Chapter Three: You Block the Chips; I Buy the Rules

Seven days after Ruifeng’s line returned to life, YaoCore’s legal notices covered Su Wanqing’s desk. Patent infringement. Illegal circumvention. Defamation. Industrial endangerment. Seventeen accusations in total. YaoCore also suspended all chips, firmware, and support. Customers retreated again, and the bank offered only seven days. “They don’t intend to win in court,” Wanqing said. “They intend to starve us before a hearing.” Chenzhou held the discarded A1. He had barely slept. At midnight, the factory chips showed him wear records, stolen production data, and a hidden door in their foundational protocol. The Level-Two trial required him to reclaim a system from a monopolistic superior node without damaging equipment or harming people.