The line went dead, but Wang Li's grip on the phone remained vise-like, his knuckles pale. Across the room, Chen watched him, the weight of Lin Hong's threat thickening the air. Dr. Emily Thompson sat motionless, her earlier guilt now eclipsed by dread. The city's skyline, visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows, glittered like a taunt—a kingdom Wang Li had built, now teetering on the edge of collapse.
"We need to act," Chen said, breaking the silence. "If Lin Hong's moving to freeze your assets, every hour counts."
Wang Li set the phone down deliberately. "Then we dismantle him first."
Three hours later, Wang Li stood in the heart of an underground tech lab, a concrete bunker hidden beneath a derelict warehouse on the city's outskirts. The space hummed with servers and holographic screens, its walls lined with code-streaming monitors. Zhou, the sharp-eyed strategist, had chosen the location years ago for its anonymity. Now, it hosted Wang Li's most trusted allies: cybersecurity savants, forensic accountants, and a former prosecutor turned private investigator.
Dr. Thompson hovered near the door, as if unsure she belonged. Wang Li caught her eye and nodded curtly. She'd earned her place here—for now.
"Lin Hong's built a web," Zhou began, pulling up a holographic map of financial transactions. Red lines spiderwebbed across the globe, linking shell companies, offshore accounts, and political figures. "He's laundering money through dummy corporations in Singapore, funneling it into lobbying groups here. But this—" He zoomed in on a cluster of nodes. "—is his Achilles' heel. The transfers are routed through a single bank in Zurich. If we can prove he's the beneficiary, we collapse his credibility."
"And the evidence he's planted against me?" Wang Li asked.
Chen handed him a dossier. "Fabricated invoices, falsified board meeting minutes—all digitally signed with your stolen credentials. But we've traced the forgeries to a hacker collective Lin Hong's used before. Their leader goes by *Viper*. If we flip him, we prove the documents are fake."
Wang Li's jaw tightened. "Find him. Offer whatever it takes."
Dr. Thompson stepped forward. "There's something else. Lin Hong's been funding a blackmail ring. He has files on politicians, judges… anyone who could interfere. If we leak those files first, his allies will abandon him."
A murmur rippled through the room. The investigator, a wiry woman named Luo, narrowed her eyes. "Leaking that data's a gamble. It could trigger a panic—or make Lin Hong desperate enough to lash out."
"Then we control the narrative," Wang Li said. He turned to Zhou. "Can the system help?"
Zhou's fingers danced across a keyboard. On the central screen, the hologram shifted, revealing the glowing interface of the Ultimate Revenge Life System—Wang Li's AI guide, its neural network now synced with their servers.
**// Analyzing Lin Hong's network...**
**// Priority target identified: Deputy Mayor Zhang Wei.**
**// Blackmail file extracted: Bribery, embezzlement. Threat level: High.**
"The system's already mapping his vulnerabilities," Zhou said. "We can release the files incrementally, starting with Zhang. Lin Hong loses his political shield, and the public turns on him."
Wang Li nodded. "Do it. And dig deeper. I want every skeleton in his closet exposed."
---
### **The Offer**
As the team worked, Wang Li slipped into a side room, where Xiao Li's voice echoed from a tablet propped on the desk. His son's face filled the screen, grinning as he brandished a crayon drawing.
"Baba, look! It's our house—with a *giant* robot guarding it!"
Wang Li's stern demeanor softened. "A robot? What's its name?"
"Captain Steel! He shoots lasers from his eyes and protects everyone!" Xiao Li's smile faltered. "When are you coming home?"
"Soon, *bǎo bèi*. I promise." The lie tasted bitter.
After the call, Wang Li stared at the drawing saved on his phone—a child's earnest scribbles, yet somehow more vital than any blueprint. *This* was why he couldn't falter.
---
### **The Trap**
By dawn, Zhou's team had leaked Deputy Mayor Zhang's crimes to independent journalists. By noon, headlines blared: **CORRUPTION IN CITY HALL: DEPUTY MAYOR LINKED TO LIN HONG.**
Lin Hong's retaliation was swift.
Wang Li's phone buzzed with alerts: a police raid on his flagship hotel, a sudden audit of his tech division. Then, a live news feed showed Lin Hong at a press conference, his tone mournful.
"It grieves me to see a colleague succumb to greed," he said, flanked by officials. "But justice must prevail. I've cooperated fully with investigators to expose Wang Li's crimes."
Chen cursed. "He's spinning the leaks as *your* doing—claiming you're smearing him to cover your tracks."
Dr. Thompson paled. "He anticipated us."
Wang Li's mind raced. "Where's Viper?"
"We found him," Luo said. "But he's dead. Car accident an hour ago."
Silence fell. Lin Hong was erasing trails faster than they could follow.
The system's interface flickered.
**// New directive: Redirect assets to secure holdings.**
**// Warning: Lin Hong plans to seize Xiao Li's trust fund.**
Wang Li's blood turned to ice. He opened Xiao Li's trust documents—all signed over to a shell corporation owned by Lin Hong.
"He's targeting my son," Wang Li said, his voice lethally quiet.
Chen slammed a fist on the table. "We'll tear that apart in court—"
"There's no time. The fund's governed by offshore laws. It'll take months to dispute." Wang Li stood, his chair screeching. "Cancel the leaks. We're done playing defense."
That night, Wang Li walked into Lin Hong's penthouse uninvited. The guards, bribed earlier by Chen, let him pass.
Lin Hong sat at a grand piano, playing a Chopin nocturne. "I wondered when you'd come begging."
Wang Li tossed a file on the piano. "Release my son's trust fund. Now."
Lin Hong glanced at the documents—photos of his mistress, his secret daughter in Paris. "You think *this* scares me?"
"No. But this does." Wang Li swiped his phone, streaming live footage of Luo and armed men entering a luxury apartment. Lin Hong's daughter glanced up, confused, as Luo spoke: "*We're here to ensure your safety, Ms. Li. Your father's enemies are… unpredictable.*"
The nocturne discordantly halted. "You wouldn't dare."
"You threatened my child," Wang Li said. "Now you'll learn what that means."
Lin Hong's composure cracked. "You're a monster."
"No," Wang Li said, turning to leave. "I'm a father."
-
By morning, Lin Hong relinquished the trust fund. But the victory was hollow.
Zhou intercepted a message: Lin Hong had activated *Project Eclipse*, a failsafe to crash the smart city's grid—and frame Wang Li for the chaos.
"It's a dead man's switch," Zhou warned. "If we move against him, the city goes dark."
Wang Li gazed at Xiao Li's drawing, still glowing on his phone. "Then we cut the switch before he pulls it."
Somewhere in the city, a clock ticked.
War had begun.