Chapter Five: I Wasn't Buying Time

Su published the two million contracts. Lin carried all 143 remaining coins into Obsidian's settlement center, where Zhou waited before a display showing 1.2 million hours purchased. “You saved thirty-two children,” Zhou said. “You cannot save a city. Efficiency has always rested on someone else's waiting.” “That is why you hid it in small print.” Lin listed every coin for one yuan under a single condition: anyone could use one to reclaim secretly transferred time, and the original beneficiary must bear the returning wait. Zhou ordered exchanges to block the addresses. Tang hit ENTER. “No central server this time. Every published predatory contract is a node.” Two million workers claimed at once.