Chapter Four: The Negative-Value Order

When Henderson left, the System did not mark the first commercial order complete. Escaping a trap was survival, not profit. Three hours remained before the morning shift. Shen had Zhou retrieve the viewers of the certification stream. Forty-seven corporate accounts had watched it: six server manufacturers, two aerospace companies, and one hydrogen-storage startup among them. “Split the report into three layers,” Shen said. “Publish basic performance. Release lifespan data only under nondisclosure agreements. Keep the material curves private. Send all nine companies a limited joint-trial offer.” “What price?” the finance manager asked. “We do not sell thirty thousand. We sell three hundred.”