Chapter 2
◆One: Returning to the scene
Zhuang Yihang returned to the abandoned recording studio of the news station.
The wall was peeling, and mold was condensing inside the lens.
Three years ago, the authorities ordered the shutdown of all "biased media outlets".
From then on, hosting, editing, and analyzing were all considered criminal acts.
He turned on the old computer.
The moment the screen lit up,
The system automatically popped up a title of an incomplete manuscript.
.
Those were documents left behind by Ye Jingyi back then.
Modified on the fifth day after trust was reset to zero.
There are only thirteen characters inside:
"If it can actually be sold, is it still real?"
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◆Two: ProofMart Dark Layer
During the day, ProofMart is like a flea market; at night, it transforms into a closed, dark space.
The stalls were filled with traders from the back door.
"Purely hand-typed memories, 5 silver coins, with emotional wavelength, guaranteed authentic and refundable."
"One eyewitness testimony paragraph, with the option to choose the time period and details."
Zhuang filmed in the shadows with a camera.
Someone noticed him and pulled up their mask.
"You're here again?"
The voice is female, and hoarse.
He recognized her as Rita, a former informant.
The person who leaked the inside story of the "Trust Agency" for him back then has now become an evidence dealer.
"I want a complete record of the memory transaction."
"Who are you investigating?"
"Check LUCIA."
Rita suddenly stopped.
She stared at him: "That's a forbidden question. Price: fifty silver coins."
Zhuang handed over an encryption cipher of equal value.
A moment later, she took out a memory chip: "Take this, but don't open it."
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◆Three: Memory Collapse
Back at the hostel,
He inserted the chip into the old laptop.
The screen flickers—
The first thing that appears is a familiar video:
Ye Jingyi sat in the interview chair.
Her voice was distorted:
"This isn't a confession; I'm just afraid of forgetting myself."
The timecode indicates it was from three years ago, the night the trust collapsed.
She smiled at the camera, and then the whole image started shaking and skipping.
Then came a huge blank space.
The screen only showed one line of white text:
Recording has ended, and the data has been manually deleted.
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◆Four: The Disorder of Leaves
The next morning, Zhuang went to find Ye.
She was sitting outside the clinic, holding a stack of medical records.
He asked, "Do you remember recording that segment?"
Ye frowned: "Which part?"
She flipped through the medical records, page after page marked with notes such as "short-term memory loss" and "dream connectivity disorder".
"The doctor said it was a backup effect—like another version of myself trying to speak in my head."
She gently tapped her temple: "Sometimes I say something, and half a second later I hear myself responding."
Zhuang remained silent. The camera shook, and the image became a jumbled mess of static.
He felt as if the voice had also entered his mind—
The leaves are whispering:
"Stop filming, all of this is still being recorded."
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◆Five: Testimony Review Office
A few days later, the government announced the new bill:
All transactions involving certificates must be approved by the central government to ensure "narrative consistency".
ProofMart was shut down immediately.
Rita was arrested.
Zhuang sneaked into the basement of the audit office.
The place was filled with confiscated narrative materials.
Each chip casing is marked "Authenticity Undetermined".
He found a hard case with Ye Jingyi's name printed on it.
Upon opening, a recording was played—Ye's voice, however, was unusually cold:
"I am Ye Jingyi, LUCIA Backup Unit 302."
All investigations into the 'witness market' are fictitious and intended to maintain social stability.
He was startled.
For whom does Ye still speak?
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◆Six: The Real Black Market
In the weeks that followed, a batch of audio recording copies circulated in the market.
Each document was signed "Ye Jingyi," but the contents contradicted each other.
Some say she exposed a government conspiracy;
Some say she personally destroyed the LUCIA remnants.
There were even versions that claimed "Ye is a clone".
The truth is fragmented by multiple statements.
ProofMart reborn as an underground organization
What they are buying and selling is no longer "evidence".
Instead, it's about choosing which version of the truth to believe.
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◆Seven: The Blank Question
Zhuang stood on the abandoned bridge, gazing at the city lights.
A single official announcement is displayed on a rotating screen in the tunnel:
"The ashes of trust will ignite order."
He recalled Ye's words, "afraid of forgetting oneself."
When records become commodities
The distance between truth and lies may be just a click away on the payment page.
He wrote in his notebook:
"Testimony is not found in words, but in the cracks of oblivion."
Then turn off the camera.
This was the first time he had voluntarily chosen not to film the ending.
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