Chapter Three: You Were Painted Too

Lin had once idolized him, although he could no longer remember when he first saw the man's art. “Stolen?” Lin addressed the lens. “Then Teacher Gu can explain why his assistant came for it at two in the morning with a stun gun.” He released cloud footage of the break-in. Comments exploded. Gu's team immediately called the video AI-generated. Both sides now stood between facing mirrors: any evidence could be swallowed by the words *it was generated*. At last Lin understood why they had chosen that accusation. When everything could be doubted, whoever held authority got to define reality. “No recordings today,” he said, lifting the stylus. “Three million people will witness it directly.” He painted for nine continuous hours.