Chapter 781: Think it through!

Du Jie stood before Qin Bore, looking down from above… sizing up this renowned head of the Divine Phoenix Group.

Du Jie's eyes were full of greed.

Du Jie's laugh carried heavy mockery:

"Chief Qin, long time no see, didn't expect you'd also have a day of being alone."

Qin Bore's expression sank slightly, calm and sharp.

Her gaze swept coldly over the surrounding black-clad assassins.

Qin Bore spoke in a low voice:

"Du Jie, you've brought people to surround me—what's the meaning of this?"

"What do you mean?" Du Jie snorted, his face full of malice, "I've lain low for so long just for today; I specially brought people here just to deal with you, Qin Bore."

Seeing Qin Bore's tense expression, Du Jie grew ever more pleased.

Du Jie, slowly stepping forward, deliberately… dropped a bombshell.

Du Jie spoke, deliberately deceiving:

"Qin Bore, don't stubbornly resist; just surrender. I'll tell you straight: that Lin Yuan you've been thinking about has already been captured by us—he's now in our hands."

Qin Bore's brows and eyes suddenly tightened, her heart sinking sharply.

She instinctively wanted to retort, utterly unwilling to believe this claim.

But before she could speak, Du Jie leisurely pulled out his phone, opened the pre-prepared video, and thrust it straight before Qin Bore's eyes.

The screen showed crystal-clear, lifelike footage—exactly the scene of Lin Yuan… being restrained by several black-clad brawny men.

The video, its details… showed no flaws, with no trace of forgery detectable.

Actually, this video… was specially fabricated by Du Jie, who had someone synthesize it using AI technology.

The entire video is pure fabrication from start to finish, with not an ounce of reality.

But Qin Bore at this moment… had her mind and eyes filled only with Lin Yuan's safety, her thoughts utterly thrown into disarray.

Her worry occupied all her thoughts, making it impossible for her to calm down and carefully scrutinize the video for flaws.

Qin Bore only glanced a few times, seeing in the video… a figure closely resembling Lin Yuan being restrained.

Qin Bore instantly believed it to be true.

In an instant, all her composure and strength collapsed.

A wave of intense panic… swept over her entire body.

Qin Bore's face instantly turned pale, her clear, cold voice… carrying a barely perceptible tremor.

She no longer retained the fierceness from their earlier standoff, actively softening her posture:

"What do you want? As long as you release Lin Yuan, we can talk about anything."

Seeing her like this, distraught and preoccupied with Lin Yuan, Du Jie's eyes flashed a sinister, cold smile.

Du Jie snorted coldly and spoke mockingly:

"I see now, Chief Qin, you really do care about this man."

He fixed his stare on Qin Bore's beautiful brows and eyes.

Du Jie's tone… was suffused with strong possessiveness… and sour jealousy.

Du Jie spoke slowly:

"You constantly think of and protect another man, yielding and compromising everywhere for him—frankly, it really makes me jealous."

Seeing the lifelike footage in the video, Qin Bore's last sliver of hope shattered completely.

Her heart leapt into her throat in an instant, panic and dread flooding her whole body.

Qin Bore asked coldly, "What do you want? As long as you release Lin Yuan, I'll agree to anything."

Du Jie watched her utterly panicked, at someone's mercy, and his inner delight instantly surged to the max.

Du Jie's mouth corner… curled up a sinister, cold smile as he spoke slowly:

"Releasing him isn't out of the question."

After a pause in his speech, Du Jie, eyes greedy, surveyed Qin Bore's exquisite face… and her graceful figure.

Du Jie's tone… carried naked threats:

"If you want him safe and sound, you… just obediently come with me."

These words were like a great mountain, heavily pressing on Qin Bore's heart.

She felt immensely torn, fully aware that following Du Jie would be extremely dangerous.

But thinking of Lin Yuan being controlled and in peril, she could no longer muster any will to resist.

In her heart, Lin Yuan's safety mattered far more than her own.

After a brief struggle, Qin Bore clenched her delicate silver teeth, her eyes full of endurance and helplessness.

She finally gritted her teeth hard and made a compromise.

To keep Lin Yuan safe, she willingly let Du Jie have his way, obediently following him.

Seeing her yield and compromise, Du Jie's smile grew more sinister; he raised his hand to signal his subordinates to act.

Two black-clad lackeys stepped forward at once, moved swiftly, produced special handcuffs, and lightly clamped them onto Qin Bore's slender, fair wrists, firmly locking her hands.

