Chapter Fifteen: The Truth Begins to Emerge

The battle at the southern mining district had finally ended.

Thick, acrid smoke curled into the air, merging with the dark night sky. The scent of scorched metal and blood filled the ruins, lingering like the ghost of violence. What was once an industrial complex had been reduced to a battlefield—a graveyard of shattered concrete, twisted steel, and the bodies of those who had dared to stand in his way. The echoes of gunfire had long faded, but the weight of what had transpired still hung in the air, heavy and oppressive.

Lin Feng stood amidst the destruction, his sharp gaze scanning the remnants of the battlefield. His long black trench coat billowed slightly as the wind howled through the skeletal remains of broken structures. His expression was unreadable, yet beneath the surface, his mind was already dissecting every detail, every clue left behind.

The gray-robed man had escaped. That, he hadn't expected. But it didn't matter.

The dead told no tales, but the living did.

And tonight, Lin Feng had captives.

With a flick of his wrist, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Bring the captives from the southern outskirts back to the office building," he ordered, his voice cold and unwavering. "I want to interrogate them myself."

A brief silence followed before a steady voice responded.

"Understood, Master Feng!"

Lin Feng hung up without another word, slipping the phone back into his coat. He took one last glance at the destruction before making his way to his car. The fight tonight hadn't been about winning or losing—it had been a warning.

The Shadow Consortium was crumbling.

And soon, he would be the one to deliver the final blow.

The underground interrogation chamber beneath the office building was a place where shadows consumed all hope.

The walls were lined with cold steel, the air thick with the stifling scent of damp concrete and fear. Dim yellow lights flickered above, casting eerie shadows that stretched like clawed fingers across the floor. It was a place designed to break men—to strip them of their bravado, their lies, their very will to resist.

At the center of the room, three black-clad men sat bound to heavy metal chairs, their wrists tightly secured behind them. Their faces were pale, slick with sweat, their eyes darting between each other as if seeking silent reassurance. But there was none to be found.

The door creaked open.

Lin Feng stepped inside, his every movement deliberate, his gaze like a predator assessing its prey. His leather shoes clicked against the floor, each step slow and methodical, heightening the unbearable tension in the room.

He stopped just a few feet away, his eyes sweeping over the captives. He didn't need to say anything—his presence alone was enough to suffocate them.

Then, finally, he spoke.

"Talk."

His voice was soft, almost conversational, but it carried the weight of an executioner's verdict.

"Who is Shadow?"

The silence stretched for several painful seconds. The captives hesitated, their breath shallow, their muscles tensed. One of them—a wiry man with a scar running down his cheek—finally found his voice.

"W-we're just small-time operatives!" he stammered, his voice shaking. "We don't know anything! The gray-robed man—he's our leader. We call him 'Gray Wolf'. He was the one in charge of the southern mining district base."

Lin Feng's expression didn't change.

"Gray Wolf?" he repeated, as if tasting the name. His dark eyes narrowed slightly. "Where is he now?"

The man swallowed hard before shaking his head frantically.

"He ran! We—we don't know where he went!"

A cold smirk flickered across Lin Feng's lips.

Wrong answer.

Without warning, he lashed out, delivering a brutal kick to the chair. The impact sent the man crashing to the floor, his head slamming against the concrete with a sickening thud. A cry of pain tore from his lips, but Lin Feng didn't spare him a second glance. Instead, he turned to the bespectacled man, who had been standing silently by the doorway.

"Master Feng," the man said, stepping forward. His tone was respectful, but beneath it, there was something else—urgency. "We found some documents in the confiscated cargo. They mention something called the 'Shadow Project'. It appears to be connected to the destruction of the Lin family three years ago."

The air in the room grew even heavier.

Lin Feng extended a hand, taking the stack of papers. He flipped through them, his sharp gaze scanning each page with meticulous precision. And then—he stopped.

The words on the paper might as well have been a dagger to his heart.

Target: Lin CorporationExecutors: Lin Zhengxiong, Zhao WanshanMastermind: ShadowTime: Three years ago, May

His grip on the documents tightened.

Three years ago. May.

A date forever burned into his memory.

That was the night everything had changed.

That was the night his home, his family, his legacy had been reduced to ashes.

A flickering memory surfaced—the roar of flames, the suffocating heat, the scent of burning wood and flesh. The agonized screams that had sliced through the darkness. By the time the fire had died, the Lin family was gone.

And now, after years of searching, the truth was finally revealing itself.

Lin Zhengxiong. Zhao Wanshan. He had suspected them, but now there was proof. And above them all, orchestrating from the shadows, was the true mastermind—Shadow.

Lin Feng's lips curled into a slow, merciless smile.

"You can run," he murmured, his voice chilling in its quiet certainty. "But not forever."

He turned to the bespectacled man, his next words calm yet laced with an unmistakable finality.

"Find them all. I want every last one of them hunted down. No exceptions."

The bespectacled man nodded.

"Understood."

A dead silence settled over the chamber. The prisoners dared not speak. They had seen enough to know—there was no bargaining with Lin Feng.

He turned, his coat billowing as he walked toward the exit. His footsteps echoed through the chamber, steady and unyielding.

The game was nearing its final stage.

And soon, those who had once hidden in the shadows would be dragged into the light—only to be destroyed.