The air in the dim simulation chamber was still.
Su Yuan sat with his back straight, eyes closed. The SoulNet interface hovered silently before him—a translucent veil of light woven from code and soul threads.
Moments ago, he had reviewed twenty-seven flagged anomaly reports. Twenty-seven users who had been noticed.
Not exposed.
Not caught.
But noticed.
And that was enough to ring alarms in his mind.
"They're still untrained..." "If even one person starts asking the right questions—"
His thoughts stopped.A chill crawled through him.
SoulNet was built on silence, secrecy, and the absolute impossibility of tracing its origin. But the fragility lay not in the system. It lay in people. Emotions. Habits. Curiosity.
He opened his eyes.
[Begin Deduction: Shadow Mode]
A new pulse rippled across the interface.Like a ripple across an invisible pond.
Lines of data flowed into streams of meaning.
[Deduction Complete: Shadow Mode - Tier F+]
A passive behavioral camouflage protocol.Automatically trains users to veil SoulNet interaction using intuitive muscle memory and subconscious gesture patterns.All visual elements of SoulNet are now hidden in "mental overlay mode."SoulNet users will appear normal to all outside observers unless actively resisting the veil.[Auto-Deployment: Initiated]
At that moment, in a quiet apartment across town…
Chen Mu was in the middle of a skill session—half-crouched, breathing slowly, channeling shockwave vibrations through his core muscles.
He didn't even realize the interface had changed.
But his hand twitched, adjusted, and moved in an instinctual flick that no longer looked out of place. He moved like someone thinking, not like someone interacting with an invisible UI.
His mother, watching from the hallway, furrowed her brow.
"Maybe… he's just meditating."
She quietly walked away.
The veil had taken effect.
Wen Jiayi, treating a fevered patient, received a brief, subconscious prompt in her mind.
[Shadow Mode Active]
She blinked—but the glowing interface was gone.Or rather, receded—like a memory at the edge of her awareness.
The options were still there.
SNC balance.Skill library.User forum.
But none of it appeared unless she actively summoned it through her mind's eye.
She exhaled, deeply relieved.
"Thank you…" she whispered.
No more strange looks.
No more stares.
Back in the simulation chamber, Su Yuan nodded with quiet satisfaction.
"Now… time for the next step."
His gaze shifted to the world map.
Gray soul flickers dotted the screen—dormant threads. Most were ordinary. Some were slightly brighter, more stable—those with potential for SoulNet connectivity.
He focused on a northern district—a half-abandoned industrial zone with low surveillance and erratic energy pulses.
17 signatures found.
A gentle hum answered his thoughts as he mentally confirmed the scan range. His soul power was sufficient to support the expansion now. Barely.
And yet…
"We're still growing."
He tapped the expansion key.
[SoulNet Expansion Protocol - Phase Two]
Scan Radius: +12kmAvailable Connections: 34Stable User Candidates: 29Pending Invite Dispatch: Confirm?
Su Yuan hesitated.
Once he sent the invites, there would be no turning back for these people. Their lives would change.
They would see the world in new ways—walk paths filled with potential… but also danger.
"They'll become part of something bigger than they can understand. For now."
He confirmed.
A quiet storm of blue light surged across the interface.
[Invitation Signal Dispatched][Awaiting User Response – Passive Linking Mode]
Somewhere, in a shanty apartment with flickering lights, a college dropout jolted awake. A single glowing prompt hovered over his vision.
[SoulNet Invitation: Accept?]
Elsewhere, a retired soldier, long haunted by dreams of battle, sat on his rooftop drinking cheap wine—only to blink as the air shimmered before his eyes.
[SoulNet Invitation: Accept?]
In a darkened VR cafe, a hacktivist teen stared at the screen—flickering blue letters reflecting in their wide eyes.
[SoulNet Invitation: Accept?]
And across the region, one by one, they accepted.
Su Yuan leaned back.The numbers changed before him:
[SoulNet Status Interface]
Connected Users: 72Total Soul Power Pool: 119.4 unitsActive Feedback Threads: 54Shadow Mode Coverage: 98%System Risk Level: Stable
With every new soul, his influence deepened.
The Deduction Engine thrummed faintly in the background—on the verge of evolving further.
He could already sense the next need forming.
Currency. Structure. Purpose.
What he had was a system.
What he needed was an ecosystem.