The icy metal touched her skin, sending a bone‑chilling chill that made Qin Bore's body tremble slightly, yet she offered no resistance at all.

Immediately afterward, the lackeys produced a black blindfold and gently placed it over her eyes,

the blindfold completely blocked her vision, plunging her into total darkness and depriving her of any ability to judge her surroundings.

Qin Bore, restrained throughout, could only be passively dragged along as they led her to the black business sedan parked nearby.

Once everyone was aboard and seated, the car door slammed shut.

The car's engine started up smoothly, steadied its course, and slowly drove away from the quiet Shidai Gongyu Lou.

The night grew darker, the black sedan merged into city traffic, all the way leaving the bustling urban area, speeding toward the remote suburbs…

……

After an unknown amount of time, the car jolted along the way, finally coming to a slow stop in front of a hidden, remote suburban luxury hotel.

Here is far from the city, population sparse, location concealed.

No one will notice any movement here.

This place is the secret venue specially selected by Du Jie.

Several black-clad underlings got out of the car first, after scanning the surroundings to confirm safety, then opened the rear seat door.

They carefully brought out Qin Bore, who was handcuffed and blindfolded.

The icy night wind brushed over her cheeks, Qin Bore's nerves remained tense, her thoughts filled with Lin Yuan's safety.

She cooperated silently throughout, making no resistance.

Her only thought at this moment: as long as she can exchange for Lin Yuan's safety, any grievance can be temporarily endured.

Everyone passed through the quiet hotel lobby, took the dedicated elevator… arrived at the top-floor private suite.

Push the door open, the luxurious indoor light instantly dispelled the surrounding darkness.

The underling stepped forward, gently removed the black blindfold from Qin Bore's face.

Suddenly seeing light again, Qin Bore instinctively narrowed her eyes.

After adapting to the light for a moment, Qin Bore immediately lifted her gaze… quickly scanned the entire spacious suite.

The room decoration is exquisite and luxurious, facilities complete, clean and tidy,

But her field of view is empty, there is no trace of Lin Yuan at all.

In an instant, Qin Bore's heart sank with a thud.

A strong sense of unease surged in her heart, her face instantly turned cold.

Qin Bore's originally tense heartstrings… completely tightened.

She could no longer hold back, turned her head to look at Du Jie, who was calm and composed beside her.

Qin Bore's tone urgent… also with a hint of resentment, she immediately spoke to question:

"Where is Lin Yuan? I want to see him in person, release him immediately!"

Looking at her anxious and flustered appearance, Du Jie had his hands behind his back, a smug cold smile on his face.

Du Jie's tone casual… also with full sense of control, deliberately speaking slowly.

"Don't rush, Qin President."

"Between us, the matter isn't finished yet, let's first talk about our affairs, after we settle things nicely and satisfactorily, I will naturally let you see him, and I will keep my promise to release him."

Qin Bore frowned deeply, her eyes full of vigilance and impatience.

Her cold eyes… showed strong vigilance:

"What exactly do you want to talk about?"

As of now, Du Jie no longer pretends, collected the lax smile on his face.

His gaze… became increasingly greedy and scorching.

Du Jie, fixed his gaze on the woman before him with peerless appearance and outstanding temperament.

Du Jie, frankly stated all his ambitions and calculations.

"I want you to cooperate with me completely, Divine Phoenix Group and Shangqing Group join forces strongly, with me leading all cooperation projects."

After a pause, he stepped forward step by step, approaching Qin Bore.

Du Jie's tone… carried an irresistible force and possessive desire, he threw out the final condition.

"Not only that, I want the two companies deeply bound, all-round deep cooperation, relying on Divine Phoenix's foundation to firmly establish in Jiangnan business world, putting all resources, connections, industries under my overall control."

Du Jie stared at Qin Bore's clear and beautiful face, his inner desire unhidden:

"Besides that, I also want you to marry me, be my woman. Career, industry, you, I want all."

After hearing this extremely selfish and domineering calculation, Qin Bore's eyes instantly covered with frost.

Qin Bore's overall temperature… suddenly turned cold.

She had no hesitation, tone firm and icy, each word clearly refusing outright:

"Impossible."

Upon hearing these two words, Du Jie's remaining playful smile… instantly vanished,

Du Jie's whole face… completely sank.

His eyes… surged with vicious malice, his aura suddenly became oppressive and bone-chilling.

Du Jie snorted coldly, slowly raised his hand, lightly clapped twice.

The crisp applause… sounded in the quiet suite.

The tightly closed door was immediately pushed open, two burly black-clad underlings… escorted a man, quickly walked in.

