The message from Oracle landed in the digital silence of [Channel: Zero] with the force of a tectonic shift. It is time to recruit.
The three members stared at the words, each processing the command through the lens of their own unique experience.
Nomad-Lead was the first to voice her concern, her pragmatism overriding her awe.
Nomad-Lead: Recruit? Oracle, with respect, our anonymity is our greatest shield. A larger organization means more members, more chatter, more potential leaks. A large organization is a large target.
Hephaestus, who had been gleefully studying the elegant physics of the OSE-2 blueprint, chimed in with a grumble.
Hephaestus: Are we starting a guild? I have no interest in managing a herd of noisy, arrogant brats who think an F-Rank talent makes them a hero. I'd rather spend my time in the forge.
It was Old-Man-Jiang who once again saw the forest for the trees. A slow, knowing smile touched his lips as he sat in his quiet tea house. He understood the scale of Oracle's ambition.
Old-Man-Jiang: Hephaestus, he is not asking us to become babysitters. Captain, he is not suggesting we build a guild hall and hang up a sign. A guild has vulnerabilities—a physical location, a public leader, political entanglements. Think bigger.
Old-Man-Jiang: This isn't about building a guild. This is about cultivating an army. A decentralized army of ghosts that answers only to us... to *him*. Oracle, I presume you already have a structure in mind?
The reply was, as always, swift and decisive.
Oracle: Your assessment is correct, General. We are not a guild. We are a network. A nervous system. We will remain phantoms.
Oracle: We will establish a new, secure platform—an 'Outer Court'—separate from this core channel. This will be the designated gathering point for the so-called 'Oracle Alliance' that has spontaneously formed in the public sphere.
He then issued his new directives with the precision of a master architect designing a fortress.
Oracle: Hephaestus. You will architect the platform. I require a decentralized, peer-to-peer network. Data will not be stored on a central server, but fragmented and encrypted across the devices of its members, making it impossible to shut down. It must be impregnable.
Oracle: Old-Man-Jiang. You will be the lawgiver. Draft the charter for this Alliance. The rules of entry, the code of conduct. It should be a filter, designed to attract the competent and repel the foolish.
Oracle: Nomad-Lead. You are a legend now in the independent hunter community. They trust you. You will be the public-facing (though still anonymous) moderator of the Outer Court. You will be the bridge between the myth of Oracle and the reality of his followers.
The tasks were monumental. They had just been ordered to build a secret digital nation from scratch.
In the days that followed, the two old masters went to work with a fervor that defied their age.
Hephaestus, grumbling endlessly about being treated like "a common IT technician," tackled the challenge with an obsessive, manic genius. He didn't just build a secure forum; he forged a digital fortress. He wove quantum encryption algorithms into the very code, designed a self-healing network that could reroute data around any censorship attempt, and, most brilliantly, created a user reputation system. It wasn't based on likes or posts, but on verified, encrypted after-action reports uploaded by members. A user's reputation would rise only if they provided accurate intel or successfully completed missions. It was a self-policing system of merit.
Meanwhile, in his tranquil tea house, General Jiang Wei was not writing code, but law. He drafted the "Charter of the Alliance," a document that was part philosophy, part military doctrine.
The Three Sacred Tenets of the Oracle Alliance:
Anonymity is the Shield. Any attempt to discover or expose the real-world identity of another member, for any reason, is an unforgivable treason. The punishment is immediate and permanent excommunication.
Information is the Currency. The Alliance is a meritocracy. Access to higher levels of intelligence and resources is not given; it is earned. Members gain standing by contributing verified, actionable intel on Rift activity, monster weaknesses, and guild movements.
Results are the Only Truth. Ideology, nationality, past affiliations, and personal grievances are irrelevant within the Alliance. An operation is judged only by its success or failure. Data is judged only by its accuracy. There is no room for ego.
He was creating a culture, a machine designed to strip away the inefficiencies of human nature and leave only cold, hard competence. It was a system designed to find the perfect soldiers for Oracle's silent war.
