Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

"Official document with red header, urgent confidential letter."

He casually flipped to the first page, the sound of the pages turning particularly jarring in the quiet room.

"It seems that the entertainment industry is more complex than we imagined."

Su Xiaoxiao sat opposite him, her fingers flying across the keyboard, the data on the screen scrolling like a waterfall.

She is conducting real-time big data analysis of the target based on clues provided in the documents.

"Captain Lu, we've found it."

Su Xiaoxiao stopped what she was doing, turned the computer screen around, and her face was extremely pale.

"This is so...so dirty."

On the screen is a complex web of relationships.

The core node is a giant company called "Huayi Media", and countless tentacles extending from it connect to shell companies of all sizes, overseas trust funds, and even underground money laundering banks.

"The clues provided by the provincial department are correct."

Su Xiaoxiao pointed to several data points marked in red, her voice trembling.

"The artists under this company are all villains. Tax evasion is child's play; look at this."

She opened a folder named "Candy".

Inside were not sweet photos, but a series of shocking coded transaction records.

"'Candy' is their internal slang, referring to a new type of synthetic drug."

Su Xiaoxiao took a deep breath, suppressing the nausea in her heart. "They not only smoke themselves, but they also take advantage of the casting process to force aspiring newcomers to 'audite.' They call it auditions, but it's really just a group activity..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was obvious.

As Lu Jingyan looked at the chat logs, the temperature in his eyes gradually dropped to freezing point.

"And this too."

Su Xiaoxiao then pulled up a chart showing the flow of funds, saying, "They inflated costs by investing in so-called 'S-level big-budget' movies. They spent 50 million to build a set, 20 million to hire extras, and the rest of the money was laundered and flowed overseas through dual contracts and false reimbursements."

"This is a complete black market supply chain."

Lu Jingyan closed the document, leaned back in his chair, and rested his body against the back.

He took off his gold-rimmed glasses, rubbed his slightly swollen temples, and then put them back on.

When he opened his eyes again, there was no trace of fatigue in them, only the coldness and excitement of a hunter seeing his prey.

"A bunch of actors."

He chuckled softly, his tone laced with undisguised sarcasm.

"Just because they receive exorbitant salaries and enjoy widespread adoration, do they really think they're part of a privileged class?"

"Do they think that with fans controlling public opinion and capital protecting them, they can do whatever they want in this society governed by the rule of law?"

Lu Jingyan stood up and walked to the huge whiteboard.

He picked up a red marker and drew a heavy cross over the three characters for "entertainment industry".

"Illiteracy is not scary."

He turned around, looked at Su Xiaoxiao, and said, word by word:

"Ignorance of the law is what's truly terrifying."

"Captain Lu, where should we begin?"

Looking at the red cross, Su Xiaoxiao felt her blood boil again. "There are too many people on this list, and it's a complex situation where one thing can have far-reaching consequences. Huayi Media has powerful backers, and their legal team is known as 'Pizza Hut,' so they're not easy to deal with."

"As you said yourself, moving one hair affects the whole body."

Lu Jingyan fiddled with the marker in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the rows of bright and shiny names on the list.

Best actor, best singer, top idol...

Behind each name lies a massive amount of traffic and capital.

But in Lu Jingyan's eyes, they only had one identity—suspects awaiting arrest.

"Since we're going to make changes, let's make changes to the most conspicuous one."

"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down; they don't understand this principle, so we have to teach them."

His pen finally stopped on a name.

Xiao Huohuo.

The name sounds quite inspiring, but in the file photo, this person has a rather effeminate appearance.

With his white-dyed hair, eyeliner, and a row of earrings, he exuded an arrogant "I'm the best in the world" vibe.

"Xiao Huohuo, 23 years old, is the top star of Huayi Media."

Su Xiaoxiao immediately pulled up this person's detailed information: "He debuted through a talent show, and with his good looks and the support of capital, he won the Best Actor award in just two years. Although his acting skills are terrible, his fans are extremely powerful and are known as the 'Fire Army.' Anyone who dares to say a bad word about him will be cyberbullied until their account is deleted."

"He's the one."

Lu Jingyan tapped the arrogant face in the photo with the tip of his pen.

"Why choose him?" Su Xiaoxiao asked, puzzled. "Although he's arrogant, he doesn't seem to be one of the most important people on the list."

"Because he's the dumbest."

Lu Jingyan's lips curled into a playful smile. "Moreover, he's doing something very interesting right now."

He pulled an inconspicuous Reuters photo from the pile of documents and stuck it on the whiteboard.

The background of the photo is a filming location for a period drama.

Xiao Huohuo, that top star, was sitting in his own luxurious recliner, holding a script in his hand, but he wasn't reading it.

