Chapter Five: One Deed Cannot Buy a City

At two in the morning, two hundred fishing lamps lit the Yunhai River. Horizon had blocked the bridges and assumed grain could not enter the city. Lin Mo paid normal transport rates to idle fishermen and repair fees to small boatyards. Fishing boats, ferries, and sightseeing vessels carried rice to community docks. Every sack bore three signatures: farmer, boatman, and receiver. Regional clearing joined them into a public, verifiable chain. Before sunrise, twenty community settlement stations opened. Residents bought rationed grain with Origin credit or verified labor—never property deeds. At nine, Horizon's Ark Market stood nearly empty.