169: Blood-red Advertisement

The people in the conference room had all left.

The cold echo of that sentence, "From this second onward, I will also prepare for you the most precise and detailed bankruptcy report in human business history," seemed to remain frozen in the air.

Chen Feng stood alone before the massive star map, unmoving.

He could feel a bottomless crack forming in the foundation of trust. Su Li’s resoluteness, Reno’s confusion, Lao Mo’s worry, the fear on the faces of the young employees... all of it pricked his senses like invisible needles.

He turned off the star map, and the command center instantly went dark, leaving only the eerie green glow of the emergency indicator lights.

He returned to his seat and sat there quietly without turning on the lights.

He didn't think about the pain in Su Li's eyes, nor did he dwell on the team's wavering. His brain, like an overclocked cold fusion reactor, began to frantically simulate every step after the plan's launch, every possible variable, and the countless corresponding backup plans.

After an unknown amount of time, the slight vibration of his personal terminal woke him from his deep calculations.

A series of system notifications popped up.

[Hanhai Trade - Core Asset A-1 (Permanent Mining Rights for Ashen Earth Star Mining Area) has been sealed and entered a first-level mortgage pending status. Operator: Su Li.]

[Hanhai Trade - Liquid Asset C-3 (Rare Metal Reserves) has been sealed and entered a first-level mortgage pending status. Operator: Su Li.]

[...]

One after another, cold, precise, and efficient.

Su Li was fulfilling her "duty" through her actions. She was squeezing every bit of value out of the company, preparing for the upcoming capital burn that would be measured in seconds.

Chen Feng looked at the notifications without any expression on his face. He simply picked up the communicator on the desk, bypassed all administrative procedures, and directly connected to the temporary head of the publicity department.

"It's me."

"Boss!" a young and nervous voice came from the other side.

"Listen, I want an advertisement now; just design one image." Chen Feng didn't speak fast, but every word sounded like a command. "For the background, use the most eye-catching red, the kind that makes one's eyes sting."

"Huh? Red? Boss, according to Interstellar Advertising Psychology, red usually triggers anxiety and—"

"I want anxiety," Chen Feng interrupted. "Put the highest-definition rendering of our energy block right in the center, letting it float in that sea of blood-red."

"O-Okay."

"Below the image, put a price tag. Yes, the one we just set, thirty percent below cost."

"Then," Chen Feng paused, his voice turning colder, "next to the price, write a line in Universal Galactic Language. Use the largest font possible, in white, so it pierces through that blood-red background."

"What... what should I write?"

"POWER AT YOUR PRICE. BREAKS? WE PAY 10X."

Power at your price. It breaks? We pay ten times the amount.

There was a deathly silence on the other end of the line, as if the person was too stunned by this crazy slogan to think.

"I want to see the finished product within an hour." After saying that, Chen Feng hung up immediately.

He didn't need any artistic design or clever copywriting.

What he wanted was a naked declaration of war written in blood.

Overnight, this "Scarlet Advertisement" spread like a virulent virus through every free information channel it could reach.

It appeared on public information terminals in every grey port, flickered on the greasy screens of every mercenary tavern, and was even blasted as spam onto the bridges of countless starships performing space jumps.

Almost all mainstream media and business commentators noticed the advertisement.

In Hanhai Trade's command center, an urgent report from the public relations department was projected in front of Chen Feng. On the report, the headline of a pinned article from "Interstellar Business Observation" was exceptionally striking—[Hanhai Trade's Epitaph: A Business Farce Composed of Suicidal Dumping].

The article was filled with mockery, calling Hanhai Trade's advertisement "the stupidest marketing case of the century" and asserting that it would self-destruct within seven days due to a broken capital chain. The author of the article was a special commentator signed as Hoffman, the Marketing Director of Giant Star Mining.

"Hoffman's team moved quickly," an analyst whispered, their voice full of worry. "Boss, he's sentencing us to death."

"Very good." Chen Feng looked at the report, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. "The fact that he's laughing means he still doesn't understand. Let him laugh."

Just as he finished speaking, an encrypted communication request suddenly cut in; it was Old Knife.

In the holographic projection, Old Knife's face was distorted with terror. His signature wine glass fell to the ground with a "clatter," shattering into pieces.

"B-Boss Chen!" His voice was trembling. "That red... that advertisement! Is it real? Have you guys fucking lost your minds?!"

"It's real," Chen Feng replied calmly.

"The ten-times compensation is real too?!"

"Also real."

"Holy shit!" Old Knife slammed his fist onto the console. "Do you know what this means? I'm the biggest damn liar in the universe right now! My ship will be torn to shreds by those angry customers!"

"Your stock is at this price now too," Chen Feng said to him, word by word.

Old Knife was stunned.

"Just sell it. If you can't sell it, I'll take it back. If you do, the profit is still yours. If the sky falls, I'll hold it up." There was an unquestionable power in Chen Feng's voice.

Old Knife stared intently at Chen Feng, his chest heaving violently. He saw the calmness in Chen Feng's eyes—a kind of near-insane confidence that he couldn't comprehend.

After a long time, he gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words: "Fine! I'll go crazy with you one last time!"

The communication cut off.

Another data report was presented immediately after.

"Boss, the data shows that our advertisement has generated high levels of discussion among mercenaries at fringe star system transit stations like 'The Junkyard' and 'Butcher's Alley.' Although most of it is mockery..." The analyst pointed to a fluctuating data line, "The attention level is thirty times that of Giant Star Mining's similar products."

Chen Feng nodded; this was exactly what he wanted.

Just then, the laboratory door was pushed open, and Eve walked out looking exhausted. A data probe was still tucked into her messy hair, clearly having just escaped from a sea of data.

She was completely unaware of what was happening outside and walked straight to Chen Feng, handing him a new design sketch.

"Give me three days." Her voice was a bit raspy, but her eyes held a hint of relieved excitement. "I've found a new biocatalyst formula. I'm confident I can reduce the failure rate from five percent to four point five percent!"

Chen Feng took the blueprint that embodied her hard work but didn't look at it, simply setting it aside.

"No need."

The excitement on Eve's face instantly froze.

"W-What?"

"Keep it at five percent." Chen Feng looked into her confused eyes and calmly added a sentence that made Eve feel a chill rise from her marrow.

"I need that five percent failure rate."

"I need it to prove to the entire universe that my 'ten-times compensation' is real."

Eve opened her mouth, but not a single word came out. She looked at Chen Feng, the man who had just been encouraging her to overcome difficulties, and now he seemed so strange, so... terrifying. She couldn't understand the logic behind this at all.

Her technology, her efforts, the results she was proud of—at this moment, they all seemed to have become a precisely calculated piece in a cold game of chess played by this man.

She didn't ask further, only turning silently and walking back into that cold laboratory.

Almost at the same time, a green prompt box for a successful transaction finally popped up on the command center's large screen.

[Order Confirmation: The first batch of 100 Hanhai Standard Energy Blocks has completed transaction through the "Sharp Tip Merchant Fleet" channel.]

The dawn of victory finally pierced through the darkness before daybreak.

However, at the other end of the base, the atmosphere in Su Li's office was like a tomb.

On her personal terminal, the financial system automatically emitted a crisp chime, sounding like a death knell.

Immediately after, the long string of numbers representing the company's total assets on the screen began to plummet at a speed visible to the naked eye.

-100... -1,000... -3,500... Every flicker of the numbers was like a drop of scalding blood being drained from the young and fragile body of Hanhai Trade.

Su Li watched the dwindling numbers quietly, her fingertips cold.

She felt as if she could clearly hear the ticking of the company's life countdown, striking in her ears, beat after beat.