---
The message blinked once—encrypted, untraceable.
It had come through Gu Ning's second phone, a burner she'd configured herself using memory—precise, layered knowledge from her past life. Though it looked ordinary, the inner workings were anything but. Six layers of rerouting, adaptive decoys, time-randomized ping intervals.
The kind of digital cloaking only someone like Dex—her late mentor and hacker ally in the previous life—could've taught her. Now, she was the only one alive who remembered it.
The sender ID was even more unusual.
Observer.0
No tags. No affiliation. No trace.
She narrowed her eyes and typed.
> [Gu Ning]: Who are you?
[Observer.0]: A client. With vision.
[Gu Ning]: Vision doesn't impress me.
[Observer.0]: I can make BlackViper irrelevant. Interested?
She tapped her fingers against the windowsill. Calm, assessing.
> [Gu Ning]: Meet me.
[Observer.0]: Not yet. But I'll send a delivery. Your terms.
And just like that, the line went cold.
---
The Next Morning – A Package with No Return Address
The school courtyard buzzed as usual, but Gu Ning moved through it with her senses open. Not paranoid—precise. Something was about to land.
It did.
A delivery boy, eyes averted, walked up with a flat package. "Gu Ning. Signature here."
She didn't bother. "Leave it."
It was light, matte-black, sealed with a heat-sensitive strip. Inside: a single blood-red USB drive and a piece of parchment paper.
> "Every empress builds her own kingdom."
She turned it over. No signature. No tech brand.
Not dangerous. But important.
She slid the drive into a secured tablet that ran in an isolated environment—something she had assembled quietly, repurposing parts from a discarded campus server unit. Her memory did the rest.
---
The Drive Contents
Blueprints. Polished and precise.
A VR storefront engine. Fully immersive. Plug-and-play templates for luxury retail, equipped with integrated crypto-authentication, real-time behavior tracking, and personalized AI concierge experiences.
The file tree was massive. Professional. Possibly stolen or pre-launch.
The author signature was buried in the metadata:
O0 Framework
Then a final text document:
> "BlackViper offers visibility.
I offer you structure.
Build the palace, and they will come.
Choose now."
Gu Ning's breath came out in a slow stream. Whoever Observer.0 was, they weren't playing small.
She opened a blank sketchpad.
This… wasn't just tech.
It was a weapon.
---
Later – Lin Yuhan Reacts
Lin Yuhan stood across from her in the abandoned library basement, eyes fixed on the floating screen.
"You realize what this is?" he said, stunned.
"A battlefield," she answered.
"This isn't just a storefront. It's a full-stack VR commerce empire. Who gives something like this away?"
"Someone who wants something bigger later."
He turned to her. "And you?"
"I'm going to rebuild it. From scratch."
He blinked. "You don't trust it?"
"I trust what I make."
She tapped a sequence on her tablet. "It's fast, but it's not secure. I'll keep the shell. Rewrite the core."
Lin grinned. "And call it what?"
"FENIX," she said. "Let it rise from fire."
---
That Same Night – Expo HQ
Zhou Fen, the youngest Expo Committee advisor, stared at the wildcard submission on her private panel.
The preview demo ran itself. A glowing golden avatar moved fluidly through a surreal, luxury VR showroom. Jewelry hovered, rotated, adapted to customer faces in real-time. The interface shimmered like silk.
Final frame:
> FENIX: Where Luxury Rises from Code
And then, a whispered phrase:
> "Every empire begins with fire."
Zhou leaned back, thoughtful.
"This… isn't student work. This is corporate-grade," she muttered.
She marked it FLAG FOR PRIVATE REVIEW.
Then dialed a private number.
"We have a situation," she told BlackViper.
---
BlackViper HQ – Growing Threat
The screen in BlackViper's office played the demo loop again.
"She's working off a ghost protocol," his assistant reported. "No school registry. No traceable origin."
BlackViper narrowed his eyes.
"Observer.0," he muttered. "Find the source."
"And if we don't?"
"We don't need to find them," he said darkly. "We only need to control her."
---
The Calm Before the Expo
Back at school, Gu Ning sat beneath a tree behind the gym, her notebook resting on her knees.
Lin Yuhan arrived with a quiet step and a coffee in hand.
"We've had three blind offers from buyers who saw the demo," he said.
"Ignore them," she replied.
"Why? Some of these have six-figure starting bids."
"Because it's not for sale."
He smiled. "You're building something bigger, huh?"
She looked at him, eyes clear.
"I died once chasing someone else's empire. This time, I build mine. On my terms."
---
Nightfall – The Return of Observer.0
Her second phone blinked once.
> [Observer.0]: You've named it.
[Gu Ning]: FENIX is built.
[Observer.0]: You improved my framework.
[Gu Ning]: I remembered what you forgot: security.
[Observer.0]: Good. That's why I chose you.
[Observer.0]: Someday, I will ask something in return.
[Gu Ning]: I know.
There was a pause.
Then:
> [Observer.0]: For now—
Build. Burn. Rule.
Gu Ning smiled and deleted the chat history.
Then she whispered:
"Don't worry. I brought matches."
---