The rain finally came.
It wasn't the dramatic kind—no thunder, no howling winds—just a steady curtain of water that made the neon signs blur like smeared paint on the city's dark canvas.
Shen Fu stood beneath a half-torn awning outside the arcade, hoodie damp, smoke curling from the cigarette between his fingers. He wasn't a smoker, not really. It was more about the silence that came with it. The thinking.
Inside, Xiaodie and Zhenzhen were sketching out possible spots in Wenhua, comparing foot traffic stats with rental records. But Shen Fu had a different move in mind. He pulled out his phone and dialed.
It rang once.
Twice.
"Yo." A gruff voice on the other end.
"Zhang Wei," Shen Fu said. "Need a favor. Quiet one."
A pause, then a low chuckle. "You don't call unless it's messy. What is it?"
"I want eyes on Qin Han. Full profile. Assets. Movements. Any skeletons he's hiding"
Zhang Wei whistled. "Going after the devil himself, huh?"
"No. I'm digging the pit first. Then I'll let him fall."
"Fine. But I'll need a few days. He's clean on the surface. Corporate records, charity dinners, clean books."
"That's why I called you. You know where the real files are kept."
Shen Fu ended the call and slipped the phone back in his pocket.
That night, back at his apartment, Shen Fu activated the system. The air shimmered faintly as the digital interface blinked into existence, floating just above his palm.
[SYSTEM PULSE – INTELLIGENCE SYNC IN PROGRESS…]
Subject: Qin Han
Matching Data Footprint: 3,213 matches found
Analyzing for illegal activity…
[MATCH FOUND – SECTOR 9: Ghost Bidding]
[MATCH FOUND – SECTOR 12: Illegal Evictions via Shell Firms]
[MATCH FOUND – SECTOR 18: Bribery – Land Registry Office]
New System Quest Unlocked: "Expose the Mask" – Leak Qin Han's financial manipulations using forged shell firms.
Reward: Temporary System Expansion — Access to Surveillance Layer
Penalty: Mission fails if the Action is Traced Back to you.
Shen Fu's eyes narrowed.
Ghost bidding meant he'd been inflating property prices through dummy buyers—driving out competitors and raising rents beyond affordability. It was how he'd cornered so many areas so fast. But with the right leaks… that house of cards would tumble.
He called Zhenzhen in.
She showed up in ten minutes, tablet in hand.
"I need a digital paper trail built—traced to three of Qin's shell firms. Fake owners, bogus transactions, tax dodging. Can you do it?"
Zhenzhen looked intrigued, not scared. "Give me an hour."
"Just you. Clean."
She nodded, sat cross-legged on the floor, and got to work. Her fingers danced across the glass screen, layering files, hacking through records like peeling back the city's skin.
By morning, the evidence was ready.
Anonymous email drops were sent to three different local news outlets. Zhenzhen used public café IPs and bounced the connections off foreign servers. There would be no trail.
The headlines came fast and hot.
"REAL ESTATE TYCOON LINKED TO FRAUDULENT PROPERTY ACQUISITIONS"
"LOCAL LANDLORDS UNDER PROBE—SOURCE CLAIMS QIN HAN INVOLVED"
The internet roared. Forums exploded. It was all circumstantial, just enough to cast doubt but not enough for jail. But that wasn't the goal.
The goal was fear.
Two days later, Zhang Wei called back.
"You were right," he said. "I didn't find a corpse, but I found the shovel."
"Talk."
"He's got a laundering setup through a Hong Kong-based courier company. Legit on the surface, but the transfers don't add up. Funds go missing, then show up under unrelated vendors in mainland branches."
Shen Fu didn't smile. He didn't need to.
"Good work. Drop the files where I told you."
"Already did. Your ghost leaker stunt really got the watchdogs moving. You might get him cornered before you even launch your next arcade."
Shen Fu looked out at the city, rain still dripping from rooftops.
"Not a corner," he said. "A cage."
The next day, Shen Fu walked into a local property office under a false name, using one of the newly freed-up Wenhua locations. The landlord, now nervous from the headlines, dropped the asking price by 30%.
Panic was a better negotiator than charm.
He signed the lease in cash.
When he stepped back into the street, a system notification chimed.
[MISSION COMPLETE: Expose the Mask]
System Expansion Granted: Surveillance Layer Activated
New Feature: Audio & Heat Signature Monitoring within 500m Radius
Note: Layer can be toggled discreetly. Usage beyond 2 hours per day incurs system fatigue.
Shen pulled up his hood and walked back through the wet alleys, the city lights flickering like fading stars.
Qin Han wouldn't see it coming.
Not from Shen Fu.
Not from the gutter kid who learned how to make ghosts talk.