“Nine hundred billion in cash? Let’s spend five billion on a planetary roof instead,” Lin Mo said calmly as the freezing wind screamed across the terrace of Taichu Immortal University.
Above, the three-thousand-mile vortex of black clouds churned like a grinding millstone. Jagged bolts of purple-black Extinction Lightning tore through the darkness, vibrating the iron railings of the balcony.
Below, four million citizens stood shoulder to shoulder in the storm. Their colorful paper umbrellas looked like a fragile field of wildflowers beneath an avalanche.
Lin Mo looked down at the sea of yellow, blue, and red paper shields.
“They brought paper umbrellas to fight heavenly extinction,” Lin Mo repeated softly.
“The citizens are stubborn, Chairman Lin,” Su Wan said, her fingers steady on her accounting terminal. “Our security officers asked them three times to move into the underground shelters. Nobody moved. They said if Boss Lin stays on the terrace, they stay in the street.”
“Paper doesn’t conduct lightning, but it certainly burns at four hundred degrees,” Lin Mo murmured deadpan. “Standing in front of an extinction array with oil-paper is not a defense strategy. It is an emotional liability on my balance sheet.”
He turned away from the railing and looked toward the command pavilion.
