The neural interface at the back of his neck began to heat up again⚡. Lin Ye held the [Phantom‑Gradient‑Edged Cyber‑Stealth Tactical Kunai], his fingertip brushing along its gradient‑layered edges. He recalled the package left on the workshop’s doorstep three days earlier by an anonymous employer, with only a single note: “Slice it open, and you’ll find the answer you seek.”🔪 Three days earlier, in the lower‑level satellite district, an explosion had occurred. Official reports claimed it was merely an aging, leaking energy‑storage pipeline, but Lin Ye had recovered half a neural chip—bearing an encrypted code—at the blast’s perimeter. The code’s prefix matched perfectly the inscription etched onto the kunai’s handle🧬. The underground code‑repair workshop in the Old East District never saw the light of day. Ultraviolet disinfection lamps cast pale violet halos across the olive‑green walls. Lin Ye secured the translucent memory crystal onto the cutting table; when the kunai’s blade gently pressed against it, the crystal didn’t shatter—it instead oozed a faint green fluorescent fluid, the same shade as the blade tip🌿. As the holographic projection flickered to life, Lin Ye recognized the contents: encrypted minutes from a high‑level meeting of the Urban Control Bureau. They had secretly implanted emotion‑regulation chips into every civilian connected to the public neural network. The building that exploded? It was the core data hub storing all users’ genetic information🖥️. The fluorescence seeped slowly through the gaps between his fingers, infiltrating the neural interface he’d just opened. Only then did he remember that, moments before, the passerby who’d asked for directions had eyes of that very same pale green hue—identical to the color of the blade tip. He raised his hand to touch the nape of his neck—and there, somewhere, a faint cyan mark had appeared, perfectly echoing the kunai’s gradient pattern🔹. At that instant, the broadcast from the public neural network abruptly cut out. A sweet, synthetic female voice repeated over and over: “Welcome to the new system.” Lin Ye gazed at the geometric shadow the kunai cast upon the table and suddenly smiled—perhaps he had never been the one seeking answers after all; rather, he had always been the answer itself, waiting to be revealed🎲.