"Bang!"

The heavy iron gate slammed shut behind us, mercilessly swallowing up the last rays of light.

Lin Fan staggered a few steps, his back hitting the cold, rough wall before he could barely steady himself.

In the darkness, only a faint sliver of light pierced through the crack in the door, barely outlining the shape of this so-called "VIP room." It was more like a rudimentary warehouse or prison cell than a VIP room.

The air was filled with a pungent, musty smell, mixed with the sour stench of cheap tobacco and sweat, which was nauseating.

“Tang Zhong… Si Hai Tong…” Lin Fan leaned against the wall, slowly sliding down to sit on the cold cement floor, panting heavily. Anger surged in his chest like magma, but he forced himself to calm down.

Anger solves nothing. The most important thing now is to understand your situation and then figure out a way to get out of it.

He closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths of the polluted air, and tried to calm his racing heart. His brilliant business acumen kicked in at that moment. Tang Zhong had locked him up here for a clear purpose: to force him to comply and sign that logistics agreement that resembled a contract of servitude.

Absolutely not!

Lin Fan suddenly opened his eyes. In the darkness, his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness, flashing a light colder than the stars. He was not a flower in a greenhouse. His childhood in an orphanage, his youth spent living under someone else's roof, and the hardships of starting Qihang Technology from scratch had already tempered his will into something as tough as steel.

He began to carefully observe the "VIP room." The room was small, about ten square meters, and empty except for the concrete floor beneath him and the four walls. The walls appeared to be made of brick and stone, covered with mottled stains. He walked to the door and tried to push it, but the iron door wouldn't budge, clearly locked from the outside. There was no peephole, only a tightly closed food delivery slot.

He looked up at the ceiling, which was very high. There seemed to be mesh grilles for ventilation ducts in the corners, but they were at least four or five meters above the ground, and the grilles looked exceptionally sturdy, impossible to break by hand. The only window was high up, welded shut with thick iron bars and covered with a thick layer of barbed wire, letting in only a very faint, hazy light.

The possibility of escaping is extremely slim.

Tang Zhong locked him up here because he knew he couldn't leave easily.

Lin Fan's heart sank, but he didn't despair. He began to recall the route he had taken when he was brought in. Although he had been roughly dragged, he still forced himself to memorize some details—the corners of the corridor, the number of guards, the location of the stairs…

Memories pieced together like fragments. Leaving Tang Zhong's office, I passed at least two corners and went down a flight of stairs before finally being ushered into this room. Along the way, I saw at least six guards, not including A Biao and the three he brought. The security here was extremely tight.

Forcing our way in is impossible. We must outsmart them.

He thought of his cell phone and some small devices he carried, but those must have been confiscated when he was arrested. Now, he was truly empty-handed and helpless.

No, we are not isolated and helpless.

Lin Fan's mind conjured up the brightly lit office building of Qihang Technology, and the faces of his trustworthy partners—Wang Wei, Chen Hai, the legal department, and the public relations department. They must be frantic with worry right now.

He recalled the difficult early days of his business. Funding shortages, technological bottlenecks, market exclusion… weren't those times fraught with challenges? Yet, he persevered step by step. Qihang Technology was a child he had raised from scratch, the culmination of his hard work; he absolutely could not allow it to be ruined by a local bully like Tang Zhong!

He recalled his adoptive parents' earnest teachings, Ye Yuyan's gentle gaze, and his younger sister Lin Yue... He couldn't let them worry, much less disappoint them!

"Tang Zhong, do you think you can force me to submit using such methods?" Lin Fan muttered to himself, his voice echoing slightly in the empty room, yet his tone was filled with unwavering determination. "I, Lin Fan, will never bow to darkness! Qihang Technology will never bow to darkness either!"

He stood up again and began to pace rhythmically. The darkness imprisoned his body, but it could not imprison his mind. He needed to think, to formulate a plan, and to wait for the right opportunity.

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of Qihang Technology, in the top-floor conference room.

The atmosphere was so heavy it seemed like it could drip water.

Logistics Director Chen Hai was pale and his lips trembled slightly as he finished an emergency communication with the head of security at Xingzhou Port.

"...President Lin...President Lin...was forcibly taken away by the people from Sihaitong! Right there in Tang Zhong's office!" Chen Hai's voice was filled with disbelief, horror, and anger. "Our people were stopped outside. The other side outnumbered us and even resorted to violence! Two of our security guards sustained minor injuries!"

"What?!"

"How dare Tang Zhong?!"

"This is outrageous! This is practically kidnapping!"

The meeting room erupted in chaos. All the executives jumped to their feet, their faces filled with shock, anger, and worry. Lin Fan was the soul of Qihang Technology, the backbone of everyone; he had been detained by local thugs in a foreign country! This was a complete shock!

"Calm down, everyone!" a calm and powerful voice rang out.

Everyone turned to look at the voice, and saw that it was Wang Wei, the head of the technology research and development center. He was usually taciturn, but at this moment his face showed a calm and composed demeanor.

"Now is not the time to panic!" Wang Wei walked to the head of the table, placed his hands on the conference table, and sharply scanned everyone. "With President Lin trapped, we must hold our ground! The enemy may very well be trying to see us lose our composure!"

His words were like a shot in the arm, calming the panicked crowd down a little.

"Old Wang is right!" a deputy director of the marketing department gritted his teeth and said, "That bastard Tang Zhong dared to mess with General Manager Lin, we absolutely cannot let him get away with this!"

"Yes! We must call the police immediately!"

“Calling the police is probably useless,” said the legal director, a middle-aged woman with a capable demeanor and gold-rimmed glasses, in a deep voice. “Director Chen just said that our people are out there, and Tang Zhong will definitely have a million excuses, such as ‘inviting General Manager Lin to discuss business.’ Without solid evidence, the Singapore police may not get involved in this kind of business dispute, especially since the other party is a local logistics tycoon.”

Her analysis was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing the hopes that had just been rekindled in everyone's hearts.

"What can we do? Are we just going to stand by and watch President Lin get bullied?" someone asked anxiously.

Wang Wei took a deep breath, his eyes becoming incredibly focused: "President Lin's safety is our top priority! But we can't just sit here and wait to die! Since Tang Zhong dared to use such methods, it's very likely that it's not just about the logistics contract! I'm worried..."

He paused, his tone becoming more serious: "I'm worried they might target the company's core data and trade secrets! Sihaitong Group and our previous competitors might not be unconnected!"