Chapter 265: The High-Stakes Gamble

The brief yet immensely impactful clash in the seminar Rest Area spread through the upper echelons of "New Era" like a silent thunderclap. The news of Zhao Ming losing his composure in public and being subsequently reassigned from a core position jolted everyone who had been harboring侥幸 thoughts or hidden schemes wide awake, making it absolutely clear what lines could not be crossed in this city-state. Qin Feng's authority was further consolidated in silence.

Yet the turbulence of the outside world did not cease for it.

The "signal fragments" and "technological blueprints" of dubious authenticity that Qin Feng had cast into the global network stirred up a thousand ripples, triggering a sustained earthquake across the international darknet. Countless forces, like sharks scenting blood, tracked, analyzed, and speculated with wild abandon. Panic, greed, curiosity... a tangle of emotions wove together, sending undercurrents surging through the international situation, and a stifling sense of a storm about to break hung over those in the know.

"Pandora" headquarters, Ding Ceng Ban Gong Shi.

Lilith stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, her violet eyes no longer holding the previous rage or obsession, but settled into a near-frenzied calm. The crushing defeat at Malacca, the failure of the public-opinion offensive, and Qin Feng's unfathomable methods that shattered her plans time and again finally forced her to face a brutal reality—conventional confrontation held no chance of victory against Qin Feng.

In her hand she held a preliminary assessment report on those "leaked" pieces of information, just delivered by the Chief Analyst. The report pointed out that the mathematical structure of those signal fragments was extraordinarily complex and advanced, that the energy-system design concepts embedded in the blueprints far surpassed current human technological levels, and that their authenticity... could not be falsified.

"Cannot be falsified..." Lilith repeated the words in a low voice, her fingertips pressing hard, nearly crushing the report.

This meant two possibilities. One: this was yet another trap carefully laid by Qin Feng—a grander, more enticing deception. Two: it was real! Qin Feng had indeed made contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, or had mastered some kind of technology from the future!

Either way, it meant an unprecedented opportunity—or rather... a gamble.

Lilith turned, walked to her desk, upon which was spread a massive world map, with several key resource points, shipping lanes, and potential conflict zones prominently marked. Her gaze swept across the map and finally settled on the South Pacific—that vast, unknown expanse of deep blue.

A wild, audacious plan gradually took shape in her mind.

She pressed the internal communicator, her voice icy and resolute: "Notify all core directors. A top-level emergency meeting in one hour. At the same time, activate the final contingency plan of 'Ark'."

One hour later, the secret chamber.

"Lilith! Have you lost your mind?!" A white-haired director slammed the table and shot to his feet, his face flushed crimson. "Mobilize nearly seventy percent of our liquid reserves, team up with those mercenary arms dealers and pirates, and go to the South Pacific to fight over some ethereal, possibly nonexistent 'signal source'? This is outright suicide!"

"This is not a fight—it's an investment! A high-stakes gamble!" Lilith's violet eyes were sharp as blades, sweeping across every director present with their varied expressions. "All our previous failures stem from underestimating Qin Feng, from using old-era thinking to fight a monster who doesn't belong to this era!"

She pointed at that stretch of sea on the map: "If those signals and blueprints are real, whoever cracks them first will hold the主导权 of the next era! This will be our only chance to surpass 'New Era'—and even turn the tables and control Qin Feng!"

"And if they're fake?" another director asked in a heavy voice.

"If they're fake..." A cold, almost self-destructive smile curved Lilith's lips. "Then we'll drag everyone down to hell with us!"

She looked around at the room, her voice carrying a hysterical, desperate resolve: "We have no retreat left! Conventional competition gives us no chance of winning, and lingering on will only see us swallowed by Qin Feng in the end! Rather than wait for death, better to stake everything and fight for a future!"

"Win, and we control the future and wash away our disgrace! Lose, and it's merely cutting short a defeat that was already inevitable! But at least this ending will be one we chose ourselves!"

Dead silence filled the meeting room; only Lilith's frenzied words echoed on.

This was a thorough, head-to-toe high-stakes gamble. Staking "Pandora"'s future, staking every person's life and fortune. The wager was that unverifiable "extraterrestrial treasure." The opponent was the unfathomable Qin Feng. And the odds of winning... were so slim as to be despairing.

But Lilith's burn-her-boats momentum, and the long-suppressed fear and unwillingness toward Qin Feng, ultimately overwhelmed reason.

"... Let's vote," a senior director said at last, deflated.

The vote passed.

The great commercial aircraft carrier "Pandora," driven forcefully by Lilith, began to marshal every resource it could mobilize—like a gambler with bloodshot eyes, pushing all its chips onto the table—and set course for the unknown abyss of the South Pacific.

Almost at the same moment "Pandora" began to move, at the "New Era" Command Center.

Qin Feng looked at the abnormal capital flows and personnel and materiel movements of "Pandora" and its affiliated forces displayed on the global surveillance network—targeted straight at a certain Public Sea area in the South Pacific—and his face showed no trace of surprise.

Su Wenqian stood behind him, her tone grave: "Sir, it seems 'Pandora' has taken the bait. They've mobilized enormous resources; it looks like they're going after those 'lures' we put out. The commotion is huge—I'm afraid it'll attract the attention of other forces and trigger regional conflict."

Qin Feng's gaze remained fixed on the screen, as if watching a drama he had long foreseen.

"High-stakes gamble..." he murmured to himself, a faint note of mockery in his tone.

He had long anticipated that, driven by absolute interest (or fear), someone would always be unable to resist leaping out.

"Pandora" was neither the first nor would it be the last.

"Let them gamble." Qin Feng's tone was flat, as if mentioning some trivial matter that had nothing to do with him. "Notify 'Pioneer One' to adjust its cruise route and avoid that area."

"Yes," Su Wenqian replied, then with some puzzlement: "Sir, aren't we taking any action? What if there really is something out there..."

"Really is what?" Qin Feng cut her off, turned his head, and looked at her with deep, penetrating eyes. "Wenqian, do you think I would casually toss out something truly valuable as bait?"

Su Wenqian was taken aback.

Right—with the young master's temperament and wisdom, how could he possibly toss out a major discovery concerning the future of civilization so childishly?

What had been put out there was probably just carefully processed, useless garbage—or... poisoned bait hiding an even deeper trap.

"Then 'Pandora' and the others..." Su Wenqian seemed to grasp something.

"What they're gambling is everything they have." Qin Feng's voice was cold as ice. "What I've spent is nothing more than a few useless fragments of data."

"The moment they placed their bets, the outcome of this high-stakes gamble was already decided."

He no longer paid attention to the light on the screen representing "Pandora"'s frenzied operation, turned and walked toward the control console, and redirected his attention to the genuine deep-space probe data being transmitted back by "Pioneer One."

"Prepare to receive and analyze the data. The real game is not there."

His voice was calm, yet carried the absolute confidence of one who holds the pieces.

The storm over the South Pacific was nothing more than an inconsequential piece on his grand board—a trap it had leapt into of its own accord.

A seemingly frenzied high-stakes gamble.

One side had wagered everything on an ethereal hope. The other had merely tossed out a few useless chips and sat back to watch.

Victory and defeat had long been decided.