**Thank you for reading my novel. If you enjoyed the story, please give it a like and leave a comment — your support really encourages me to keep writing and sharing more chapters.**107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7AQLzNPBav
The shell of the plan had to be more attractive than the107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeT2yomCeiK
truth.
This was not cynicism. It was marketing, which was cynicism107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTJ7DCkYD5
after it had been washed, perfumed, and invited to dinner.
Robin Shen required only three days to drop a very gentle107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefd7irijuS
bomb into Britain’s plutocratic medical circles.
Degenerative tissue clearance.
Metabolic burden restructuring.
Non-invasive rejuvenation therapy.
By 3911, the Second Tier no longer feared poverty, war, or107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnpsGKVdDb
lower-tier rebellion with any real sincerity. Such inconveniences could be107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0iKGfndXP3
outsourced, postponed, or explained away in language clean enough to survive a107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RyUcwu4y6
parliamentary breakfast.
What they feared was ageing.
Energy quotas could be inherited. Power could be inherited.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwatQD49Qmd
Names, estates, private air routes, medical foundations, silence, immunity —107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCreSOeuJ7y
all these things could be passed down with signatures and unpleasantly107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThMOOQw2tf
expensive lawyers.
But the body remained stubbornly democratic.
Even with cellular repair chambers, gene-stabilising107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGkDolnAJn
therapies, organ reconstruction, and private metabolic restoration, ageing107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWaQztZjjl
still persisted like a quiet crack beneath tightened skin. The powerful had107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswmTMa4Xy2
spent centuries teaching the world that decay was a moral failing of the poor.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCauYjvE5J9
It irritated them enormously to discover that their own flesh had not read the107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskL5icOxtp
policy.
Robin understood them perfectly.
He did not approach government officials first.
That would have been vulgar.
Instead, he sent invitations through private medical107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6glhXMwgAu
channels to several individuals who were extremely rich, extremely old,107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4giV1PK4Y
extremely afraid of dying, and helpfully entangled with the British Royal107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsOXES6mSkc
Energy Authority.
The invitation contained only one question:
If the body could turn its own decline into the energy107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FGQ9ph7r0
required for repair, how much would you pay?
Within seven hours, every reply had arrived.
The first volunteer was Lady Ilena Bask, mother-in-law to107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuP9f0YmUJ3
Deputy Director Holden.
She was ninety-two years old, born into a Second Tier107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRllvY486v
plutocratic family, owner of three medical foundations, one private air-harbour107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefNkcG2f8B
route, and two senior sons-in-law inside the British energy establishment — an107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLLnQkDMmQ
arrangement which proved that family planning, when properly funded, could107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGcQNmaN1w
become a form of infrastructure.
Her body had endured fourteen organ renewals.
However, excessive longevity medication had left behind107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplyWaz2mXs
metabolic toxin accumulation, swollen tissue, nerve pain, and a general107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3ivfdaewW
impression that immortality, though desirable in principle, could be poorly107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNu1hx5ONPE
maintained in practice. Her private medical chambers had managed to suppress107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbodEXyhaA7
the symptoms.
They had not managed to cure them.
When Lady Bask arrived at Tristan da Cunha, she brought107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXPdBjlhS8p
twenty-seven bodyguards, six private physicians, three lawyers, and a107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvLsdBCBJx
four-hundred-page liability waiver.
Zorina watched the procession disembark.
For the first time, she realised that even the fears of the107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCFctEbvIl
powerful travelled in bulk.
The temporary treatment chamber had been established inside107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeLfBOlz205
a supply warehouse on the eastern side of the volcanic island. The real107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxvOEXqjUi
biological energy device, of course, remained hidden. The Abbas Archive had107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbplMUpQJLe
generated a simplified interface, one with an appearance close enough to Earth107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoduZrNsKx
medical equipment to soothe human arrogance.
Zorina had activated it herself.
The core pattern was sealed inside an unbreakable107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbWuXx0rqK
transparent crystal nucleus. No external operator could disassemble it, scan107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1tmqbCOUgk
it, copy it, or understand it by pretending to perform safety checks — which107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLWXB7fOt6
was unfortunate for several people present, since pretending to perform safety107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstaAVLhx6L
checks was apparently half their professional training.
Before lying down, Lady Bask stared at Zorina.
“You are very young.”
“Compared with you,” Zorina said, “yes.”
One of the lawyers looked mildly strangled.
Lady Bask laughed. It was a dry sound, but not an empty one.
“I like rude people,” she said. “At least they have not yet107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8enEme76Be
learned to tell lies as manners.”
She lifted one spotted hand.
“Let’s begin.”
When the device activated, every private physician leaned107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3I36odIlc
towards the monitors with the reverence of priests watching a more expensive107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAfIv4XDUf
religion begin.
