168: Chapter 169 Top-Secret Warning from the Pinnacle of Power: The Man-Eating Beast in the Abyss

The shrill, life-threatening ringtone sounded exceptionally jarring in the pin-drop silence of the CEO's office.

It even caused a dangerous, murderous aura to permeate the air.

Shen Du took a deep breath, quickly concealing the icy murderous intent in his eyes.

He walked quickly behind the large sandalwood desk and reached out to pull open a top-secret drawer equipped with an independent iris lock.

Lying on the black velvet shock-absorbing pad...

...was a specially made mobile phone with no brand markings, and even its screen only displayed basic monochrome.

This phone was not connected to any civilian or commercial communication base stations.

It operated on an encrypted dedicated line.

In this world, there were only a handful of people who had the qualifications and authorization to dial this frequency number.

Shen Du did not hesitate at all; he picked up the phone and pressed the answer button.

"Hello, is this CEO Shen?"

From the other end of the line came the voice of a middle-aged man—steady, deep, and carrying the unique oppressive aura of someone who had long held a high position.

Even through the receiver, that massive, naturally imposing aura was enough to make any business tycoon feel suffocated.

The caller was none other than the highest helmsman of this Oriental magic capital, the top leader of Shanghai—Secretary Shen Hai!

"Secretary Shen Hai, it is me."

Shen Du's tone immediately became extremely proper, carrying just the right amount of respect.

"Hehe, you've worked hard, CEO Shen, stirring up the sinking market for the past six months."

Secretary Shen Hai's voice on the other end carried a rare hint of a smile, but his words were hidden with sharpness:

"You really fought this spectacular battle to defend the entertainment industry beautifully.

Not only did you forcefully withstand the tens of billions in bombardment from foreign capital, but you also forced that group of multinational giants to cut off their own limbs to survive.

Well done."

As the anchor of Shanghai, Secretary Shen Hai naturally knew every brutal detail of this business war like the back of his hand.

His praise carried immense weight.

"Secretary Shen Hai, you flatter me.

How could it be considered a beautiful battle? It was just utilizing some petty commercial tricks that are not worth mentioning."

Shen Du answered extremely humbly, his tone devoid of any arrogance from winning the battle:

"Besides, if it weren't for you holding down the fort in Shanghai and helping me stabilize the most solid rear,

blocking those hidden arrows from the high-level, Jiyuan Technology would have long been swallowed alive by those multinational capital groups."

"Alright, stop being humble in front of me, kid.

The business world is like a battlefield; being able to win is the greatest ability."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Secretary Shen Hai's tone suddenly changed.

The slight trace of amusement from a moment ago vanished completely.

Replaced by a seriousness and gravity as cold as thousand-year ice.

"However, I didn't call you today to throw you a victory celebration."

Secretary Shen Hai's voice lowered a few notches, like a bucket of sobering ice water mercilessly poured over Shen Du's head:

"Shen Du, don't be happy too soon.

The current real situation in the Beijing Circle is far more dangerous than what you see; the situation is absolutely not optimistic!"

Hearing this grave warning from Secretary Shen Hai, Shen Du's eyes instantly deepened.

Although he had just sensed the anomaly in the Su Family's fortune through the Geomantic Map,

in front of Secretary Shen Hai, a titan who controlled the domestic top-tier intelligence network, he still maintained absolute silence and attentiveness.

On the other end of the phone, Secretary Shen Hai's voice felt like a heavy mountain, crashing down with immense pressure:

"That youngster from the Su Family, Young Master Su Chi, is a ruthless character who would swallow his own flesh and blood for profit.

Do you really think their complete cessation of subsidies means they've admitted defeat?

Wrong, dead wrong!

He not only cold-bloodedly swallowed the massive assets of billions of US dollars from his overseas allies,

but also used this 'whitewashing' to completely integrate those terrifying forces hidden beneath the surface of the local Beijing Circle."

"It can be said that the current Su Family has not suffered any major damage.

Instead, because they completed this kind of insane capital expansion, they possess the true foundation to, on the frontal battlefield,

deal a fatal blow to Jiyuan Technology!"

Secretary Shen Hai paused, his tone becoming even colder: "And this is not the most fatal part."

"Shen Du, in the past six months, while you were locked in a bloody bayonet fight with the Beijing Circle coalition in the sinking market and couldn't spare any attention,

did you overlook the true behemoth in Shenzhen in the south?"

