When I went home for Chinese New Year, I spent a million times more money on my foreign wife.

The next morning, Chen Yang went into his study and dialed Lei Zi's number.

"Is the photo processed?"

"High-definition, underwater, burning, and sunken footage—all four sets of images are included."

"Put it up. On the dark web homepage, pin it to the top, buy out the entire timeframe for 72 hours."

"What about the statement?"

"One line is enough—'Offend China again, and this will be your fate.' Bilingual in English and Chinese, in blood red font."

Lei Zi didn't ask any more questions and hung up the phone.

Forty minutes later, the homepage of the world's largest intelligence trading platform on the dark web was replaced.

The previously densely packed bounty posters, arms offers, and intelligence auctions have all disappeared. In their place are four ultra-high-resolution photos.

First image: A complete side panoramic view of the Beluga, brightly lit, with two helicopters parked on the deck.

Second image: The ship breaks in half, and a pillar of fire shoots into the sky.

The third image shows burning wreckage floating on the sea, with steel structures twisted into scrap metal.

Fourth picture: A pitch-black sea, nothing left but surging waves.

Below the four photos, there is a line of large, blood-red text.

"If you offend China again, this is what will happen to you."

The signature has only one mark—a black kite-shaped badge.

There was no signature, no full name of the organization, but everyone in the underworld qualified to see this page knew what that badge represented.

Black kite.

Chen Yang's private armed group.

-

The news spread faster than expected.

The screenshots from the dark web spread to more than six underground intelligence networks within twenty minutes, and within an hour, all of the world's top twenty private military contractors received the message.

Chen Yue sat in the command center, staring at the data stream jumping on the screen.

She dialed Chen Yang's number.

"Brother, the effect is more powerful than expected. All the bounty posts, quest posts, and contact nodes related to the Dragon Slayer Society on the dark web have been proactively deleted by the platform administrators. It wasn't us who did it; they deleted them themselves."

"Scared?"

"It's not just fear. Several middlemen posted on underground forums, saying, 'Black Kite's men can silently take down a 10,000-ton cruise ship on the high seas. Whoever takes their job will be the next White Whale.'"

Chen Yang did not respond.

Chen Yue continued, "There's one more thing. The Moby-Whale is registered in Panama and flies the flag of convenience. The ship sank in unclaimed waters of the high seas, which is not under the jurisdiction of any country. Even if the Gray family wanted to file a police report, they wouldn't be able to find a court that would handle it."

"so?"

"So from a legal standpoint, this doesn't exist. There's no jurisdiction, no crime scene, no victim—if the Gray family comes forward and claims to be the ship's owners, it would be tantamount to admitting they're operating an illegal armed outpost on the high seas."

"They won't stand up."

"Yes, they won't."

Chen Yue paused for a moment.

"But the West has already reacted. The US Department of Defense held an emergency closed-door meeting early this morning on the topic of 'the sinking of an unidentified vessel in the Pacific Ocean.' I don't have access to the meeting minutes, but according to our sources at the Pentagon, the core conclusion of the entire meeting was just one thing—no intervention, no statement, no investigation."

"What's the reason?"

"There's no reason. Or rather, the reason is the Moby-Whale itself. If the arms depot on that ship were exposed, the supply chain it would expose would directly impact NATO's defense industry. The Americans know better than anyone that this cannot be exposed."

Chen Yang stood up and walked to the window.

"What about China?"

"I've received word from Li's department that the higher-ups have drafted an official statement, which will be formally released this afternoon through diplomatic channels. I've reviewed the wording; it's very strong."

Chen Yang glanced at it and nodded.

"The wording is acceptable."

"Brother, this statement, along with the photos we posted on the dark web, is tantamount to telling the whole world openly—the Beluga was an operation tacitly approved or even supported by China. The authorities won't admit it, but everyone can understand the subtext."

That's enough.

-

Within 24 hours of the statement's release, the global public opinion landscape was divided into two distinct camps.

On the surface, mainstream Western media have remained silent.

No major media outlets reported on the sinking of the Beluga, no commentators analyzed it, and no experts offered any interpretation.

The editorial departments of major news agencies received unified instructions from "above"—do not report, do not mention, and do not discuss.

Because if they report it, they have to explain what the Moby-Dick is, and if they explain it, they have to ask why there is NATO-standard C4 explosive on board.

Further investigation would uncover the Gray family's military smuggling network, ultimately leading to the collapse of the entire chain and its connection to Pentagon procurement contracts.

Nobody wanted to lift the lid.

Therefore, silence is the only option.

But the tremors were intense below the water surface.

Within 48 hours, the world's top 50 underground intelligence brokers, mercenary intermediaries, and private military contractors reached an unwritten consensus: Chen Yang, the boss of the Black Kite Group and a Chinese national, was placed at the top of the "absolutely forbidden list."

This list has been circulating in the underworld for a long time, and the names on it are usually the directors of intelligence agencies of various countries, retired special forces commanders, or members of royal families in the Middle East who have private armies.

Chen Yang's name was placed first among everyone else's.

The remarks section contained only four words: "Unrestricted retaliation."

It means that if you touch him, no matter who you are, where you are, or how much money you have, he will hunt you down to the end. There is no negotiation, no deal, and no ransom to pay.

The Beluga is the evidence.

A 10,000-ton cruise ship sank within six hours of being discovered. None of the more than forty armed personnel on board sent out a distress signal.

Clean, thorough, and without a trace.

This combination of ability and will led the entire underground world to reach a unified judgment.

not worth it.

No matter how much money you offer, it's not worth going against this person.

-

Chen Yue closed the last monitoring report.

"Brother, the stock prices of the Gray family's three core companies in North America have started to fall. The market has caught wind of this, and institutions are selling off. I'm preparing to trigger the debt acceleration clause tomorrow. Once the $4.7 billion in bonds mature, their cash flow will dry up completely."

"How long will it take to finish?"

"Two weeks. By mid-October at the latest, the name Gray will have completely disappeared from the business landscape."

"I want a clean and tidy environment before the Snow Palace opens."

"no problem."

Chen Yue hung up the phone.

Chen Yang put his phone back on the table and pushed open the door to the study.

Katyusha stood in the corridor, holding a cup of hot black tea in her hand.

"For you."

Chen Yang took it and drank a sip.

Katyusha turned and walked toward the kitchen, but stopped after taking two steps.

What would you like to eat for dinner?

"You decide."

Katyusha nodded and went into the kitchen.

Chen Yang held a teacup, leaned against the wall of the corridor, and looked through the floor-to-ceiling window at the ski track in the distance, which was undergoing final construction.