Your Empire
The glow of the early morning sun streamed through the windows of Lin Chen's office, a high-rise sanctuary of glass and steel. His fingers tapped rhythmically against the armrest of his chair, but his eyes were distant—fixed on a name that had resurfaced on his screen like a long-buried ghost.
Yongheng Group.
A name he hadn't dared speak aloud in years.
A name that had once stood behind the silent collapse of his family—his father's bankruptcy, his mother's illness, and the scattering of every dream they'd built.
And now, that same company was being paraded as the next blue-chip miracle by the investment world.
Not if he had anything to say about it.
[System Notification: Emotional trigger detected.]
"High-priority trauma response registered. Initiating mission branch…"
Side Mission Unlocked: "Blood for Blood: Vengeance Protocol"
🔹 Objective: Initiate Strategic Short Attack on Yongheng Group🔹 Reward: 5,000,000 Gold Coins + "Legacy Eraser" Passive Title🔹 Bonus Objective: Total collapse of Yongheng's parent structure
⚠ Difficulty: S+
"Do you wish to accept?"
Lin Chen stared at the screen, then clenched his jaw until the tension trembled in his cheeks.
"Accepted."
The hunt had begun.
The Wound Reopened
Yongheng wasn't just another corporation. It was a generational monster—disguised behind golden CSR reports and fabricated accounting, but deep inside, it was rotten.
Ten years ago, they had forced his father—once a respected mid-tier supplier for state tech projects—into default through deliberately sabotaged contracts and unpaid deals. A well-documented deal for a satellite component had mysteriously vanished from the books after delivery. A week later, Lin Chen remembered the headlines:
"MidCorp Lin Family Defaults — Speculation of Internal Mismanagement."
They were never given a chance to speak. No lawsuit. No media coverage.
Just silence.
Now, ten years later, Yongheng was preparing to go international, planning an IPO on the New York Exchange, promising cutting-edge innovation in aerospace and defense.
Lin Chen's fingers danced across the keyboard.
"Not on my watch."
System Activation: Strategic Short Campaign
[Mission Start: "Strategic Short – Project Black Spiral"]
System resources deployed:🔹 Legal Loophole Mapper🔹 Insider Behavior Monitor🔹 Automated Market Sentiment Tracker🔹 Ghost Protocol Disguised Identity Layer (New Identity: "Null Hawk")
The system's interface morphed into a real-time war map.
Dots moved across digital territories—media outlets, stock exchanges, whistleblower leaks, investor social circles. Lin Chen was now not just one man but an entire intelligence division aimed at one target.
[Target Data: Yongheng Group]
Hidden debts through shell subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands
Recent insider share dumps by silent partner "H. Zhen"
Patent disputes in arbitration (under NDA)
Asset overvaluation estimated at 43%
⚠ Weakness Detected: Dependency on speculative AI-military fusion contracts (pending validation)
Lin Chen's eyes narrowed.
He would collapse them from the inside out.
Step 1: Leak the Skeletons
Lin Chen's first action was to deploy "Ghost Canary"— a system tool that anonymously distributed whistleblower-style documents to investigative journalists flagged by the system as "truth-seeking."
Within 12 hours, a micro-blogger famous for uncovering stock scams posted a cryptic thread:
"When a company valued at $60B forgets to report its Cayman losses, you start to wonder..."
Investor groups picked it up immediately. Minor tremors began across forums. Doubt had been planted.
[System Update: +12% Fear Sentiment on Yongheng]
[Subtask Complete: "Start the Whisper"]Bonus: +50,000 Gold Coins
But this was only the first act.
Step 2: Attack from the Shadows
Lin Chen logged into a dark-licensed platform through the system's secure interface—BlackMirror—a private exchange used by high-level anonymous players for shadow trades.
Using his Null Hawk persona, he initiated short sell orders in three key foreign exchanges where Yongheng had shadow bonds listed. Each order was designed to appear like a massive hedge fund pulling out.
Simultaneously, he used the system's Gold Coins to:
Buy high-frequency analysis modules (750,000 GC)
Deploy a whisper campaign in capital investor groups (200,000 GC)
Simulate media leaks via 3rd-party proxies (330,000 GC)
[Funds Remaining: 2,700,000 GC]
[Status: Short Pressure Increased. Institutional reaction pending.]
Step 3: Force the Revelation
Day 3.
The system pinged.
[Alert: Yongheng CFO scheduled for surprise appearance on "Finance Now" panel discussion.]
Lin Chen smiled coldly.
He had sent an anonymous "insider tip" to the producers the night before—hinting at a scandal that would make their ratings soar if they pressed hard enough.
He watched the live stream unfold.
The anchor's tone was polite at first. But soon:
"Mr. Shen, how does Yongheng explain its 430 million discrepancy in projected net vs disclosed bond coverage?"
The CFO blinked—then stammered.
The next 10 minutes were chaos.
That clip would be replayed 10 million times before the end of the week.
[System Notification: Panic Level Upgraded – "Partial Corporate Discreditation Achieved"]
[Share Value Drop: -11.6%]
But Lin Chen wasn't satisfied.
Not yet.
Step 4: Burn the Tree Root
Day 5.
Yongheng's stock was freefalling. Three brokerages suspended active buys.
But Lin Chen wanted destruction—not just a dip.
He traced Yongheng's central debt loop—a feedback scam through a Chinese real estate front that disguised liquidity issues. Then he used Gold Coins to buy the debt through proxies… and called it in.
Overnight, a "friendly lender" demanded repayment.
They didn't have the cash.
The court filing hit local news the next morning.
"Yongheng Group Faces Emergency Arbitration Over Unpaid Strategic Bonds"
"Analysts predict stock suspension imminent if liquidity concerns not resolved."
[System Notification:✅ Bonus Objective Achieved: Collapse of Parent Structure Initiated
Rewards Granted:
Gold Coins +5,000,000
Passive Title Unlocked: "Legacy Eraser"
Legacy EraserDescription: +40% effect on corporate collapse campaigns; immune to institutional reputation damage backlash.]
Post-Mission: The Past Answers
Lin Chen sat alone in the dim light of his apartment, watching the news.
Yongheng was done.
Stock suspended.
IPO canceled.
CFO resigned.
And the chairman—the very man who once smiled politely while sending Lin Chen's family into the abyss—had just been arrested on fraud suspicion.
He thought it would feel like relief.
But it felt… heavier.
The doorbell rang.
It was Li Chu. Dressed casually, but her eyes were razor-sharp.
"I heard you were behind the Yongheng collapse," she said. Not a question.
He didn't respond.
She stepped closer. "You planned it like a general on a battlefield. There's a name floating around now."
He turned, slowly. "What name?"
"Ghost Strategist. They say there's a phantom who rewrites destinies from the shadows."
Lin Chen smiled, just a little.
"Maybe some ghosts deserve to come back," he said quietly. "Especially the ones they tried to bury."