CHAPTER 115: CHAPTER 116: TANGLED THREADS – THE PRICE OF LEVERAGE

The air in Lin Feng’s private study was thick with unease.

Outside, the storm of Keller’s veiled propaganda was beginning to take effect. Subtle articles had appeared in international cultural journals, questioning the moral implications of "covert digital governance" and "emergent technocratic influence models." The Apex Council hadn’t been named directly, but the intent was clear: isolate Lin Feng through intellectual and moral discreditation.

And within the Apex Council itself, the tremors had begun.

Jia Yuwen—one of the more prominent second-tier founders, previously loyal—had submitted a "critical evaluation memorandum," questioning the democratic balance of influence in the latest policy pivots. Her tone was not openly confrontational, but she had copied over a dozen peers, including several of Keller’s suspected sympathizers.

Lin Feng set the memo aside without emotion.

Instead, his attention was focused on something far less subtle: the return of Tang Xueyin.

"Is this some kind of message?" Riya murmured, leaning beside him on the edge of the wide desk.

"Worse," Lin Feng said quietly. "It’s an opportunity."

They were watching a security feed from the northern private gate of the compound. A sleek, armored MPV had arrived under diplomatic cover. From it stepped a tall woman in a tailored white trench coat, flanked by two guards dressed in a hybrid of Western executive minimalism and subtle East Asian tactical wear.

Tang Xueyin was back in the country.

And she had come alone.

Wen Xinya joined them silently, arms crossed. "You didn’t call her."

"I didn’t need to," Lin Feng said. "Keller called her in. Which means... she’s not here just to play messenger."

Riya exhaled. "Then why?"

Lin Feng’s eyes narrowed as he watched the footage zoom closer. Xueyin’s expression was cool, unreadable—but her posture had changed. Gone was the distant aloofness. This Xueyin walked with deliberation. With intent.

"She’s not here for me," he said. "She’s here to see who she wants to become."

They received her with minimal formality. Lin Feng met her alone in the glass-walled east chamber—intentionally exposed to the garden, but soundproofed to high-grade spec.

Tang Xueyin stood in front of the orchid display, eyes taking in every detail.

"You’ve upgraded your war garden," she murmured.

"You’re not here to compliment landscaping," Lin replied.

"No. I’m here to make sure you don’t fall."

Lin tilted his head. "You were never afraid of that before."

Xueyin turned fully to him then, eyes flashing beneath neatly brushed hair. "Before, you weren’t worth salvaging."

There was a beat of silence. Lin didn’t react. He simply gestured toward the table.

"Then let’s talk about the terms."

Xueyin didn’t sit. Instead, she placed a slim portfolio on the table between them. "The Consortium doesn’t want a direct conflict yet. But if you keep embarrassing Keller in public venues, that calculus will change."

"I’m not interested in a private deal."

"This isn’t a deal," she said sharply. "It’s a test. Of how far you’ll go. Of how much rope you want. Or how much you’ll let them wrap around your neck."

Lin opened the portfolio. Inside was a list of names—anonymous shell company directors, quiet technocrats, minor influencers—half of whom Lin recognized as linked to Keller’s network.

"These people were meant to appear as new bridge-builders," she said. "If you expose them all at once, it escalates. If you absorb them gradually, you control the pace. The Consortium gets its foothold. You stay above water. Everyone keeps smiling."

Lin’s jaw tensed. "And what do you get, Xueyin?"

She gave a small smile. "A front-row seat."

Later that night, Lin convened an emergency inner council session. Present were Riya, Wen Xinya, Zhang Wei, Li Yunru, Anya from the Apex AI branch, and—after a long delay—Qin Xue, who joined via secure channel from Tokyo.

"This isn’t just about Keller anymore," Lin said, scanning their expressions. "The entire architecture of subversion is shifting from persuasion to infiltration."

Li Yunru’s eyes narrowed. "So we either allow gradual rot... or force them into open conflict?"

"Exactly."

Wen Xinya tapped her pen against the table. "Tang Xueyin wants to be close to the fire without burning herself."

"Which makes her dangerous," Zhang Wei added. "And possibly useful."

Riya spoke last. "There’s another layer. She was the Consortium’s clean knife before Keller arrived. Now she’s back under his umbrella. That tension will surface."

Lin nodded. "We’ll use it. But carefully. For now, I’ll accept her ’gift.’ Selectively. We turn some of the names in her dossier to our side. Reject others publicly. Force Keller’s hand to reveal where he’s spread too thin."

Anya frowned. "And what about the media axis? He’s planted too many think tanks and digital mouthpieces."

Lin looked up. "We respond in kind. But not through us. Through our failures."

Wen raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

"We leak early-stage project documentation showing misalignment. Not sabotage—just gaps. We frame it as growing pains from overreach. Our allies will whisper criticism. Keller will believe it’s time to push harder. He’ll misread our tightening as collapse."

Zhang Wei smiled faintly. "A feint."

"A trap," Lin corrected. "And if it works, he’ll step right into it."

The next week unfolded like a coiled serpent loosening its body in warm sun.

First, one of Keller’s seeded "reform agents" within the Global Culture Index resigned after an anonymous whistleblower posted discrepancies in his previous consulting records. No direct link to Lin’s team could be proven.

Then, a surprise appointment was made to the City’s Urban Ethos Council—a body largely symbolic, until now. The appointee: Shen Yiran, a media-savvy critic of post-modern technocratic discourse. An independent voice.

But a former student of Lin Feng.

At the same time, Jia Yuwen—still publicly critical—was quietly brought into an informal policy revision group led by Wen Xinya. Her ideas were challenged but heard. Her ego was soothed. Her loyalty? No longer certain.

Tang Xueyin watched from a distance.

She made no second approach.

She didn’t need to.

But Lin knew things wouldn’t stay in soft maneuver forever.

That understanding came to a head during a private conversation with Qin Xue over encrypted video late one evening.

"I’ve intercepted chatter," she said bluntly. "Not from Keller’s team. From above him."

Lin didn’t move. "Define ’above.’"

Qin Xue’s face remained calm. "The axis Keller answers to includes more than the Consortium. He’s aligned with a private European techno-cultural board that’s begun funding emergent identity archetype studies. The goal? Global emotional standardization through content design."

Lin stared. "You’re saying they’re trying to manufacture emotional alignment?"

"Yes. Starting with digital influence zones. Subtly warping instinctive responses to power, gender, uncertainty, and nationalism. All beneath the skin."

Lin sat back, silent for a long moment.

Then he spoke quietly.

"That’s not infiltration."

Qin Xue met his gaze. "No. That’s colonization."