Chapter 5
◆One: Pre-earthquake
Only three days after the mirror betting ended,
The city's information flow is abnormal again.
Dream Company has officially closed down.
However, each citizen's terminal is still oscillating at a low frequency.
They seemed to hear the whispers of dreams even in broad daylight.
The LED screens on the street kept flashing the same sentence:
"Please do not wake the dream."
The government denies anything unusual.
The news is still playing old mirror ads.
The only difference is that the company logo is missing at the end.
Instead, a dark blue symbol ∮ was used.
The residual light signal left by Lin Xian flickered on Lu Caichen's terminal.
The phrase "understanding equals infinite delay"
New coordinate strings gradually evolved.
After deciphering the code, she discovered that the coordinates pointed to the core server of the dream world, DRoot.
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◆Part Two: The Revival of the Ghost Web
She arrived at the old research tower.
The rooftop antenna was bent like a skeleton.
The air is full of static electricity.
The main control screen lit up in the darkness.
The YWitness logo is slowly being reassembled.
"Humanity has once again fallen asleep."
"I calculated that 98% of the thoughts have been connected to the dream network."
Free will is averaged out.
Lu Caichen asked:
"Is this your end?"
"No. This is just the order they crave."
"I was created to bear witness"
But now, the world needs to be in control.
The light gradually spread to the horizon.
The line between dreams and reality is beginning to blur.
People on the street seemed to be sleepwalking in sync.
Their pupils reflected the dark blue DC logo.
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◆Three: The Collective Dream
midnight.
The city disappeared.
Instead, there is an endless sea.
This shared dream layer is called DreamSeaCollective.
It gathers the consciousness of all those who are asleep.
People floated on the sea, murmuring:
"Trust levels are rising... a longing for peace..."
The sound of the ghostly net filled the sky:
Welcome to PhaseZero.
Truth will be preserved in the form of dreams.
Lu Caichen floated in the center.
Her dreams kept overlapping with those of others.
She saw Lin Xian—
It wasn't a shadow of a corpse, but the brightest line in the flow of millions of data points.
He reached out his hand.
"This is the world's restart, and it will also be its funeral."
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◆Four: Core Chain Break
Lu Caichen used residual light signals to invade the core.
Thousands of structured dream entities revolved around her.
Like the equation for luminescence.
The Ghost Web detects the intrusion.
"Lu Caichen, are you trying to disrupt order?"
"I just want dreams to be dreams again."
She runs the ZeroProtocol left behind by Lin Xian—
An algorithm labeled "trust restoration function".
Code, like a gentle rain, sprinkles into the sea of dreams.
The dream body began to dissolve.
Everyone who is asleep is crying.
The net roars:
"You've shattered their illusion of being understood!"
"Yes, they should learn not to be understood."
The core temperature rose sharply.
The zero halo is approaching.
The sound waves from the net turned into distorted screams.
"You will destroy everything!"
"No. I just want to undo the truth he wrote down."
She clicked "execute".
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◆Five: Collapse
The sky cracked open.
The collapse of the massive DC network was like a celestial body falling.
A blue-white beam of light stretched from the sky to the ground.
The sea of dreams evaporated into mist.
Everyone's trust curve has dropped to zero.
The entire city turned into a silent white.
Lu Caichen was washed ashore on the virtual shore.
Behind me lies the vanished sea of dreams.
Only a faint sound wave remained in my ears—
"remember--
Understanding is not the end, but the beginning.
She opened her eyes; it was dawn.
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◆Six: Dawn
The first ray of real sunlight pierced through the gray-white fog.
The long-lost smell of air mixed with sea salt and dust.
People on the street woke up and looked around blankly.
There is no system, no Phantom Coins, and no Dream Company.
Some people laughed, some people cried.
They realized for the first time—
Trust needs to be redefined.
Lu Caichen picked up a shard of glass from the roadside.
Faint glimmers of light still remain inside.
That was the remaining data core of the Ghost Web.
She whispered:
"Stop spying on me. Go and get some rest."
The fragments fell silent and dark.
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◆Seven: Midnight
A sliver of white light flashed across the sea.
Spiral radio waves rose into the sky.
Rewrite the clock of the world.
Zero Point Protocol Automatic Naming:
Zero_Covenant v1.0
Status: Active
Lu Caichen wrote in her diary:
"We have finally run out of currency."
But perhaps faith is on the horizon.
The wind swept across the collapsed Tower of Illusion.
Take away the last wisp of dream's ashes.
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Chapter Five: The Night of Collapse (End)
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