Chapter Four: On Map One, the Future Kills the Future

At 0–5, the arena display gave Throne a ninety-three-percent live win probability. During timeout, Xu Duo spread telemetry across the board. “They don’t know about the echo. They know your conditioned responses. Black Tide collected how you react to each sound, and Throne is feeding those responses bait.” “Then I stop choosing,” Lin Mo said, removing his headset. Zhou Yan held his gaze. “Explain.” “I mark danger, not direction. He Chuan chooses the route.” He Chuan stared. He had built a career by adapting to everyone else—filling any role, obeying every call, never making the last decision. “Me?” Su Cheng wrote on the board: TIDE KNOWS YOU LEAST BECAUSE YOU ARE ALWAYS BECOMING SOMEONE ELSE.