Three days after Lin Feng's internal speech, the first phase of Mirror Stage launched quietly in a forgotten corner of Shanghai.
The location: under an overpass in Xuhui District, where flickering fluorescent lights buzzed above graffiti-tagged concrete. It wasn't symbolic—it was strategic. Close enough to student hostels, freelance dens, and tea cafés. Far enough from curated narratives and polite surveillance.
The Mirror Stage was not a program; it was a quiet insurgency in the form of mentorship cells. Each cell: 5 to 12 members. No logos. No livestreams. No photo ops. Just real talk, guided by Apex junior allies trained in observation, reflection, and influence without doctrine.
Lin insisted on being there in person for the pilot cell.
"You're seriously going?" Gu Yuwei had asked that morning, brows furrowed.
"I have to know what it feels like. Not just read reports," he replied, fastening his watch.
