The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1477

Finlay offered Ves a means to contact him or the faction standing behind him. Of course, he didn’t exchange comm addresses or anything else that could be traced back to his real identity.

Instead, Finlay passed a so-called Shadow Address to Ves. This was a unique identifying code that Ves could use to send a message to Finlay via the Shadow Courier network.

People made use of Shadow Addresses in case they didn’t want their real identities to be associated with their shady dealings.

For example, if a Sentinel noble requested the shipment of a batch of nuclear missiles, then he wouldn’t tell the seller to ship the batch to ’Lady Miralix of House Laterna at Felixia I’ or something!

Instead, Lady Miralix would pass on her anonymous Shadow Address, which only signified specific locations of delivery and such. The point of a Shadow Address was to provide a form of identity protection that was so thorough that not even the Shadow Couriers themselves knew the real names of the people hiding behind the addresses!

While Finlay possessed a Shadow Address, Ves did not. His dealings with the Shadow Couriers only dealt with his real identity so far, which was a vulnerability that Ves had to remedy as soon as possible!

"Is there a way to acquire a Shadow Address here?"

"Certainly! The Shadow Couriers operate an entire branch in the marketplace. I can give you directions if you require. Let me accompany you so that I can add your Shadow Address to our list."

They all moved out of the warehouse, but not before Ves arranged his new possessions. He moved his P-stones, the sample of Synthra Umbra, Item #613 and Item #1255 to a different warehouse lot. He’d arrange their shipment out of the marketplace later.

After that, they moved to the Shadow Courier branch where Ves registered a new Shadow Address for his ’Rho-Sigma’ persona.

Registering a Shadow Address was a lot more complicated than Ves thought, but for now he only registered virtual means of getting in touch with him. If anyone wanted to ship physical goods to his Shadow Address, then the Shadow Couriers would have to contact him first through virtual means in order to set a specific drop-off location.

Once Finlay registered Rho-Sigma’s new Shadow Address, he quickly bid Ves farewell.

"I’d love to stick around, but we are quickly moving into action now that you have delivered the most crucial piece of the puzzle. It’s a pleasure working with you. If we ever need comparable services, we know where to go now. Don’t hesitate to contact us as well if you require anything comparable to what you’ve obtained today."

"I will."

Now that they knew how to contact each other, Finlay departed the Shadow Courier branch. Ves watched the disguised noble go, a bit surprised at how well everything went.

He always expected something to go wrong along the way. The deal he concluded with Finlay not only involved an incredible amount of money, but also dealt with something that would surely attract the ire of the MTA if abused!

If Ves was in Finlay’s shoes, he would find some way to silence anyone involved if possible.

However, the reality was much different. Finlay and his superiors never attempted to screw Ves over. Perhaps the value of an unscrupulous but competent Journeyman was higher than expected!

Though Ves only came up with his Rho-Sigma identity recently, it held a lot of promise. So long as no one, including the Shadow Couriers, knew the true person behind this cover identity, Ves might be able to profit from it further in the future!

It was a lot more secure and anonymous than his faked Rabant Clearwater identity he crudely forged in the past.

"A Shadow Address is a lot more secure."

He still had to be careful, though. Ves figured it was best to get back to Calabast to flesh out this idea further. If he attempted to go at it alone, he was liable to leak his true identity along the way.

Ves could help but cast some more suspicions towards the Shadow Couriers. Their network encompassed the entire Komodo Star Sector and beyond.

They provided reliable and discreet courier services underneath the noses of the authorities. Ves could hardly fathom how the Shadow Couriers managed to survive without getting uprooted.

Did they manage to bribe an MTA councilor or something? Or did the Big Two have a more direct hand in their running? What if the Five Scrolls Compact were behind the Shadow Couriers?

More unanswered questions plagued his mind. Due to his increasing doubts over the Shadow Couriers, his enthusiasm of working with them deflated a bit. While he acknowledged that he could benefit a lot from making use of them, he should never grow too dependent on their services!

He was sure that Calabast would agree with this sentiment!

"Let’s go." He told Nitaa.

Both of them exited the branch soon after and diverted back to the warehouse where they stored their goods.

"We’re done here. I got what I came for. Now, we need to leave with our goods."

"That’s not as simple as it sounds." Nitaa spoke. "Smuggling these goods out of the marketplace and off-planet will require a lot of effort."

"That’s what smugglers are here for, right? We just have to make sure our cargo doesn’t get stolen."

Though his mother had already left, Ves still harbored a lot of fears that someone might steal his exceedingly expensive goods from his possession. Perhaps the Circle of Mota might not pull off anything by themselves, but the same wasn’t necessarily true for the guests!

People from all walks of life visited the temporary marketplace. Numerous pirate leaders and unscrupulous mercenary leaders frequented the site. Who knew if any of them tried to figure out where the goods auctioned for incredible sums had gone and when they would be shipped to other locations.

Intercepting valuable cargo shipments was one of the most prevalent activities committed by pirates!

Though it mainly happened out in the middle of deep space, Ves could not discount the possibility that a group of pirates might be plotting to trail behind his cargo shipment and attack them along the way in the middle of an isolated tunnel!

"Let’s find a secure and reliable way to ship my goods from this site." Ves spoke. "Due to Finlay’s favor, I have an excess of firthals. I might as well spend deeply in order to ensure a guaranteed delivery."

As for the chefs who followed the authentic recipe for spicy Nyx dogs, they only held a few bags of geril spice at most! _{freeweɓnovel.cѳm}