Sunday morning.
Li Wei woke up earlier than usual.
Sunlight slipped through the curtains, and the quiet weekend atmosphere made the apartment building feel calmer than on weekdays.
He sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, stretching.
Then he spoke in his mind.
"System."
[ONLINE]
"Any nearby nodes?"
A short pause passed.
[NEXT CORE NODE AVAILABLE IN 9 HOURS]
Li Wei nodded.
So the sign-in had a cooldown.
That meant he couldn't activate another core node until evening.
Which left him with a lot of free time.
He checked his phone. Chen Ming had already sent several messages in the group chat complaining about the robotics competition results.
Li Wei skimmed through them while brushing his teeth.
Apparently their team placed second.
Chen Ming wasn't happy about it.
A few minutes later, Li Wei left the apartment and walked to a nearby breakfast shop.
Small shops like this were common in older neighborhoods. Steam rose from metal pots while the owner prepared fresh buns and soy milk.
"Morning," the owner greeted.
"Morning."
Li Wei ordered a steamed bun and a cup of soy milk and sat at a small plastic table.
Two middle-aged men nearby were talking while reading the morning newspaper.
"…The international summit starts next week."
"Yeah. Leaders from several countries are coming."
"Security will be tight."
Li Wei wasn't paying attention at first.
But one headline on the newspaper caught his eye.
Global Technology Cooperation Conference — Linhai City to Host International Delegates
The article talked about research cooperation, economic development, and technology sharing between different countries.
Nothing unusual.
Still, Linhai City hosting something like that showed how important the city had become.
Thirty years ago, Linhai had been a medium-sized coastal port.
Now it was one of the largest technology and shipping hubs in the region.
International trade ships arrived daily.
Several multinational companies had headquarters here.
And major research universities were expanding rapidly.
Li Wei finished his breakfast while reading a public news screen near the street.
Several topics appeared on the rotating display:
International Technology Conference
Lunar Resource Mining Program Progress
Deep Ocean Research Expedition Updates
Li Wei watched the news scroll by.
The world outside everyday life was larger than most people realized.
Humanity had satellites surrounding the planet.
Permanent research stations in Antarctica.
Plans for mining resources on the Moon.
Scientific exploration happening in places most people would never see.
Yet for ordinary citizens…
Life still revolved around school, work, rent, and daily routines.
Li Wei stood up and returned the tray.
"Thanks."
"Come again," the shop owner said.
On the way back home, Li Wei passed a large public screen mounted on the side of a building.
A documentary was playing.
It showed footage from a deep-sea exploration vessel descending into darkness.
A narrator spoke calmly.
"Over seventy percent of Earth's oceans remain unexplored. Scientists believe unknown ecosystems may still exist in the deepest trenches…"
Li Wei watched for a moment before continuing to walk.
Human knowledge was expanding rapidly.
But the world still contained countless unknowns.
Unknown oceans.
Unknown space.
Unknown discoveries waiting to be made.
Back in his apartment, Li Wei opened his laptop.
Instead of studying, he searched for something else.
Global research organizations.
Several large groups appeared immediately.
Some focused on space exploration.
Others on oceanic research.
A few were dedicated to studying ancient civilizations.
There were also government-funded scientific institutes that handled classified projects.
Li Wei leaned back in his chair.
The Archive System clearly wasn't normal technology.
And if something like it existed…
Then it was possible that other unusual things also existed somewhere in the world.
Maybe hidden inside research programs.
Maybe buried in ancient records.
Maybe even controlled by governments.
The world was probably far more complicated than it appeared on the surface.
Hours passed quietly.
Afternoon sunlight gradually faded as evening approached.
Li Wei finally closed the laptop.
He looked at the time.
The cooldown should be over soon.
He spoke again in his mind.
"System."
[ONLINE]
[NEXT CORE NODE AVAILABLE]
Li Wei stood up and grabbed his jacket.
"Location?"
[CORE NODE DETECTED]
LINHAI CENTRAL LIBRARY
DISTANCE: 3.2 KM
Li Wei smiled slightly.
"A library."
That made sense.
Libraries contained massive amounts of information.
If the Archive network connected to knowledge storage points, then libraries were ideal locations.
He locked the apartment door and headed downstairs.
Across the city—
Inside the underground monitoring facility—
A quiet alarm sounded.
The technician looked at the screen and immediately froze.
"Director…"
The man stepped over.
"Yes?"
"Node activity probability spike detected."
"Where?"
The technician pointed at the city map.
A blinking marker appeared.
Linhai Central Library
The director stared at it silently.
Then he gave a quiet order.
"Deploy observation units."
"Yes, sir."
The technician hesitated.
"Do we intervene if we find the person responsible?"
The director shook his head slowly.
"No."
"We observe."
His eyes remained fixed on the blinking marker.
"For now."
Meanwhile—
Li Wei walked calmly toward the subway station.
Completely unaware that his next sign-in might not be as quiet as the previous ones.