As Yue Jincheng left, Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen were still puzzled when the office door opened, and Gong Zhe walked in with another patrol officer.

Gong Zhe’s face was devoid of any smile as he coldly stated, “Regarding today’s mutual assault case, I’m here to take your statements.”

“Mutual assault?” Zhang Yu questioned. “How is it mutual assault? I told you he was trying to steal my phone.”

Gong Zhe calmly replied, “Isn’t your phone in your own hand? I saw you using it to pay.”

“That’s because I stopped him from stealing it,” Zhang Yu said.

Gong Zhe coldly asked, “Then how do you prove he was trying to steal your phone?”

“According to the testimony of another bystander at the scene, you attacked him first, and he was forced to retaliate.”

Zhang Yu paused slightly, surprised. “I attacked him?”

“Then look at the surveillance footage; he was the one who reached into my pocket from behind first.”

Gong Zhe casually flipped through the documents in his hand and said, “The surveillance cameras at the scene were broken and didn’t capture that moment.”

Looking at the silent Zhang Yu, Gong Zhe continued, “So you have no evidence that the other party was trying to steal your belongings?”

“Are you very short on money recently?”

“Have your monthly exam scores at school declined?”

“Do you feel your mental state has been unstable lately?”

Listening to Gong Zhe’s highly suggestive questions, Bai Zhenzhen couldn’t help but say, “What do you mean by this? Are you trying to imply that Zhang Yu initiated the fight?”

Gong Zhe frowned and replied, “These are all standard routine inquiries.”

“As for who started it, whether it was you or him, your word doesn’t count, nor does his. Everything will be based on evidence and the results of the investigation.”

Bai Zhenzhen angrily asked, “Then why was he released, and we’re still being held here?”

Gong Zhe stated matter-of-factly, “He could afford bail and applied for a deferred review. Everything is reasonable and lawful, so of course he could leave first. After we finish questioning you, you can also leave once you pay bail.”

Bai Zhenzhen grew even angrier. “We are the complainants, and now we have to pay bail to leave?”

Gong Zhe calmly said, “Filing a report doesn’t mean you haven’t broken the law.”

As Gong Zhe looked at Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, he knew in his heart that the situation was far more complicated than just a bail payment.

Shortly after they questioned Yue Jincheng, the power of Wanxing Group had been activated.

As a wealthy and influential company maintaining an entire legal service team, its power far exceeded ordinary people’s imagination.

When this power was directed against these two poor students, Gong Zhe, though unsure why the company was doing this, could already foresee the outcome.

Especially after sensing his superior’s subtle inclination towards Wanxing Group, Gong Zhe’s demeanor completely changed, as if he had forgotten his earlier pleasantries with Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen.

After taking their statements, Gong Zhe left, leaving Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen in the office.

Bai Zhenzhen rubbed her stomach, growing increasingly frustrated, and pounded on the door, saying, “I need to use the restroom!”

However, no one responded.

Just then, Zhang Yu’s phone vibrated with a message from Zhou Chechen.

Zhou Chechen: The school is very displeased about your involvement in a fight outside of school and has decided to issue a disciplinary action against you and Bai Zhenzhen.

Zhou Chechen: Remember to apologize properly to the other party and don’t disgrace Songyang High School.

Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes as he read Zhou Chechen’s message, thinking, “What does this mean?”

“A provocation?”

A moment later, Yun Ni sent another message: What happened? I heard from above that you were involved in a fight, and they want to revoke your Divine Assistant status.

Bai Zhenzhen watched the messages appear on Zhang Yu’s phone, feeling an overwhelming pressure, like an invisible, giant hand slowly tightening its grip on them.

Meanwhile, Fuki, watching the same scene, burst into laughter. “It seems the Zhou family has made their move. This is good news.”

“They’ve framed this as a mutual assault and are applying pressure everywhere. Clearly, they want to use this opportunity to cause trouble for you—either extort money or have you detained so you can’t attend school.”

“Heh heh, but no matter what, they don’t know you’ve befriended Deng Bingding, nor do they know Deng Bingding has already started investigating the Zhou family.”

“The deeper the Zhou family gets involved in this matter now, the greater the price they’ll have to pay to extricate themselves later.”

While Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen waited patiently in the patrol bureau office,

Yue Jincheng had returned to Wanxing Group’s Security Department.

Walking into the Department Head’s office, Yue Jincheng saw that besides the Department Head, Si Zhouyu and another lawyer were also present.

The Security Department Head looked at him and coldly said, “Who told you to take action without authorization?”

Yue Jincheng stammered, “I…”

The Security Department Head slapped Yue Jincheng across the face and coldly said, “If the company didn’t still need you right now, you would have been fired long ago.”

