When the red light came on, Bai Zhu had just negotiated the blood-draw price up to eighty million.
The isolation gate in the ceiling descended toward the floor. Bai Zhu grabbed the back of a chair, dragged the metal chair over, and wedged it into the gap. The gate pressed down on the seat, triggering a safety alert, and its steady descent stopped.
He inspected it.
The chair legs were not bent. It could hold for a while longer.
Bai Zhu turned to Unma.
"First, let's establish what this is."
"What is it?"
"A tour accident, a joint operation, or emergency overtime?"
Unma picked up the communicator on the console.
"You're still thinking about money?"
"I'm already sweating. Sweating counts as physical expenditure. I need to charge for it."
"If there's real danger, I'll calculate it for you afterward."
"A verbal promise isn't worth anything."
"Bai Zhu!"
Bai Zhu braced the chair leg with the tip of his shoe.
"Yelling louder won't make the gate rise on its own."
Unma activated a Level One lockdown. The transparent partitions around the cultivation room locked down simultaneously, and the ventilation system switched to internal circulation. Warning messages appeared on the console.
Cultivation Sample Zero has been lost from surveillance. Twenty-three guards have lost contact. Access permissions at three locations have been repeatedly invoked.
Unma connected to the guards' channel.
"Guard Team One, report your position."
A man's panting came through the communicator.
"The eastern corridor is secure."
A woman's sobbing immediately squeezed into the channel.
"The western corridor is secure."
A child laughed twice.
"The underground transport level is secure."
Then dozens of voices overlapped.
"Found you."
Unma cut off the channel in fright.
Bai Zhu stared at the corridor beyond the gap beneath the gate.
"Your Royal Family security