Chapter Four: The Seventy-Two-Hour Bid

Believing him exhausted, South Bay restored two centers with 6:12 left. Lu opened the valve. He erased a transition layup, grabbed three straight offensive rebounds, and freed Zhou Yan for two threes. With Harbor City up two in the final minute, South Bay’s center tried to dunk through him. Lu rose vertically and hammered the ball down with the man’s roar. Thunder 110, South Bay 106. Asked why he looked transformed after halftime, Lu projected his workload curve on the press-room screen. “Because this is my body, I have the right to see the answer first. Starting today, Pulse holds all my training data. No one accesses it without my permission.”