The double doors of Sovereign Box One parted with a soft hydraulic hiss.
Lin Mo walked out onto the private diamond terrace, taking his seat in a comfortable high-backed leather chair.
Beside him sat Su Wan, Chu Lingxiao, Little Guo’er, Dr. Gu Qinghe, Master Jian, and Little Peach.
The view from Box One was breathtaking. Suspended five hundred feet above the amphitheater floor, the sovereign box offered a panoramic view of the entire ten-mile-wide rotunda. Below them sat thirty thousand billionaire merchants, banking barons, and noble heirs, their jeweled turbans and silk cloaks glittering under floating crystal chandeliers.
On the side table, Grandma Chen had prepared a tray of hot jasmine tea, crispy sesame biscuits, and sliced star-melons. Chu Lingxiao sat quietly, a small paring knife in her slender fingers, shaving thin slices of melon for Little Guo’er, who peered through the transparent floor at the buzzing crowd below.
Directly across the rotunda hung Imperial Box Two.
Inside Box Two sat Vice-Chairman Malakor. The regent of the Blood-Tax Star Chamber was an ancient, skeletal man with pale gray skin, wearing heavy obsidian robes clasped with blood-ruby pins. His eyes were cold and reptilian, his fingers tapping rhythmically on his armrest.
