The city was alive in ways no one else could see.
Liang Shen walked the rain-slick streets, Yan Fei at his side, both cloaked in anonymity. Above, drones buzzed quietly, their feeds feeding into Glass Pulse 2.0. Every streetlamp, every surveillance camera, every Wi-Fi signal vibrated with hidden code, tracing movement like veins carrying power.
"Are you sure about this?" Yan Fei asked, her eyes scanning every shadow.
Liang smiled faintly. "The Deep Circle doesn't know me yet. They think I'm still a boy behind a laptop. Tonight, they'll meet the Architect."
They approached an abandoned subway entrance, the feed on Liang's laptop showing digital phantoms of unseen intruders. A network of mirrors pulsed beneath the streets — Glass Pulse 2.0 reaching into the tunnels below.
A low hiss echoed. The shadows moved.
Three figures stepped into the faint glow of a broken streetlamp. Their faces hidden behind masks with glowing silver serpents coiled around lotus flowers. The Deep Circle.
"Liang Shen," one said, voice distorted electronically. "You have something we lost. Hand it over."
Liang didn't flinch. His hands brushed the edges of his coat, where a discreet device pulsed faintly. The Lotus Engine surged. He could sense every heartbeat, every intention, every imperfection in their movements.
"I don't hand out gifts," he said softly. "I build them."
A flash of movement — a masked figure lunged. Liang stepped aside, not with speed, but precision, letting the intruder stumble into a digital trap he had laid in the Glass Pulse network. Cameras lit up, hidden micro-drones activated, and the intruder's suit buzzed uncontrollably as code took control.
Yan Fei gasped. "You planned all of this?"
Liang's eyes glinted. "Not all. But enough to make them think they have the upper hand."
The other two masked figures froze. For the first time, they realized this wasn't just a boy with an app. This was a master architect who controlled the city itself, bending its infrastructure, its signals, its very heartbeat to his will.
Liang stepped forward. "Welcome to my city."