The dust of the collapsed bridge hadn't even settled before the world shifted from physical violence to bureaucratic warfare.
The 'Wraith' sat perched on the edge of the jagged asphalt like a wounded bird. Chen-Bo was already on an encrypted line, his voice a low, urgent murmur. But it wasn't just the Lin family responding. Within minutes, the sirens of the Global Stability Bureau (GSB) wailed in the distance—not the standard police, but the heavy-duty investigators who handled "Anomalous Structural Failures."
Lin Yue grabbed my wrist. Her grip was surprisingly strong, her skin cold against mine. "We aren't staying for the statement, Ren. If the GSB gets hold of you, they'll run a bio-rhythm scan that your 'average' grades can't hide."
"I have nothing to hide," I lied, though my heart was still thrumming with the aftershocks of the Earth-Heart Pulse.
[DAO MESSAGE: HOST, SHE IS RIGHT. THE GSB SCANNERS USE QUARTZ-CORE TECHNOLOGY. IF THEY SCAN YOU WHILE YOUR ANGER IS STILL SMOLDERING, YOU'LL LIGHT UP THEIR SCREEN LIKE A SUPERNOVA.]
"Get in the back," she commanded, pulling me toward a hidden compartment in the limo's floor—a reinforced panic room designed for Apex heirs.
While we vanished into the bowels of the 'Wraith,' the fallout hit the upper echelons of the city.
In a skyscraper across town, Zhao Feng was being treated for "minor burns" from his exploded tablet. His father, Master Zhao, was not a man who accepted failure. He didn't care about the bridge; he cared that his son had been humiliated by a "Middle-Tier" brat.
"The bridge collapse was a tragedy," Master Zhao said into a holographic recorder, his face a mask of faux-concern. "But our preliminary data suggests the structural failure was triggered by an unauthorized energy discharge from a student at the scene. One Li Ren. I am officially requesting a Level 4 Investigative Audit into the Li family's genetic and financial history."
The move was brilliant. By framing the accident as my fault, they could use the law to dissect my life. In a world of "Normalization," a legal audit was the modern version of a Sect Inquisition.
The Safe House: Sector 1
The 'Wraith' didn't take us back to the university. It dove into the subterranean tunnels of the city, emerging thirty minutes later in the driveway of a discreet, brutalist villa in Sector 1—the district where the air was filtered and the privacy was absolute.
"This is one of my family's 'off-grid' properties," Lin Yue said, stepping out of the car. She looked back at me, her expression unreadable. "No cameras, no GSB sensors, and no Zhao Feng."
The villa was a temple of quiet wealth. Minimalist stone, waterfalls that flowed upward using localized gravity, and windows that looked out over a private forest.
"You're angry, aren't you?" she asked, leading me into a room filled with ancient physical books and high-end tech.
"I don't like it when people break things," I said, my voice tight. "The bridge was meant to last another fifty years. Now it's a graveyard for commuters."
"And you're the one who saved it," she countered, turning to face me. "Don't bother denying it. I felt the pulse. The ground didn't just 'hold.' It obeyed you."
She walked to a console and tapped a few keys. A holographic map of my life appeared—my childhood home, my school records, and a red dot showing my current location.
"The Zhaos have filed for an Audit, Ren. By tomorrow morning, the Bureau will be at your parents' door. They'll look into your father's engineering logs and your mother's data-sociology files. They'll look for any 'Anomaly' to explain why the bridge didn't fall."
She leaned against the desk, crossing her arms. "I can stop them. I can wipe the Audit request and provide a 'Manufacturer's Flaw' excuse for the bridge. But I want the truth. Why does a student with a 3.5 GPA possess the power to anchor a collapsing world?"
[SYSTEM ALERT: CRITICAL CHOICE]
[OPTION A: MAINTAIN DENIAL (RISK: FAMILY AUDIT)]
[OPTION B: PARTIAL REVEAL (RISK: LIND-GONG INTEREST)]
I looked at the hologram of my parents' apartment. They were innocent. They loved their "Normal" life. I couldn't let the Zhaos tear that apart because I wanted to be a "Sovereign of Silence."
I looked at Lin Yue. My eyes, for the first time in a century, flashed with a hint of the old, golden starlight.
"The Zhaos are playing with fire, Miss Lin," I said, the temperature in the room dropping as my aura began to leak. "And you... you are playing with a secret that was buried for a reason. Are you sure you want to open this vault?"
Lin Yue didn't flinch. If anything, she stepped closer, her violet eyes shining with a terrifying, ecstatic hunger. "I've spent my whole life in a world of 'Normal.' Show me something that isn't."