A week later, the public Hunter's Guild bulletin board, the site of Oracle's first prophecy, lit up with a new, viral post. It was posted by Nomad-Lead. Her reputation was now legendary, and her every word was scrutinized by thousands.
The post was simple. It spoke of the need for independent hunters to unite, to share information freely and efficiently, away from the prying eyes and corporate interests of the mega-guilds. It spoke of the values of the "Oracle" philosophy: strategy over brute force, knowledge over power.
It announced the formation of the Oracle Alliance platform—a secure, anonymous, and merit-based sanctuary for hunters who wished to follow this new path.
The post ended with an invitation link.
Thousands clicked it instantly. But they were not greeted with a simple registration page. Instead, they were faced with a stark, black screen with white text.
[The Oracle Alliance - Entrance Examination]
The test, designed by the cunning mind of Old-Man-Jiang, was not a quiz of facts and figures. It was a trial of character and strategic acumen.
Question 1: You possess confirmed intelligence that could prevent a Rift from opening, saving an estimated 100 lives. However, acting on this intel will directly cause the bankruptcy of a major corporation, resulting in 10,000 citizens losing their jobs. What is your primary course of action and why?
Question 2: You discover a new, fatal weakness for a monster type. At the same time, you see a rival hunter squad, one that has sabotaged you in the past, about to be wiped out by that exact monster. Do you share the information to save your enemies, or do you let them be eliminated to remove your competition? Explain your reasoning.
Question 3: [A complex tactical scenario is presented involving limited resources, a difficult monster, and innocent civilians trapped in the crossfire. The applicant is required to devise a low-cost, efficient solution that prioritizes civilian life.]
The test was a brutal, elegant filter. It wasn't looking for the strongest hunters, but the smartest. It wasn't looking for saints, but for pragmatists with a strong moral compass. It was designed to find those who aligned with the core tenets of Project Zero.
In his bedroom, surrounded by the comforting silence of the night, Qin Mo observed the fruits of his operatives' labor. The platform Hephaestus had built was a work of art, a ghost in the world's machine. The charter and examination Jiang Wei had created were a perfect filter.
On a hidden monitor within his own mind, he watched the applications pour in. Thousands of them. He didn't read them all. His mind processed them as raw data, sorting the applicants based on their answers, flagging them with internal tags: [Potential Asset], [Unreliable-Ego], [Resourceful-Lackey], [Future Threat].
He was building a profile of the world's hidden strengths and weaknesses.
Then, his eyes paused. His attention, which had been spread across thousands of data points, suddenly focused with laser-like precision on a single application.
Applicant Handle: Crystalline_Mind Applicant ID: 734
He read the answers. To the first question, the applicant proposed a ruthless but effective solution: save the 100 lives without question, but simultaneously leak data that would implicate a corporate rival in the bankruptcy, mitigating some of the economic fallout through corporate warfare. Empathetic, but brutally pragmatic.
To the second question, the answer was just as clear: "Save the rival squad. A living rival is a future source of intelligence and a potential asset. A dead rival is just a corpse. Eliminating them provides no long-term strategic advantage." Cold, logical, and selfless.
The solution to the tactical problem was brilliant, using an environmental exploit that even Qin Mo had not immediately considered.
He scrolled to the top of the application to see the real name associated with the anonymous user ID, a name he had specifically programmed his system to flag.
[Su Liying]
Qin Mo stared at the name on his mental screen. The system he had designed to find the world's most competent, clear-headed, and strategically brilliant individuals—a system designed to find soldiers for his secret war—had just pointed its unwavering finger directly at the one person who was actively investigating him.
The greatest potential asset for his organization was also the greatest potential threat to his anonymity.
A new, dangerous, and entirely unpredictable variable had just been introduced into his grand equation.
He brought up a command line in his private console, his fingers hovering over the keys. After a moment of what could almost be described as hesitation, he typed a single command.
[Flag Application 734. Elevate to 'Priority Watch'. Grant Access Level: Tier 1.]
He had just let the hunter into the wolf's den. Or perhaps, he had just invited another wolf to the hunt.