The first strike didn't come with fists or fire.
It came with whispers.
A kid murmured that Game Zone was laundering money.
A thug claimed Shen Fu was working for an old triad family.
Someone even said Shen Fu's arcade had secret crypto rigs under the floor.
None of it was true.
All of it came from one source.
Qin Han.
Side Street – Yuncheng
Shen Fu leaned against a rusted railing overlooking a bus stop. Behind him, Game Zone flickered faintly in the dusk.
Across the street, two plainclothes officers casually questioned Mr. Luo—the previous owner, now his "consultant"—about zoning permits and outdated fire codes.
Xiaodie stood nearby, chewing on a toothpick like a loaded weapon.
"That's three visits in five days," she muttered. "Next one, they'll probably bring a camera crew."
Shen didn't blink. "He's soft-probing. Stirring fear. Makes people think I'm dirty."
"Are you?"
He looked at her. "Not yet."
She laughed, but there was no humor in it.
Later that night, in an old stairwell near an abandoned phone repair shop, Shen Fu met someone new.
He hadn't planned it.
She found him.
A delivery bike skidded to a stop just before he entered his flat. A girl hopped off—dark hoodie, oil-stained jeans, Bluetooth headset blinking blue. Late teens, early twenties. Quick eyes.
"You're Shen Fu?" she asked.
He tensed. "Depends."
"I'm Zhenzhen. My uncle used to run that busted internet café on Wenhua Street. You cleaned up his books last month. Got the landlord to extend his lease. I was listening in."
"Alright," He said cautiously. "What do you want?"
She tossed a USB stick toward him.
"Yuncheng's dead zones. Real-time foot traffic analysis, pulled from open GPS pings and delivery route overlaps. You want to know where to plant flags next? I've got your map."
Xiaodie raised an eyebrow. "You're not with Qin Han?"
Zhenzhen laughed. "If I were, I wouldn't ride a broken scooter with a flat tire. I want in. I don't need cash—yet. I need leverage. You build things. I follow data."
Shen Fu nodded slowly. "You're in."
Far across town, in a smoke-filled backroom of a print shop, Zhang Wei updated his spreadsheets.
His specialty wasn't street games. It was paper. Legal paper.
He'd already filed two dummy holding companies on Shen Fu's behalf and buried the arcade's real ownership four shells deep. Just in case Qin Han ever tried a direct move.
Shen Fu's voice buzzed on the burner phone.
"How dirty can you get me while keeping me clean?"
Zhang Wei chuckled. "That's an art. Tell me what you want, and I'll paint it ugly."
Qin Han's Penthouse
Qin Han sat in his penthouse with the lights off, sipping imported whisky.
Liu Shuang's livestream was on mute in the background. He wasn't watching her talk.
He was watching who followed her.
Shen Fu was there in the chat.
Lowkey. Quiet.
Still breathing.
His aide dropped a report beside him: Zhenzhen – new contact. The background check is already halfway done.
"Any ties to Shen Fu before this?"
"No. Random contact. Courier girl. Techy."
He smiled coldly. "They always come out of nowhere. That's how weeds work. They spread."
He swirled the drink.
"Let him gather. Let him grow. The higher he builds, the harder he'll fall."
Night – Shen Fu's Apartment
Alone, Shen opened the interface.
The glow was faint. Hidden behind three layers of encryption, isolated from anything public.
[SYSTEM STATUS: SECURE]
Firewall Integrity: MAXIMUM
Surveillance Risk: 0%
NOTICE: "ALLY TREE BRANCHING" – 3 Connected Nodes
→ Xiaodie – Enforcement & Ground Ops
→ Zhang Wei – Legal Cloaking & Company Shells
→ Zhenzhen – Data Intel & Location Scouting
Temporary Buff: Shadow Web – Expansion activities are hidden from hostile scans.
System Reminder:
"Growth isn't just scaling. It's an infection. Quiet. Relentless."
He closed the screen.
One arcade.
Three allies.
And a rival watching from the dark.
Perfect.