Monday morning returned the city to its usual rhythm.
Subway trains were packed again.
Office workers hurried through intersections.
Students filled the streets around the university.
Li Wei walked through the campus gate with his backpack slung over one shoulder, blending naturally with the crowd of students heading to their morning classes.
Nothing about him stood out.
Just another university student starting the week.
In the classroom, Chen Ming was already seated when Li Wei arrived.
He looked tired.
"You disappeared all weekend," Chen Ming said as Li Wei sat down.
"Went out for a walk," Li Wei replied.
Chen Ming sighed dramatically.
"Must be nice. I spent two days fixing code for the robotics project. And guess what? The professor wants us to redesign half the control system."
"That sounds painful."
"It is painful."
Chen Ming leaned forward.
"You should help us next time. You're good with problem solving."
Li Wei smiled faintly.
"I'll think about it."
Before Chen Ming could continue complaining, the professor walked into the classroom and the lecture began.
Today's topic was data structures and indexing systems.
Ironically, it was related to organizing large amounts of information efficiently.
Li Wei opened his notebook.
As the professor explained the concept of hierarchical indexing, Li Wei noticed something interesting.
The Memory Indexing ability from yesterday seemed to be working already.
Every explanation felt easier to follow.
When the professor referenced material from previous lectures, Li Wei could recall it almost instantly.
Connections between topics appeared quickly in his mind.
It wasn't dramatic.
Just… smoother thinking.
More efficient recall.
He wrote down notes while listening carefully.
After class ended, students slowly packed their bags.
Chen Ming stretched.
"Finally. My brain is fried."
He glanced at Li Wei.
"You look suspiciously relaxed."
"Maybe the lecture wasn't that hard."
Chen Ming stared at him.
"...I hate people like you."
Li Wei laughed quietly.
They walked together toward the campus cafeteria.
Students filled the dining hall, forming long lines at the food counters.
Chen Ming grabbed a tray and continued talking about the robotics project while choosing dishes.
"Professor Zhao thinks we should switch to a modular control architecture. That means rewriting half our navigation code."
Li Wei thought for a moment.
"If the modules are separated properly, debugging might become easier."
Chen Ming blinked.
"…Wait."
"You just solved one of our problems."
Li Wei shrugged.
"It's a common design approach."
Chen Ming shook his head in disbelief.
"Why are you a computer science student and not an engineer?"
"Same building, different classroom."
After lunch, they walked back toward the dorm area.
The campus looked peaceful under the afternoon sunlight.
Students sat on benches reading or chatting.
Some practiced basketball on the nearby court.
Normal life continued as usual.
But elsewhere in the city—
Things were less ordinary.
Inside the underground monitoring facility, several large screens displayed maps and data streams.
The director stood with his arms crossed while technicians analyzed the previous night's signal.
"Energy signature?"
"Still unidentified."
"Pattern?"
A technician highlighted several points on the city map.
"Four confirmed node activations within four days."
The locations lit up:
Qinghe Temple District
Linhai City Museum (weak node)
Linhai Central Library
City Historical Archive
The director studied the pattern carefully.
"These places have something in common."
"Information storage," the technician replied.
"Archives, libraries, museums."
Another technician added,
"Whoever triggered them seems to be visiting knowledge repositories."
The director nodded slowly.
"So the activator is likely someone interested in research or historical information."
"Possibly a student," someone suggested.
The director didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he gave a calm order.
"Begin monitoring similar locations across the city."
"Libraries. Museums. Universities."
"If the pattern continues…"
He looked at the glowing points on the map.
"…we'll be ready next time."
Back on campus—
Li Wei sat beneath a tree near the main walkway, reading through a digital article on his phone.
Students passed by casually.
Nothing unusual.
But inside his mind—
The system quietly updated.
[CORE NODE SEARCH COMPLETE]
NEXT LOCATION IDENTIFIED
Li Wei closed the article.
"Where?"
[NODE LOCATION: LINHAI UNIVERSITY — RESTRICTED ARCHIVE BUILDING]
DISTANCE: 0.9 KM
Li Wei raised an eyebrow slightly.
"On campus?"
He had passed most of the university buildings many times.
But the Restricted Archive Building was one place students rarely entered.
It stored old research records and academic documents.
Access usually required special permission.
Still…
The building itself wasn't heavily guarded.
Just restricted.
Li Wei stood up and looked toward the northern part of campus where older academic buildings stood.
"Interesting."
Across the city—
Inside the monitoring facility—
One technician suddenly leaned forward.
"Director…"
"Yes?"
"We just detected something."
"What is it?"
The technician zoomed the map closer.
A faint signal marker appeared.
Right over Linhai University.
It was weak.
Barely noticeable.
But it was there.
The director's eyes sharpened.
"…Prepare observation units."
Back on campus—
Li Wei began walking slowly toward the older part of the university.
The afternoon sun cast long shadows between the buildings.
Students chatted nearby.
Bicycles passed along the road.
Everything looked completely normal.
But somewhere nearby—
Another Archive node was waiting.