The air in the manor wasn't just cold; it was becoming non-existent. Su Qinghe was shivering, her breath hitching in her throat as the violet tariff-shield tightened around our solar system. On the terminal, the numbers were a blur of red light.[ARREARS: 120 TRILLION CREDITS.][TIME TO PLANETARY FREEZE: 8 MINUTES.]"Ming, the Syndicate isn't just taxing the light," Su wheezed, her fingers stiff as she clawed at the console. "They’re sucking the thermal energy out of the core! If the temperature drops another ten degrees, the atmosphere on Earth will collapse.""They want a fee for the sun?" I spat, the Primordial Master Key burning with a cold, black fire in my hand. "Then I’m going to go talk to the manager.""Talk to the manager? Ming, the 'Manager' is a Dyson-sphere-sized extraction rig!" Lin Xinyi shouted, her brown eyes flashing with the frantic data-stream of the Master Ledger. "You’re a mortal now! You can't just fly into a star!""I don't need to fly," I said, stepping toward

The sky over Neo-Olympus wasn't just dark; it was flickering with a poisonous, artificial green light. I wasn't there to see it—I was still submerged in the golden fire of the solar core—but the weight of the chaos was vibrating through the neural link. In the command center of the obsidian manor, Su Qinghe slammed her fist onto the glass console. The holographic ticker-tape that usually displayed trade volumes was now a chaotic mess of red warning labels and scrolling headlines."They’re panic-selling!" Su hissed, her eyes reflecting the jagged lines of a market in freefall. "The 'Basic Life-Force' index is dropping through the floor!""It’s not just a market dip, Su," Lin Xinyi said, her voice tight with focus. She was draped in the interface of the Master Ledger, her human hands moving through clouds of data like a weaver. "It’s a coordinated strike. Look at the 12th-Dimensional News Feed."A massive projection ignited in the center of the hall. A silver-masked anchor with a voice