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

The chairman of a robotics company raised his placard. “Fifty million.” “Hengshan Medical, thirty million.” “Ocean Heavy Industries, sixty million.” Within ten minutes, commitments exceeded four hundred million. Chenzhou had transformed the fear created by YaoCore’s embargo into capital for a rival alliance. Cheng’s face turned gray as investigators escorted him away. Han Zheng only smiled. He approached Chenzhou and lowered his voice. “Your father also thought understanding the rules meant he could change the world.” Chenzhou stiffened. “You knew my father?” “Lu Qiming, chief protocol architect of Project Xuanniao. You thought he was an ordinary engineer who died in a laboratory accident, didn’t you?”