Ronghe City's Public Library stood beside a small park near the center of town.
Compared to the large modern libraries in Linhai, this building looked modest.
Two floors.
Old white walls.
Large windows facing the park.
Still, for a smaller city, it was an important place. Students often came here to study, and many local residents borrowed books regularly.
Li Wei arrived a few minutes later.
Children were playing in the nearby park while several elderly people sat on benches reading newspapers.
The library entrance was open.
He stepped inside quietly.
The interior felt calm and familiar.
Rows of bookshelves filled the reading hall.
Several students were studying at long wooden tables.
The librarian at the front desk looked up briefly before returning to her paperwork.
Li Wei walked slowly between the shelves.
Then he spoke in his mind.
"System."
[ONLINE]
"Confirm node."
[CORE INFORMATION NODE DETECTED]
LOCATION: SECOND FLOOR — LOCAL HISTORY SECTION
Li Wei walked toward the staircase.
The second floor contained fewer people.
Most of the books here were older collections.
Historical records.
Regional studies.
Archived newspapers.
Exactly the kind of place the Archive System preferred.
When he reached the back corner of the floor—
The familiar notification appeared.
[CORE INFORMATION NODE CONFIRMED]
[SIGN-IN AVAILABLE]
Li Wei glanced around.
Only one other person was sitting nearby reading a magazine.
"Sign in."
A moment passed.
Then the system responded.
[SIGN-IN COMPLETE]
LOCATION: RONGHE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Another message appeared immediately.
[REWARD GENERATED]
LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION — LEVEL 1
Li Wei blinked slightly.
This time the effect was subtle.
When he looked at an old historical book on the shelf, the older writing style suddenly felt easier to understand.
Complex sentence structures became clearer.
Even unfamiliar phrasing seemed more intuitive.
"Interesting," he murmured.
This ability might become extremely useful when reading old records or foreign research materials.
Then the familiar alert appeared again.
[ARCHIVE NODE ACTIVITY REGISTERED]
[EXTERNAL RESPONSE DETECTED]
Li Wei closed the book he had picked up.
At this point the message barely surprised him.
He walked downstairs and left the library calmly.
Outside, the park remained peaceful.
Children laughed while running across the grass.
A street vendor sold snacks nearby.
Li Wei sat briefly on a bench under a tree.
He opened the system interface again.
[TOTAL CORE NODES ACTIVATED: 8]
NEXT SYSTEM UPGRADE AT: 10 NODES
"Two more."
The system map displayed several nearby markers.
Most were small locations—local archives, cultural centers, and libraries.
But one marker stood out.
Ronghe Industrial History Museum
Distance: 2.5 km.
Li Wei considered it briefly.
But then he checked the time.
Lunch at home was probably already being prepared.
If he arrived too late, his mother would definitely complain.
He closed the interface and stood up.
The next node could wait.
Meanwhile—
At the Ronghe City train station—
A train from Linhai had just arrived.
Passengers stepped onto the platform.
Among them was Su Yan.
She walked calmly through the station exit while checking information on her phone.
The monitoring team had confirmed two signal spikes in Ronghe City that morning.
Both matched the pattern she had been tracking.
She stopped near a taxi stand and looked toward the city streets.
"Two activations already today…"
Her intuition told her she was getting closer.
She spoke quietly into her earpiece.
"Begin local monitoring around archives and libraries."
A voice replied.
"Understood."
Su Yan entered the taxi.
"Ronghe Municipal Archive," she told the driver.
The taxi began moving.
Back at the Li family house—
Li Wei arrived just as Li Lan finished setting the table.
"You came back at the perfect time," she said.
"I planned it that way."
Li Yue sat nearby with a textbook open.
"Liar," she said without looking up.
Li Wei sat down and grabbed a bowl of rice.
"Did your studying go well?"
Li Yue sighed.
"Ask me after the exam."
Li Jian entered from the workshop and sat down as well.
Lunch began quietly.
For a while, life returned to something simple again.
Family conversations.
Home-cooked food.
Ordinary routines.
Across the city—
Su Yan stepped into the Municipal Historical Archive building.
She showed an identification card to the staff member at the desk.
"I'm conducting a regional records review."
The staff member nodded and allowed her inside.
Su Yan walked slowly between the shelves.
Her eyes scanned the room carefully.
"Too late…"
The signal spike had already passed.
But she knew something important now.
The mysterious node activator had definitely been here earlier.
And Ronghe City wasn't large.
Sooner or later…
Their paths would cross.
Meanwhile, Li Wei finished lunch at home.
He had no idea someone had already arrived in the city searching for him.
But the game of quiet observation was getting closer to the moment when coincidence would no longer be enough.