Chapter 1
The mornings in New Harbour City always seem to light up too quickly.
Before the sun had fully risen, the glass curtain wall of the Tawan Financial District was already bathed in the glow of tens of thousands of LED screens, with advertisements looping around a city slogan—
"Trust the data, trust the light."
On both sides of the street, a group of young people in suits hurried by, carrying coffee, while the same voice came through their earphones—
That deep male voice that appears in almost every financial brokerage program:
"Wealth is humanity's trust in the future."
The voice belonged to Leung Yik-ching.
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◆One: A cacophony of voices
This was his third time standing on the launch stage of "IlluEx".
The holographic screen behind it projects a huge virtual wave, symbolizing "the ocean of a new generation of decentralized finance".
The spotlight shone on him, as intensely as a clerical ritual.
"Dear investors, partners, and future trustees—"
"I want to redefine the word 'value'."
His tone was steady, and his steps were measured, as if he were delivering a sermon that had been optimized with the best available information.
The system in the background is analyzing the audience's heart rate and emotional fluctuations in real time, marking every pause, hand gesture, and smile as a precise "persuasion point".
Liang Yicheng knew that these algorithms would determine whether today's investment amount could exceed 300 million credit points.
The screen displayed the dynamic price of Virtual Coins, the fluctuating curves seemingly carrying the pulse of desire.
"Virtual Light is not just a coin, but a new consensus network."
We need to quantify trust.
The applause from the audience was thunderous.
The sound of reporters' camera shutters clicking was like lightning.
Even the old district of Jinghe, 20 kilometers away from Xingangcheng, could see this torrent of light through the live broadcast.
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◆Part Two: Behind the Scenes and the Camera
The moment the press conference ended, Liang Yicheng took off his wireless headset, turned around, and walked backstage.
The air conditioner was eerily cold, like another kind of silent scrutiny.
Behind the curtain, a woman in white handed him a glass of ice water.
"The performance was perfect, even the LUCIA's public opinion index soared to 9.8."
Her smile was restrained—it was Chan Yuen-yee, the public relations director of V-Light, and Leung's ex-lover.
Liang Yicheng's Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he replied calmly, "Then let the system continue to trust me."
The surveillance camera in the distance slowly focused on him, the red dot flashing like a hidden drop of blood.
In New Port City, there is no real backing.
Behind every light and shadow lies another layer of scrutiny.
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◆Three: The Breathing of the Digital City
Night once again engulfed the Tower Bay area.
Digital lights illuminated the building, transforming it into an illusion of a golden river.
The entire city trembled with the heartbeat of the algorithm.
Ye Jingyi lay intently in the monitoring room of the Financial Supervisory Bureau.
The screen displayed a series of compressed data streams—the total transaction volume of Virtual Coin that day far exceeded twice the system's warning threshold.
She sighed softly, her tone tinged with sarcasm: "Yet another story of nationwide wealth creation."
My colleague waved his hand and said, "As long as the higher-ups don't issue a suspension order, what are we?"
Jingyi didn't answer. Her gaze fell on the faint shadow: an anonymous address repeatedly sending small but frequent encrypted transfers to the offshore region of Japan.
That behavior seemed like something was being deliberately hidden.
A line of text appeared on the icon at the bottom corner of the screen:
Data Source: IlluEx Main Node / Su 09
The financial heart of Newport City seems to be trembling.
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◆Part Four: Signals and Codes
At the same time, in a cheap internet cafe in the old district.
Financial journalist Zhuang Yihang sat in front of a dimly lit monitor, staring at a newly leaked package of information.
The file title was a string of jumbled, encrypted symbols, but at the end it clearly stated:
/LuxLedger/fraud/phase01.json
“Phase 01?” he murmured.
While the parser was running, an unfamiliar signal suddenly popped up on the system:
Sender: NEXUS
Message: Light is not real.
The screen flickered three times, and the file was deleted automatically.
Zhuang Yihang was startled and frantically pressed Enter, but couldn't find anything.
The entire computer seemed to be swallowed up by the algorithm, leaving only a line of dim characters flashing—
Who audits the auditors
The neon lights outside reflected on the glass, as if someone was watching him.
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◆Five: People Under the Illusory Light
It was late at night.
Liang Yicheng sat alone in his office on the top floor of the Void Light Building, overlooking the entire city.
Beneath our feet are the heartbeats of millions of investors, and before us, the rise and fall of billions of dollars in data.
He realized that he was not only the host of the stage, but also the director of faith.
Chen Wanyi's voice suddenly came from the communication channel:
"Nexus has sent an instruction to you to go live tomorrow for the 'Consensus Algorithm 2.0'."
And—they said, don't ask why.
Liang remained silent for a long time, gazing at the sea of lights rising upwards.
He suddenly remembered a sentence his father had left behind when the old-fashioned bank collapsed—
"The more transparent something is, the more easily it breaks."
The illusory sign reflected on the window, overlapping with his empty eyes.
At that moment, he saw not prosperity, but nothingness.
Countless people are chasing the illusion he created, rushing towards the abyss.
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◆Six: Epilogue - The Beginning of the Lie
The following morning, the headline in New Harbour City:
[Virtual Coin breaks 500 credits, setting a new all-time high!]
The moment the news started rolling,
The same anonymous internal email was secretly sent to three different destinations:
Ye Jingyi, Bureau of Investigation and Supervision
Financial Frontline - Zhuang Yihang
Liang Yicheng himself
Sender's signature: Nexus
The theme is only five words—
"Prepare for collapse."
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End of Chapter One.
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