Pale-blue filaments emerged from the crystal petals and107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHG92XJDJb
settled slowly over Lady Bask’s skin. At first, she tightened her jaw, as107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZPFL8Io7sC
though preparing to scream. A few seconds later, her expression changed.
“The pain,” she murmured. “It is reducing.”
The monitors answered before anyone else could.
Inflammation markers dropped.
Blood toxins separated.
Necrotic cell residue was isolated.
Excess fat tissue began to break down at an extraordinarily107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuTpx6hm4l
slow and controlled rate, without trauma. Viral remnants were dismantled into107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjXLhnd1it
convertible micro-energy states. The swelling in her fingers receded. Her107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFleDidyQL
breathing deepened. A little blood-colour returned to her skin, not youth107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7SLAslwMbZ
exactly, but the memory of circulation.
Thirty minutes later, Lady Bask sat up.
She did not look like a girl.
Zorina had no interest in that sort of cheap miracle. Cheap107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjkshRwuim
miracles were for advertisements, cults, and political campaigns, all three107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2GIbcPgyu
being closely related species.
She remembered what Robin had said:
“Benefits must be released slowly. That is how one extracts107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQkyEpmVFK
the maximum profit from impatience.”
Lady Bask merely looked alive again.
Properly alive.
Not preserved.
Not polished.
Restored.
Her private physicians stood in complete silence.
At the base of the device, three pale-blue energy crystals107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUNVRmNwX8
had condensed.
Far larger than the tiny first crystal Zorina had produced107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WE1fm0PAD
from her own injured body.
Behind the observation glass, Robin Shen lowered his voice.
“One ninety-two-year-old plutocrat. Thirty minutes. Three107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaQZGKx3R4
crystals. Three hundred thousand pounds.”
“Still low power,” Zorina said.
“If the Second Tier queues?”
“Enough to activate a second device.”
“If the First Tier fails to resist?”
“Enough to build the first energy centre.”
Robin looked at her.
“You truly intend to sell this to them?”
“The service,” Zorina said. “Not the core.”
“They will try to seize it.”
“That is why Britain must first be made to sit at the107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpzlMmA4eH
table.” Her eyes remained on the three crystals. “Their greed can protect me107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHuofwrt0Md
before their fear decides to kill me.”
Robin’s smile faded slightly.
“Zori,” he said, “you are beginning to sound like a107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfOAhCveC4
founder.”
She looked at the energy crystals lying beneath the device.
“I only want the Fifth Tier to have water.”
Twelve hours after Lady Bask’s trial, the British Royal107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhgiHGtZn8
Energy Authority requested a closed negotiation.
It was faster than even Robin had expected.
The invitation was elegant.
The content was naked.
Britain was prepared to recognise Zorina’s temporary107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufyaT6MZVD
scientific autonomy on Tristan da Cunha for the purposes of biological107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CeiMzRTNg
repair energy research. In exchange, she would provide Britain with107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogCKwkDOWS
technical explanation, commercial priority, medical application quotas, and107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiiTEMOpvF
facility monitoring rights on the island.
Robin read the document once and laughed.
“They want the entire cake.”
Zorina pushed the document back towards him.
“Not surprising. Let them choke on it.”
“How do you want to amend it?”
She began listing the terms.
“First. Scientific autonomy on the island is not temporary.107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmBc2KO3rQ
It is ninety-nine years.”
Robin’s eyebrows rose.
“Second. All subterranean facilities are excluded from107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1Uhx8Ktza
external monitoring on grounds of safety and unknown geological risk.”
“Beautiful.”
“Third. Britain receives priority agency rights for107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsAV8tVhLG
first-stage commercial medical products. It receives no core technology107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR1qId0hiE8
transfer.”
“Less beautiful, from their perspective.”
“Fourth. Britain formally recognises that all technical107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwEJAIuQ0J
equipment requires my authorisation to activate.”
“They will hate that.”
“Fifth. Britain recognises the island as a Special Energy107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrcmOwJVLx6
Development Zone. Internal administration, personnel admission, infrastructure107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyhSqIjfwh
planning, and emergency policy are to be led by us. We hold high autonomy.”
Robin gave a soft whistle.
“New Hong Kong, is it? You are one sentence away from107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHa24lAmo1
declaring independence.”
Zorina lifted her eyes.
“Not yet.”
Outside the window, the South Atlantic moved under a grey107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYSz9Xqjbt
sky.
Beyond the sea, the world remained dark.
But on that volcanic island, the first crystals formed from107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwgwU3FP0I
the elegant decay of the privileged were glowing quietly.
The old world had paid for vanity.
Zorina intended to spend it on dawn.
**Thank you for reading my novel. If you enjoyed the story, please give it a like and leave a comment — your support really encourages me to keep writing and sharing more chapters.**107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVy9QPcJgC
107Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMsdeyGPKF
and then Add to home screen.