The richest man started taking advantage of loopholes after joining Alibaba.

Hundreds of eyes were fixed on him, creating a very oppressive atmosphere.

The air conditioner blew cold air straight down from the towering dome, and it was icy cold.

Lin Che sat in the last row without moving. He leaned back in his iron folding chair, his gaze passing through the distance of more than ten meters to look at the dignitaries in the first row.

Two seconds later, he pressed his hands on his knees, exerted force, and slowly stood up.

The folding chair slid backward, its metal legs scraping violently against the marble floor.

"squeak--"

The sharp sound pierced the frozen air in the hall.

Several bank executives in the front row suddenly turned around.

The reporters in the gallery quickly straightened up, gripping their recorders tightly, the plastic casing making a soft "clicking" sound.

They thought Lin Che was going to rebel, that this madman was going to roar in the highest-level venue.

Alibaba Vice President Sun Zheng sat in the first row. He turned his head, looked at Lin Che who had stood up, leaned back on the leather sofa, twitched his facial muscles, and revealed a disdainful sneer.

In this arena of absolute power, there is no point in putting up a stubborn resistance.

Lin Che straightened up, looked at the old man on the stage, and then sighed. His shoulders slumped noticeably, his chest contracted, and a visible sense of exhaustion and resignation emanated from him.

"I agree," Lin Che said. His voice wasn't loud, and there was no amplification equipment, but it was clearly audible in the absolutely silent hall, reaching everyone's ears.

"I am willing to relinquish absolute control of the Micro-Light Brain," Lin Che added the second half of the sentence.

A distinct exhale filled the room as dozens of people simultaneously relaxed their tense nerves.

President Liu of China Construction Bank let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed onto the sofa, utterly despairing.

Mr. Wang, the general manager of China Merchants Bank, closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands.

ended.

Sun Zheng raised his right hand and pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. He could no longer suppress the ecstasy in his eyes, and his muscles twitched with excitement.

Won.

The once-arrogant data tyrant finally bowed its head and confessed its crimes under the crushing weight of the state apparatus.

The old man on the stage did not change his expression. He looked at Lin Che with sharp eyes.

Lin Che lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the dark gray carpet beneath his feet.

Playing the victim, showing weakness, and sighing are necessary starting moves.

It would be absolutely foolish to confront him in this room; he needs permission to demonstrate.

As soon as the ten-meter-wide LED screen lights up and the red data streams emerge, everyone in this room, all the high-ranking giants, and all the leaders who hold the power of life and death, will become his followers and be completely subdued by the terrifying penetrating power of the Micro-Light Brain.

Lin Che raised his head again and looked at the old man on the stage.

"But I have one request," Lin Che said.

The old man frowned; no one could negotiate here.

"Speak," the old man said in an extremely cold voice.

"I need to connect to the internet," Lin Che said, looking directly into the old man's eyes. "To the big screen."

"To all the leaders and colleagues present, I will give you one last look at its underlying operating logic."

Lin Che paused for a moment.

"Then, I unplugged the power myself."

The security supervisor in the front row immediately stood up. He was wearing a pure black suit, with a transparent air duct headset in his left ear, and had a robust physique.

"No way!" The security supervisor sternly refused, interrupting Lin Che directly.

"This is a top-secret national-level meeting venue!"

The security supervisor pointed to the ceiling.

"The ceiling is full of signal jammers, and there is no cell phone signal at all."

He pointed to the military-grade black mainframe on the podium.

"Physical isolation of all networks!"

"There is no external network to connect to!"

The security supervisor stared at Lin Che, his eyes filled with vigilance.

"This computer only has an internal LAN and a level 1 hardware firewall; there's absolutely no way it could grant you external network access!"

The room fell silent again.

Sun Zheng burst out laughing, a grating laugh.

"President Lin, let's not waste any more time," Sun Zheng turned to look at Lin Che.

"How do you plan to connect to a physically isolated network?"

"Are you trying to conjure data out of thin air?"

