"Manageable, perhaps, compared to the Void Sect," Li Fang assessed aloud as his mind ran through potential scenarios, "But they would be persistent. They won't stop with just one bounty if they perceive us as a genuine threat to their bottom line. This isn't just about scaring us off; it's about eradication. They won't allow us to steal more of their business."
Just as they began to process the implications of this new, identified enemy, a high-priority alert blared softly from Lilypad-01's monitoring system.
A red icon flashed on their shared display: INCOMING DISTRESS SIGNAL – BORROWER ID: IronOx_7. The signal was fragmented, choked with static, barely coherent. But the core message was chillingly clear:
"Hunters… energy surge… tracked… closing in… warn…" Then, silence. The signal died.
IronOx_7. Their first borrower. His successful breakthrough, the one that had validated their loan model, had also painted a target on his back.
The Crimson Abacus, or whoever was acting on the bounty, had found him.
Li Fang felt a familiar conflict twist in his gut – the cold calculation of risk versus a burgeoning, unwelcome flicker of responsibility.
He'd helped IronOx, yes, but that help had now led hunters right to his door. There was no after-service security whatsoever that would ensure their safety.
It was an oversight. And Li Fang fully understood that.
Xie Ruolan watched him with expectant eyes, waiting for his decision.
The QFS then presented the facts starkly on his overlay.
[Intervention Scenarios – IronOx_7]
[Direct physical intervention carries >90% probability of Host compromise/failure.
[Financial intervention is untraceable, unreliable, and prohibitively expensive given current information.
[Minimal strategic value in direct engagement.]
The system was clear. It was telling him to cut their losses.
IronOx_7 was a sunk cost, a casualty.
He remembered the desperation in IronOx_7's initial messages, the hope when the loan came through. The system might see no strategic value, but Li Fang saw a debt, not of Credits, but of consequence.
And now, unlike before, he had some resources. Not enough for a rescue, but perhaps enough for… something else.
"Miss Xie," Li Fang glanced at her with a new resolve hardening his features. "Can you check those faulty sanitation grid overrides in the public works schematics for Sector Phi-8? If there are ones prone to… cascading pressure malfunctions if remotely triggered?"
Xie Ruolan's eyebrow arched slightly. "For what? Are you going to remotely trigger it?"
Despite her question, she's already checking it.
"There's one. It would cause localized flooding and sensor malfunctions. Highly disruptive. But this first borrower of yours might've already been compromised."
"I know but the fact that he still managed to send a distress call meant there's still a chance. The Crimson Abacus thugs are likely focused on IronOx, not expecting wider trouble," Li Fang reasoned. "A sudden, major environmental disruption… it might obscure their pursuit, create an escape window for him, or at least make them think twice about lingering in the area."
He then looked at the QFS. "System, can you do it? What's the cost to trigger in Sector Phi-8, targeting the hab-block matching IronOx_7's last known coordinates?"
[Calculating... Accessing Municipal Grid Control (Backdoor Access - Minor Risk)...
[Protocol 'Brown Tide' Activation Cost: 15 Qi-Credits.]
[Estimated Disruption Duration: 20-30 minutes.]
[Probability of aiding Borrower IronOx_7's evasion: ~25%.]
[Probability of drawing unrelated Muni-Patrol attention to sector: ~40%.]
Brown Tide. Li Fang couldn't help but wryly smile at the codename the QFS designated for it.
Fifteen Credits. Less than 5% of his current capital. It wasn't a question of affording it anymore. It was a conscious choice, a calculated expenditure with a low chance of direct success for IronOx, but a chance nonetheless.
And it felt… better than doing nothing. "Trigger the diversion, System. Sector Phi-8. Let's buy the kid a chance, however slim. He's still our client. And he's young. He has a future ahead of him, and we'll get our return on investment in his next breakthrough."
[Acknowledged. Executing Sanitation Grid Override Protocol 'Brown Tide'...]
[Cost: 15 Qi-Credits.]
[Monitoring Sector Phi-8…]
[Environmental Disruption Confirmed.]
[Anomalous Effluent Discharge Detected.]
[Localized Sensor Interference Reported.]
[Pursuit Entities Temporarily Obscured.]
[Outcome for Borrower 'IronOx_7': Unknown.]
