Chapter Four: Probability Is Not Prophecy

Nine hours after Zero disappeared, Lin Mo wagered his last 42.60 yuan in an auction worth eighty million. The auction existed on no legal exchange. At three in the morning, twenty-seven buyers in disposable masks gathered around an offline electronic-ink display in a decommissioned container control room at Linhai Port. The item for sale was neither drugs nor weapons. It was a maintenance schedule for a submarine cable hub near Singapore. It was exactly what Lin needed. The host called himself Raven and opened at eighty million in digital bonds. Lin sat at the rear. His balance remained 42.60. “You said we came to make money,” Su Lan whispered. “You did not mention bidding.” “We are not buying the schedule.” “What are we buying?”