I write obituaries for the gods.

Chapter 47 Framing

Shen Xuanyi didn't drive far. She found a secluded spot by the river and parked the car.

"Let's talk here," Shen Xuanyi said.

Through the rearview mirror, Lin Chen could see her calm eyes.

It seemed more like numbness than calmness.

"No one will disturb us for half a minute," Li Zhanyi said, his eyes flashing with a deep blue light. "You can talk. I'll warn you if anyone does."

"it is good."

Lin Chen took out his phone and played the video that Captain England had filmed at the "school," then handed the phone to Shen Xuanyi in the front row.

Shen Xuanyi took the phone and stared at the video recording on it.

"We captured evidence that Captain England fabricated the rescue scene," Lin Chen said. "The Investigation Bureau is not in a position to engage in another media war with the Foundation in the short term, so we need a partner."

"Your Section Chief Jiang has already contacted me," Shen Xuanyi said softly, "but unfortunately, this evidence is useless."

"It didn't work?"

"You've seen the foundation's public relations tactics before," Shen Xuanyi handed the phone back to Lin Chen. "From another perspective, if the video files are released, those victims who escaped death may once again be targeted for erasure by the media."

"And those who manage to escape the scrutiny of the media enforcement agencies, at least, are people I don't know."

"Now that you know each other," Lin Chen chuckled, "that's not a problem. At worst, we'll just collect more cards."

Shen Xuanyi turned around and looked at Lin Chen, a hint of surprise appearing in her usually cold eyes.

"Are you sure?" she said. "You should have seen my situation just now. Even if I'm just having a meal at a small roadside shop, someone will come knocking on my door within five minutes. If you show your face in this media war, the same outcome awaits you."

"With your car parked on the side of the road, who wouldn't know you're here..." Lin Chen thought to himself, then shook his head.

"So we don't fight a protracted war. We gather enough evidence and then release it all at once, directly destroying Captain England's reputation."

"The Foundation has lost Optimus Prime in a short period of time. They are using Captain England to make up for it. If Captain England also falls apart, then they will have no way to defend themselves."

"Once the foundation's reputation is damaged, their claims to United Concrete in the Iron Point Bridge incident will also be questioned."

"However, before that..."

Lin Chen looked at Shen Xuanyi, a hint of seriousness creeping into his expression:

"What I need to confirm is, is the Iron Cape Bridge incident truly unrelated to United Concrete?"

He couldn't just trust Shen Xuanyi and United Concrete so easily.

To put it bluntly, people like Lin Chen, who have spent many years working at the bottom of society, have a natural distrust of capitalists.

"..."

Shen Xuanyi stared at Lin Chen for a while, then sighed softly.

"I can't provide you with the relevant information," she said, a hint of weariness in her eyes. "The files related to the Ironhorn Bridge are stored in the bunker archives in the Southern Development Zone, and that bunker fell into subspace after the bridge accident and became ruins."

"So fast?" Lin Chen frowned.

When the Iron Horn Bridge accident happened, the relevant files fell into the subspace.

"Is there no backup?" Li Zhanyi asked.

"All the data in the cloud was destroyed overnight. There were spies within the company, and the foundation's plan had been underway for some time."

Shen Xuanyi gently shook her head.

"Public opinion believes that we buried those files because we felt guilty."

"I contacted many subspace exploration teams to retrieve the files, but none of them returned. After that, no one dared to take on the job anymore."

"Because we couldn't produce any evidence, my father was detained for investigation. Basically, all our partners cut ties with us after the bridge collapsed, and the foundation... they're taking advantage of the situation to acquire us."

"It's really too suspicious..." Lin Chen frowned.

He couldn't help but recall the "School" incident: since the Foundation had the ability to drag the real world into the warp, the collapse of the United Concrete Archives Bunker was very likely also their doing.

In his dream, Lin Chen observed the gray city located at a depth of 3.84. If he was not mistaken, it should be the method used by the Foundation to create subspace erosion.

"But even without records, facts speak for themselves," Shen Xuanyi interrupted Lin Chen's thoughts. "The Iron Cape Bridge has a record of withstanding a Category 17 typhoon. Natural disasters cannot cause it to break in an instant, and our subspace hazard warning system did not detect the approach of any high-risk entities that day."

"The tragedy of Iron Cape Bridge was created by the foundation."

Her tone became more agitated, and a fire seemed to flicker in her eyes on her usually cool face.

"If United Concrete is responsible, I will not escape," Shen Xuanyi said, looking directly at Lin Chen. "But the premise for judging us is that we are indeed guilty."

"..."

Lin Chen met those sparking eyes, and the scene in the restaurant flashed through his mind again.

Shen Xuanyi didn't bring any bodyguards. Facing the families of the victims who wanted to harm her, she neither resisted nor spoke.

She knew better than anyone whose fault it was, and she understood that the anger of those families was not unfounded.

After all, the Iron Corner Bridge incident also took Shen Xuanyi's father away from her.

If the case can be overturned, Shen Xuanyi can at least reunite with her father, but the families of those victims will have lost their loved ones forever.

She knew this, so she bore the brunt of the victims' families' anger.

But that anger shouldn't have been directed at her.

"I trust you."

Lin Chen reached out his hand to Shen Xuanyi.

"We will find a way to retrieve the data from the bunker and clear your name."

"As a condition of our cooperation, once we have collected all the evidence against Captain England, you will launch a public relations campaign against the Foundation in the name of United Concrete."

As the focal point of the vortex, it's bound to generate a lot of buzz.

Shen Xuanyi stared blankly at Lin Chen's outstretched hand. She stared for a long time before reaching out and gently shaking it.

"Thank you."

She turned to look at the rippling river surface; the weather was indeed quite nice this afternoon.

......

After the cooperation was agreed upon, Shen Xuanyi drove Lin Chen and Li Zhanyi to the entrance of a gun store on the edge of Mingzhu Beach District.

Of course, this request came from Li Zhanyi, who had long wanted to purchase goods from them.

After getting out of the car, Shen Xuanyi slowly rolled down the driver's side window and handed Lin Chen a business card:

"Contact me anytime."

"Okay." Lin Chen put away the exquisite business card.

"Don't put it away yet. Give the business card to the boss. I know him. Put it all on my tab. Buy whatever you want."

After saying that, she rolled up the car window, and the Ghost disappeared at the end of the street with the roar of its V12 engine.

"..."

Lin Chen and Li Zhanyi exchanged a glance, then looked at the business card together.

"You're being kept by a rich woman?" Li Zhanyi murmured.

"Aren't we being kept by rich women?" Lin Chen scratched his head.

In just one afternoon, the diversity of the world was on full display.

......