Chapter Three: The Miracle List

An audio file started automatically. This time there was no voice filter. Lin recognized the voice that had told her she was safe. “If you hear this, Gu Wenzhong has begun erasing Trial Twelve. Your fall was not an accident. The list was bait. You were the target.” The Weaver drew a ragged breath. “The first eleven could not sustain the residual line. Your two vital patterns remained resonant after joining. Zenith calls you a debt-bearer. They need you alive until the third day—not to save you, but to pack other people’s deaths inside your body.” Every screen outside lit up. Gu Wenzhong, chairman of Zenith, announced a “Zero-Casualty City” demonstration in forty-eight hours.