model Mische U107-Ultra flying vehicle you ordered has been delivered to the specified location. Would you like to sign for it in person?"
Huh? What?
A flying vehicle?
’When did I...’
Lin Qi suddenly remembered what he had asked Guang Ling to do last night.
Laundering Credit Points—turning clean credit into dirty cash—involved mixing in some seemingly normal consumer purchases.
Out of ten million laundered, Lin Qi would receive seven million in untraceable cash and one and a half million in consumer goods. The remaining one and a half million was the service fee.
’So this flying vehicle is really mine, then?’
Lin Qi’s income was decent after joining the company, but he could never bring himself to buy luxury goods. His biggest expense was his membership with the Intercontinental Stability Trauma Emergency Company.
Now, by a fortunate coincidence, Lin Qi owned his first luxury item since his transmigration.
He got up and checked the details on his Intelligent Brain.
Sure enough, a new flying vehicle purchase contract had appeared in his Intelligent Brain’s records.
*Second-hand Flying Vehicle Sales Contract - Leisure Transfer Consumer Goods Company*
The contract listed the price as three million two hundred thousand, but the actual cost was definitely much lower.
Or perhaps this company gave the money laundering intermediary a hefty kickback in illicit funds.
A brand-new version of this flying vehicle originally cost around four and a half million, equipped with numerous pieces of A-Class Protective Equipment and legally installed weapons.
’This flying vehicle either has a shady past, is a refitted piece of scrap, or it’s tainted by a few too many Soul Rings.’
’It might even check all those boxes. Otherwise, there’s no way my one and a half million in consumer Credit Points could have gotten me this thing.’
Lin Qi was mentally prepared for the worst but felt no aversion whatsoever.
As a researcher in Prosthetic Engineering, as long as the vehicle’s performance was up to snuff, he couldn’t care less what shady elements were involved. It wouldn’t affect his ability to use it!
As for its legality?
After changing hands a few times, the vehicle had surely been legitimized.
Lin Qi checked the delivery location again. It was indeed 8 Fortress Road.
Activating his Spiritual Vision, Lin Qi saw the flying vehicle parked outside the villa.
There was no delivery crew; the entire handover would be conducted on the cyber network.
Lin Qi walked out the door and approached the brand-new U107 flying vehicle.
’It’s probably a custom build, not a factory model. The assembly details are pretty obvious through my Spiritual Vision.’
’But it has all the necessary equipment: A-Class Force Field Shield, A-Class Alloy Armor, Vehicle-Level Intelligent Brain...’
Lin Qi wasn’t an expert on flying vehicles, but with his extensive knowledge of engineering, he could recognize many of the parts at a glance, as they were interchangeable with Prosthetic Body components.
In summary, the flying vehicle was perfectly usable—and a huge upgrade from his own old clunker.
Under normal operating conditions, you couldn’t even tell the difference between it and a genuine U107.
’The cost to assemble one of these things is probably around one million Credit Points... hmm, no, it should be much cheaper.’
’This A-Class Force Field Shield looks like it was converted from a Prosthetic Body component. I bet a Cleaner Fish scavenged it off a corpse.’
’The Alloy Armor looks like it uses the Liu Clan’s subdermal armor tech, which also gives it a bit of a Soul Ring vibe.’
’If you factor that in, the cost might be closer to five hundred thousand?’
Prosthetic Body components—now this was Lin Qi’s area of expertise.
After a closer look, Lin Qi understood the vehicle’s general makeup.
Pretty morbid.
But that didn’t affect its usability at all.
The call hadn’t been disconnected yet; the person on the other end was waiting for his confirmation.
"I confirm receipt."
Lin Qi completed the biometric scan, and the transaction was finalized.
"Very good, Mr. Lin Qi. If the vehicle requires after-sales service in the future, you can contact us. However, please note that service for second-hand vehicles is not complimentary..."
Before ending the call, the representative couldn’t resist pitching their after-sales support plan.
Lin Qi cut him off. "Never mind after-sales. I have a ’collector’s-grade’—that is, antique—vehicle here. It has a certain ’historical depth’—meaning it’s seen heavy use. I need it taken off my hands..."
New vehicle in, old vehicle out!
Conveniently, this was within the Leisure Transfer Consumer Goods Company’s scope of business, so Lin Qi didn’t have to find someone else.
The representative was taken aback. He hadn’t expected this. Who was selling to whom now?
Still, there was a profit to be made in vehicle buybacks.
"Mr. Lin Qi, you can send the vehicle’s information to our business email..."
The representative had barely gotten the words out before Lin Qi replied, "Already sent."
The representative was silent for a moment, apparently pulling up the information.
Lin Qi thought he heard a sharp intake of breath from the other end.
Then, the representative came back with a quote. "Mr. Lin Qi, according to our company’s automated valuation system, the best we can offer is 7,000 Credit Points."
"Deal," Lin Qi replied without hesitation.
He had only spent twenty thousand Credit Points when he bought it, after all.
After all this time, a depreciation of just over ten thousand was perfectly normal.
The new transaction was completed in a flash. The freight vehicle that had just delivered the U107 and left Fortress Road was called back by the company to make a pickup.