188: Gilded Lies

"...Giant Star Generation II is not just an upgrade, it's a revolution!"

Hoffman's enlarged, greasy face dominated the command center's main screen. His voice, amplified by the speakers, carried a suffocatingly provocative tone.

"Some people rely on petty tricks to try and deceive everyone. But today, I'm telling you that only Giant Star Mining possesses the true core technology! Only we can push prices down to this level—ten percent off! No, twenty percent off! Available now, with unlimited supply!"

With a wave of his hand, the data bars at the bottom of the screen began to jump frantically. The red curve representing Giant Star Mining's order volume rose like a rearing viper, instantly breaking through the top of the chart.

"This is impossible..." Su Li stared at the split screen in front of her, her face as pale as paper. "Our pre-sale orders... are being canceled. Thirty percent... fifty percent... it's still dropping! Are those distributors insane? They don't even care about the liquidated damages!"

"They're not insane." Chen Feng sat in the main seat, fingers interlaced under his chin, looking coldly at the reveling clown on the screen. "They're just afraid of dying. Hoffman is using the sheer weight of his capital to crush people. He's telling everyone that following Hanhai leads only to a dead end."

"Boss! Boss!" In the communication channel, Old Knife's voice was almost out of tune, with a background of noisy arguments. "Those bastards... the buyers we agreed with before are all returning the goods now! They're dumping them on my docks, calling them trash! My warehouse is going to explode! You have to give me an explanation!"

"Shut up." Chen Feng's voice wasn't loud, but it reached Old Knife's ears clearly through the communicator, carrying a bone-chilling coldness.

"An... explanation..." Old Knife's voice trembled, his momentum instantly weakening.

"Tell them, if they want to return the goods, they can get out now," Chen Feng said coldly. "But they only get one chance. Once they step out that door, even if they come back kneeling and bash their heads till they bleed, they won't get a single piece of cargo from Hanhai. Old Knife, that goes for you too. If you're scared, dump the goods into space right now; I won't blame you."

The other end of the communication fell into a deathly silence, save for heavy breathing.

A few seconds later, Old Knife's voice came through, teeth gritted. "Damn it... I've never won a bet in my life, so I'll trust a lunatic like you this time! I'll have the hatch doors welded shut! Anyone who tries to return the goods gets shot!"

Inside the command center, an alarm suddenly blared shrilly.

"It's here!" Eve, who had been huddled in the corner, suddenly screamed. Her fingers danced frantically across the keyboard as red warning codes flashed on her holographic glasses. "Someone... someone is attacking our production line's main control system! It's the signal... the signal for that Logic Bomb!"

On the screen, Hoffman was taking questions from reporters, but out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at a point in the void, a sinister sneer curling his lips.

"He's detonating it." Su Li watched the skyrocketing intrusion index, her voice trembling. "If the production line stops now, we're truly..."

"Let him detonate it." Chen Feng stood up, walked behind Eve, and placed his hands on the back of her chair. "Eve, this is your stage. Show him who the true god is."

Eve's body trembled violently, but her eyes burned with an unprecedented fervor. It was her long-suppressed technical pride, exploding completely at this moment.

"Go... got you." Eve murmured to herself, a neurotic smile actually appearing on her lips. "Want to come in? Then... come in. Welcome to... my maze."

She pressed the final Enter key on the keyboard.

“Hummm—”

A low hum echoed throughout the base.

On the screen, the torrent of data representing the destructive virus was suddenly pulled by an invisible force just as it was about to touch the core production system, sliding into a pre-prepared, fake "sandbox" space.

There, a virtual "Hanhai Factory" was undergoing a violent, destructive explosion, exactly according to Hoffman's script.

"Data transmission complete." Eve took off her glasses and collapsed into her chair, exhausted, gasping for air. "On his screen... our production line is... completely destroyed."

Chen Feng looked at the screen.

The smile on Hoffman's face became incredibly radiant at that moment, as if he could already see Hanhai Trade reduced to ruins.

"What a pity." Hoffman shook his head with feigned regret toward the camera. "I've heard that some small workshops have very poor quality control, and their production lines often explode. When buying things, everyone should stick to big brands. Safety first, after all."

"Pfft." Reno couldn't help but laugh—the cruel laugh of a hunter seeing a beast fall into a trap. "This pig, his acting is so convincing."

"It's our turn to take the stage."

Chen Feng straightened his collar and turned toward the simple live broadcast area.

Behind him, the real production line was running at full speed, mechanical arms moving in a blur of afterimages as brand-new "trojan" energy blocks poured out like a black tide.

"Su Li, cut the signal." Chen Feng stood before the camera, his back to the torrent of steel.

"Cut to where?" Su Li's fingers hovered over the console.

"Cut off Hoffman's signal." Chen Feng looked up, a flash of ferocity in his eyes. "Seize the star sector's public channel. I want everyone to see what a... Dimensional Reduction Strike looks like."

"Signal override... countdown: three, two, one."

At the Giant Star Mining press conference, Hoffman was preparing to enjoy the applause of the entire audience.

Suddenly, the massive holographic screen behind him flickered violently. Hoffman's smug face vanished instantly, replaced by Chen Feng's face, as cold and stern as the Grim Reaper.

And behind him, the intact production line roared like a dragon in operation.

The entire venue fell into a deathly silence.