Chapter 129: Insights of an Undercover Agent

Being an undercover agent is the most difficult job in the world. Officer Xu had known this phrase, understood it, and even recited it, but he had never truly experienced it until he arrived in the Myanmar region.

Under police arrangements, he was "trafficked" into a telecom fraud compound along with a group of others. Among those deceived like him were young men looking for work abroad and young women lured by promises of high-paying jobs. Once inside, the men with technical skills were assigned to backend programming, while those without were tasked with casting a wide net to lure victims. The women were sorted by appearance: the attractive ones became dealers for online gambling, while those with average looks were set to work on phone scams.

Attempting to escape meant a brutal beating, followed by the water dungeon or solitary confinement. That was considered a mild punishment. If the guards were truly provoked, the consequences included electric shocks, being locked in dog cages, starvation, or the "wet paper" torture—where layers of wet paper are plastered over a person's face until they suffocate. Some were simply dragged away, never to be seen again. If the victim was female, she might be sent to the red-light district after her "lesson" to squeeze out the very last bit of value.

In the few days since Officer Xu arrived, more than one person around him had suddenly vanished. This kept his vigilance at an all-time high. Two other undercover officers were in the compound, but due to jurisdictional differences, they were not acquainted and maintained no contact. Officer Xu’s cover identity was that of a pathetic loser—someone who was bullied at school, bullied at work, and even bullied in his relationships. Having reached his breaking point, he had gone abroad to find work, only to be deceived. Such people were common here.

New arrivals, realizing the reality of their situation, often still had a spark of life and spirit, and would initially try to escape. But those who had been there longer were listless, moving like zombies, mindlessly sending messages and performing tasks day after day. Officer Xu observed that there was also severe infighting within the compound. Though they were all wretched souls controlled by others, some had become "lackeys"—victims who turned into victimizers. This was especially prevalent among the women.

From the brief daily interactions during meals, it was clear that one particularly pretty girl was being ostracized and isolated; the way they treated each other in private was unimaginable. Every day, the manager would announce who had achieved the highest performance and earned the most commission. This was the most "lively" time in the factory. Everyone would cast envious glances at the "lucky one," and under the manager’s lead, they would cheer. If the amount was high enough, the factory would even set off fireworks. Numbed by this atmosphere, many who lost hope of escape slowly merged into their environment. If you can’t leave, why keep fighting? This was the genuine sentiment of many.

Officer Xu tried to probe some of the veterans for information, but they were either wary and threatened to report him, or they were so defeated that they refused to speak, advising him to be obedient in hopes of a better life. The compound was like a ravenous beast; it not only turned people into shells of themselves but used those shells to drain the marrow of people thousands of miles away. It devoured hope, converting it into dirty wealth to feed a larger, insatiable monster.

In just a few days, Officer Xu’s initial confidence in the effectiveness of domestic anti-fraud efforts—his belief that no one would fall for such things—had crumbled into confusion, wondering how people could still be deceived and how the scammers obtained their information. To ordinary people, children, and students, the world was an ivory tower; to foreign residents, the people back home lived in peace and comfort; and to foreign police, domestic officers were seen as narrow-minded. Even though they had seen their share of bizarre cases, there were always people in the world capable of shattering their perceptions.

Officer Xu was new to the front lines and had little investigative experience before encountering Mo Fei. Ultimately, stripped of his professional mantle, he was just an ordinary person. Being undercover required him to shed that mantle entirely. He was as shocked as anyone, perhaps even more so. Even though he desperately wanted to bring the entire place down, he had to hold back. Being undercover was truly no easy task; seeing the malicious faces of those criminals made him understand the hardships his father had faced years ago. If he himself had been terrified for days just by catching a glimpse of Mo Fei through the bars, what must his father have felt, leaving his hometown for over a decade without ever contacting his family?

Officer Xu slowly integrated into the factory, growing familiar with those around him. He still couldn't speak to the managers or thugs, but he could exchange words with the other wretches. Some of the old hands loved to boast, claiming that this fraud factory was merely a tiny venture for those above, and that there were far larger industries they couldn't even fathom. If Officer Xu asked for details, they would look at him with guarded, enigmatic expressions. He knew better than to push further. Being here, where telecom fraud was only the bottom-tier industry, it wasn't hard to guess what the "higher" industries involved.

"The new product is selling well. You’re as sharp as ever." Li Momo took the cigarette offered by Xiaobai and placed it between her lips; Xiaobai leaned in to light it.

"What good does that do? It takes me months to research something new, and within weeks of its release, the police have a cracked version." Li Momo inhaled deeply, exhaling a plume of white smoke from her nose. "How long has it been? Has the boss still not rooted out the mole?"

Xiaobai shook his head. "It’s complicated."

A mocking smile tugged at Li Momo’s lips. "I’ve been with the boss for six years, and I’ve been developing new tech for four. Three years ago, when the police got their hands on the first cracked version, the boss threw me into the water dungeon. My legs still ache whenever it gets cold."

"If I hadn't been locked up, the latest cracked version would have been out already. By now, the grass on my grave would be as tall as you." She gestured with her hand. "Now that I'm no longer a suspect, if it’s one of them, the boss must be in a real bind, right?"

Xiaobai tried to comfort her, but after a moment of thought, he didn't know where to begin. "Maybe... the boss has his own concerns?"

"Right, right, he has his concerns. All he gives me is endless money and airtight surveillance." Li Momo sneered. "Should I be thanking him for that?"