Chapter 30: Fault Lines

It started with a stock dip.

0.3%. Then 1.2%. Then 4.8%.

Zeyan didn't flinch. Not until it crossed 7% by noon.

SkyInk's market confidence hadn't dropped like this since its founding.

It wasn't just about Jiang Yue. Or the fire. Or the leak.

It was something bigger.

System Alert:

SkyInk Holdings Volatility Detected – Tier II

Drop Pattern Matches External Interference Model

Potential Origin: Coordinated Short-Sell + Insider Timing

System Analysis: Delay = Corporate Rating Risk in 48 Hours

Zeyan called the boardroom meeting at 1:00 p.m.

Everyone was already there by 12:45.

His executives sat stiff. Legal counsel looked pale. His chief investment officer refused to make eye contact.

"What was released?" he asked.

A click. A screen lit up.

CONFIDENTIAL: "SkyInk's Projected Fiscal Overstatement, 2-Year Growth Map Error"

The doc had SkyInk's logo, timestamp, and proprietary figures.

All real. All taken from a locked internal projection vault.

Zeyan's jaw clenched.

"Who had access?"

Only five people. None of them had leaked it. At least… not directly.

System Data Corruption Notice:

Warning: One sub-user node accessed using executive clearance – 17 days ago

Login Path: Off-grid. Encrypted Proxy Layer Used

Identity Trail: Fragmented – Partially Reconstructed

Alias Match: Y.S. (89.3% certainty)

Yan Shaoxing.

Not targeting Jiang Yue this time. He was attacking the foundation.

By afternoon, news broke:

"SkyInk Inflates Growth Numbers? Financial Projections Raise Flags"

"From Viral to Vulnerable: Has SkyInk Grown Too Fast?"

Even Jiang Yue's name was now attached to damage control headlines:

"Jiang Yue's Studio Under Fire Again — This Time Financial."

Backstage at a costume fitting, Jiang Yue saw the alert and called Zeyan.

He picked up instantly.

"You're bleeding," she said. "Quietly."

"I know."

"Tell me what I can do."

Zeyan paused. Then: "Nothing. Not yet."

"You don't trust me to help?"

"I trust you too much to let you carry this part."

But Jiang Yue didn't sit still.

She sent a message to Feng Shaoyi:

"I need a scene. Real. Live. Emotional. Can you write it in?"

He didn't reply with words. Just sent a new script page:

Scene 85: Public Meltdown – Aya confronts military officer at daughter's grave.

That night, the scene aired live on SkyInk's internal channel. The clip leaked immediately.

The internet exploded:

"Is this art or therapy?"

"Jiang Yue rips the soul out of grief itself."

"We're watching a woman go through it. On camera. And still deliver brilliance."

System Buff Triggered:

Public Trust Transfer – Tier 1 Activated

Effect: Public separates FL from Corporate Brand in narrative alignment

Outcome: FL popularity stable +2.9%, while company remains under scrutiny

But at 3 a.m., the final blow landed.

One of SkyInk's secondary content servers — storing unreleased films, contracts, and backup scripts — was wiped.

100+ terabytes of content. Gone.

Encrypted ransom note left in system:

"This is your story now. Watch it burn."

Signed: Y.S.

System Catastrophe Protocol Activated:

Status: Emergency Lockdown

Financial Rating Threat: S&P Downgrade to BB+ (Junk) within 24 hours if unresolved

FL Contract: Safe

Core IP: Damaged – 3 unreleased projects marked 'irrecoverable'

Zeyan stood in the server room, lightless, sleepless.

He whispered:

"You want to drag me down again, Yan? You better start swimming. Because this time, I'm not drowning — I'm learning how to breathe underwater."