Ironclad evidence!
However, just as Su Yuqing's team was busily compiling evidence and preparing to release it at the opportune moment, a powerful obstacle began to emerge.
First, anonymous threatening letters arrived at the newspaper, warning them to "stop while they're ahead." Then, the families of team members began receiving harassing phone calls. More seriously, certain powerful departments began demanding their "cooperation" under the guise of "investigative needs," effectively pressuring them to hand over all evidence.
The pressure was like a noose tightening ever more.
Meanwhile, news came from the hospital that Lin Chen had undergone several major surgeries. Although he was temporarily out of the most dangerous life-threatening situation, he remained in a deep coma. Whether he would wake up, and when, was unknown. Doctors privately stated that even if he woke up, the severe spinal and brain injuries could leave permanent sequelae.
His musical dreams might truly have been shattered completely with that fall.
Silent mourning continued in the corners of the internet, while a visible contest raged fiercely in the shadows. Truth and lies, justice and evil, are locked in a final struggle on this battlefield without gunfire.
Su Yuqing's team, armed with irrefutable evidence, is like holding a hot potato, yet also a sword capable of cleaving through the darkness. When and how to strike, to avoid backlash and truly console the young soul sleeping in the ICU?
Behind the silent mourning lies the final stillness before the storm.
The data in the encryption device is like Pandora's box; once opened, it will unleash not only the truth but also destructive energy capable of ruining many lives and even landing them in prison. Su Yuqing and her team know this all too well; they are like carrying a ticking time bomb, each step fraught with peril.
The work of organizing and verifying evidence is carried out under extreme secrecy and tension. The team members were scattered across different safe houses, communicating through encrypted channels. Everyone understood that they were facing not only the remnants of Xingyao Entertainment, but also potentially its deeply entrenched protective umbrella and alliance of interests.
However, the enemy's counterattack was swifter and more ruthless than anticipated.
The first to be affected was Xiao Zhao, a key technical member of the team. He was responsible for decrypting and backing up core data. One evening, on his way from his temporary safe house to another location to hand over data, he was struck by an unlicensed motorcycle that suddenly appeared in an alleyway without surveillance cameras. The perpetrator fled the scene, and Xiao Zhao was immediately critically injured and unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. His portable hard drive, containing copies of some critical data, was missing.
"An accidental traffic accident." The official preliminary conclusion remained the same.
The air within the team instantly froze. This was no accident! This was a blatant warning and an attempt to silence him!
Su Yuqing immediately ordered all members to suspend all external activities and enter a state of highest alert. She moved herself and the key evidence to a top-secret location known only to her and her direct supervisor, a place unknown even to her team members.
But the threats didn't stop.
The next day, Chen Kai's studio was broken into late at night. It was ransacked, instruments, equipment, and records mostly destroyed, a scene of utter devastation. Large, shocking words were spray-painted in red on the walls:
"Mind your own business! You're next!"
Chen Kai escaped the attack because he happened to be visiting an old friend in the hospital that night, but seeing his studio, which he had built up over many years and cherished dearly, destroyed, this weathered man couldn't help but tear up, overwhelmed with fear and anger.