Su Liying stared at the two blinking buttons on her screen, each a portal to a different life. [Accept]. [Decline].
To decline was to choose the sunlit path. A life of normalcy, of academic achievement, of a safe and prosperous future as one of the nation's most promising young healers. It meant turning her back on the shadows, pretending the impossible depths she'd sensed in Qin Mo were a mere trick of the light. It was the sane choice. The logical choice. The choice a survivor would make.
But Su Liying was not merely a survivor. She was a scholar, an investigator. And the mystery of Oracle was the greatest unsolved puzzle in the history of the world. To turn away from it now would be an intellectual and spiritual betrayal of everything she was.
Her choice had been made long before the offer ever arrived.
With a final, steadying breath, her finger moved with unwavering purpose. She clicked [Accept].
The effect was instantaneous. The interface of the Alliance platform shimmered, reconfiguring itself before her very eyes. Her user handle, Crystalline_Mind, was now adorned with a stark, authoritative new title in white font: [Chief Analyst]. Her security clearance flashed from Level 1 to Level 3. Dozens of new, previously hidden forums and data archives materialized in her navigation panel, their names alone sending a thrill down her spine: [Raw Intel Stream: Silent Lab], [Strategic Debriefings: Inner Circle], [Archived Operations].
A new, heavily encrypted communication channel opened, connecting her directly to the platform's legendary moderator.
> Nomad-Lead: Welcome aboard, Chief. The honor is ours. Your work begins immediately. My channel is always open. Let me know what resources you require.
Su Liying felt the weight of her new title settle upon her shoulders. She had just been handed the keys to the nerve center of the most important secret organization on the planet. She would not fail.
She did not wait for orders. A true leader takes the initiative.
Her first act as Chief Analyst was not to dive into the data, but to build her arsenal. And her greatest assets would be other brilliant minds. For the next three hours, she became a phantom in the Outer Court's archives, meticulously dissecting the post histories, mission reports, and even the entrance examination answers of the Alliance's most highly-rated members.
She wasn't just looking for high scores; she was hunting for specific cognitive archetypes. She found her pattern-recognizer in a user named DataGeek, an analyst with an uncanny talent for finding signals in the noise of chaotic data. She found her lateral thinker in Riddle, a user whose solutions to tactical problems were always bizarre, unexpected, and brutally effective. She recruited two more: a grizzled data-miner called OldTimer and a young historian named Chronicler.
She sent out four formal invitations to join the newly formed "Analysis Core" under her direct command. Within the hour, all four had accepted, their replies a mixture of shock, honor, and fierce determination. The Analysis Core, the official intelligence brain of the Oracle Alliance, was now operational.
Her new security clearance granted her access to the raw data stream from the 'Leech'. It was a chaotic, raging river of information—fragmented files, half-deleted logs, corrupted video feeds, all wrapped in layers of sophisticated corporate encryption. It was a digital mountain designed to intimidate and overwhelm.
"Alright team," Su Liying typed into the [Analysis_Core] command channel, her voice now that of a commander. "Welcome to the front lines. Our first target is the data stream from 'Bounty 2001'. Let's rip it apart. I want every file cataloged, cross-referenced, and decrypted. Start with any and all files tagged with the project name 'Chimera'. Go."
The five of them, strangers united by a shared purpose and an unseen leader, descended upon the data like a pack of hungry wolves. It was a digital archaeological dig, and soon, they unearthed the bones of a truly monstrous secret.
It was DataGeek who made the first breakthrough. > DataGeek: Chief... you need to see this. I've managed to reconstruct a series of lab reports from Project Chimera. The stated goal is... my god... it's to create 'controllable and replicable' Awakened soldiers.
> Crystalline_Mind: How?
> DataGeek: By using a bio-engineered organ from a specific Abyssal creature... and grafting it directly onto a human host to act as an artificial Spirit Root. The reports... they're clinical. They detail the failures. 'Subject 87 exhibited catastrophic cellular decay...' 'Subject 92 achieved temporary C-Rank output before cerebral liquefaction...' They're not just numbers, Chief. These were people.
The cold, detached language of the reports was more chilling than any scream. Su Liying felt a cold dread pool in her stomach, but her resolve only hardened.
She compiled her team's initial findings into a concise, professional intelligence brief. It was her first official report to the mysterious "Inner Circle." She took a deep breath and sent the encrypted file directly to Nomad-Lead.
The report landed in [Channel: Zero] like a depth charge.
Nomad-Lead: The new Chief Analyst has submitted her first report. Her team is operational, and their findings... are a confirmation of our worst fears.
She uploaded Su Liying's file for the others to see. Hephaestus: "Grafted Spirit Roots... using Abyssal flesh... the arrogant, blasphemous fools! They're not creating soldiers; they're manufacturing ticking time bombs of madness and death! This isn't science, it's butchery!"
Old-Man-Jiang: "But it confirms their objective and their ruthlessness. They will sacrifice anyone to achieve their goals. The name 'Project Chimera' is also a concern. It implies they may be aware of our own community project and are mocking us. Crystalline_Mind has proven her worth on her very first day. The promotion was a wise decision, Oracle."
The Oracle username blinked online, its presence casting a final, absolute judgment. Oracle: The Chief Analyst's performance is satisfactory. Her initiative in team-building and her efficiency in data-processing are noted. Oracle: The information she has uncovered is critical. It provides us with our next immediate target.
The next day at school, Qin Mo observed the subtle transformation in Su Liying. A new, profound confidence radiated from her. The easy grace of the school goddess was still present, but it was now underpinned by the focused, steely gravity of a commander. She was carrying the weight of the world's secrets, and it suited her.
The silent game between them had reached a new level. She was no longer an outsider looking in. She was a piece on the board, one of his most important.
As the final bell rang, he walked past her desk. As his hand brushed against his bag, a small, non-descript black USB drive, no bigger than a thumbnail, fell silently to the floor, coming to a rest near her shoe. He didn't pause. He didn't look back. He simply kept walking.
Su Liying's eyes darted down. Her breath caught. It was a classic, old-world spycraft move. A dead drop. A message that could never be traced. She discreetly bent down, pretending to pick up a fallen pen, and her fingers closed around the cool, smooth plastic of the drive.
Later, in the digital fortress of her locked bedroom, she plugged the USB into a secure, air-gapped laptop. It contained a single file: a universal decryption key, its code so elegant and complex it seemed almost alive.
Just as she was marveling at its structure, a new priority message arrived on her Alliance terminal. It was from Oracle himself. Attached was a single, massive data file, a file her team had identified from the Leech's data stream but had flagged as "impenetrable," protected by an encryption they couldn't even begin to scratch.
From: Oracle To: Chief Analyst Crystalline_Mind
Subject: Priority Task.
This file is a complete personnel roster from the Silent Lab, including identities, psychological profiles, and known associates. Our current decryption methods are insufficient. Find a way.
Su Liying stared at the impossible task on her screen. Then she looked at the USB drive in her hand.
He had given her a locked vault, and he had silently slipped her the key.
This was not just a mission. It was a private test. It was the beginning of their silent, unspoken partnership. He was trusting her not just with his secrets, but with his methods. A slow, determined smile touched her lips. She would prove herself worthy of that trust.