**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.**62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwKuAaneSk
The shell of the plan had to be more attractive than the62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUv3L7JB9v
truth.
This was not cynicism. It was marketing, which was cynicism62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvA9Fyrmc0i
after it had been washed, perfumed, and invited to dinner.
Robin Shen required only three days to drop a very gentle62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr44ijwGl6c
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, or62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbRkvttCVQ
lower-tier rebellion with any real sincerity. Such inconveniences could be62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNUNQxom22
outsourced, postponed, or explained away in language clean enough to survive a62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kSQ4IoxzK
parliamentary breakfast.
What they feared was ageing.
Energy quotas could be inherited. Power could be inherited.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzSkPdLQUz
Names, estates, private air routes, medical foundations, silence, immunity —62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwzT1vrAumo
all these things could be passed down with signatures and unpleasantly62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15BVD7Vq2X
expensive lawyers.
But the body remained stubbornly democratic.
Even with cellular repair chambers, gene-stabilising62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHVi9cfosz
therapies, organ reconstruction, and private metabolic restoration, ageing62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡficaUDrlqV
still persisted like a quiet crack beneath tightened skin. The powerful had62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSUJHMXGIU
spent centuries teaching the world that decay was a moral failing of the poor.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsC7tos0DRm
It irritated them enormously to discover that their own flesh had not read the62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxki8KzNaPh
policy.
Robin understood them perfectly.
He did not approach government officials first.
That would have been vulgar.
Instead, he sent invitations through private medical62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDDYphedJ3d
channels to several individuals who were extremely rich, extremely old,62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsAwhfKq0t
extremely afraid of dying, and helpfully entangled with the British Royal62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPsY4T0TC6
Energy Authority.
The invitation contained only one question:
If the body could turn its own decline into the energy62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXoiTN9SiE4
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 to62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNOVxwHHWI
Deputy Director Holden.
She was ninety-two years old, born into a Second Tier62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEYpgDnGJL
plutocratic family, owner of three medical foundations, one private air-harbour62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7BK3b9ayF
route, and two senior sons-in-law inside the British energy establishment — an62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjxVuJQz24
arrangement which proved that family planning, when properly funded, could62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM6j7NPl6WV
become a form of infrastructure.
Her body had endured fourteen organ renewals.
However, excessive longevity medication had left behind62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqMSjpytHx
metabolic toxin accumulation, swollen tissue, nerve pain, and a general62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFwtZqmUeCG
impression that immortality, though desirable in principle, could be poorly62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEk9imcsKXn
maintained in practice. Her private medical chambers had managed to suppress62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCqrEQfZqt
the symptoms.
They had not managed to cure them.
When Lady Bask arrived at Tristan da Cunha, she brought62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOOZaUPHxX
twenty-seven bodyguards, six private physicians, three lawyers, and a62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sXEUIsCiG
four-hundred-page liability waiver.
Zorina watched the procession disembark.
For the first time, she realised that even the fears of the62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrfvLz16SAR
powerful travelled in bulk.
The temporary treatment chamber had been established inside62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuxT9Kpqmlv
a supply warehouse on the eastern side of the volcanic island. The real62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVUXDJnRnq
biological energy device, of course, remained hidden. The Abbas Archive had62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtE9QOEPfC
generated a simplified interface, one with an appearance close enough to Earth62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0Hc6xm8nc
medical equipment to soothe human arrogance.
Zorina had activated it herself.
The core pattern was sealed inside an unbreakable62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhwLsZfEWG
transparent crystal nucleus. No external operator could disassemble it, scan62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPOTpNspBw
it, copy it, or understand it by pretending to perform safety checks — which62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZqcC6V4RM
was unfortunate for several people present, since pretending to perform safety62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ38gwPS5Utk
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 yet62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLcRyYmWxSw
learned to tell lies as manners.”
She lifted one spotted hand.
“Let’s begin.”
When the device activated, every private physician leaned62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUt6p0asdu
towards the monitors with the reverence of priests watching a more expensive62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQkShKeInR
religion begin.
Pale-blue filaments emerged from the crystal petals and62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0690AYKZJY
settled slowly over Lady Bask’s skin. At first, she tightened her jaw, as62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5r41c3ciJA
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 extraordinarily62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqRCFABnXj
slow and controlled rate, without trauma. Viral remnants were dismantled into62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMESJDMgUU
convertible micro-energy states. The swelling in her fingers receded. Her62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyn8DSIrZqc
breathing deepened. A little blood-colour returned to her skin, not youth62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDBjBhB23nD
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. Cheap62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHPhij9MDU
miracles were for advertisements, cults, and political campaigns, all three62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJ4JKfKMUH
being closely related species.
She remembered what Robin had said:
“Benefits must be released slowly. That is how one extracts62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroCsmLv7x1
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 crystals62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdzvJ7FGqd
had condensed.
Far larger than the tiny first crystal Zorina had produced62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXiRouw4dNZ
from her own injured body.
Behind the observation glass, Robin Shen lowered his voice.
“One ninety-two-year-old plutocrat. Thirty minutes. Three62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ftxiUnN4O
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 the62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9oSnFHzK3h
table.” Her eyes remained on the three crystals. “Their greed can protect me62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCr1l2tvlEo
before their fear decides to kill me.”
Robin’s smile faded slightly.
“Zori,” he said, “you are beginning to sound like a62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSYuuYDuZF
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 Royal62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjt3oiuEJQ
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 temporary62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtfhniu0P4h
scientific autonomy on Tristan da Cunha for the purposes of biological62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gCftGnQBQ
repair energy research. In exchange, she would provide Britain with62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOOt2Jd3Ok0
technical explanation, commercial priority, medical application quotas, and62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8mhitszFM
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVSijmWbwc
It is ninety-nine years.”
Robin’s eyebrows rose.
“Second. All subterranean facilities are excluded from62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeIBpwG1iHZ
external monitoring on grounds of safety and unknown geological risk.”
“Beautiful.”
“Third. Britain receives priority agency rights for62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77PADYdbdx
first-stage commercial medical products. It receives no core technology62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GXbGfX2CB
transfer.”
“Less beautiful, from their perspective.”
“Fourth. Britain formally recognises that all technical62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOtxzCg3Udh
equipment requires my authorisation to activate.”
“They will hate that.”
“Fifth. Britain recognises the island as a Special Energy62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOqwFmPMCN
Development Zone. Internal administration, personnel admission, infrastructure62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeYdhe8fpcp
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 from62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyrUynYU9D
declaring independence.”
Zorina lifted her eyes.
“Not yet.”
Outside the window, the South Atlantic moved under a grey62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACgXRtMh3r
sky.
Beyond the sea, the world remained dark.
But on that volcanic island, the first crystals formed from62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKF2JgsGlM
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.**62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDb3lvDKruW
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc7QiNgpYHC
and then Add to home screen.