OFR – Chapter 354 One Man in Power, the World Silenced (Part 2)!

Now both men were exhausted, like marathon runners nearing the final stretch. Yet precisely because of that, the entire internet following this clash could sense it—this duel had reached a white-hot stage. Two legendary tycoons of the industry, kings among kings, were perhaps about to decide victory and defeat.

Or perhaps they still had strength left to bring back their earlier ferocity.
But at this point, they would have to weigh gains and losses.

After all, over the past two hours, even though no one had counted exactly, everyone could roughly tell—the two of them had already thrown nearly ten billion into this streaming showdown, into this gold-burning pit of an event.

Ten billion was no small number.

That was enough to buy out a second-tier platform at the top of its class—or even a first-tier platform at the bottom of the ladder.

Platforms like Huajiao Live or Wukong Live—their entire valuations barely reached ten billion.

With that kind of money, you could acquire an entire company.

So what Fish Emperor and A Bit Cold had spent was no longer a couple million to win a beauty’s smile, nor tens of millions to defend one’s pride. It was the equivalent of setting ablaze a whole streaming platform—under the gaze of the entire nation, without the slightest hesitation.

They had just burned a platform to the ground.

When the audience realized this, it wasn’t just the ordinary users— even the wealthy patrons and the unseen power brokers behind various platforms gasped in shock.

All of them, deep down, recognized just how high on the pyramid these two truly stood.

As for who would win?

No one could guess. No one dared to guess.

But one thing was clear: no matter who lost or who triumphed, these two men would become names that the industry would remember for the next ten, twenty years—anyone who entered the live-streaming world would recall this night.

As their duel raged on, time slipped by.
Soon, it was past seven in the evening.

Darkness had settled across the land.

And in Shanghai, at the quiet and little-known headquarters of Quanmin TV, someone had arrived—someone important enough that the chairman of Quanmin TV himself came out to receive him.

After only a few words of greeting, this guest walked straight into the backstage control room of the grand industry event.

This year’s event was hosted on Quanmin TV’s turf, and naturally the company’s executives were taking it very seriously: more than two hundred staff were on high alert—hundreds of programmers and moderators all at their stations.

But the man who had come in with the chairman showed no curiosity. He looked as though he had seen such scenes countless times before.

He gave the control room a brief glance, then leaned slightly toward the chairman and whispered a few words.

In response, the chairman pointed to the giant screen, at the overpowering ID radiating dominance across the event, and said with a faint smile:

“Suspend A Bit Cold? Heh… Mr. Chen, unlike your Douyu, we at Quanmin TV can’t just offend anyone we like. We may be the host, and yes, we do have that authority. But to ban someone of that stature without cause? That would require a reason the world finds convincing. And we’d have to weigh the consequences carefully.”

Indeed, what surprised him was that this guest—who had rushed here in such haste—was asking for this, of all things.

For the man across from him was none other than Chen Shaojie, the most powerful figure at Douyu TV. His name was famous throughout the live-streaming industry.

Back when streaming was still in its infancy, Chen had taken just a few tens of millions from his family and plunged into the muddy waters of this new industry. Within only a few years, he had transformed the obscure Douyu TV into the undisputed market leader.

The strategies, the cunning, the ruthless decisions, the sharp vision it took—there was no need to explain. The hundreds of platforms that had since collapsed beneath Douyu’s rise were proof enough.

And yet… what truly astonished the Quanmin chairman was that this man—this master strategist, backed by immense wealth and influence, who almost never asked favors—had come personally, with a request that clearly went against industry convention.

Could it be that in his eyes, A Bit Cold was really powerful enough to threaten Douyu’s very foundations?
Or was it that Fish Emperor, still locked in battle on-screen, could no longer hold on?

Whatever the truth, the chairman only sneered inwardly. He had no intention of helping.

After all, their companies were rivals. Not stabbing his competitor in the back was already an act of fairness. Why would he tarnish the hard-earned reputation of the event, in front of an audience of over a hundred million, just to shield an opponent?

But before his thoughts could settle, Chen Shaojie pulled a folder from his coat and placed it lightly on the table. His tone was calm, almost casual, as he said:

“I came only to inform you—Douyu has had some traitors. I’ve already dealt with it personally. Three vice-presidents, nineteen senior managers. All of them took our pay yet schemed behind our backs. They even signed private contracts with certain patron groups. Among them—yes—was A Bit Cold. Here’s the contract he signed with one of our senior managers, Zhao Zhi.

I don’t mean anything else by this. I only wish to purge the industry of such parasites. After all, who knows what tricks A Bit Cold may still try to pull at this event. I’m not asking you to ban him. Just to suspend him for investigation, temporarily.”

His voice was utterly calm, like someone discussing a trivial matter.

But that calmness only made the Quanmin chairman’s expression shift—from neutral, to surprise, to outright shock.

“You’re insane! How could you? How dare you?” he burst out, unable to control himself.

For looking at Chen Shaojie—barely past thirty, yet already his longtime rival—the chairman suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

Because he understood all too well what this move meant.

Chen wasn’t simply targeting A Bit Cold.

He was using this event as the stage for a purge—to shake up Douyu from top to bottom.

By sacrificing a swathe of top executives, he could scrub away the company’s dirtiest secrets, uproot the entrenched factions that had plagued him for years, and emerge with a spotless image.

And if, after all this, Fish Emperor defeated A Bit Cold?

Then Douyu’s prestige, in the eyes of its streamers and users, would soar to unprecedented heights.

The company would be reborn clean, and when it eventually went public, its market value would eclipse every rival in the industry.

It was a three-birds-with-one-stone calculation.

A move so ruthless, so audacious—discarding nearly seventy percent of his own upper management without blinking—
A move so chilling that no one could even react before it was already done—
A move carried out with a calm face, as if mountains collapsing meant nothing.

At that moment, the Quanmin chairman felt, more keenly than ever, just how formidable his rival truly was.

“Don’t worry,” Chen continued lightly. “This has nothing to do with Quanmin TV. The contract is right here. As one of the participants, Douyu has every right to request that the host suspend someone for inspection, based on evidence.”

And as he spoke, he lifted his gaze toward the giant screen, where A Bit Cold’s ID blazed with power.

But in his eyes there was no solemnity, no heaviness.
Instead, the faint curve of a smile tugged at his lips—
The smile of a man in power, mocking in silence the one who had nearly brought his empire to ruin.