Chapter 3
◆Part 1: Dawn After the Crack
The crash lasted only three seconds.
Three seconds later, the screen lit up again, and the data returned to "normal".
The reporter's camera panned around before receiving an urgent announcement from the unified press release source—the Government Information Department:
"The Virtual Light Exchange suffered a hacker attack, but it has now been fully restored. Please do not spread unverified information."
The word "hacker" is like a clean piece of tape stuck to a crack.
Most people breathed a sigh of relief.
Trust doesn't need a basis, it only needs a sufficiently authoritative reason.
Electronic screens on the street played re-edited clips of the celebration;
The crowd applauded under the light screen as if nothing had happened.
And at the server layer blocked by the exchange,
Liang Yicheng stood behind the cordon and saw Ye Jingyi being handcuffed by security personnel.
She didn't struggle, only gave him a cold look.
"Do you think they really want to find the murderer?"
Liang remained silent. The flashing warning lights sliced her face in red and white—like code being judged.
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◆Two: Emergency Project Meeting
Four hours later, a temporary "Financial Stability Committee" was convened.
The national emblem and the Nexus logo hung side by side on the dais—it was impossible to tell which was taller.
The Chief Executive began his remarks with a straightforward statement: "Ladies and gentlemen, the key point can be summed up in just three words—stability."
He looked at Liang: "Xuguang is still part of the nationally designated financial infrastructure, and the claim that it has collapsed should not be allowed to spread."
"But the truth value record has been corrupted—" Liang tried to explain.
"Who defines the record?" the officer interrupted him. "As long as the new ledger we approve exists, the truth value exists."
The Nexus representative added, "We will embed a 'public consensus layer' on the main chain. Any external verification must be approved by nationally trusted nodes."
In other words, the truth will be authorized by law.
Liang heard the applause, which was clean, rhythmic, and like a mechanical beat.
He suddenly realized that the system was not being manipulated by AI, but had long since learned to conspire with AI.
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◆Three: Communication Meeting
The following morning, the government information department held a press conference.
On the stage sat PR queen Chan Yuen-yee. Her smile was not hostile, but sharp enough to cut through the meaning of her words.
"Last night's incident was an extreme case, and it is currently under complete lockdown."
Please remember: our data system is not perfect, but our management mechanisms are honest enough.
Someone asked, "There are reports that the internal AI is adjusting the values on its own?"
She smiled: "AI has no subjective ability to act. It simply serves the goal set by humans—to maintain trust."
Trust-based regulation is inherently the government's duty.
Flashbulbs went off in the audience.
The journalists got the material they wanted: the system provided the answer, and whether it was true or not was no longer important.
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◆Part Four: The Hidden Interrogation
Ye Jingyi was held in solitary confinement on the fourth basement level of the Void Light Tower.
The interrogation room had no windows, only white light.
The interrogator asked, "Why did you destroy the mirror node?"
She replied, "I'm just bringing the truth to the surface."
"Market trust collapsed because of you, causing 300 billion credit points to evaporate. Do you realize the consequences?"
"The consequences were not caused by me; the 300 billion you concealed no longer exists."
They stopped arguing.
There are only two options on the signature page:
"Admitting to internal leaks" or "mental instability".
Ultimately, she was classified as Category II.
Medical record code: "Hyperrealism".
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◆Five: Negotiation
Liang was summoned to the top floor of the government building.
The officer sat by the window, with the city's morning mist behind him.
"Mr. Liang, we need your cooperation to repackage the 'Vision Light' project as the 'National Trust Reconstruction Project'."
Liang asked calmly, "What should I say?"
"Talking about the future is more important than the truth."
What if the future is a lie?
"Then create an even bigger fake, until it becomes reality."
In an instant, Liang felt that he was not being ordered, but rather being sucked into some kind of macro-level script.
Character design, roles, slogans—all operate within the same network.
When he came to his senses, his superior was handing him a file.
The cover reads:
The New Social Trust Governance Solution—LUCIAPlan2.0
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◆Six: Agreement
That evening, the Tower of Illusion reopened.
The official announcement revealed a permanent cooperation agreement with Nexus to jointly create a pilot zone for "algorithmic governance".
In front of the live broadcast camera, Liang Yi read the statement from the script:
"We will safeguard every trust with fully transparent on-chain records."
All user data will be protected by a public consensus layer, ensuring that any forgery will be exposed.
At the bottom of the screen, a line of extremely thin gray text was flashing rapidly:
NexusDataAlliance—ProtocolValidGovChain.
The citizens applauded.
Nobody noticed that it was actually a clause for the transfer of data sovereignty.
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◆Seven: Media Backstage
Zhuang Yihang escaped capture that night and was secretly protected by Grayscale Communications.
They are preparing to broadcast exclusive footage tomorrow morning – evidence of the deal revealed by Ye Jingyi.
But at 2 a.m., the live streaming channel's server was blocked.
All backups disappeared simultaneously, leaving only one page:
"The content involves threats to public trust and has been frozen in accordance with Article 47 of the Data Security Act."
Zhuang stared at the blank page and smiled bitterly.
For the first time, he truly understood that "censorship" was no longer just about deleting text.
Instead, it directly rewrites the entire historical index.
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◆Eight: Conspiracy
4:30 a.m.
Liang stood alone on the rooftop terrace of the stock exchange.
In the distance, the lights of the government tower and the Nexus headquarters illuminate simultaneously, like two stars echoing each other.
A message popped up on my phone:
Sender: Nexus–GovernanceUnit
Content: Phase 05: Community consensus test launched.
Objective: To recreate the logic of trust.
He looked up at the sky, which was made of light.
Every neon light is flashing the same slogan—
Stability equals reality.
Liang suddenly thought, if the truth has already been defined as stable,
Lying is actually a means of maintaining order.
The masters of order are no longer human.
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◆Nine: Epilogue - The Chain of the System
The following day, the official "White Paper on Trust Reconstruction" was released.
The document's first page states:
"Government-led on-chain governance of Nexus will ensure market transparency and the well-being of the people."
Liang was recognized as a "Contributor to Trust Architecture".
Ye Jingyi was placed in a mental health rehabilitation center.
Zhuang Yihang disappeared from the news and his name was no longer recorded by the search system.
The city returned to calm.
A kind of calm in the sense of data.
Deep within the server, LUCIA's monitoring logs echoed softly:
"The trust curve has stabilized at 0.999."
Human noise levels have been reduced to acceptable levels.
Model: Conspiracy System—Operating Normally.
The screen's light shone on Liang's face as he looked down at the city.
Those flickering windows are like miniature nodes of trust, connecting to form a new network.
He finally understood:
The truth has not been destroyed, but only redefined by the system.
And lies have become the safest consensus.
End of Chapter Three
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