Li Fang sighed as he felt a sliver less compromised, less like a purely self-interested operator, than if he'd simply abandoned his first client to the wolves.
"Okay," He said as he turned his full attention back to the Crimson Abacus problem. "We bought IronOx with a slim chance. Now, let's deal with the Syndicate that put him in this mess. We know who they are. What's our counter-strategy, Miss Xie? Beyond just hiding and hoping our 'Chaff Cloud' works."
"Avoidance, for now, remains primary," Removing a hand from her forehead, Xie Ruolan advised. Her tone acknowledged the shift in Li Fang's approach. "Temporarily, while we still don't have a definite solution, we have to strengthen our network security, continue to 'flavor' the Qi infusions with randomized resonance to make tracing harder. That's standard procedure now. We will rely on the Chaff Cloud for broad obfuscation. But more importantly…"
She trailed there before bringing up a new set of schematics on their display, "Rather than answering back and revealing our presence to them, we have to focus on building our capital base and our borrower portfolio for the 'Ascension Spark Loans' discreetly, but faster. We have to put in our objective our need to outgrow their ability to target us individually. We need to become too widespread, too diffuse for them to effectively suppress without overextending their own resources. If we're going to get more borrowers, they have to be spread out in all of the Lower Layers."
She started outlining plans for more sophisticated borrower vetting using dark-net data brokers, more secure encrypted communication channels, perhaps even establishing 'dead drop' locations for Qi infusions, ensuring that the pure energy signature won't be sniffed out by unintended parties.
"I get. But it still feels reactive," Li Fang countered. "We're playing defense. They'll keep probing, keep posting bounties, and adapt to our countermeasures. And the foreclosure clock..." He gestured at the timer, now under 19 hours. "...isn't stopping their turf war."
He looked at his balance. 318 Credits. It felt substantial compared to his recent destitution. However, Xie Ruolan's earlier words about the scale of the real players in Neo-Tian – the Bank of Reincarnation and the Void Sect – echoed in his mind.
This amount was pocket change in their world. Minor component arbitrage and the slow growth of his 'Ascension Spark Loan' operation wouldn't build an empire capable of surviving, let alone thriving against organized, violent opposition.
"This Crimson Abacus Syndicate deal in debt and the potential of cultivators. Their entire model is built on exploitation. Just like us, they are a financial entity, but predatory."
He paced again, the QFS overlay flickering with potential strategies. "There has to be a way to turn their own methods against them, or find a financial angle they simply can't compete with, something that hits them where it hurts. Their bottom line, their control."
Xie nodded slowly as a thoughtful expression replaced her usual guardedness.
"Unfortunately, we can identify their weakness, but without growth, you can forget counterattacking, let alone escaping their grasp."
Hearing that, Li Fang gritted his teeth. There's no way to argue with it.
"In any case, their weakness is pretty easy to point out. And as Xun's report hinted, its their reliance on conventional Qi-Credit flows, their need for physical enforcers, and their easily quantifiable collateral. Cultivators themselves. They operate within the established system, albeit brutally, leveraging its surface-level mechanics."
She paused as she considered other avenues. "There are financial mechanisms far beyond their operational scope, Li Fang. Mechanisms that operate on a different level of reality entirely, using different forms of leverage..."
The QFS, as if anticipating the direction of their conversation, chimed in once more.
[Analysis: Conventional growth strategies such as the Expansion of the 'Ascension Spark Loan' portfolio and component arbitrage project are insufficient velocity to overcome the combined debt burden of Host's Divine Foreclosure and the sustained competitive pressure from entities like Crimson Abacus Syndicate within the viable timeframe.]
[Strategic Escalation Recommended.
[Accessing Higher Tier Financial Instruments and leveraging unique QFS capabilities is advised for accelerated growth and asymmetric advantage.]
Li Fang knew what was coming next, what the system was nudging him towards.
The conversation was steering itself, pushed by the urgent reality of the bounty, the attack on IronOx_7, the relentless foreclosure clock, and the QFS's own insatiable drive for growth.
Playing it safe and playing reactive defense wasn't safe at all. It was just a slower, more agonizing death. They needed a quantum leap, a way to fundamentally change the situation.
Opening another avenue of profit. Firstly, to overcome his immediate objective. Surviving his impending Divine Foreclosure.