He was lifting his foot, letting a middle-aged man kneeling on the ground put his shoes on for him.

The middle-aged man, wearing a director's hat, had a face full of humiliation and fawning.

"Is this...Director Zhang?"

Su Xiaoxiao recognized him and exclaimed, "That's a famous director who's won international awards! How did he end up like this?"

"Because of capital."

Lu Jingyan said calmly, "In this so-called 'S-level big production,' Xiao Huohuo is the male lead appointed by the capital, a 'princeling' who brought his own funding to the project. The director? In his eyes, he's just an employee."

"According to sources, he was practically a local tyrant on set."

Lu Jingyan pointed to several trembling child actors in the corner of the photo, "He changed the script, cursed the director, harassed the actresses, and even made the entire crew stop work for three days while he played video games because he was in a bad mood."

"These kinds of people are most prone to getting carried away."

"And once a person gets carried away, they're not far from falling to their death."

Lu Jingyan threw the marker back onto the table with a crisp "smack".

"Xiaoxiao, check their filming schedule."

"yes!"

Su Xiaoxiao quickly operated the computer. "Found it! Their crew is filming a night scene at Jinghai Film and Television City. There's a major scene tonight, and they said they'll be closing the area for filming, so no unauthorized personnel are allowed in."

"Closed filming?"

Lu Jingyan smiled.

He picked up the casual jacket from the back of the chair. It was a black leather jacket, which made him look less serious like a policeman and more roguish and cool.

He then took out a pair of sunglasses from the drawer and clipped them to his collar.

"Perfect timing, let's go check it out on set."

"Captain Lu, aren't you leading the team?" Su Xiaoxiao asked. "Just the two of us?"

"There's no need to make a big fuss about catching this kind of person."

Lu Jingyan straightened his cuffs, his eyes gleaming with the unique light of a hunter.

"Just bring your body camera."

"We went there to 'chase stars,' and also to see what the 'law' looks like in the eyes of this top star."

……

The night is deep in Jinghai Film and Television City.

This is where countless dreams begin, and also the breeding ground for countless shady deals.

The set of "The Overbearing Immortal Lord Falls in Love with Me" was brightly lit.

To prevent paparazzi and fans from taking photos, the production crew set up a long cordon, with more than a dozen bodyguards in black standing guard at various intersections, looking fierce.

In the very center of the film set, a farce was unfolding.

"Cut! Cut! Cut!"

Director Zhang angrily slammed down his walkie-talkie and yelled at the male lead, who couldn't even deliver his lines properly:

"Xiao Huohuo! Did you even read the script?! This line is 'My fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens,' not 'My fate is in my own hands, not in yours'! Can't you even memorize these seven words?!"

The entire room fell silent.

All the staff held their breath, staring in horror at the young man in the center of the room, dressed in pristine white but looking impatient.

Xiao Huohuo slowly turned her head.

He glanced at the furious director, offering neither apology nor remorse.

He merely chuckled dismissively, then casually tossed the priceless prop sword he was holding onto the ground.

"Clang!"

That sound seemed to strike the hearts of everyone.

Xiao Huohuo walked to the monitor, looked down at Director Zhang, and reached out to gently pat the director's wrinkled old face.

"Old Zhang, are you going through menopause? You're so irritable!"

His tone was flippant and arrogant, showing no regard for the other person as an elder or a director.

"So what if I can't memorize it? Can't you do the voice-over in post-production? What are you post-production guys even good for?"

"We'll see."

Xiao Huohuo leaned close to the director's ear, his voice low but clear enough for everyone around to hear:

"Our family invested in this play. We dictated how it should be performed, and that's how it should be performed."

"If you dare call 'cut' again, believe me, I'll make sure you can't survive in this industry anymore!"

Director Zhang's face turned a deep purplish-red, his lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word.

this is the truth.

In the face of capital and traffic, talent and dignity are worthless.

"Alright, stop looking so gloomy."

Xiao Huohuo straightened up, stretched, and beckoned to his assistant beside him, "Get me a bottle of water, Evian, at room temperature."

Just then.

A deep, magnetic voice suddenly rang out from outside the security cordon, piercing through the noise of the film set and clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"Evian doesn't have it."

"However, if you'd like some tea, I can treat you to as much as you like."

Xiao Huohuo was stunned for a moment, then turned around abruptly.

"Who? Who's speaking? Where's security? Why did they let someone in?!"

Outside the police cordon, a tall man in a black leather jacket walked in step by step, one hand in his pocket.

He pushed up his sunglasses, revealing a pair of eyes that seemed to be smiling but weren't, his gaze precisely locking onto that arrogant top star.

Let me introduce myself.

Lu Jingyan showed his identification, his voice calm:

"Lu Jingyan. Your...number one fan."