189: Glass stage

Silence.

A deathly silence followed the holographic signal, spreading like a virus to every receiving terminal across the entire star sector.

The once boisterous Giant Star Mining press conference was now filled only with the sound of breathing and the low hum of operating machinery. Everyone's gaze drifted between two screens—on the left was Hoffman, his face oily and his expression frozen in a moment of shock; on the right was Chen Feng, standing amidst a torrent of steel, his expression as cold as ice.

Chen Feng didn't give his opponent any chance to catch his breath. He raised his hand slightly and lightly tapped his fingertip in the void.

“You want the core technology?” Chen Feng's voice transmitted through the microphone without any emotional fluctuations, yet it pierced clearly into everyone's eardrums. “I'll give it to you.”

The screen switched. A cold metal laboratory bench appeared in the center of the live broadcast. Two energy blocks were simultaneously pushed into slots by mechanical arms—one was the pitch-black, crude 'Giant Star Generation II,' and the other was the 'Hanhai Generation II,' shimmering with a faint blue light.

“What... what is this?” Hoffman finally regained his senses and screamed on the other screen, his voice turning sharp and piercing due to extreme panic. “Cut the signal! That's a forgery! He's using holographic special effects to commit fraud! Security! Technical Department! Cut that damn signal for me!”

“If you and I were selling special effects, you would have gone bankrupt long ago, Mr. Hoffman.” Chen Feng didn't even spare a glance at the jumping clown, only speaking indifferently to the void beside him, “Eve, increase the pressure.”

“Understood.”

Eve's voice trembled slightly, but it was a shiver of excitement. Her fingers flew as she input a string of commands.

“Hum——”

Two high-voltage testers started simultaneously. Huge red numerical bars began to climb frantically at the bottom of the screen.

“Fifty percent... eighty percent... one hundred percent.” Chen Feng, like a ruthless herald of death, read out the jumping numbers. “Everyone, look closely; this is the standard rated power.”

At this moment, the numerical bar representing the Giant Star Generation II suddenly turned a blinding orange, and the voltage curve began to fluctuate violently, like the electrocardiogram of a dying person. Meanwhile, the Hanhai Generation II beside it remained as steady as a despairingly straight blue line.

“Impossible! Our parameters were clearly...” Hoffman gripped the edge of the podium, his knuckles turning white. “That's a fake tester! He's slandering us!”

“One hundred and twenty percent.” Chen Feng interrupted his roar, his voice suddenly turning cold. “This is the 'overclocking mode' you advertised.”

“Bang!”

A dull explosion rang out.

Under the watchful eyes of the public, the casing of the Giant Star Generation II burst open, and a plume of black smoke gushed out along with pungent sparks. The test bench instantly triggered an alarm, its red lights flashing wildly.

On the other side, the Hanhai Generation II continued to operate quietly, its faint blue light seemingly mocking the pile of smoking wreckage.

“Is this the core technology you wanted?” Chen Feng casually picked up a piece of the Giant Star wreckage that looked like scrap iron, showing the scorched internal structure to the camera, a cruel arc curling at the corner of his mouth. “Trash that can't even copy homework properly.”

“I'm going to sue you! I'll make sure you rot in jail!” Hoffman had completely lost control, tugging at his tie and shouting with a flushed face, “You're breaking business rules! You're committing libel!”

Suddenly, Hoffman lunged toward his control console, his fingers trembling as he pressed the red emergency button—the command to activate the Logic Bomb. Since his reputation was already ruined, everyone would die together! As long as the Hanhai factory exploded, public opinion could be reversed!

“Blow up! Blow up for me!” Hoffman roared frantically in his mind, his eyes bloodshot.

However, the Hanhai factory in the footage remained orderly, with only the blue production line tirelessly churning out products.

“Are you looking for this?”

Chen Feng's voice was like a bucket of liquid nitrogen, instantly extinguishing the last of the fire in Hoffman's heart.

The screen split again. A high-definition surveillance recording popped up.

In the video, the so-called 'genius Technician' Simon was sneakily inserting a data interface into Hanhai's main control server. His voice was clearly audible: “Mr. Hoffman, the bomb has been planted. In two weeks, as long as you press the button, this place will turn into a sea of fire.”

The entire audience went into an uproar.

The comment section completely exploded at this moment.

“Holy crap! Corporate espionage?!”

“They even wanted to blow up the factory? That's murder!”

“Is Giant Star Mining insane? These are freaking terrorists!”

“Refund! I just placed an order, refund!”

“No... it's not like that... that's AI-synthesized!” Hoffman watched the recording, his whole body shaking like a sieve, cold sweat instantly soaking his expensive suit. “That's... that's...”

“Simon is already on his way to the Covenant Court,” Chen Feng coldly delivered the final blow, “as a tainted witness.”

“Bastard!”

Below the stage, an angry distributor could no longer contain himself, grabbing a sample in his hand and hurling it fiercely at the stage.

“Scammer! Give me back my deposit!”

“Hoffman, you son of a bitch!”

The crowd surged toward the podium like a bursting flood. The bodyguards tried to stop them, but they were quickly swallowed by the tide of anger.

“Protect me! Quickly, protect me!” Hoffman screamed in terror. In the scuffle, his meticulously groomed wig was ripped off by a large hand, revealing his bald, sweat-covered scalp.

In that instant, the entire star sector saw this once-arrogant business tycoon crawling miserably on the ground like a ridiculous clown, clutching his bald head, one of his expensive leather shoes kicked off, revealing a sock with a hole at the toe.

Chen Feng watched this scene without a trace of pity in his eyes, only a bottomless chill.

“This is the 'value' I wanted to show you.”

He cut the live broadcast... Giant Star Mining Headquarters, top-floor CEO's office.

The floor was covered in shattered glass and documents. Hoffman slumped amidst the wreckage, his chest heaving violently, his ridiculous wig nowhere to be found.

The communicator was vibrating frantically; every red notification was a debt collection, a contract termination, or a claim for damages.

“It's over... it's all over...” he murmured to himself, his eyes vacant.

“Boss, we still have inventory!” The secretary pushed open the door, her voice trembling. “There are still three million finished units in the warehouse! If we can't sell them, we really won't have the cash flow to pay the liquidated damages!”

Hoffman snapped his head up, a flash of a gambler's final desperation in his eyes.

“Sell! Sell them for me!” He scrambled up from the floor, roaring like a wounded beast. “No matter the price! Fifty percent off! Seventy percent off! Just sell if they give money! Spread the goods across every planet! As long as the goods are out and the money is in hand, I can make a comeback! I can make a run for it!”

“But... those goods...”

“No buts!” Hoffman grabbed a vase and threw it at the secretary. “Go ship them! Now! Immediately! Right away!”

The secretary screamed and fled.

Hoffman panted heavily, sinking into his executive chair, watching the logistics ships constantly taking off outside the window, a neurotic grin appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“Chen Feng... you want to play me to death? It's not that easy... Once these three million units are scattered, even if I'm guilty, the law can't punish everyone... I have money... I can live if I have money...”

What he didn't know was that within the fleet flying grandly toward the sea of stars, deep within the core of every energy block, slept a ghost named 'trojan'.

And the key to awakening that ghost was held in the hands of the young man he hated to his very core.