175: Blood-Red Lawyer

Hanhai Trade Base, Legal and Public Opinion Response Room.

Time seemed to be stretched and compressed here, every second carrying a heavy metallic texture. On the wall, a giant timer's bright red numbers coldly announced the company's death: 59 hours, 47 minutes, and 11 seconds.

Su Li stood before a curved information wall composed of dozens of light screens; her reflection was shattered into pieces by countless scrolling legal clauses, financial data, and star charts.

"Everyone is here." She didn't look back, her voice smooth as ice, devoid of any emotion.

On the other side of the light screens, several distinct virtual avatars lit up simultaneously—the online legal team she had secretly assembled through personal connections. There was a young man with an afro, a serious lady wearing a monocle, and an avatar of a cat wearing a lawyer's wig.

"Miss Su Li, we've seen what you sent over," the afro-haired youth spoke first, his voice filled with uncontrollable excitement. "Heavens, this is... these are direct transfer records from Hoffman himself to the 'Iron Hook' Chamber of Commerce and those transport teams? Irrefutable evidence! This is blatant commercial crime!"

The lady with the monocle adjusted her lens, her tone rigorous. "This chain of evidence allows us to directly sue Giant Star Mining, accusing them of unfair competition and commercial sabotage. Once the case is filed, it will be enough to trigger an earthquake in the capital markets."

The cat lawyer yawned, and a line of text floated onto the screen: "Meow~ We can make them pay until they're bankrupt."

"No." Su Li finally turned around, her gaze even colder than the countdown numbers behind her. "We aren't suing Giant Star Mining."

"What?" Afro was stunned. "Why? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"Because we don't have time to play legal games with an elephant." Su Li's voice wasn't loud, yet it instantly silenced all the noise. "We only have less than sixty hours of life left. If we sue Giant Star Mining, they have a hundred ways to drag the lawsuit out for ten years. What we want isn't justice; it's survival."

She extended a finger and swiped across the light screen, covering all displays with a new star chart. On it, a small point of light named the "Sand Wolf" transport team was highlighted with a red circle.

"Our target is this," Su Li said. "The weakest, the stupidest, and the most peripheral one. I want you all to complete all the litigation preparations against the 'Sand Wolf' transport team within three hours, demanding sky-high compensation ten times their total assets on the grounds of malicious damage to goods and breach of commercial contracts."

"This..." The monocle lady hesitated. "Is this just hitting the snake at its 'seven-inch' weak spot?"

"No." The corner of Su Li's mouth curled into a cold arc. "This is 'killing the chicken to warn the monkeys.' The other group, start moving simultaneously."

She looked at another screen, where her assembled public opinion team was.

"In four hours, I want to see our carefully prepared story on 'Starsea Express', 'Mercenary's Home'... all the third-rate business forums and self-media platforms. Remember, the protagonist of the story is Hanhai Trade, an innovator ruthlessly suppressed by a giant. And 'Sand Wolf' is the giant's lapdog, biting the lamb. Take some of the evidence we have, censor it heavily, and attach it."

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

The orders were precisely conveyed, and the entire virtual response room began to operate at high speed like a precision war machine.

Several hours later, in a crude office located at a third-rate freight port.

A fat convoy leader was hugging a glamorous woman while enjoying a low-quality cigar. Suddenly, a piercing electronic tone rang out, and a virtual summons bearing the sacred emblem of the [Covenant Court] was projected directly in front of him.

The fat on his face quivered. Seeing the astronomical compensation amount on it, he seemed to have his bones sucked out, sliding straight down from his expensive faux-leather chair and hitting the floor with a dull thud.

"Lo... Lord Hoffman! Save me!" He scrambled to dial the encrypted communication of Giant Star Mining's deputy, his voice shaking uncontrollably.

From the other end of the communicator came only a cold response: "Clean it up yourself. Don't lead the fire to us."

Communication terminated.

At almost the same time, in the dark corners of the pan-universe network, countless posts began to go viral.

"Shocking! Behind the tragic hero of Hanhai Trade is the filthy black hand of Giant Star Mining!"

"Revealing the truth of 'Pay Ten for One Damaged'; we've all been deceived—they are the victims!"

With vivid images and emotional prose, the accompanying blurred screenshots left infinite room for imagination, instantly igniting the long-accumulated anger of the bottom-tier market against Giant Star Mining.

In the Sand Wolf transport team's office, the fat convoy leader, amidst the immense fear of being abandoned, came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea.

"Contact... quick! Through black market channels, contact Hanhai Trade! Tell them I'm willing to be a state witness! I'll tell them everything!"

Before he could finish shouting, his most trusted second-in-command had already left the room expressionlessly, sending this recording along with the leader's stupid plan to their true backer—the "Iron Hook" Chamber of Commerce.

Iron Hook Chamber of Commerce flagship, the bridge of the "Spinebreaker".

The leader, "Iron Hook", looked at the intelligence, his metallic prosthetic hand creaking as he squeezed it, but a cruel sneer appeared on his face.

"Betrayal? That stupid dog." He said to the first mate, "Pass down my orders: blockade all of Sand Wolf's routes and docking ports. I don't just want him dead; I want him to die under the gaze of all his peers."

"Yes, Boss. Is this... to warn those wavering fence-sitters?"

"No." Iron Hook turned his head, a fierce light gleaming in his single eye. "I want to tell that little girl from Hanhai Trade named Su Li that in the face of absolute power, the tricks of these shysters are worthless."

Hanhai Trade Base, Command Center.

Su Li calmly looked at the first battle report transmitted onto the screen.

"Report! All routes of the Sand Wolf transport team have been unilaterally cut off by the Iron Hook Chamber of Commerce. Their capital chain is broken, and several casualties have occurred internally due to infighting. They are currently applying for bankruptcy protection."

The head of the public opinion team also shouted excitedly, "Miss Su Li, public opinion has completely swung in our favor! We've succeeded!"

However, Su Li didn't show a hint of a smile.

She simply looked up at the giant star chart.

The faint point of light representing "Sand Wolf" had been completely extinguished. But in its place was a much larger, more airtight red blockade network composed of over a dozen points of light, like a bloody maw tightly covering Hanhai Trade.

A public statement from the Iron Hook Chamber of Commerce was projected in the center of all screens.

"In view of Hanhai Trade's recent maliciously seeking trouble, the Iron Hook Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with its thirteen core transport providers, has decided to initiate an 'Indefinite Commercial Risk Assessment' against them. All business dealings will be suspended until the assessment is complete."

"Miss Su Li..." The public opinion head's voice was filled with confusion and fear. "This... this is..."

"This is total war."

Su Li said softly, watching the net tighten.

The numbers on the timer ticked down to 59 hours, 13 minutes, and 02 seconds.