Chapter 26 - Uncle Ren Hated Restaurants
Ren Chen had once been the family's best cook.
That was the first thing Jian said.
Not strongest cultivator.
Not dangerous extremist.
Best cook.
"His dumplings were annoying," Jian said.
"Annoying?"
"Perfect folds. Every one."
Mei rolled her eyes. "You were jealous."
"I was observant."
Ren joined Nine Banquet in his twenties and helped design early distributed Hearth experiments. He survived San Francisco too.
Unlike Victor Vale, he drew the opposite conclusion.
Victor decided people required control.
Ren decided systems themselves created weakness.
"He watched a district panic when the Hearth network failed," Jian said. "People had forgotten how to feed one another without spiritual reward or institutional direction."
Eli understood the critique more than he wanted to.
His own network gave system notifications when people helped.
What happened when rewards stopped?
The Ledger responded.
[Question recognized.]
[System Audit available at Hearth Core Realm.]
"You're telling me I can audit you later?"
[If you survive.]
Ren contacted them that evening.
Not by phone.
Every restaurant television in the neighborhood turned on simultaneously.
A thin man with Jian's eyes appeared on-screen.
"Nephew."
Eli stared.
"Uncle."
"You've grown."
"You missed birthdays."
Ren smiled.
He offered a truce.
Destroy Victor's Sovereign Authority array together. Free Jian. Collapse the Nine Banquet monopoly.
Then dismantle the Ledger network too.
"No hidden taxes," Ren said. "No magical charity points. No Hearthkeepers. People eat because people choose to eat."
"And the Maw?"
"Let it rise."
Jian swore.
Ren's expression remained calm.
"The Maw exists because generations stored appetite instead of confronting it. A breach will be terrible. Afterward, the cycle ends."
"How many die?"
"I don't know."
"Thousands?"
"Possibly."
"No deal."
Ren sighed.
"You sound like your father."
"Thank you."
"It wasn't praise."
The screens switched off.
Then the system alerted:
[Third Formation Point activated.]
Eli looked through the Maw connection.
The portable altar had been a decoy.
The real third point was under their first community Hearth node—the alley.
Ren had planted it before the fire.
The place where Eli proved community could work had been compromised from the beginning.
And now hundreds of people were gathering there for dinner.
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