Chapter One: The Second the World Went Silent

“You trust numbers too much and people too little,” Zhou Yan had told him. Now chaos filled the room. Lin Mo should have left. Instead, he saw Su Cheng rise with one hand braced against her desk. Her lips moved. “What… are you saying?” Zhou Yan touched her shoulder. She spun around, fear entering her eyes for the first time. It wasn’t just the computers. Su Cheng could no longer hear. Lin Mo pushed through the door. Before a technician could stop him, he placed his old headset over Su Cheng’s ears and snapped his fingers in front of her face. She did not blink. “Get her to a hospital,” he said. Xu Duo blocked the doorway. “The tournament medical team is coming. You’re not on the roster anymore. Don’t make this worse.”