Chapter One: Zero in Ten Minutes

He locked himself inside the groom's room and called He Linchuan, Obsidian's chief technology officer. Alarms screamed behind He on the shaking screen. “Don't touch a terminal,” He said. “The permission tree was changed.” “Whose permissions?” He stared at him. “Yours.” The tablet lit by itself. Hundreds of trades poured across it: government bonds sold, gold positions closed, cash exchanged for worthless Bluebridge Seven revenue rights. Every order bore Shen's dynamic signature. Fingerprint, voice, iris, hardware key—all four authentications were valid. Nine minutes in, Obsidian had lost eighty-six percent. “Cut the exchange lines.” “Orders are using the disaster satellite link. Only you and I knew it existed.”