Li Xiujian hung up the last confirmation call.
His financial operator had delivered the news in the most despairing tone—the cash flow in the "Celestial Secret" account had been under full surveillance before reaching its intended destination.
The other side might have even obtained the account's digital protocols.
This meant one of his most covert financial channels had been completely exposed, tearing open a deep, bone-chilling gash in decades of meticulous effort.
For the first time, an expression of mingled fury and icy calm surfaced on Li Xiujian's face.
He had underestimated Lu Chenyuan—and even more so, the combined force of Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli.
The computational power of Abyss Dragon Technologies, paired with the intelligence network the Mo family had cultivated over three generations.
This alliance wasn’t a simple case of one plus one equals two.
It was a net capable of covering every shadowy corner of the globe.
In a head-on financial battle, Li Xiujian had already lost the initiative.
Using any other secret accounts now would be tantamount to walking into a trap.
"Good. Very good..."
Li Xiujian muttered to himself, his voice rasping like rusted metal scraping together.
He slowly closed his eyes, rapidly mapping out a new strategy in his mind.
If a breach had been made in the fortress walls, then he would shift the battlefield beyond them—to a domain where Lu Chenyuan couldn’t wield technology and capital with absolute control.
Public opinion.
The hearts and minds of people.
These were his most formidable weapons.
Li Xiujian picked up a phone he had never used before and dialed an encrypted number.
The call connected.
"It's me," he said, uttering just two words.
On the other end, a steady middle-aged voice responded, "Boss, you’ve finally reached out."
"Gao Yuan, I’ve nurtured you for twenty-five years," Li Xiujian said, his tone devoid of warmth.
"From a lowly intern reporter to the editor-in-chief of Global Finance. Now is the time for you to repay me."
The man named Gao Yuan replied with utmost deference, "At your command, Boss. I’ll spare no effort."
"Abyss Dragon Technologies," Li Xiujian slowly enunciated the four words.
"I want their new energy technology to become, overnight, nothing but trash in the eyes of the public—a dangerous weapon everyone fears."
"Understood," Gao Yuan answered without hesitation. "Consider it done. By tomorrow morning, you’ll witness quite the spectacle."
Li Xiujian ended the call.
He knew this strike might not destroy Abyss Dragon Technologies outright.
But it would be enough to throw Lu Chenyuan into chaos, to crack the first fissure in his rapidly expanding empire.
He wanted market panic, investor doubt, and public skepticism.
He wanted Lu Chenyuan to taste what it felt like to have an invisible hand tightening around his throat.
...
The next morning, at dawn.
A storm of public opinion swept across the internet without warning.
The front page of Global Finance bore a headline in bold, black letters that struck like a thunderbolt:
Behind the "Myth" of Abyss Dragon Technologies: A New Energy Scandal Woven from Theft and Lies?
The article was incendiary.
It "quoted" unnamed "industry experts" who insinuated that Abyss Dragon’s new energy battery technology bore an uncanny resemblance to an unpublished patent stolen months earlier from a top European laboratory.
In an instant, dozens of online media outlets and countless influencers swarmed like sharks scenting blood.
They amplified the report with even more exaggerated, sensational headlines, furiously reposting, dissecting, and expanding upon it.
...
Negative news spread like wildfire.
Carefully orchestrated troll armies fanned the flames, rapidly igniting public outrage.
Doubt, anger, panic—
A deluge of comments flooded Abyss Dragon Technologies’ official accounts.
The company’s hard-earned reputation crumbled in an instant.
Partners who had pre-ordered their technology began calling for explanations.
The capital market reacted even more directly.
Though Abyss Dragon itself wasn’t publicly traded, stocks across the new energy sector plummeted at opening.
A flawless execution of a public opinion siege.
Abyss Dragon Technologies, executive conference room.
Lin Yuan and Ren Qian were in Lu Chenyuan’s office, yet neither showed a trace of tension despite the external turmoil.
Everyone carried on with their work methodically.
Once all tasks were settled, Zhang Qi briefly summarized the media frenzy.
Lu Chenyuan responded with calm certainty,
"Exactly as we anticipated."
He lifted his gaze, scanning the room, his voice clear and steady:
"Everyone, our opponent has played his final card. All we need to do is follow the plan."
He turned to the PR director. "Maintain silence externally. No response, no explanation, no argument."
"Wait—what?" The PR director was stunned. "CEO Lu, silence now will make the public think we’re admitting guilt..."
"Let them speculate," Lu Chenyuan cut in. "Let the fire of public opinion burn even fiercer. The brighter the flames, the more dazzling our countermove will be when we step into the light."
He then turned to Zhang Qi: "Legal department, continue gathering evidence. Make a detailed list of every media outlet and individual spreading rumors. Hold off on sending the cease-and-desist letters for now—wait for my instructions."
"Understood!"
"Everyone, get back to work." Lu Chenyuan waved his hand. "Remember, stay composed. The real show hasn't even started yet."
Though the team still harbored some doubts, seeing Lu Chenyuan's calm and confident demeanor inexplicably steadied them. They dispersed to carry out their tasks.
The conference room was now empty except for Lu Chenyuan.
He took out his phone and dialed his younger brother Lu Chenjin's overseas number.
The call was answered almost instantly.
"Big brother!" Lu Chenjin's voice brimmed with barely contained excitement.
"I saw it." Lu Chenyuan's tone carried a hint of amusement.
Just an hour earlier, at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, the World Endurance Championship's qualifying round had concluded.
A dark horse from the East had stunned the racing world.
The "Flame Dragon" team, with Lu Chenjin as its lead driver, had piloted an unheralded domestic prototype car to a stunning second-place finish—defying the dominance of Europe's established racing giants.
It was the best result ever achieved by a Xia Country team and driver in this elite competition.
But even more attention-grabbing than the podium finish was the car's jaw-dropping performance: unprecedented range, mind-bending energy recovery efficiency, and—most remarkably—a battery temperature that remained stable throughout the grueling seven-hour race.
"Big brother, I did it!" Lu Chenjin's voice cracked with emotion. "I didn't let you down!"
"This isn't about letting anyone down—it's about bringing honor," Lu Chenyuan replied. "I'm proud of you."
From a rebellious teenager drowning in underground gambling rings to a professional racer standing on the podium of the world's most prestigious racing stage—Lu Chenjin had been reborn through months of hellish training.
"Have you seen the domestic media coverage?" Lu Chenyuan shifted the topic.
"Seen it!" Lu Chenjin's voice turned furious. "Those bastards! They have no idea how groundbreaking our tech is! Big brother, let me come back—I'll hold a press conference and shove the race data right in their faces!"
"Not yet." Lu Chenyuan chuckled. "Your mission isn't over. Prepare to return—with your car, your trophy, and your team. Our real battleground is here."
"Got it! I'll arrange it immediately!"
After hanging up, Lu Chenyuan's gaze drifted to the window.
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
