The provincial marks on the ledger went dark one by one. Yan’s pull had left the capital population line severed, completing the local releases already opened across the provinces. The central hall lamps remained lit. Wuchen’s direct control over the villages had ended, though the storm still pressed against every barrier that remained.
Wuchen struck at him with the brush blade. Yan caught the blow on the metal edge of the desk. The metal split under the impact. The shock ran up both wrists, reopening the cut in Yan’s palm. He set the broken piece aside and kept his stance.
“You’ve cut the line,” Wuchen said. “What replaces it?”
“The crews have their own circuits.”
“A circuit is not a plan.”
“No. They have people who can read the gauges.”
Wuchen drove forward again. Yan turned his shoulder away and let the brush scrape along the desk rather than his ribs. He stepped between the registrar and the panel. The command ledger could no longer reach the villages, but Wuchen could still fight with his cultivation and the room’s remaining seals.
Through the speaking mirror, Qinghe logged the disconnected line’s status. The capital wall and river stations reported their own independent circuits. The central hall’s power remained on a separate channel. Gu confirmed at the console that the reserve still carried the furnace load; no provincial current had been pulled back into it.