A burning pain radiated from the palm print on Yue Jincheng’s face, but he dared not touch it. He could only bow and say, “I’m sorry, Department Head, it was all my fault.”

The Security Department Head: “Give me your phone.”

Yue Jincheng’s face twitched at the words, and a flicker of fear appeared in his eyes, but he ultimately handed over his phone.

The Security Department Head skillfully opened the company’s employee financial platform and said, “The bail this time was paid by the company on your behalf. Now, use your contingency fund to quickly reimburse the company.”

“Hurry up.”

Yue Jincheng gritted his teeth and, under the Security Department Head’s watchful gaze, obediently followed the instructions.

The Security Department Head continued, “From now on, you’ll stick to the story that Zhang Yu attacked you first, and then it became a mutual assault.”

“The company’s lawyer will guide you on the specifics.”

“Remember, if you act on your own initiative again, you can forget about finding a job in Songyang City.”

The lawyer beside them said, “The specific method is simple. When you’re at the patrol bureau, you just say…”

Yue Jincheng listened, frowning, and asked, “So, just keep mediating with him? Keep bothering him? Constantly harass him?”

He said, confused, “This is clearly a good opportunity to fix him, isn’t it? With the company’s power, it wouldn’t be a problem to prevent him from attending school.”

“We could completely threaten him and get the information the leader wants…”

Before Yue Jincheng could finish speaking, the Security Department Head kicked him in the stomach again. He grunted, doubling over like a cooked shrimp.

The Security Department Head coldly stated, “Didn’t I just tell you? Don’t make your own decisions. Do what the leader tells you. If you understand, execute it; if you don’t understand, execute it even more.”

“The company doesn’t need people at your executive level to have their own ideas.”

“Do you understand?”

Yue Jincheng struggled to stand, nodded, and replied, “I understand.”

But Yue Jincheng’s heart was still filled with confusion. He didn’t understand why the company, which could easily crush poor high school students like Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen, always chose to let them off the hook.

“Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen are just two ants.”

“Crushing them is, of course, very easy.”

“But if you want to keep them underfoot, grinding them without crushing them, forcing them to seek help from their ant nest… that requires a great deal of skill and timing.”

In the ward on the 333rd floor of the Central Tower, Zhou Yang gazed at the city view outside the window and sighed to himself, “New employees these days are truly becoming more and more impatient.”

But Zhou Yang was not flustered. After all, having weathered many storms over the years, he had encountered too many instances of subordinates making mistakes or blunders.

He wouldn’t dwell on the mistake and complain; instead, he would strive to adjust after an error, seeking new opportunities within the given circumstances.

So, upon learning that Yue Jincheng had attacked Zhang Yu and been apprehended on the spot by the patrol team, Zhou Yang immediately took action, leveraging his influence to gain control of the situation.

“We cannot act as if nothing happened; that would certainly alert the evil god behind them.”

“But we also can’t just kill Zhang Yu outright and lose the lead to the evil god.”

Zhou Yang mused, “We still need to operate under the guise of Zhou Chechen.”

“Disguise the whole incident as Zhou Chechen hiring people to set a trap to retaliate against Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen…”

“At least from Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen’s perspective, the entire incident must be perceived as mere bullying orchestrated by Zhou Chechen.”

As he thought, he made calls, and leveraging the Zhou family’s deep roots and Wanxing Group’s influence, he quickly achieved his objective.

After completing all this, Zhou Yang quietly exhaled, thinking, “Next, we’ll dispatch more personnel to continue monitoring Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen through multiple channels.”

“Whether they seek help from the evil god or realize something is wrong and try to escape, we should gain something.”

“But before that…”

Zhou Yang mused, “Since it’s already done, why not just have them detained for a few days, and then arrange for some people inside to ‘teach them a lesson’? Perhaps that will make them reveal more weaknesses?”

“Even if they are students taking the Foundation Establishment exam, everything is reasonable and legal. They can’t blame me for it, can they?”

Just as Zhou Yang was deliberating the precise timing, his phone suddenly vibrated.

Then came a barrage of frantic vibrations, with messages rapidly flooding the phone screen.

“Divine Department personnel on site! They’re searching the group building!”

“Chairman Zhou! The Security Department has been sealed off by the Righteous Gods; everyone has lost contact!”

“Zhou Yang, what’s going on? Why would a Sixth-Grade Righteous God come to investigate you?”

“Uncle, a Righteous God has descended upon the mansion…”

“Chairman Zhou, our funds have been frozen?”

Reading message after message, Zhou Yang was initially bewildered. “Sixth-Grade… Righteous God? Investigating me?”

But as more and more messages appeared, he quickly felt as if an inescapable net was tightening around him, constricting his breath.