Chapter One: Midnight, and Tomorrow Opens

Haiyue plunged—twenty-one, nineteen, sixteen. When the midnight circuit breaker halted trading at 13.17, Lin's options were worth 1.96 million yuan. He did not wait for the promised 12.06. He closed immediately. Net proceeds: 1.874 million. The collector called a third time. Lin answered and transferred one million before saying a word. Silence lasted ten full seconds. “The rest in three days,” Lin said. “Pull your men away from the hospital. If I see them again, you get nothing.” He hung up. Gold light spilled across the monitor. [CUMULATIVE NET PROFIT HAS REACHED ONE MILLION.] [WEALTH PRIVILEGE I UNLOCKED: MILLION CHANNEL. DAILY LIMIT RAISED TO ONE HUNDRED MILLION.] [FUTURE-DEVIATION EVENT GENERATED.]