The old textile factory creaked in the wind, its rusted steel beams moaning like ghosts.A dozen men worked in silence beneath the flickering industrial lamps—sorting files, tracing phone calls, decrypting data on cracked laptops.
Lu Cheng stood before the largest screen, arms folded, his expression carved from stone.
On the monitor, a maze of offshore accounts sprawled across the world map—Hong Kong, Zurich, the Cayman Islands, and a mysterious "SafeTrust Capital" based in Nevada.
Fang Jie pointed at the map. "Boss, these accounts tie back to Chen Group's entertainment subsidiary, but there's something off. Money keeps vanishing every thirty days—transferred through a shell company and then… gone."
Lu Cheng's eyes narrowed. "How much?"
"Two hundred million, at least. Maybe more. We can't track where it ends up."
"Someone's cleaning their hands," Qiao Xinyi said, stepping forward. She had changed into a black tactical jacket, her hair tied back. The detective was gone; the soldier had taken her place.
"Not cleaning," Lu Cheng corrected quietly. "Burying. They're moving dirty money from the old projects—land grabs, political bribes, illegal demolitions. Once it hits Nevada, it disappears into private wallets."
He looked up at Fang Jie. "Who owns SafeTrust Capital?"
Fang hesitated. "Officially? A man named Andrew Chen."
"Chen family again," Qiao murmured.
Lu Cheng's jaw clenched. "Andrew Chen… that's the English name of Chen Shaohui."
The room fell silent.
Fang Jie swore under his breath. "You're telling me the same bastard who took your family's business is laundering his father's blood money?"
Lu Cheng didn't answer. His gaze was locked on the map, where digital lines pulsed like veins carrying poison.
Hours passed. The factory was filled with the low hum of computers and the faint rhythm of rain on the roof.
At 3 a.m., Fang Jie slammed his keyboard. "Got it. I cracked one of the shadow servers!"
Data poured across the screen—transactions, signatures, encrypted messages.Then a line of text appeared:
Subject: Confirmed. Transfer complete. Phase Two begins.
"Government domain?" Qiao Xinyi's face tightened. "That's an official email address."
"Meaning the Chen family's not working alone," Lu Cheng said. "They've got protection."
"Inside the city government?"
"Higher," Lu Cheng said, voice low. "Provincial level."
He turned to the group."Save everything. Triple-encrypt it. If something happens to me, leak it to every major outlet."
"Boss—"
"No arguments." His tone cut like a blade. "We're dealing with people who kill without blinking. If they realize we have this data, they won't hesitate."
Fang Jie hesitated, then nodded.
Qiao Xinyi crossed her arms. "You think you can fight them alone?"
"I don't need to fight them," Lu Cheng said, a dangerous calm in his eyes. "I just need to make them afraid."
Later, when the others had left, Qiao Xinyi found him standing by the broken window, watching the city lights flicker in the distance.
"You could walk away," she said softly. "Start over. New name, new life."
Lu Cheng didn't look at her. "That's what they counted on me doing."
She watched his reflection in the glass—hard, cold, but with something burning deep beneath.
"Then what are you going to do?" she asked.
He finally turned to her, a faint smile cutting across his face."Take back what's mine. And burn everything they built on my mother's grave."