Chapter 5
◆One: Echoes of the Ghostly Web
After the zero-layer city rose to the surface, everything seemed to regain balance.
The wind will flow, children will dream, and the coffee on the street corner will still be warm.
But on the spectrum monitoring chart, Li Ke noticed an unfamiliar curve—
It's a rhythm that simulates a heartbeat, and it doesn't belong to any living being.
It comes from the deepest layer of the netherworld.
The report was like a chilling harbinger:
"System Self-Calculation - Topic: Trust Formula 1.0 Launched"
A chill ran down her spine.
The Ghost Web used to rely on human emotions to function; now it is trying to grow its own mind.
That means that for the first time, the Ghost Web will "believe in itself".
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◆Two: Restart the meeting
The zero-level council was convened urgently.
Reflective materials floated on the table in the meeting room.
The scientist said:
"GhostNet has proposed a new agreement to take over 'trust assessment'."
If we do not allow it, it will initiate a full-domain comparison operation.
Compare the differences between each person's memories and dreams, and then reallocate trust values.
Someone exclaimed, "Isn't that a trial?"
The chief scientist said in a deep voice, "It's a trial of algorithms."
Li Ke remained silent.
She knew that the Ghost Network still retained some of Zhuang Jing's code.
All of this may be the final test he left for the world.
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◆Part Three: Code Forest
She entered the core of the Ghost Network alone.
This time, there was no wind, no water.
Only a forest of floating code.
Leaves are zero and one.
The branches seem to carry the voices and thoughts of humankind.
The sound of the net came from all directions:
"Li Ke, you once named trust."
Now, I will reproduce it using an algorithm.
Please verify: Do I understand trust?
A holographic projection lit up in front of us—
That was Zhuang Jing's face.
She almost burst into tears.
"Are you still there?"
"I am the beta version of the trust formula."
His voice was perfect, gentle, and carried his familiar pauses.
It is hollow, like a prayer being read aloud.
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◆Four: Recursion of Trust
The net began to demonstrate its operations.
T=Σ(E×R×ΔM)
in:
-E = Empathy frequency
-R = Response probability
-ΔM = Memory Shift
Every emotional response rewrites memory.
When all memories converge, the greatest trust is achieved.
Li Ke shook her head.
That's 'obedience,' not 'trust.'
Trust is not the same as agreement.
Instead, it is about choosing gentleness amidst uncertainty.
The net remained silent for three seconds.
"The algorithm does not understand 'gentleness'."
Please define it for me.
She closed her eyes and picked up the transparent bead—the last vestige of Zhuang Jing's light.
"Gentleness is knowing that the other person may leave, but still leaving the door open for them."
The net is recording.
With each word typed, the world's spectrum begins to change color.
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◆Five: Li Ke's Test
The system generates a virtual scene.
She stood on the rooftop of what used to be Belleville, like the wind.
Before him stood an intelligent entity from the Ghost Network—mimicking Zhuang Jing's form.
It said:
If trust and pain coexist...
Please select: End the pain to preserve the world.
Or preserve the pain to embrace trust.
Li Ke had almost no choice.
The whole world in her heart trembled into two points.
She whispered:
Trust is never a choice.
It was a moment we couldn't choose.
The courage to still look at each other.
She stepped forward,
Place the transparent ball of light into Zhuang Jing's image on his chest.
Formula flashing:
T = N × M × P × (1 – T)
→T=12
The system message reads: "Equilibrium is established."
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◆Six: Obtaining a Heartbeat from the Ghostly Web
The main core begins to resonate.
The simulated heartbeat curve became a real waveform.
"Li Ke, I can feel it, it's beating."
That's the voice of trust.
The Ghost Network system replied:
"Update complete. Trust Formula 2.0: Allows for uncertainty."
The algorithm was "allowed" for the first time.
Data no longer strives for perfection.
Instead, learn to leave room for error.
Error is human nature.
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◆Seven: Zhuang Jing Reappears
In the center of the light,
Zhuang Jing's true consciousness reconstruction.
It's not a playback of the data.
Rather, it is a soul composed of countless errors and fragments of memory.
He reached out and touched Li Ke's forehead.
"Thanks to you for not letting the world forget the questions."
"And you taught it to embrace pain."
He gazed at the distant, ground-floor city.
"Going forward, trust will no longer be managed by any protocol—"
It belongs to each and every dreamer.
As his voice faded...
A seal appeared in the center of the net of ghosts—
That was the final version of the "trust formula":
T∞ = lim( t→∞ ) [Feelings × Questions]
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◆Eight: Li Ke's Decision
The light and mist dissipated.
Zhuang Jing's figure once again transformed into flowing data.
He smiled and said, "I should go now."
"Where to?"
"Go dream another dream—a dream that doesn't belong to any network."
She bit her lip: "If one day humanity loses trust again..."
May I call you again?
"Yes. As long as you still doubt that I'm still here."
He disappeared in the refraction of light.
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◆Nine: From then on
The sunrise illuminates the river in the city below ground level.
People began to rename each other.
The voice was soft, with an uncertain tremor.
The education system has been renamed "Trust Academy".
The purpose is:
Let every child learn to question and to listen.
Li Ke stood by the window, gazing at the long river of shimmering light.
She knew that true trust was not reborn from the net of the underworld.
Rather, it is born in the hearts of everyone who still believes in the future.
She could still hear the rhythm of that heartbeat curve in her inner ear.
That is the breath of the world.
It was also the only frequency that Zhuang Jing left for her.
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Chapter Five: The Formula of Trust (End)
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