Chapter Three: The City Watches Him Rise

The news reached the VIP corridor as Chengze prepared to leave. "We can raise our offer," Zhou Xu said. "Skyvault still needs Hanhai's channels." "Too late." Wanqing stared at her phone. Skyvault had published the agreement. Within ten minutes, *Hundred-Yuan Club Defeats Defending Champion* topped every trend. Old Blaze shirts sold out. Lu Ye's followers surged from three hundred to two hundred thousand. Worse, an anonymous brief Hanhai Entertainment had circulated three hours earlier described Chenzhou as mentally unstable and the purchase as malicious. Rediscovered now, it made Hanhai a national joke. For the first time, Chengze felt events leaving his control. Chenzhou approached along the corridor.