Handong: Sha Li wants political achievements? I'll shut down the entire province.

8 PM, 88th floor of Lingxiao Building, President's office of the Media Department.

"Buzzing—"

An old-fashioned encrypted fax machine in the corner suddenly spit out an A4 sheet of paper stamped with the red seal of Beijing.

A tall woman stood in front of the office's huge floor-to-ceiling window.

She wore a dark red silk shirt and black high-waisted suit trousers that accentuated her long, straight legs.

He was holding a half-full glass of whiskey on the rocks.

This is Hua Linglong, the queen of the Lingxiao Consortium's media empire.

A cold and glamorous woman who, with her ruthless methods, trampled several giants of the Southern entertainment industry underfoot.

The assistant, wearing high heels, ran along, sweating profusely in her haste.

She grabbed the fax paper, glanced at it, and gasped.

"Boss Hua, a pressure letter from Beijing Starlight Media!"

The assistant's voice trembled as he handed over the fax paper with both hands.

"The internet is in an uproar. They've bought up all ten of the top trending topics, and everyone's criticizing our Lingxiao Group for regional discrimination and bullying artists."

Hua Linglong turned around.

Her long, wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her exquisitely beautiful face showed no sign of panic.

She walked at a leisurely pace, her feet clad in pointed high heels.

Walking back to the large mahogany desk, she casually picked up the letter of pressure and glanced at it.

After watching for only a second, Hua Linglong burst out laughing.

Her lips, painted with bright red lipstick, curled into a mocking smile.

"interesting."

She tossed the fax paper onto the table and tapped it twice with her slender fingertips.

"Let me see what these big shots in the capital want."

The assistant swallowed hard, pointed at the terms on the paper, and gritted his teeth in anger.

"They demanded that we immediately unfreeze the 400 million yuan concert funds."

"They also want us to unconditionally open up the underlying traffic pool of 'Yunxiao Holographic VR' to give those top celebrities exclusive promotion."

Hua Linglong picked up her glass and took a sip of whiskey.

The ice cubes hit the side of the glass, making a crisp sound.

"Anything else?" She didn't even lift her eyelids.

"And..." The assistant's face turned red, and her voice became softer.

"They said that in order to compensate their artists for their emotional distress, they demanded that the top executive of Lingxiao Media..."

"That means you, fly to Beijing tomorrow night to toast and apologize to Young Master Chen."

Hua Linglong didn't get angry.

She didn't even swear; she just stared at the words, her eyes growing colder and colder.

It's like a bamboo viper that has its eyes on its prey.

In the entertainment industry, this kind of unspoken rule of using power to oppress people and forcing them to drink with others is practically commonplace.

With powerful figures in Beijing at their backing, Starlight Media is treated like royalty by local media companies in every province they visit.

Unfortunately, they ran into the Lingxiao Consortium today.

It ran into the sharpest soft knife in Master Yan's hand.

"What did the public relations department say?" Hua Linglong sat down in the boss's chair, crossing her legs.

"The PR manager is frantic and is asking if we should draft a statement to clarify immediately."

The assistant was so anxious that she kept stamping her feet.

"Right now, those die-hard fans of those top celebrities are ganging up to give our holographic store one-star reviews!"

"Issue a statement? Argue with a bunch of keyboard warriors? Don't you think we're losing face fast enough?"

Hua Linglong snorted coldly and drank the wine in her cup in one gulp.

"Go and call Old Wang from the technical department up here. Bring the backend data for the Cloud Sky system."

Less than three minutes.

Old Wang, sporting a receding hairline, rushed into the office, panting, carrying a heavy, military-grade tablet.

"Boss Hua, you wanted to see me?"

Old Wang wiped the oil and sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

"Those online trolls are attacking too aggressively. Before Master Yan left, he instructed us to physically cut off their internet access."

"Cutting off the internet was too abrupt. Since Master Yan is going to the capital to establish rules, we need to do some technical work at home."

Hua Linglong waved to Old Wang.

"Get me the data on those so-called 'top celebrities' from Starlight Media."

Old Wang immediately placed the tablet on the table and his fingers flew across the screen.

A holographic projection lit up above the desk, and a series of densely packed data streamed down like a waterfall.

"Look, Mr. Hua, this is the real data after we stripped away all the paid commenters and bots."

Old Wang pointed to the top celebrity in the Chinese entertainment industry who was being hailed as the absolute king by his fans.

"They claim to have 80 million fans across the internet. But after filtering through our Yunxiao system, we found that there are less than 150,000 truly active accounts."

Hua Linglong looked at the appalling bar chart with disdain in her eyes.

"150,000? In our Handong, even a social media influencer who sells grilled cold noodles has more followers than him."

"This kind of plastic god, created by capital, dares to try and steal Lingxiao's bottom-tier traffic pool?"

