After breaking up with my boyfriend, I made a fortune and rose rapidly in my career.

Zhao Bo.

These two words froze Chen Ping in the corridor, his steps halting.

The amount of information in Su Qingwan's text message far exceeded what a reporter should have. The Cloud Top Club, video link, opening day—Zhao Bo wasn't there to do business; he wanted a public showdown, a stage where everyone was present.

Chen Ping flipped his phone over, held it in his palm, stood in the corridor for three seconds, and dialed a number.

The call was answered quickly, without any small talk.

"Governor Zhou, I have something I need to report to you in person."

There was a two-second pause on the other end, followed by the low hum of the air conditioner.

"Tonight, nine o'clock, in the parking garage east of the provincial government building, come here."

---

The garage was always dark and contained several black vans without license plates. Chen Ping arrived five minutes early, while Zhang Chao parked his car on the side of the road and didn't follow him in.

Governor Zhou was already waiting at the innermost side, accompanied only by a secretary, with all the car lights off.

Chen Ping walked over and handed over an encrypted USB drive and a stack of printouts. Without any preamble, he typed out the most important sentence.

"The Provincial Construction Investment Group, through eleven offshore accounts, has completed the acquisition of controlling stakes in three listed companies in the core supply chain of Chipfire within three weeks. In two of them, the shareholding ratio has exceeded 47%, and in the third, the daily turnover rate triggered an anomaly, and the shareholding disclosure is expected to be completed within the next two days."

Governor Zhou turned to the third page of the document and paused his finger on the numbers.

"Where did the funds come from?"

"Offshore, with terminal nodes traced back to Singapore and Cambodia, perfectly matching the encryption protocol of the Zhao family's overseas structure." Chen Ping handed over the second document. "The size and speed of this batch of funds have exceeded the scope of any normal commercial merger and acquisition."

Governor Zhou did not speak immediately.

The garage was quiet, with only the occasional sound of a car passing by in the distance.

"There's also the issue of technological penetration."

Chen Ping continued the conversation, laying out Yu Kai's file, Huajing Technology's vice president's communication records, and Zhao Bo's tracking report of the overseas call on the document.

"They have obtained some core parameters of the Light Chaser-1 satellite. The process involves internal personnel at Chipfire, with Huajing Technology acting as an intermediary, and the data ultimately reaches Zhao Bo."

Governor Zhou picked up the tracking report and flipped through it for a long time without saying a word.

Chen Ping had anticipated this silence.

It's not hesitation, it's an assessment of the scale.

"This matter involves the security of core national technologies." Chen Pingfang concluded, "The Zhao family's goal is not just to gain control at the capital level, but to completely cut off Xin Huo's technology route and then take control of it themselves."

Governor Zhou closed the document and held the USB drive in his hand.

"You haven't directly contacted the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Provincial State Security Bureau?"

"No," Chen Pingfang answered crisply. "Authorization at this level must go through the governor's office."

Governor Zhou glanced at him and put the USB drive into his shirt pocket.

How much time is left until the expo?

"Less than forty-eight hours."

After a brief pause, Governor Zhou uttered the words that Chen Ping had been waiting for for three whole weeks.

"I'll personally call the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Ministry of State Security tonight. During the Expo, we'll cooperate with you to complete the on-site evidence collection."

Chen Ping put that sentence into his head, nodded, and made no further movements.

"There's one more thing." Governor Zhou placed his hand on the car door, his tone unchanged but carrying more weight, "At the expo, the Corefire technology demonstration must be something real."

"Jiang Fan and Lu Yuan are ready."

"What I want is for the Zhao family to swallow that 'core fire is about to shut down' statement, word by word, in front of all the capital in the province."

After saying this, Governor Zhou pushed open the car door and walked into the darkness deep inside the garage.

---

It was already 11 p.m. when we got back to the center.

The lab lights were still on when Jiang Fan received a phone call and appeared at the corridor door three minutes later.

"Is the presentation plan finalized?"

Jiang Fan pushed the tablet over, and two pages of outlines were displayed on the screen.

"Two parts. First, the real-time stability data of the light source of Light Chaser-1 is output live on site, and the 72-hour continuous operation record is displayed simultaneously."

Chen Ping turned to the second page.

"Secondly, we'll demonstrate the power conversion efficiency, making a real-time comparison with two mainstream domestic solutions on the market." Jiang Fan tapped the numbers on the screen with his fingertip. "A 21% advantage, displayed on a large screen, is something everyone can understand."

Chen Ping returned the tablet.

"What about Lu Yuan?"

"The physical backups of the technical files were all completed tonight, three copies, and the storage locations have been sent to me." Jiang Fan paused for a moment, then continued, "Director, about Yu Kai..."

"It's all taken care of." Chen Ping cut the matter off without saying more. "Tomorrow, have him assist with data presentation in the demonstration group, doing the part he's most familiar with."

Jiang Fan nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Chen Ping sat down on a chair in the corridor, took out his phone, found Su Qingwan's text message, and replied with two words.

"Keep an eye on it."

Su Qingwan replied almost immediately.

"The time of Zhao Bo's video call has been confirmed: 10:00 AM on the opening day of the expo."

ten o'clock.

The opening ceremony of the expo was also at ten o'clock.

Zhao Bo wanted to share the stage, to crush Chen Pingfang and the Xin Huo project on the biggest stage.

Chen Ping turned off the screen, leaned back in his chair, and forced this point in time into his mind.

Across the corridor, the laboratory lights shone through the glass, a bright white expanse, the equipment was still running, and the data was still being updated.

My phone vibrated.

Zhang Chao.

Chen Ping answered the call, and the first sentence the other party uttered sealed his entire train of thought.

"Director, the latest data is out."

Zhang Chao's pause lasted only half a second.

"The Zhao family has completed the acquisition of shares in three core companies in the Chipfire supply chain through shell companies. They hold more than 51% of the shares in two of them, and the third company has triggered the mandatory disclosure threshold after the market closed today."

51%, 51%, mandatory disclosure line.

It's not a takeover bid, it's a controlling stake.

The Zhao family has already inserted their hands into Xin Huo's blood vessels.

"There's one more thing, Director."

Before he could finish speaking, his phone vibrated, and a new message popped up, but it wasn't from Zhang Chao.

The sender was an unfamiliar number, but he already recognized the +65 prefix.

The main text contains no words, only three images.

The first photo is an interior view of the corridor in the central area of ​​the Corefire Lab, and the time of the photo is four days ago.

The second image is a close-up of the equipment cabin of the Light Chaser-1 satellite, showing the clear outline of the magnetic field confinement module.

The third one is a whiteboard covered with handwritten formulas. In the lower right corner is Lu Yuan's handwriting, exactly the same as the one in his notebook.

The last line of text is placed at the bottom of the third image.

"Tomorrow, I will extinguish the flame in your heart completely."