Secretary Shen Hai hit the nail on the head, revealing another cruel truth.

"Tencent."

Shen Du narrowed his eyes slightly and slowly spat out these two words.

"That's right, it's that oriole that has been hiding in the shadows watching the show!"

Secretary Shen Hai gave a cold snort: "In this thrilling meat-grinder battle, Tencent has maintained an eerie silence throughout.

They didn't spend a single cent in this Shura field.

But they perfectly utilized the gap created by both of you crushing each other and having unstable foundations, and they have been exerting force wildly in the dark!"

Secretary Shen Hai threw a set of glaring intelligence data at Shen Du:

"Just last month, riding the aftermath of your fierce battle,

Tencent bloodlessly restored and even swallowed a huge chunk of market share that originally belonged to the sinking social track.

Now the entire internet social and entertainment landscape has completely evolved into a 'tripartite confrontation' between Jiyuan Technology, the Beijing Circle's Su Family (Douyin system), and Tencent in the south!"

Hearing this, Shen Du's breathing slowed slightly.

His brain, like a precision supercomputer, instantly re-positioned these three massive forces on his macro sandbox.

"Shen Du, I called you today to teach you the most brutal lesson in politics and business."

Secretary Shen Hai's voice, through the encrypted line, hammered hard at this young business emperor.

"From today on, your mortal enemies in the country have gone from one to two!"

"In this Shura field of capital, you must never harbor any naive fantasies about 'domestic compatriots'."

Secretary Shen Hai coldly tore away the gentle veil of business competition:

"There is no such fairytale as 'because we are both companies from the same country, I won't go for the kill'.

In their eyes, you, Jiyuan Technology, are the biggest stumbling block in their path to wealth!"

"You must always remember.

Once it involves the most core conflict of interest,

the butcher knives that those domestic giants swing at you will only be sharper than Wall Street's foreign capital, and will kill without even leaving a trace of blood!"

Listening to Secretary Shen Hai's extremely cold analysis on the other end of the phone, Shen Du fell into a brief silence.

In his pitch-black eyes, a flash of icy cold light flickered.

The facts were indeed so; the business world was the most cruel Shura battlefield.

In this meat grinder,

there was never any tender national righteousness; there was only naked conflict of interest.

Shen Du took a deep breath.

In his mind, that thick, pitch-black killing line representing the Beijing Circle's Su Family on the Geomantic Map appeared once again.

He couldn't help but develop a brand-new, bottom-shattering understanding of this group of so-called "nobles" entrenched at the center of power.

"Secretary Shen Hai, I understand."

Shen Du's voice was low: "This group of instigators originally pulled together this multinational coalition with the goal of completely dragging down our Jiyuan Technology, and incidentally crushing JD.com and Meituan.

But who could have imagined that in the end, they would stage such an insane act of self-cannibalization."

Shen Du's words carried a deep sense of disgust and coldness: "Treating comrades who once swore brotherhood as fuel to fill the gaps,

even going so far as to personally set a trap to send the other party to official prison just to swallow the assets alone...

To be able to play 'borrowing a knife to kill' to such an outrageous degree, these methods are truly vicious to the extreme."

This kind of baseless betrayal and slaughter had long completely deviated from the scope of conventional business competition.

Everyone knew it well.

If all these shady dealings that Young Master Su Chi did behind the scenes were brought to the table,

and investigated to the end,

the crimes committed by this group of people would be enough to ensure they would never step out of prison for the rest of their lives.

However, this was precisely what made Shen Du feel the most troublesome, and also the most chilling aspect of this Beijing Circle force.

"This is the power of authority, and it is also the source of their confidence to be so unscrupulous."

Secretary Shen Hai on the other end of the phone gave a cold laugh, his tone revealing a thorough clarity:

"On this land, those families in the Beijing Circle rely on the deep political foundation accumulated over decades, or even centuries.

They have long woven an intricate dark web at the official level."

Secretary Shen Hai mercilessly tore away that fig leaf:

"Even if they commit such unconscionable cannibalism, that dark web can instantly cover it up so tightly that not a drop of water can leak through.

In the face of massive interest exchanges,

all sins are perfectly whitewashed as 'legal restructuring' and 'prodigal son returning'."