Chapter 26: Cliff-Drop Plunge

On the terrace of the President Suite at the Harbour City Peninsula Hotel, Qin Feng gazed down at the dazzling night view of Victoria Harbour, a glass of plain water in hand, his expression calm. Neon lights flickered in the distance, tracing the prosperous outline of this international metropolis while concealing the undercurrents surging beneath.

Sun Zhe walked briskly up behind him with a tablet computer in hand, a barely perceptible note of excitement in his voice: "Boss Qin, news from the mainland—Hongyuan Group... has collapsed."

Qin Feng did not turn around, merely giving a flat "Mm," as if he had long foreseen it.

Sun Zhe began a detailed report: "Public opinion keeps fermenting. Those few audio clips spread extremely widely and have already drawn great attention from the very top. After the investigation team moved into Hongyuan, they seemed to dig up even more—irregular guarantees, misappropriated funds, and even more serious tax issues."

"At this morning's opening bell, Hongyuan Group's stock went straight to the lower limit and stayed there. This is already the third consecutive limit-down. Panic is spreading. Retail investors and institutions are stampeding to flee, but there are simply no buyers at all—sell orders are piling up like a mountain."

"The banks reacted swiftly, freezing several core accounts of Hongyuan Group and announcing the launch of an early loan-recovery procedure. Several major suppliers and partners have also successively announced termination of cooperation and filed lawsuits demanding asset freezes."

Sun Zhe paused, a note of awe in his voice: "What's even more fatal is those high-interest short-term bonds Hongyuan Group secretly issued to supplement cash flow that we had been monitoring. Because they can't pay the interest coming due, rating agencies have already cliff-dropped them to 'default' grade. Bond prices collapsed, institutions and retail investors holding these bonds lost everything, triggering an even broader crisis of trust."

"Based on preliminary estimates, Hongyuan Group's market value evaporated by over sixty percent in three days! And there's no sign whatsoever of the slide stopping. Wang Hongyuan's personally pledged shares have already been forcibly liquidated by brokers, further accelerating the decline. Now his group is on the brink of bankruptcy, and he personally is saddled with enormous debts..."

A cliff-drop plunge!

This was the chain reaction triggered after Qin Feng flipped the table. Public opinion as the fuse, the investigation as the blade, and panic in the capital markets as the final noose. A seemingly massive commercial empire, once its foundations were shaken, collapsed at a speed that left one speechless.

"What about Wang Hongyuan himself?" Qin Feng took a sip of water and asked.

"His whereabouts are unknown." Sun Zhe shook his head. "The investigation team wants to talk to him, but he seems to have gotten wind of it early—he's been unreachable since yesterday. His mansion and his usual car are both empty. There are rumors he may have already fled the country."

Fled? Qin Feng's gaze shifted slightly. With Wang Hongyuan's vengeful, never-let-it-go character, after suffering such a devastating blow, would he really choose to flee like a stray dog? He was more inclined to believe that Wang Hongyuan had hidden himself in the shadows, like a venomous snake, waiting for the chance to deliver a fatal strike.

The warning he had received earlier about Wang Hongyuan possibly resorting to illegal means was by no means groundless.

"Have our people keep tracking his movements, especially on the Hong Kong side," Qin Feng instructed. He had a premonition that the grudge between him and Wang Hongyuan was not yet completely settled.

"Yes, Boss Qin." Sun Zhe nodded, then handed over an invitation. "Also, this is an invitation sent by the Li Family of Hong Kong. Tomorrow evening there is a banquet at the Li Family's Mid-Levels villa, and you're invited. The Li Family is an old-line aristocratic family in Hong Kong with far-reaching influence. This banquet is said to gather most of Hong Kong's elite."

Qin Feng took the exquisitely made invitation and glanced at it. Having just arrived in Hong Kong, attending a social event of this caliber would help him quickly open up the situation, make some connections, and perhaps even find new opportunities—or "nutrients"—for his technology layout.

"Reply to the Li Family. I'll attend on time."

"Understood."

After Sun Zhe left, Qin Feng once again turned his gaze toward Victoria Harbour. The collapse of Hongyuan Group was, for him, nothing more than a trivial little interlude—not even worth calling a victory. Like casually brushing off a speck of dust that had stained the corner of his coat.

His mind had already flown ahead to tomorrow's meeting with Smith Professor at Harbour City Polytechnic University.

Those 500 Tech Points were like seeds, urgently in need of suitable soil and an opportunity to take root and sprout.

He returned to his study, once again taking out the detailed scan images and data analysis report of the Bronze Navigator wreckage, and carefully deliberated, combining them with the scattered information fragments fed back during the slow analysis process by the 【Technology Core】 earlier.

【Analysis Target: Unknown Civilization Bronze Navigator Wreckage... Analysis Progress 1.7%...】

【Partial Structural Unit Analyzed: A micro-force amplification and transmission structure based on porous Harmonic Resonance, with efficiency far exceeding current similar technologies and a unique design concept...】

Micro-force amplification and transmission... This coincided perfectly with the micro high-precision transmission field that Smith Professor specialized in!

A flash of insight crossed Qin Feng's eyes. Perhaps he didn't need to wait for the 【Technology Core】 to fully analyze the entire navigator technology. He could use these 500 Tech Points to concentrate "firepower," prioritizing the deduction and completion of this one analyzed "partial structural unit," forming an independent, applicable micro-transmission technology!

This might just be his opening shot in Hong Kong, and the first real-world application of the 【Super Technology】 module!

Thinking of this, Qin Feng no longer hesitated. His consciousness sank into the system.

"【Technology Core】, lock onto the analyzed 'Micro-force Amplification and Transmission Structure,' inject 500 Tech Points, conduct in-depth deduction and optimization. Target—generate a complete, efficient, industrially producible technical blueprint for a micro high-precision transmission system!"

【Command Received. Beginning deduction and optimization...】

【Tech Points Consumed: 500.】

【Deduction in Progress... 10%... 45%... 80%...】

【Deduction Complete!】

【Congratulations Host, you have obtained the complete technical blueprint: "Resonant Microhole Transmission System (Beginner)"!】

【Technology has been recorded in the 【Technology Archive】!】

Success! A surge of excitement welled up in Qin Feng's heart. He immediately opened the 【Technology Archive】, and an incomparably complex technical blueprint—containing every detail from material formulas and structural design to manufacturing processes—appeared clearly in his consciousness.

Although marked as "Beginner," according to the blueprint's description, the transmission efficiency and precision of this system were already enough to crush the most cutting-edge similar technologies internationally, especially in fields like micro-robots, precision medical instruments, and high-end aerospace, where it held revolutionary application prospects!

Tomorrow's meeting with Smith Professor would no longer be a simple academic exchange, but rather a... technologically crushing cooperation negotiation!

A confident arc curved up at the corner of Qin Feng's mouth.

The collapse of Hongyuan Group was an ending, and also a new beginning. On this new battlefield of Hong Kong, he would use true "Super Technology" to start a new legend.