CHAPTER 94: CHAPTER 95 – THREADS IN THE SHADOWS, FACES IN THE CROWD

Late evening settled over Jing City, its lights bleeding into the misted skyline like diluted neon. Inside a discreet upscale teahouse nestled in a narrow alley off Nanhuan Road, Lin Feng sat in the farthest booth, its walls lacquered in dark wood and adorned with minimalist calligraphy. The city’s chaos felt far away here, but Lin knew better than to be lulled into peace. War never stopped. It simply changed rooms.

Opposite him sat Yu Jinqi, arms crossed, wearing a crisp navy-blue blazer over her usual loose turtleneck. She was quiet—unusually quiet. Since Spectron’s exposure, she had kept things mechanical, efficient. Tonight was no different.

"We’ve traced Spectron’s shadow accounts," she finally said, pushing a flash drive across the table. "Mostly routed through dummy vendors in Chengdu and Macau. But there’s one interesting anomaly—an account linked to a boutique investment firm in Paris. Clean on the surface, but it’s got Spectron’s IP pings embedded in the metadata of their internal comms."

Lin Feng took the flash drive and nodded slowly. "A Western shell firm laundering yuan for influence?"

"Possibly. But the firm doesn’t invest in tech. They invest in media companies. And lately, they’ve funneled capital into HanVision Media." She leaned forward. "The same platform that’s quietly launched two op-eds attacking your ’philanthropy strategy’ as a front for manipulation."

Lin narrowed his eyes. "They’re moving to discredit not just me, but the entire method I used to build support. If people stop trusting my intent—"

"—They’ll tear down everything you built, from the inside out," Jinqi finished, her voice low.

He breathed in. The enemy had shifted strategy. Zixuan wasn’t just throwing bots or leveraging backdoors. He was recruiting ideologies now—weaponizing narrative.

Lin stood and adjusted his coat. "Then it’s time we add new voices to the conversation."

The following morning, Lin stepped out of a rented apartment on the eastern end of Fuxing District, far from the Central Business Zone where cameras and microphones waited for a hint of drama. Here, anonymity was a convenience he could afford.

He walked two blocks down and slipped into a ground-floor office in an old cultural arts building. The glass door bore a new decal: Urban Insight Lab.

Inside, a handful of twenty-somethings looked up. These weren’t executives or old-guard power brokers. They were researchers, data analysts, and field documentarians—some barely a few years out of university. But they were loyal. And they believed.

Luo Ying, his operations coordinator, handed him a steaming cup of dark tea. "Your call with the international NGO is at 10:30. Before that, we have one more application to review."

Lin raised an eyebrow. "For?"

"The Creative Fellowship slots you funded last month," she said. "A late applicant. Unorthodox background."

She handed him a slim folder with just a few pages. No photo, no flashy resume. But the name caught his eye.

Xu Liyan.

He flipped through. Street photographer. Former activist. Dropped out of formal education. Was detained twice during civic protests four years ago. No criminal record, but enough red flags to raise concern in most organizations.

He looked at Luo Ying. "Why her?"

"She’s been documenting the displacement of low-income communities due to real estate lobbying—especially properties Spectron once invested in through third parties. She doesn’t realize she’s already poking the bear."

Lin leaned back. "Invite her in. Tomorrow."

Meanwhile, in an underground parking facility beneath a midtown tech tower, Zixuan dialed a number from a secure phone. The line connected instantly, and a calm, neutral voice answered.

"Phase two requires framing," Zixuan said flatly. "You’ll push three stories next week. One about Lin Feng’s sudden wealth, one questioning the sincerity of his female benefactors, and one implying insider trading through his earlier angel investments."

The voice replied with a short chuckle. "You’re giving him martyr potential. Dangerous."

Zixuan’s tone didn’t waver. "Not if I mix in enough grey. We don’t need the audience to hate him. Just doubt him."

That afternoon, Lin arrived at Zhenshi High School in the western district—unannounced. As he stepped out of the black MPV, a few students whispered behind their phones, quickly recognizing him. It didn’t take long for news of his appearance to spread like wildfire on student forums.

Inside, he met with Vice Principal Chen, an old acquaintance from his orphanage days. After an hour of closed-door conversation, Lin emerged with a calm smile—and the school’s cooperation in launching an after-hours program that would provide training in real-world financial literacy and digital citizenship.

But he wasn’t done.

On the rooftop garden, he found Song Yuning, leaning against the fence, gazing out over the smog-dusted skyline. She hadn’t changed much—still sharp-eyed, still reserved. But the softness in her features had returned since they’d last spoken.

"You’re showing up at high schools now?" she asked, smirking.

"Trying to catch kids before the algorithm does," he said, joining her at the railing.

She laughed quietly. "Still dramatic."

He looked at her. "You helped build something that matters here. I want you to take it nationwide."

She turned slowly. "As what? A figurehead?"

"No. As director of a youth civic institute. Independent. Backed by grassroots and local funding. And answerable only to truth and results."

She studied him, unsure whether he was dreaming or scheming. But Lin Feng wasn’t playing fantasy. He was drawing up infrastructure.

"Think about it," he said, and left her to the skyline.

That night, Lin met with Tang Rou in her family’s old mahogany-furnished study, surrounded by antique scrolls and war medals belonging to her grandfather. She had brought her own proposal—an underground theater project highlighting corporate manipulation through satire and live performance.

"You think art can beat propaganda?" Lin asked.

"I think truth disguised as laughter

can go further than press releases," she replied.

He didn’t argue. Instead, he handed her a leather envelope.

"What’s this?"

"A shadow production budget. Untraceable funds. And a partner." He gestured toward a tablet on the table, showing a grinning, heavily pierced young woman adjusting a camera lens—Xu Liyan.

Tang Rou’s eyes lit up. "She’s...raw."

"She’s fearless," Lin said.

And in a war of perception, fearlessness mattered.

Across the city, in the pristine upper levels of the renovated Guanxi Tower, a new player sipped wine while watching an old clip of Lin Feng giving a lecture at Qingda University. Her name was Chen Yueran—half-Chinese, half-European, raised in Geneva, educated in the Ivy Leagues, and known for operating a venture fund that focused on "empathy capitalism," a model too idealistic for most corporate boards.

But her fund—Arcwheel Capital—had just closed its Shanghai headquarters and relocated... to Jing City.

Her assistant approached. "Ma’am, should I confirm the meeting with Mr. Lin?"

Yueran smiled. "No. Let him find me. If he’s really playing the long game, he’ll come with a question instead of an offer."

Back at the Urban Insight Lab, Lin stared at a whiteboard, dotted with names, arrows, and shifting threat patterns. The pieces were moving fast now. Too fast for him to keep operating alone.

He called Jinqi. "We’re assembling a core cell. Five people. I’ll pick three. You pick two. They need to be talented, but more than that—they need to believe this fight is about people, not points scored."

She didn’t hesitate. "Understood."

As midnight passed, Lin Feng walked along the edge of Jing City’s old riverbank, hands in pockets. The skyline blinked in artificial color behind him. Below the surface, new forces stirred—rivals, allies, manipulators, reformers.

But he wasn’t afraid.

Because for the first time, this wasn’t just about winning.

It was about reshaping the rules.