Chapter Five: Six Hundred Eighty Million Opens the Door

Lin called Torch's board secretary. “I want five percent of your company.” “Mr. Lin, your assets have been frozen.” “Then I won't pay with money.” He contributed evidence of Everlight's auction shorts to three insurance funds that had been harvested the previous night. In return, they delegated their voting rights in Torch to Tomorrow Capital. No cash had to move. By noon, Lin controlled seventeen percent of the vote—more than Gu. As the largest voting shareholder, he called an emergency board meeting and published the source-code hash for the model from three years ago. Its timestamp predated Changming's creation by two years. Gu joined the board meeting by video. “A hash does not prove the code is yours.”