291: Chapter 291 Lu Feng's Ruthless Move

Chen Fan pressed the kill switch on the main console. The screen went dark, and the image of the Tongyuan Pharmaceutical factory courtyard in Jiangcheng vanished from the holographic projection.

Chen Muyang walked over carrying a cup of hot tea. He placed the white porcelain cup on the table.

"Father, the Jiangcheng pharmaceutical factory has fully resumed operations," Chen Muyang reported on the progress. "The production lines of the twelve time-honored brands are running again. All those overdue debt contracts brought by Zhang Fugui have been voided."

Chen Fan took the cup and had just taken a sip.

The red alarm lights on the walls of the intelligence center flashed repeatedly, and a high-frequency buzzing sound filled the hall.

Chen Haoyu strode over. He handed a military-grade tablet to Chen Fan, his expression grim.

The tablet screen displayed the trending search lists from major social media platforms. The top ten spots were all dominated by the same keywords.

"Revealing the Origin Story of the Huihuang Group Founder," "The Truth About Chen Fan Abandoning His Wife and Children," and "The Hypocritical Mask of a Business Tycoon."

Several long articles had been reposted millions of times. The headlines directly attacked Chen Fan's early life, accusing him of moral failings.

The articles included an audio clip. The content had been processed, and the voice sounded exactly like Chen Fan's. The person in the audio spoke in a vile manner, forcing Su Wanqing to have an abortion and threatening to abandon his family in pursuit of profit.

Lu Feng's trump card had been fully revealed. After suffering setbacks on the physical and financial fronts, he chose to launch a public opinion war.

Overseas media simultaneously reposted these long articles. A large number of internet trolls were flooding the comment sections, desperately trying to manipulate the narrative.

Huihuang Group's public image index plummeted.

Hundreds of idlers gathered in the plaza outside the building. They held up white banners and shouted Chen Fan's name, with slogans on the banners demanding that Chen Fan get out of the business world.

The Public Relations Director rushed into the hall, covered in sweat. He reported the situation while panting heavily.

"Chairman Chen, several overseas partners have sent emails requesting to suspend all current cooperative projects," the PR Director said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Several heavy industry companies in Europe have even proposed re-evaluating Huihuang Group's credit rating."

Chen Muyang's expression was ugly. He pressed his hands on the console and looked at Chen Fan.

"Father, the public opinion is fermenting too quickly," Chen Muyang suggested. "We must use the group's root-level permissions to cut off the servers of all relevant social media platforms and conduct a full-network physical blockade. We cannot let these rumors continue to spread."

Chen Fan put down his teacup. He raised a hand to veto the proposal.

"A forced blockade would confirm these accusations," Chen Fan said, looking at Chen Muyang. "That is exactly Lu Feng's trap. He is waiting for us to pull the plug so he can label Huihuang Group as a manipulator of public discourse."

Chen Fan turned his head to look at Chen Haoyu. He gave his orders.

"Investigate. Use Pangu Computing Power to track the traces of the audio synthesis and lock onto the true identity of the poster."

Chen Haoyu nodded. He turned and walked to the main console, his hands typing rapidly on the keyboard.

Massive streams of data jumped across the large screen. Pangu Computing Power initiated global tracking mode.

Three minutes passed. Chen Haoyu pulled up the underlying analysis results. He projected the data onto the large screen.

"The audio is confirmed to be a synthesis of clips from multiple meeting recordings," Chen Haoyu said, pointing to the voiceprint waveforms on the screen. "Here, and here, there are obvious breaks. The other party used high-end AI voice simulation software for smoothing, but the underlying logic code left traces."

The identity of the whistleblower was identified. The posting IP address had gone through seven proxy hops, ultimately pointing to an offshore island overseas.

Chen Haoyu cracked the opponent's encryption layer and pulled up the registrant's information.

A photo appeared on the screen. It was the former Vice President, Sun.

Sun had been personally sent to prison by Chen Fan years ago for bribery. He had just been released from prison not long ago and had fled overseas.

Chen Fan looked at the photo on the screen. He ordered the Public Relations Department to connect the global live broadcast signal and open the interfaces for all mainstream media platforms.

Su Wanqing walked out of the lounge. She looked at the vicious comments on the screen.

"Do you need me to come forward to clarify?" Su Wanqing asked.

Chen Fan shook his head. He held Su Wanqing's hand.

"No need. These petty tricks cannot hurt me," Chen Fan said in a steady tone. "Just stay here and watch."

