Chapter 35: Ghost.
Booting the device, Dante fiddled with it for a few seconds then turned the screen to the red-haired girl. On it was a normal-looking QR code.
"Scan it." He said curtly.
Liliana didn’t look too happy about her question being ignored so she just stared at him with knitted brows.
Dante clicked his tongue. "It’s a wallet address. I told you I need half upfront."
"Oh, I see." A look of understanding painted the girl’s face as she looked down at the device. "Did you have to go through all this trouble, though? You do have a NIM, right?"
She meant to say that they could have completed the transaction by connecting their Neural Interface Modules, but Dante wasn’t about to make that mistake.
"I might be poor, but not that poor." He sighed. "I don’t link with just about anyone, that’s all."
The smartphone serves as a proxy of sorts that stands between the two in this case. Connecting NIMs directly leaves a digital footprint in each one which can be used to trace the identity of the users.
Dante had no intention of giving the girl something that could lead her back to him, even though he suspected that his upgraded NIM couldn’t be traced easily when Volcan was connected to it. He used to carry a badge with the QR code for this simple reason, but it was lost along with the clothes he wore before waking up at Larry’s clinic.
’Better safe than sorry.’
A notification appeared on his OAM informing him that a 25000G had been deposited into one of his wallets. He suppressed a smile and glanced at the girl.