"So, they are desperate for work?" Ling Qingyu said knowingly.
"Exactly." Gu Yi nodded. "Once they catch a straw, people race to catch it in fear of missing the only opportunities that might raise their living standards and possibly survival."
"You can't say they're stupid." Ling Qingyu sighed. "Sometimes, pressure from society and life force them to step on this path unknowingly."
"I never said they are stupid, I just cannot…you know my feeling; we're also solving those problems but…" Gu Yi didn't know what to say next.
"But people need to live. They need money and food. In the times of falling economy, no one is living well except for the top layers." Ling Qingyu added.
"Anyway, the scammers act like employers posting jobs for the netizens and attract many people." Gu Yi continued to explain. "What's unbelievable is that they operated near our borders and seemed legit in terms of paperwork and every legal issue. Flawless, not drawing our suspicions when it happens initially."
"Then, how did you find out?"
"Two years ago. When a mass number of people flocked in a single direction, it naturally raised our concerns and we investigated just across the border. On the surface, nothing happened but that's the oddest result." Gu Yi said. "If people didn't even return after a few years and went missing, we wouldn't even know about cyber enslavement.
"Actually, it's our corruption at fault here too. Just after our Province N, there's our neighbor, which is where the scammers that target our citizens thrive. In fact, if we look downward, the same group existed. We know they are there but we have no idea where exactly."
"Hmm, so can you elaborate on cyber enslavement?"
"Sure, let's say once you meet your so-called employers and are given food and accommodation as promised in the advertisement, nobody suspected a thing until it's too late. By then, you're under their control."
"But jobs abroad are also the same, right? They provide relocation aids, how can we blame people for believing the scammers? It's the latter's cleverness that caught everyone off-guard."
"That's what makes us powerless. We can't differentiate from who's true and who's false based on the information uploaded in the advertisement. Although we can analyze the data and try to connect any missing coincidence, a huge manpower, time, energy, and money are required." Gu Yi shook her head. "You do understand our situation.
Where can those high-above even make amend just for a few thousand missing, especially people missing is the norm here."
Ling Qingyu listened to her mother-in-law's narration and Athena's detailed explanation of the event. Her concentration worked simultaneously, a feat she would have struggled with in the past if not for her ancient bracelet improving both her mental power and physique.
Indeed, as Gu Yi described, the government really wouldn't care too much, causing the bottom of the hierarchies to not take the scammers' affair seriously since the higher-ups themselves only mentioned watery words of the month.
However, as the scam level upgraded, it began to take a toll on the nation's economy and touched the reverse scale of some elites who had a say in politics.
Only then, would the government utilize all the resources to tackle the problems of scammers which was too late in Ling Qingyu's opinion.
Of course, as long as people corrected their mistakes, no matter the time, it was better than doing nothing.
According to Athena's report, the targeted people were isolated and cut off from their connections to the world, even online. They were monitored throughout the entire day and under coercion to prevent them from talking about potential crimes.
When these people who went first didn't say anything, others thought they were trying to hide the good news and flocked faster.
The lightest work the victims did was to scam others again like the old days when they still made phone calls and lied about money. These were the luckiest victims.
Others were driven to work like cattle slaves, exploiting their potential till they were drained. Killing and burying were the norm there.
In the black market, organ harvesting also flourished which made the scamming criminals had no slightest pity to kill. They weren't hesitant at all. Anyone disobeying their rules was tortured and killed as deterrence on purpose.
Although Ling Qingyu had no idea about the extent of the torture method, she knew she should never underestimate the evilness of human beings.
For most women, particularly attractive ones, Ling Qingyu didn't need to guess to know most of their fates. Serving as prostitutes, nearly a hundred a day…holy shit, Ling Qingyu had her eyes widened.
Gu Yi thought her words shocked her daughter-in-law and comforted her, not aware that another existence was expanding the details.
In the end, the government requested the relevant authorities in the neighboring countries to fight against the scammers.
In order to achieve the goals, numerous diplomatic visits were made in the name of cooperation but everyone discovered their actions were meaningless.
Unfortunately, these stakeholders seemed to already know the scammers' existence and were likely receiving their protection fees.
How could they bear to eliminate it as requested by Country C after seeing the money? Even if Country C was powerful, they must be mindful of their actions in foreign affairs.
The World Government's existence wasn't for nothing. If Country C harshly intervened, things might backfire and there would be more losses than gains.
Gu Yi and the higher-ups sent undercover agents as usual. "We sent 12 of them, two months ago. It's so secretive that except for a handful, nobody knew about their identity."
"But you're telling me now." Ling Qingyu raised her brows.
"That's because you'll know anyway when I request help from you."
"Help? Wait, what happen to those operators?" Ling Qingyu's face turned grim, remembering what Yang Qingyue had told her about the tragedies of police officers who attempted to steal intelligence.
She hated these operations where the spies were at risk. Should something go wrong, they were on their own always without back-ups. Usually, once their covers were blown, everything was over.
Nonetheless, human intelligence was necessary and a tactic used since ancient times, bringing effective results.
Gu Yi pursed her lips and nodded heavily. "Something did happen to them. Not all, but let's make long stories short."
"2 of our agents went missing and we have no news report. Our guess is that the informant betrayed us."
"Why do you think so?" Ling Qingyu asked in a low tone.
"Because only these two are responsible for linking up with the insiders and relaying information to other undercovers. Apart from those two, we still can't dig deeper. Our eyes and ears are blind. I don't know how they managed to block the news. Their defenses and systems are flawless."
"Aunt Gu, please cheer up; there's no such existent as a perfect system, not even our universe. Loopholes are always there but we just haven't found them yet."
"Alas, that's why the higher-ups meetings decided to pause the operation and let the other agents remain under the radar." Gu Yi shuffled her hair. "The problem is once the two's mouths can't stop, they are also in danger and can't get out. We cannot rescue them as well. Two weeks, we sent reinforcement to attempt multiple covert escapes and failed. We can't act again in fear of alerting the snake."
"They'll hold on as long as they can but little Yu, everyone has a limit. Once the string snaps." Gu Yi closed her eyes and shook her head gently. "I knew that those two will remain strong but I dare not bet."
"Then, why don't you send an army?" Ling Qingyu realized later she asked a stupid question.
"Actually, the reason I come here is also to facilitate what you say. Sending special forces to extract them is possible." Gu Yi replied. "But here's the catch, if you read about that country we want to enter carefully, you'll understand how complicated and convoluted the political infrastructures are.
Sending army in the short term seems like nothing but in the long term, other nations might become wary of us."
"So complex to consider every party." Ling Qingyu felt dizzy, merely from hearing her mother-in-law's political lectures.
"Yes. And we also have doubts about our own military capabilities to launch cross-nation border raid, particularly when a scandal among the senior officers appear in the capital. Corruption is way higher than what we expect. Our previous measures of strength needs to be calculated again. Whether we're still a genuine effective fighting force needs time to evaluate."
"Really, I haven't heard about those scandals."
"Of course, you won't. I'm relieved that you didn't receive any news because we buried those shits. Although I know you can access easily, your unawareness shows that you stick to your morals firmly."
"Should I be proud of my negligence?" Ling Qingyu joked.
Gu Yi and Assistant Su laughed. Tang Ziyi chuckled alongside and rolled her eyes boringly at the long talk. Nonetheless, her heart was racing at the possibility of Spirit Fox's involvement after listening to the conversation.