Sun Zheng spread his hands out.

"Or are you planning to hack into the National Convention Center's security system on the spot?"

Executives from Tencent and Baidu nearby let out short, sneer-loud laughs, their contemptuous gazes like those of someone looking at a dead man.

They thought Lin Che was making a last-ditch effort, trying to delay the execution by using impossible technological means.

Lin Che ignored Sun Zheng, not even sparing a glance for those who were mocking him; he looked at the security supervisor.

"I don't need your network," Lin Che said in an extremely calm tone.

Lin Che stretched out his right hand, put it into the pocket of his black trousers, his fingers touched the cold metal object, his fingertips pinched the sharp edge, and he took it out and raised it in the air.

A black, encrypted USB flash drive, only the size of a thumb, with no trademarks or markings on its surface, reflects a cold, hard metallic sheen under the cool white overhead light.

"I brought the data myself," Lin Che said.

He turned his gaze to the old man on the stage.

"lead."

"Before it died."

"Don't you want to see what it actually looks like?"

The old man stared at Lin Che's hand, which was raised in mid-air, and at the tiny black USB drive. His gaze was so penetrating that it seemed to see through the metal casing.

The meeting room fell into an absolute silence; no one dared to speak, and everyone awaited the old man's decision.

The security supervisor pressed his earpiece, ready to order someone to forcibly drag Lin Che out at any moment.

The old man glanced at the mechanical watch on his wrist; the second hand ticked softly.

The old man looked up, wanting to see just how terrifyingly destructive this monstrous system—the one that had driven the traditional financial industry to the brink of collapse and forced internet giants to join forces to strangle it—this digital ghost, defined as "usurping the right to mint currency," truly was.

The old man stretched out his right hand, his palm hovering in mid-air, and pressed it down.

"Connect him to the screen," the old man commanded, his voice low but carrying significant weight in the room.

The security supervisor was stunned for a moment. He glanced at the old man, dared not utter any rebuttal, gritted his teeth, took a step back, and made way for the main podium.

"Come up," the security supervisor said coldly, his hand on his waist.

Lin Che stepped out from the darkest corner of the last row of the venue. He walked on the aisle covered with a thick red carpet, his leather shoes making no sound as they trod on the soft fur.

His steps were quiet, but as he passed through each row, the people sitting on the folding chairs on both sides involuntarily shrank back, tightened their shoulders, slowed their breathing, and a strong sense of oppression radiated from Lin Che.

Lin Che walked to the middle row. Liu, the branch manager of China Construction Bank, looked up at him, then quickly lowered his head and twisted his hands together tightly.

Mr. Wang, the general manager of China Merchants Bank, lay slumped on the sofa, unresponsive, like a soulless shell.

Lin Che walked to the first row. He passed by Sun Zheng, the vice president of Alibaba, less than half a meter away. Lin Che stopped and paused for a brief half-second. He lowered his head slightly, glanced at Sun Zheng, and looked at him with deep, cold eyes, without any extra emotion.

Sun Zheng's breath hitched. He suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, and a slight coldness crept up his spine. Cold sweat seeped directly from his skin. Unconsciously, Sun Zheng gripped the armrests of the leather sofa tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Lin Che withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward. He climbed three wooden steps, stood on the main podium, and stood in front of the heavy, black, military-grade mainframe.

Two security guards stood on either side of him, their eyes fixed on his hands, ready to tackle him at the slightest movement.

Lin Che made no unnecessary movements. He raised his right hand, aligned the metal interface of the black USB flash drive with the USB slot on the host panel, and without any hesitation, pushed it in.

"Click".

The crisp metallic clanging sound was captured by the microphone on the absolutely silent stage, amplified, and resounded throughout the entire venue.

Lin Che released his grip, turned his head, and looked at the side of the podium.

A giant LED screen, ten meters wide and three meters high, lit up instantly.

The blinding pure white light instantly dispelled the gloom in the venue and illuminated the faces of everyone in the front row.