Old Wang grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"It's not just about fake traffic. Mr. Hua, we're now controlling Handong's payment gateway."

He then pulled up a financial tracking model.

Hundreds of red transfer paths, tangled like a spider web.

"Take a look at where the funds went for these concerts."

Old Wang clicked on several nodes and zoomed in.

"The 400 million yuan box office revenue was ostensibly paid through official accounts, but behind the scenes, it was being laundered through dozens of shell companies in Handong."

The assistant leaned over for a look and covered her mouth in surprise.

"This is... a dual contract?"

"This isn't just a matter of dual contracts; it's blatant tax evasion!"

Old Wang slapped his leg.

"They thought they'd covered their tracks perfectly. But against our holographic system's super AI, their ledgers are like running naked in the street!"

Hua Linglong stared at the evidence, her slender fingers tapping rhythmically on the table.

"Da, da, da."

The crisp sound, in the quiet office, was like a death knell.

"The big capital in Beijing's elite circles? They're nothing but a bunch of bloodsucking sewer rats."

Hua Linglong let out a cold laugh.

She stood up, picked up the pressure letter on the table, and tore it in half.

"Originally, we would have only deducted 400 million from their accounts, and that would have been the end of it. But since they insist on courting death, I'll send them on their way."

Just then, the landline on the desk suddenly rang.

Caller ID: Beijing.

Hua Linglong pressed the speakerphone button.

On the other end of the phone, Wang Pangzi's arrogant and domineering hoarse voice immediately came through.

"Hua Zong, is the trending topic interesting?"

Fatty Wang exhaled a smoke ring, and you could smell the stench of his arrogance even through the radio waves.

"Our Starlight Media fans are pretty good at fighting, right? In just one hour, Lingxiao Mall's rating has already dropped to the two-something."

Hua Linglong didn't respond, but just played with a fountain pen in her hand.

Seeing that the other person was silent, Fatty Wang assumed that Hua Linglong was scared, and his tone became even more smug.

"Boss Hua, we're all in this together. If you mess with the Beijing entertainment circle, you won't even get a taste of the good stuff in the industry anymore."

"Transfer that 400 million yuan over immediately, and send me the API password for the traffic pool."

"I've already booked your plane ticket for tomorrow night. Dress nicely; Young Master Chen has a bad temper, so you'll have to offer him a few drinks."

The assistant was so angry that her eyes turned red, and she wished she could crawl along the phone line and bite him to death.

Hua Linglong smiled.

Her laughter was alluring, yet it carried a chilling murderous intent.

"Mr. Wang, the four hundred million is right here. If you're so capable, come to Handong and take it yourself."

Hua Linglong interrupted his incessant chatter.

"What do you mean?!" Fatty Wang roared on the other end of the line.

"You're asking for it, aren't you? Believe me, I'll issue a nationwide ultimatum right now and have the entire entertainment industry blacklist all of your Lingxiao Group's businesses!"

He yelled at the top of his lungs, thinking this move would give him the upper hand.

"Banned from the entire internet?"

Hua Linglong's lips, painted with bright red lipstick, curled into a bloodthirsty smirk.

She couldn't even be bothered to say a single extra word.

He simply reached out and hung up the phone decisively.

The busy signal echoed through the office.

Hua Linglong threw down the receiver and turned to look at Lao Wang.

His eyes were as sharp as a newly sharpened knife.

"Old Wang."

"Yes, sir! What are your orders, Mr. Hua?" Old Wang immediately stood up straight.

Hua Linglong rested her hands on the mahogany desk, leaning slightly forward.

"Don't those actors like to chase popularity? Let them have their way."

She issued this electronic strangulation order, word by word, a move powerful enough to shatter the entire entertainment industry.

"Cut off all data of Starlight Media in Handong and in the Cloud Holographic System."

Hua Linglong straightened up, her eyes looking down at him with disdain.

"I'm going to make sure that these top figures in Beijing's social circle disappear from our online world after midnight tonight!"

Old Wang slapped his thigh excitedly and nodded repeatedly.

"Alright! Mr. Hua, physically cutting off the internet isn't exciting enough. Let's give them a more ruthless, disruptive attack!"

Old Wang walked to the door with his tablet in his arms, turned around, and smiled like a cunning old fox.

"But Mr. Hua, once this internet connection is cut off, those pampered top stars under Starlight Media will truly be blind and deaf in our Handong. What if they actually come to our building and cause trouble?"

Hua Linglong turned her head and looked at the dazzling night view of Jingzhou outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

She picked up the empty wine glass and fiddled with it, her tone light and airy, yet it held immense power.

"make trouble?"

She raised an eyebrow and parted her red lips slightly.

"Do you think those retired elite soldiers under Shen Pojun in the security department are pushovers?"