5: The Domino Falls

The final straw is often not the heaviest, but the one placed on the most fragile point.

Jack knew that a single post and market sentiment were not enough to bury Preston Vance completely. He needed a more devastating weapon, a bombshell that would make every vulture smell blood.

He once again assumed the role of "Alpha Wolf."

Through Ben Carter's channels, he anonymously "leaked" an encrypted file to Wall Street's most prestigious and feared short-selling firm—"Muddy Waters."

The file contained no complex analysis, only a video link.

The video was a screen recording of the backend database of Vance Capital's core project, "Project Pegasus." It clearly showed that, late at night, a large volume of user registration data was being batch-imported via a script from a fixed overseas IP address.

This was the most direct and irrefutable evidence of data fabrication!

This proof was more powerful than ten thousand words of analysis. For a top predator like "Muddy Waters," it was tantamount to a perfectly cooked steak, cut and plated. All they had to do was open their mouths.

2:00 PM.

"Muddy Waters" research department officially released a short report on Vance Capital.

The title was drenched in blood: 【Vance Capital: When Data is a Lie, Value is Zero.】

The core of the report was the video evidence provided by "Alpha Wolf."

BOOM!

The bombshell detonated over all of Wall Street!

If "Alpha Wolf's" post had merely lit the fuse, then this report from "Muddy Waters" was the direct detonation of a nuclear bomb!

In the first minute after the report was released, Vance Capital's stock price instantly flash-crashed!

-15%!

-30%!

-40%!

The stock's K-line chart was like a waterfall from a broken dam, plunging towards hell with an unstoppable momentum.

It triggered three circuit breakers within an hour!

All of Wall Street was in an uproar. The headlines of every financial media outlet were dominated by the news of "Vance Capital's Collapse." Countless investors wailed in despair, margin call phones rang off the hook, and panic spread like a plague.

The ID "Alpha Wolf" became a legend in a single battle!

Everyone on the TradeHub forum who had mocked him felt a burning sting on their faces.

And those who had left mocking comments on Hailey Sterling's social media post dug it up again, flooding the comments under the picture of the "loser brother-in-law" staring intently at a penny stock with expressions of awe and worship.

"My god, the clown was me all along!"

"Is this brother-in-law from the future? This is a god-level prediction!"

"Hailey, I'm begging you, get your brother-in-law to teach a class! I'll kneel to listen!"

Hailey Sterling was currently in her live-stream room.

But she wasn't flaunting her wealth; she was crying.

Crying so hard her makeup was ruined.

"Waaaah... babies, my life is ruined... I'm bankrupt..." she sobbed to the camera. "I saw Vance Capital dip yesterday and listened to the experts who called it a 'technical correction' and a 'great buying opportunity'... so I invested all my allowance, and... and I even used three times leverage..."

"And today... waaaah... it's all gone! I don't even have the money for next month's limited-edition handbag! It's all because of that damn 'Muddy Waters'! And that 'Alpha Wolf' guy! Don't let me find out who you are, or I'll..."

She cried and cursed the mysterious person who had caused her to lose everything, completely unaware that her most hated enemy and her most despised brother-in-law were one and the same person.

This farce added a touch of the absurd and comical to the bloody financial slaughter.

In Jack's room.

He quietly watched the spectacular red waterfall on his screen, the sound of system notifications flooding his ears.

【PING! Detected significant drop in target company's market value, generating massive market fear...】

【Predation Points +200!】

【Predation Points +500!】

【Predation Points +1000!】

A tsunami of points flooded the system. In just one hour, his Predation Points had surpassed the ten-thousand mark.

【PING! Sufficient Predation Points detected, meeting conditions for first Bloodline Enhancement. Enhance now?】

"Yes," Jack thought.

The moment he confirmed, an indescribable searing heat erupted from the depths of his heart, instantly engulfing his entire body!

His bones made faint, teeth-grinding cracking sounds as they were torn apart and reassembled in a stronger form. Beneath his skin, his blood boiled and rushed like a scalding river.

It was painful, but it was also the exhilarating feeling of breaking free from shackles!

Jack couldn't help but close his eyes. When he opened them again, the whole world had changed.

His vision became incredibly sharp; he could even see the tiny cracks in the paint on the distant wall.

His hearing became extraordinarily acute; through two walls, he could clearly hear the sound of the butler pouring water in the living room downstairs, the impact of the stream against the glass, and even... the buzzing wings of a mosquito in the garden.

His sense of smell was enhanced to a terrifying degree. The jumble of scents in the air was broken down into countless distinct, clear information streams: the smell of ink from books, the scent of dust mites from the carpet, the smell of sap from the freshly cut grass outside the window...

For the first time, he truly felt the power sleeping in his bloodline, the power of a top predator—an Alpha.

Just then, his phone vibrated lightly.

It was an encrypted message from Ben Carter.

"He's bankrupt. All assets will be frozen and liquidated. We won."

Jack looked at the message, his eyes as calm as an ancient well.

The TV news feed timely switched to the front of the Vance Capital building. Countless reporters, like sharks smelling blood, had swarmed the area.

A disheveled man, his suit wrinkled, hair a mess, was escorted by security guards towards a podium.

It was Preston Vance.

The face that was once full of arrogance and confidence was now ashen with despair. He announced that he would be holding an emergency press conference in half an hour.

The stage was set for him.

The final judgment was at hand.

Jack picked up a disposable burner phone he had prepared earlier, composed a text message, and sent it to Vance's private number.

The message contained no threats, no extraneous symbols.

Only two cold, indisputable words:

"Kneel, or burn."