The man's build resembles Lin Yuan greatly, his head… tightly covered with a black hood, completely covering his face.

His hands were bound behind his back, his posture slightly hunched, looking miserable and controlled.

Seeing this, Qin Bore's heart clenched, all her confidence dissipated largely;

Qin Bore's gaze… locked onto the hooded man, her mind completely thrown into chaos.

Du Jie coldly eyed her flustered appearance, the corner of his mouth curled into a cruel smile;

Du Jie casually… picked up the prepared leather whip from beside, his wrist suddenly exerted force.

"Pa!"

The sharp and fierce whip sound suddenly exploded, the whip lashed hard onto the hooded man's body, with great force.

Immediately after, Du Jie stepped forward, looking down at the tense Qin Bore.

Du Jie's tone carried an outright threat:

"You still dare say it's impossible? You're just going to watch Lin Yuan pay for your stubbornness? Do you want Lin Yuan to die here?"

Without waiting for Qin Bore to plead, Du Jie's nature was ruthless; he gave her no chance to hesitate;

Du Jie drew backhand… pulled out a sharp dagger from his waist, its cold light glinting, piercing with bone‑chilling chill.

He sank his wrist, the motion swift and ruthless; the sharp blade… viciously stabbed into the thigh of the hooded man.

The next second, a shrill, agonized wail… suddenly echoed through the entire room!

The wail's tone, inflection, and timbre were exactly the same as Lin Yuan's usual voice!

This voice was lifelike to the extreme; hearing it made one's scalp tingle.

Qin Bore's pair of exquisite eyes grew utterly cold, her depths filled with panic and anguish.

She stared grimly at the figure constantly enduring torture, her fingertips instinctively clenching, a dull ache spreading across her chest.

At this moment her thoughts were in turmoil, her heart full of guilt and dread.

She simply had no spare mind… to notice any flaws in the details.

But she had no idea; the whole thing was a meticulously staged deception by Du Jie.

The man brought in… was merely a look‑alike stand‑in.

Du Jie had beforehand… covertly installed a miniature AI speaker and high‑end voice‑changing equipment on him.

That realistic scream just now was not produced by a real person.

This AI simulation system, after countless adjustments, perfectly replicated Lin Yuan's vocal frequency and breath fluctuations, coming infinitely close to a human voice.

This was enough to fake the real, perfectly deceiving the presently agitated Qin Bore.

Du Jie well knew… Qin Bore's soft spot lay in Lin Yuan;

Therefore, Du Jie gave her no breathing room at all.

Du Jie gripped the blood‑stained dagger, his tone sinister and overbearing, openly launching intimidation.

"I'll give you one last chance—obediently marry me."

His eyes suddenly hardened; his threatening words… each sentence struck at the heart:

"If you insist on refusing to marry me, I have plenty of ways to torment you slowly. I'll cut him, slice him, hack him to death piece by piece—do you believe me?"

Looking at the ruthless, maniacal man before her.

Qin Bore's whole body was chilled to the bone, her beautiful eyes filled with icy fury,

Qin Bore clenched her teeth and coldly shouted:

"Du Jie, you're courting death."

Facing her warning, Du Jie showed no fear; instead, he curled an extremely obsessive, evil smile.

Du Jie's eyes… were full of a mad gambler's mindset.

"Courting death?"

Du Jie let out a low, scornful chuckle,

Du Jie's tone… was arrogant and insane:

"As long as I can marry you, the renowned leader of the Divine Phoenix, what does it matter if I court death? In this life I love nothing more than the thrill of licking blood from the blade."

The cold laughter reverberated in the sealed suite, making one's scalp tingle.

Immediately, Du Jie eased his ferocity a bit.

He feigned steadiness, trying to persuade her thoroughly from a standpoint of benefit:

"Think it over: only if you marry me can your Divine Phoenix Group truly join forces with my Shangqing Group of Shanghai."

"When our two top powers merge, resources flow, networks share—only then can we firmly plant our feet in the Jiangnan business district, grow unstoppable, unbeatable; this is the best win‑win outcome, right?"

Qin Bore pressed her lips tight, her gaze icy and unyielding, remaining silent.

She had no intention of loosening her stance or compromising.

Seeing her unmoved, still stubborn, Du Jie completely lost his patience; the ferocity in his eyes erupted fully.

"It seems you're still not sober enough."

As his words fell, Du Jie's wrist jerked forward; the sharp dagger in his hand… struck without warning into the stand‑in's abdomen!