# Chapter Sixteen:
*"Every thread pulled in the darkness might awaken a sleeping monster."*
***
With a calculated click, the carefully crafted email shot through the digital network, a shiny lure cast into dark, murky waters. Lin Feng sat before his screen, his face a mask of icy calm, but inside, he was waiting, watching with the patience of a professional hunter. The target was Zhang Wei, the desperate IT employee at North Star Company, the weakest link Lin Feng had chosen to begin dismantling the fortress of lies.
A tense digital silence prevailed. There was only the whisper of cooling fans in the dimly lit hideout and the blinking cursor on the screen. Lin Feng monitored Zhang Wei's digital footprint, tracking his activity across the network like an invisible shadow. He saw the mouse cursor hover hesitantly on a virtual screen mirroring Zhang Wei's desktop, saw windows open and close rapidly, as if the man wrestled with a fateful decision.
*"Patience,"* Lin Feng whispered to himself, a faint smile barely touching his lips. *"The desperate always take the bait eventually. Their weakness is my strength, their fear my tool."* He felt no sympathy for the man whose career, and perhaps more, he was about to destroy. He was merely a tool, a cog in a larger machine Lin Feng intended to shatter.
In these moments of waiting, Dostoevsky's thoughts returned to his mind. Was what he was doing right? Manipulating a man on the brink of collapse, exploiting his desperation for his own ends? He recalled the Russian writer's words: *"Suffering is the origin of consciousness."* Perhaps the suffering he would inflict on Zhang Wei would awaken his consciousness, or perhaps Lin Feng's own consciousness was the price paid for his past suffering—the consciousness that allowed him to see the world in its harsh reality and gave him the audacity to use any means necessary for survival and revenge.
There was no room for hesitation. He had chosen this path, the path of shadows and manipulation. He remembered another Dostoevsky quote: *"Power is given only to those who dare to stoop and pick it up."* And he had stooped, picking up the power he found in his knowledge, in his ability to see beyond the masks, in his willingness to do what others dared not. Zhang Wei was weak, easy prey, while he... he was the predator.
Suddenly, what he had been waiting for happened. He saw Zhang Wei's mouse cursor pause over the suspicious attachment in the email. A single click. Then another click to open the file that looked like an irresistible financial offer.
In an instant, a small digital door opened in North Star's network defenses. It wasn't a noisy breach, but a stealthy infiltration, like a whisper in the dark. Lin Feng felt a momentary rush of adrenaline, quickly suppressed by his cold focus. He had gained initial access, a foothold inside the enemy's fortress.
He didn't rush to exploit this access immediately. He began a quiet observation, navigating through the files and folders accessible to Zhang Wei. It was a limited window, but sufficient. He saw Zhang Wei's cluttered desktop, filled with shortcuts to old programs and desperate personal notes about mounting debts. He saw partially encrypted conversations with other colleagues, filled with worrying hints and hushed complaints.
Among the ordinary files, he found a carefully hidden folder containing encrypted logs in a strange code language. Using his expertise, he began deciphering some of them. They weren't just ordinary shipping logs. There were repeated references to "special cargo," "live shipments," and "urgent nighttime delivery" to undisclosed locations. The horrifying picture he had glimpsed earlier began to sharpen. North Star wasn't just a corrupt company; it was a front for dirty operations likely involving human trafficking or worse.
He also found evidence that Zhang Wei himself wasn't merely a victim of his financial circumstances. There were records of minor infractions he had committed in the past, infractions the company clearly used to pressure him and keep him under control. He wasn't just a desperate employee; he was also a broken tool used by the company for its own purposes.
*"They build their empire on broken lives,"* Lin Feng thought coldly. *"It's only fitting that I use one of their broken tools to dismantle it."* He no longer felt any hesitation. He had found his leverage point, and an additional means to pressure him if necessary.
He opened the secure communication channel with Zhao Fu.
"Fu, any developments regarding Zhang Wei?"
The reply came quickly, laden with the usual concern. "Yes, sir. He seems extremely stressed lately. I heard he received threatening calls about his debts. Also, his activity on the company's internal network has become strange, as if he's desperately searching for something."
"Excellent," Lin Feng said, his tone calm and confident. "Everything is proceeding according to plan."
"Sir, please be careful. If they discover your infiltration..."
Lin Feng cut him off with a low laugh. *"Don't worry, Fu. I am the ghost haunting their ghosts. They won't see me coming."* He ended the connection.
He had secured his foothold. Now it was time to prepare the next step. The limited access through Zhang Wei's account wasn't enough. He needed access to the heart of the network, to the main servers containing the damning evidence.
He began crafting a more sophisticated piece of malware, specifically designed to bypass North Star's internal defenses, exploiting the vulnerabilities he had just discovered. The goal was to plant this malware using Zhang Wei's access, then escalate his privileges to gain administrator-level control.
He worked with precision and focus, every line of code calculated, every step planned. It wasn't just hacking; it was delicate surgery on the heart of a digital beast.
He glanced again at the screen reflecting Zhang Wei's hesitant activity. The man was still browsing the files sent to him, lost in the illusion of financial salvation, unaware of the invisible thread tightening around his neck, the other end held firmly by Lin Feng.
*"The first crack widens,"* Lin Feng whispered in the darkness, his eyes gleaming with an icy glint. *"Soon, the dam will break."*
The game had just begun, and he was the one moving the pieces. The monsters hiding behind ordinary faces at North Star had yet to realize that a skilled hunter had entered their den.