Chapter 701

The deployment of the joint investigation team was like dropping a nuclear bomb into an already boiling oil pot.

Under the pressure of solid evidence and surging public opinion, the investigation progressed unusually 'swiftly.' Just three days later, a storm that shook the entire business world descended.

At nine o'clock that morning, it was the busiest time at the headquarters of the Upright and Unobstructed Group.

Several vehicles bearing the insignia of the Drug Administration Bureau and Public Security silently slid into the building's underground parking garage.

Not long after.

A joint team composed of cadres from the Drug Administration Bureau's inspection division and criminal investigation police, under the gaze of countless clear or hidden cameras, marched straight into the top floor of the Upright and Unobstructed Building.

The stern-faced Deputy Director of the Inspection Bureau of the Drug Administration Bureau, walking straight to the Chairman's office door amid the shocked, angry, or fearful gazes of the Upright and Unobstructed Group's senior executives.

Ye Jiaying tried to step forward to negotiate, but could not stop this group.

The office door was pushed open; Lin Dongfan stood by the window, looking down over the city. He turned around, his face showing no surprise, calm to the point of making one's heart race.

"Comrade Lin Dongfan."

The Deputy Director of the Drug Administration Bureau flashed his credentials and a document.

A procedural tone.

Yet it carried an undeniable force: "Regarding the case in which Upright and Unobstructed Medical is suspected of producing and selling substandard medical equipment, important evidence now points to your suspected involvement and knowledge."

"According to relevant regulations, we now ask you to cooperate and return with us for investigation."

"The four words 'assist with the investigation' mean, under these circumstances, almost no different from 'taking compulsory measures.'"

The entire floor of the President's Office fell instantly silent, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

All employees stopped their work, staring in disbelief at the scene. Their capital circle princeling, the soul of the Upright and Unobstructed Group, was actually going to be taken away for investigation?

"Okay."

Lin Dongfan nodded, even showing a faint, composed smile on his face.

He adjusted his suit tie, his movements calm and unhurried, as if merely going out to attend an ordinary meeting: "Cooperating with the investigation is every citizen's duty; I'll go with you."

There was no struggle, no excuse—just as he passed Ye Jiaying, he gave her a look.

In silence, it seemed to say, "Everything is going according to plan, hold steady!"

Ye Jiaying nodded, understanding implicitly.

Afterward, under the capture of countless phone lenses and telephoto cameras, Lin Dongfan calmly walked out of the main entrance of the Upright and Unobstructed Building, escorted by that squad of law enforcement officers.

His tall figure stood out starkly amid the flashing police lights and the clamor of media questions, appearing especially solitary yet imbued with an ineffable composure.

"Chairman Lin, how do you respond to the allegations?"

"Did Upright and Unobstructed Medical really use substandard materials?"

"Did you order the falsification of quality inspection reports?"

The reporters' questions came like a rapid-fire cannon, bombarding Lin Dongfan. Lin Dongfan, however, stared straight ahead, saying nothing the whole way, calmly stepping into the car.

The car door shut, sealing out the outside clamor.

This scene, via live feeds from all media outlets, instantly spread across the entire internet!

"The Chairman of the Upright and Unobstructed Group, Lin Dongfan, has been taken away for investigation by the Drug Administration Bureau!"—this news rocketed to the top of all platforms' hot-search lists at explosive speed!

"It's over! It's confirmed! Even the Chairman has been taken away!"

"Such a black-hearted capitalist must be severely punished!"

"Upright and Unobstructed stock is totally wiped out! Luckily I sold my shares yesterday!"

Online, schadenfreude and angry denunciations rose in a clamor.

The stock price of the Upright and Unobstructed Group, already at the limit-down, opened the next day at a no-volume limit-down, with the volume of unexecuted sell orders piling up as high as a mountain.

No buying funds could be seen, and the market cap evaporated at a visible speed!

Panic spread like a plague; all partners and financial institutions related to the Upright and Unobstructed Group felt endangered, hastily convening meetings to assess risk.

……

Meanwhile, in Wu Zhou, inside Li Hengbo's private villa.

"Hahaha! Good! Good! Good!"

Li Hengbo watched the television news of Lin Dongfan being taken away, his face flushed with excitement, his steps steadier than usual, almost able to walk without a cane.

He raised a glass of expensive red wine and drained it in one gulp; the crimson liquid mirrored his current bloodthirsty desire.

"Lin Dongfan! You too have your day!"

He sneered at the TV screen: "Aren't you usually arrogant? Aren't you eloquent? Why are you silent now? Once you're through that door, I'll see how you keep your stiff upper lip!"

He Qixing stood beside him, his face also wearing a fawning smile: "Boss, the plan is going smoothly! Zhao Dezhu's side has already been arranged; once he gets the money, he'll immediately flee and disappear forever. Public opinion is completely under our control, the Upright and Unobstructed stock price has collapsed, and we hear that several of their major clients are preparing to terminate cooperation."

"Not enough! This is still far from enough!"

Li Hengbo's eyes gleamed with greedy and crazy light: "This is just the beginning! I will strike while he's ill and take his life!"

He paused briefly.

Li Hengbo further issued an excited order: "Immediately contact our affiliated accounts in Jingcheng and those partner institutions, keep smashing the secondary market! At any cost, drive Upright and Unobstructed's stock price down to rock bottom! When it can fall no further, that will be our time to swoop in and swallow this elephant whole!"

He seemed already to see the Upright and Unobstructed Group on its last breath, while he, in the guise of a white-clad knight, would accomplish the feat of a snake swallowing an elephant at an extremely low price, claiming Lin Dongfan's years of painstaking effort as his own!

By then, Li Hengbo will no longer be a merchant reliant on the Li Family, but a capital crocodile capable of standing equal to the Lin Family!

"Moreover…"

Li Hengbo thought of something and gave a sinister grin: "Give Li Shuting a call—no, I'll do it myself! I need to tell her this good news!"

"……!!!" He Qixing was utterly speechless.

Li Hengbo exclaimed excitedly: "I will let the Li Family of Wu Zhou see whether I, Li Hengbo, actually have the ability to solve troubles!"

He could not wait to prove his 'value' and 'ability' to Li Zhenyang and Li Shuting.

For a time, the news of Lin Dongfan being taken away for investigation acted like the most violent catalyst, boosting Li Hengbo's side's morale and making their actions even more reckless.

They marshaled all resources, pursuing relentlessly in public opinion and frantically short-selling in the capital markets, attempting to nail Lin Dongfan and the Upright and Unobstructed Group forever to the pillar of shame, never to be reborn.

From the outside, Lin Dongfan had already fallen into prison, the Zhengtong Group building was about to collapse, and it seemed there was no way to turn the tide. All evidence, all public opinion, were against him.

Desperate straits, this is true desperation!

However, on a level imperceptible to ordinary people, a great net that had long been woven was quietly tightening.

Lin Dongfan, who had been taken away, during the period of cooperating with the investigation, aside from necessary questioning, continually maintained a bewildering silence and composure.

He seemed not to be undergoing interrogation, but rather… waiting.

Waiting for a certain moment.

Waiting for the prey to stretch its neck onto the sickle he had long sharpened.

The center of the storm's eye is often the calmest.

Beneath this calm, what is brewing will be an earth-shattering thunderous counterattack! Li Hengbo's revelry is destined to be merely the final madness before its downfall!