Chapter 176

Sun Zhe and Gao Yuan were extremely efficient—or rather, investigating the current situations of a few ordinary people was as simple for Qin Feng, who now controlled vast resources and intelligence networks, as breathing.

Less than twenty-four hours later, detailed reports lay on Qin Feng's desk.

The counselor Wang, who had once revoked his scholarship and spread rumors, now relied on scheming to secure a deputy position in a powerful department of the school, actively lobbying for permanent status, utterly satisfied with his progress.

The senior Zhang, who had stolen his internship slot and mocked him, used family connections and networks to open a moderately sized trading company, living comfortably and regarded as a "success story" among classmates.

As for the distant relative Li, who had embezzled the compensation funds and driven him out of his home, he used that ill-gotten wealth as startup capital to run a modest construction materials store, content with small gains and often boasting about it to relatives.

Looking at the reports of these "old friends" now living in triumph or comfort, Qin Feng's face showed no expression, his fingertips lightly tapping the desk.

He did not immediately issue any orders, but turned his gaze to the two fully unlocked functions in the system—【Super Technology】 and 【Wealth Prediction】—both glowing with irresistible allure.

A thought, like lightning slicing through darkness, suddenly illuminated his mind.

Since he possessed the potential for near-"omniscience" (【Wealth Prediction】) and near-"omnipotence" (【Super Technology】), why cling to the crude, lowly pleasures of physical annihilation or direct wealth plunder?

That was too boring, and far too lacking in technical sophistication.

True revenge—or rather, true "play"—should be a total conquest and domination, from soul to reality: make them collapse in their most cherished fields, make them despair before their most desired goals, make them experience firsthand how all they relied upon crumbled to dust before Qin Feng's will.

This, only this, befit his current status—and would more truly… please him.

A cold, playful curve slowly curled at the corner of his lips.

"Sun Zhe." He activated the communication.

"Mr. Qin, please instruct."

"That counselor Wang—he wants to go permanent, doesn't he?" Qin Feng's tone was calm. "Use our network to add some 'ingredients.' Turn his position into a hot potato. Make all his scheming and efforts become a joke. I want him to crash into pieces the moment he thinks he's about to reach the summit."

"Understood." Sun Zhe grasped it instantly; the operation wouldn't be difficult—just precise information dissemination and strategic exchanges.

"That senior Zhang, who runs the trading company," Qin Feng continued, "find out his largest clients and supply chain. Then take them away from him. Use our own company or find partners, with conditions he cannot refuse and methods he cannot resist, seize everything he has. I want him to watch his hard-built business collapse into ruin within days."

"Yes!"

"As for the relative Li…" Qin Feng paused, a deeper coldness flashing in his eyes. "His construction materials store isn't his lifeline, is it? Bankrupt him. Use the most legal, yet cruelest commercial methods. Also, 'accidentally' leak the evidence of his embezzlement of the orphan's compensation funds to his family and all relatives. I want him abandoned by all, left with nothing."

Three orders—clear, cold, striking straight at the core.

This was not merely revenge—it was a meticulously designed, high-handed judgment.

"I'll arrange it immediately," Sun Zhe replied, then asked, "Mr. Qin, should we let them know… it's you…?"

"No," Qin Feng cut him off, his tone laced with the mockery of a cat playing with a mouse. "Let them guess, let them suffer—in confusion, fear, and despair. The unknown is often more terrifying than a known enemy."

"Yes."

The communication ended.

Qin Feng leaned back in his chair, his gaze returning to the system interface.

The 【Wealth Prediction】 function flickered faintly, as if, because of his decision, it had detected violent deviations in certain future fate-lines.

He closed his eyes, satisfied.

The feeling of controlling others' destinies was indeed captivating.

Days later, the effects began to appear.

Just as counselor Wang was one step away from permanent status, he was buried under a flood of scandals—academic misconduct, immoral lifestyle, accepting bribes from parents. Not only did he lose his chance for permanency, he was immediately suspended for investigation, utterly disgraced, all his scheming and investments reduced to nothing, his life instantly plunging from the clouds into the abyss.

Senior Zhang's company, within a single week, suffered collective betrayal from all core clients and suppliers, as several suddenly emerging, powerful, and lower-priced mysterious companies seized all orders and channels. His cash flow broke, creditors came knocking, the company teetered on bankruptcy, and he himself transformed from "success story" to a laughingstock and someone everyone avoided in his social circle.

Relative Li's construction materials store first faced exposure of selling substandard materials, triggering mass claims and heavy penalties from market regulators, then was jointly squeezed out by several major construction material firms, cutting off his supply. The store soon shut down, leaving him drowning in debt. When the scandal of his embezzlement of orphan compensation funds was exposed, his wife left him, his children abandoned him, relatives and friends treated him as an enemy, his later years wretched.

Three sudden "disasters," precise and swift, like invisible hands, effortlessly crushed everything they had relied upon and taken pride in.

They struggled to fight back, tried to find causes—but every clue pointed to business competition, their own flaws, or "bad luck." They could not touch the hidden hand behind it all.

Fear, despair, confusion—like venomous snakes—gnawed at their souls.

Only then did Qin Feng feel the timing was right.

He did not appear in person, but sent, through three separate, untraceable anonymous channels, identical messages to each of the three.

The message contained only three short words—but like thunder, it exploded again in their already shattered minds:

"Obey?"

No threats. No conditions. Only those two words.

But combined with everything they had recently endured, the oppressive weight and unspoken implication of those two words were enough to make their souls tremble!

Wang, in the empty, sealed office corner, stared at the two words on his phone screen, his whole body shaking, then collapsed into sobs, trembling as he typed: "I obey! Please spare me!"

Zhang, before a desk piled with court summonses and bankruptcy papers, pale-faced, eyes hollow, as if his soul had been drained, after a long silence, mustered all his strength to type: "Ob…ey."

Li, in the corner of a cheap rental room, listening to creditors shouting outside, watching the final messages from relatives, tears streaming down his face, finally collapsed like mud onto the floor, screaming hoarsely into the air: "I give in! I give in! Spare me!!"

They did not even know whom to obey—but the omnipresent, life-or-death power controlling them left not a single thought of resistance.

In the study of Yunding Mansion.

Qin Feng looked at the three messages on screen—each signifying total submission—and his face showed a bored expression.

Too easy.

It didn't even bring him much satisfaction from revenge.

Like casually squashing three insects—the process was utterly unremarkable.

He wearily closed the interface.

Such low-level "games" were enough once. For him now, they were simply… beneath him.

His gaze returned once more to the system's representations of infinite mystery—【Super Technology】 and 【Wealth Prediction】.

There lay a vast world truly worthy of his effort to explore and conquer.

As for these ants of the mortal world…

He picked up the coffee Su Wenqian had just brought, and took a slow sip.

Those who submit may, perhaps, cling to life in this new tide.

Those who defy me…

A hint of indifference flashed in his eyes.

Fate itself shall pass judgment.

And he no longer deigned to step onto the stage himself.