Chapter Three: The People Cut from the Film

Content director Tang Jing placed a countdown on the homepage: “Gu Yan's mysterious second film. Global premiere at ten.” Cancellation required the platform's highest privileges. Gu Yan did not beg. He spent thirty thousand Resonance on Narrative Insight. The city dissolved into luminous lines of cause and effect. A thick silver line extended from Tang Jing's office to servers across the city. A faint gray line led from the underground garage to the building's fire-drill system. “Zhou Fang, have the raven take us to Starwave Tower. Lin Xia, prepare a live broadcast.” At 9:47 p.m., the raven projected false heat signatures to draw away automated security. Gu Yan used Camera Interference to keep every access camera pointed left.