The notification arrived on Su Liying's terminal with a quiet, unassuming chime, a sound that belied its earth-shaking significance.
[Application Accepted. Welcome to the Oracle Alliance, initiate Crystalline_Mind.]
She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Her heart hammered against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the silent symphony of her thoughts. She had passed. She had been granted entry into the most mysterious and consequential organization in the modern world.
With trembling fingers, she clicked the link to enter the platform. The screen resolved into an interface that was as elegant as it was intimidating. The platform, which she now knew was called the "Outer Court," was a masterclass in minimalist design. A stark black background with clean, white text. There were no flashy graphics, no advertisements, no social clutter. It was a space built for one purpose: the efficient exchange of vital information.
She saw the main forums: a "General Discussion" board, an "Intel Exchange," and a "Mission Debriefing" section. She saw the Charter written by Old-Man-Jiang (though she did not know the author), its tenets of Anonymity, Contribution, and Results displayed prominently for all to see. Most impressively, she saw the real-time reputation system Hephaestus had designed. Users had ranks next to their names—Initiate, Contributor, Analyst, Veteran—that changed dynamically based on the quality and verification of the intel they shared.
This was not a fan club. It was a meticulously designed intelligence agency, operating in plain sight yet hidden behind layers of impenetrable anonymity.
Her conviction deepened. The chaotic genius of a rebellious hacker might be able to create an anonymous forum. But this? This level of structured, strategic, long-term thinking... this was the work of a grandmaster playing a game that no one else even knew existed. The image of Qin Mo's placid, indifferent face flashed in her mind. It was a mask. She was certain of it now. And she had just been invited to take a peek at what lay behind it.
The Outer Court was buzzing with the energy of a nascent revolution. The several hundred hunters who had passed the rigorous entrance exam were a diverse group—grizzled veterans, young and ambitious hot-shots, cynical mercenaries, and pragmatic information brokers. But they all shared three things: competence, a healthy disrespect for the established authorities, and an almost religious reverence for the name "Oracle."
The "General Discussion" board was filled with introductions.
User_AxeManiac: "AxeManiac reporting in. Independent hunter, B-Rank strength-type. Oracle's Shrieker-killer saved my ass last week. Honored to be here."
User_DataGeek: "Information analyst. I specialize in tracking monster migration patterns. The official models are a joke. I'm here to work with real data."
The sense of camaraderie was palpable. They were a scattered tribe of outsiders who had finally found their gathering place.
Then, a new thread appeared, posted by the site's sole, verified moderator: Nomad-Lead. Her name carried immense weight here. She was the one who had first confirmed Oracle's prophecy, the veteran captain who had taken the initial leap of faith.
Her post was titled: [Community Objective: Project Chimera - Mapping Mutation Patterns in the Yangtze River Delta].
The tone of the post was professional and direct. It explained that while major threats were being monitored, minor mutations in low-level Abyssal creatures were often overlooked. These small changes, however, could be precursors to major new threats. The objective called for all Alliance members in the region to gather and submit any and all data on unusual behavior or minor physical changes in common monsters—Goblins with tougher skin, Abyss Hounds that were slightly faster, anything out of the ordinary.
Each piece of verified data, she explained, would earn the submitter a small number of Reputation Points, boosting their standing within the Alliance.
To the average member, it seemed like a brilliant, crowd-sourced community project. A way to work together to create a more accurate map of the enemy.
Only three beings in the channel—Lin Mei herself, Hephaestus, and Old-Man-Jiang, all watching from the silent sanctum of [Channel: Zero]—understood the true, terrifying genius behind the directive.
Oracle wasn't just asking for data. He was converting his new flock into a massive, distributed sensor network. He was teaching them, without them even realizing it, how to become his eyes and ears, gathering the thousands of tiny, seemingly insignificant data points his grand predictive models required.
Su Liying read the "Project Chimera" directive, and a new piece of the puzzle clicked into place. This was a pattern she was beginning to recognize: a grand, complex problem being broken down into simple, achievable tasks for a large number of people. It was the methodology of a master strategist.
This was her chance. A test within a test.
She had recently secured a low-level internship with the regional Environmental Spirit-Energy Monitoring Agency, a stuffy government body. It was mostly boring work, but it gave her access to restricted databases. She began to search.
She cross-referenced the target area of Project Chimera with recent environmental reports. She found what she was looking for: a tiny, almost statistically insignificant anomaly. A slight, 0.02% increase in the spiritual energy toxicity of the water near a specific industrial outflow pipe. The official report had dismissed it as a probable sensor malfunction.
On its own, the data point was useless. A single drop of ink in an ocean of information. But it was her drop to contribute.
Using the platform's secure, anonymous submission portal, she uploaded the data point, citing the official report number. She added a single, speculative note: "This level of toxicity, while low, has been correlated in some pre-Awakening studies with accelerated mutation rates in aquatic larvae."
She clicked 'submit', her heart pounding. Now, she would wait and see if the architect of this system would notice her tiny contribution.
In his bedroom, Qin Mo was observing his new network. He saw the flood of data for "Project Chimera" pouring in. Most of it was low-grade observational data. But then, he saw the submission from Crystalline_Mind.
His mind, a supercomputer powered by the knowledge of 90,000 worlds, instantly went to work.
'Data point: 0.02% increase in localized aquatic spiritual toxicity.''Cross-referencing with geological surveys of the region... high concentration of iron and copper deposits.''Cross-referencing with battle reports from the Abyssal Razorcrab incident... reports of egg sacs being found on several carcasses.''Cross-referencing with knowledge from my 'Xeno-Biologist' avatar in the Cetus-7 system... certain crustacean-type lifeforms, when their eggs are gestated in a copper-rich, spiritually toxic environment, undergo a chitin-hardening mutation...'
The conclusion was instantaneous and chilling. The Razorcrabs had laid eggs. The unique water toxicity was causing those eggs to hatch into a new, undocumented variant. A variant whose armor would be resistant to the OSE-Model 2's specific frequency. A variant that would be emerging in the next 24-48 hours.
The tiny, insignificant data point from Su Liying was not a drop in the ocean. It was the final catalyst. The key that unlocked the entire prophecy.
He immediately sent a private, encrypted message through the platform, directly and only to her.
From: Oracle To: Crystalline_Mind
Subject: Your Submission.
Your data regarding localized water toxicity, while appearing minor, was the final variable required to complete a critical threat-assessment model. Your analytical acumen in connecting it to larval mutation is noted and commendable.
A new, high-priority bounty will be posted shortly based directly on your contribution. You have been awarded 50 Contribution Points for your exceptional insight.
Su Liying gasped as the message appeared on her screen. Her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Fifty Contribution Points. For a single, obscure data point. It was a massive reward. But it wasn't the reward that made her tremble.
It was the confirmation.
No one. No one else in the world could have possibly understood the significance of her tiny submission. It was meaningless without a vast, pre-existing library of impossible knowledge to compare it against. Only someone who already knew what they were looking for—someone who was just waiting for that one final piece of confirmation—could have seen its value.
The last thread of doubt in her mind didn't just snap. It vaporized.
She stood up and walked to her window, which looked out over the glittering expanse of the city. She knew the location of Qin Mo's apartment complex. It was out there, somewhere in the sea of lights, a humble building housing the world's greatest enigma.
She was now 100 percent certain.
Oracle, the legend, the prophet who had humbled the government and armed the people, the secret commander of a growing shadow army... was the quiet, listless, "triple-zero" boy who sat behind her in physics class.
The game had changed. She was no longer just an investigator trying to solve a puzzle.
She was now the keeper of the world's biggest, most dangerous secret.