Chapter Three: The First Reservation—One Billion Credits

A warning arrived immediately: All discoveries at Zero Base are Helios property. Unauthorized transfers will trigger enforcement of liabilities. Zhou opened his operating agreement. In its eagerness to transfer every risk to him, Han Tuo's office had written Clause Seventeen with exquisite clarity: new technologies, services, and derivative revenue produced during operations could be independently disposed of by the operating entity. He sent back a screenshot with one line: Please thank your legal department for protecting my rights. The other side went silent. Old Chen slapped the table, laughing. “Han Tuo will die when he sees that.” “He won't die,” Zhou said. “He'll find a way to come here.”