Chen Fan took off his jacket. He put on that old yellow vest. This vest had accompanied him through the most difficult years, and it was his battle robe for facing all challenges.

Chen Fan sat directly in front of the holographic lens.

The live stream began. The screen was flooded with countless abusive comments.

"Hypocrite, get out of the business world!"

"Boycott Huihuang Group!"

"Unscrupulous capitalist, give me back my hard-earned money!"

Chen Fan looked at these words. The PR Director stood by, asking whether to enable keyword filtering.

Chen Fan instructed the backend technical staff not to block any negative comments. He wanted everyone to see the most authentic feedback.

The outside world saw Chen Fan's unmasked, poised demeanor. Wearing his old vest, he sat steadily in front of the lens with no PR script and no teleprompter.

The abusive comments stopped in large numbers. Netizens were shocked by this uncompromising attitude.

Chen Fan projected the evidence from the tablet onto the live stream.

"The first document," Chen Fan began.

He displayed the original bribery verdict for Sun from back then. The court's official seal was clearly visible. The verdict detailed the criminal facts of Sun using his position to accept bribes.

"This is the so-called insider," Chen Fan said, pointing to the verdict. "A convicted corporate spy."

The sentiment of the comments began to shift.

Chen Fan then released the audio editing forensic report issued by a professional acoustics institution. The report marked thirteen traces of editing and splicing.

"The second document," Chen Fan displayed the voiceprint comparison chart. "This audio was spliced and synthesized from my meeting recordings over the past decade. Pangu Computing Power has already restored the original audio content."

Chen Fan clicked the play button. The original audio echoed in the live stream. It was Chen Fan's remarks reprimanding non-compliant operations during various executive meetings; the wording was identical to the leaked audio, but the context was completely different.

The rumors collapsed without a fight.

Chen Fan pulled up the core evidence. The screen showed the transaction record of Sun's overseas account receiving five million US dollars last night.

"The third document," Chen Fan enlarged the remittance information. "The sender is a shell company of Yuanfeng Capital. Lu Feng spent five million US dollars to buy a fake recording, attempting to destroy the reputation of Huihuang Group."

The ironclad evidence was made public. The sentiment in the live stream completely reversed.

The netizen's anger turned toward the rumor mongers and Yuanfeng Capital.

"Yuanfeng Capital is so despicable!"

"Support Chairman Chen in defending his rights!"

"Severely punish the rumor mongers!"

Major platforms took the initiative to pin the truth report to the top. The protesters outside the building saw the live stream content, dropped their banners, and dispersed on their own.

Chen Fan ended the live stream. The screen image froze on his calm face.

He handed over Sun's transaction records to the economic crime investigation department.

Chen Fan stood up and took off the old yellow vest. He instructed Chen Haoyu to organize all the materials.

"Lock onto Lu Feng's physical coordinates," Chen Fan said, looking at the night view outside the window. "The public opinion war is over. Next, comprehensive liquidation."

Chen Haoyu accepted the order and left.

At the same time, inside a villa halfway up a mountain on the outskirts of Jiangcheng.

Lu Feng stared fixedly at the huge LCD screen on the wall. Inside the screen was Chen Fan's global live broadcast.

When he saw the five-million-dollar transaction record being made public, Lu Feng's hands trembled. He smashed the red wine glass in his hand. The red liquid splashed all over the carpet.

"Trash! That idiot Sun, he couldn't even cover up an offshore account properly!" Lu Feng cursed loudly.

He rushed to the desk and opened the encrypted computer. The public opinion war had failed completely; he had to transfer the remaining funds of Yuanfeng Capital immediately and then flee Jiangcheng.

Lu Feng entered the password, attempting to log into his anonymous Swiss Bank account.

A red warning box popped up on the screen.

"Your account has been frozen."

Lu Feng refused to believe it and switched through a dozen backup accounts distributed around the world. The result was exactly the same. All capital channels had been completely cut off.

Chen Haoyu's steady voice came from the computer speakers.

"Lu Feng. Don't waste your effort. Pangu Computing Power has already taken over all the underlying data of Yuanfeng Capital."

Lu Feng stepped back twice, knocking over his chair. He pulled a handgun from the drawer and roared at the surveillance camera.

"Chen Fan! Don't get cocky too soon!"

A violent crashing sound came from the iron gate outside the villa. The Shadow Guard had already surrounded the entire mountainside.