43: Chapter 43: Who are you fighting against?

The sky had not yet fully brightened.

On the top floor of the Huanyu Group headquarters in the Capital, inside the chairman's office, Chairman Qian Boan hadn't slept all night.

Holding a glass of red wine, he stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the city still in deep slumber.

He enjoyed this feeling—the feeling of having everything beneath his feet.

"Calculating the time, there should be results from the Northwest by now." He swirled the wine in his glass and gave a cold snort in his heart.

This time, he had utilized Huanyu's top resources, obtained military explosives, and planted his most reliable men.

Multi-point detonations to destroy the water supply system.

He didn't believe that the "Kuafu Project" could persist once the water was gone.

Once the project failed, he would mobilize media resources to throw all the mud at that little girl surnamed Jiang and Director Zhao Lixin, who supported her.

What he couldn't have, no one else should even dream of getting.

"Chairman."

The female secretary's voice came from behind him.

"Speak," Chairman Qian Boan said without turning his head.

"Regarding the Northwest... no news has come back." The female secretary's voice sounded a bit uneasy. "We've lost contact with the several people we sent out."

"Lost contact?" Chairman Qian Boan frowned, but it quickly smoothed over.

"Normal. How good could the signal be in that godforsaken place? Once it's light out, they will naturally contact us."

He had confidence in his people.

"But things are a bit off on our company's end." The female secretary hesitated before speaking. "Since four in the morning, the group's stock price has shown abnormalities in overseas markets; there are large sums of capital maliciously shorting us."

"Also, all our servers have come under the highest level of cyberattacks. The firewalls are about to give way."

"What?" Chairman Qian Boan was no longer calm. He turned around, his expression darkening. "Who did this?"

"We can't trace the source. The opponent's technology is too advanced; our people are no match for them at all."

For the first time, a bad premonition arose in Chairman Qian Boan's heart.

Shorting the stock? Attacking the servers?

These two moves were fast and ruthless, each one fatal.

This didn't seem like the style of a business rival; it felt more like...

Before he could finish his thought, the office door was kicked open from the outside!

The loud bang startled both Chairman Qian Boan and the female secretary.

A group of armed personnel wearing black combat uniforms and helmets rushed in like lightning!

"Don't move!"

"Everyone, get down!"

Dark muzzles were instantly aimed at everyone in the office.

Chairman Qian Boan was completely stunned.

Who were these people? SWAT? Or the army?

Before he could react, two armed men rushed in front of him, pinned him to the ground, pulled his hands behind his back, and with a "click," cold handcuffs locked around his wrists.

"Who are you?! On what grounds are you arresting me?! I am the Chairman of Huanyu Group! This is illegal!" Chairman Qian Boan struggled violently, shouting until his voice cracked.

In all his life, he had never suffered such an insult.

A middle-aged man in uniform with stars on his shoulders walked in from outside.

He didn't look at Chairman Qian Boan on the floor; he merely swept a cold gaze around the office and waved his hand.

"Seize all computers and documents!"

"Take everyone present away for isolated interrogation!"

"Yes!"

"You can't do this!" Chairman Qian Boan was still roaring. "I want to see my lawyer! I want to make a phone call!"

Only then did the middle-aged man look down at him, his tone filled with contempt.

"Qian Boan," he spoke each word deliberately, devoid of emotion. "You are suspected of multiple crimes endangering national security. With the approval of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, The Ninth Bureau of the Ministry of State Security is placing you under arrest."

"From now on, every word you say will be used as evidence in court."

The Ministry of State Security... The Ninth Bureau!

These words struck Chairman Qian Boan's head like a heavy hammer, and his mind instantly went blank.

No matter how stupid he was, he had finally figured it out.

It wasn't that his plan had gone wrong; it was that... he had provoked the wrong person from the very beginning.

He thought he was fighting against a project team, fighting against some young girl.

In the end, he was fighting against the entire state machinery!

"No... impossible..." He slumped on the ground, muttering blankly, "How... how could you..."

He couldn't understand how the other side's reaction could be so fast and so ruthless, without even a whisper of warning.

At almost the same time.

Across the country, over a hundred arrest teams acted simultaneously.

All executives of the Huanyu Group, whether sleeping at home or relaxing at a club, were pinned to their beds in their sleep by Ministry of State Security personnel who burst through their doors.

All subsidiaries and affiliated enterprises of the Huanyu Group suspected of illegal activities were seized by economic investigation teams and tax departments.

A massive net that had been woven long ago suddenly tightened at this moment.

Huanyu Group, this once-glorious business empire, was uprooted in just a few short hours.

Early the next morning, the sun rose.

All news media reported this major event with front-page headlines.

[Huanyu Group Suspected of Multiple Serious Crimes; Key Personnel Legally Arrested!]

[Joint Action by Multiple State Departments to Thoroughly Investigate Huanyu Group, Firing the First Shot in the Campaign Against Organized Crime in the Economic Sector!]

As soon as the news broke, the entire nation was in an uproar.

No one expected this behemoth to fall so quickly and so suddenly.

Meanwhile, in the Desert Base thousands of kilometers away.

Chief Engineer Wang Heshan and Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo were watching satellite TV, where the news showed footage of Chairman Qian Boan being escorted onto a prison van. The two of them held their breakfast bowls, remaining motionless for a long time.

"This... it's over just like that?" Chief Engineer Wang Jianguo felt it was somewhat surreal.

Last night, this Chairman Qian Boan was still a great demon king who could push them to a dead end.

This morning, he had become a prisoner.

"The state's move... is just so damn... fast!" Chief Engineer Wang Heshan held it in for a long time before finally squeezing out those words.

Looking at the armed security personnel on TV, and then thinking back to that apocalyptic colored vortex in the sky last night, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

It seemed that without these old-timers knowing, this country had already acquired two completely different, yet equally terrifying powers.

One was the thunderous state machinery hidden beneath the order of modern society.

And the other...

He couldn't help but look up at the high tower standing tall in the morning light.

The other was a deity from another world.