The afternoon sun hung high above Ronghe City.
After lunch, Li Wei helped his father move a heavy metal casing in the workshop.
The machine part was from a factory conveyor system that had broken earlier that week.
Li Jian tightened a bolt and stepped back.
"That should hold."
Li Wei wiped his hands with a cloth.
"Do factories always break things this often?"
"Machines run all day," Li Jian replied calmly. "Eventually something fails."
Li Wei nodded.
It was simple logic.
Most of his childhood memories included the quiet sounds of this workshop.
Metal tools.
Motor hums.
Occasional sparks from welding.
Li Jian suddenly spoke again.
"You're stronger than before."
Li Wei paused slightly.
"University gym."
Li Jian simply nodded.
That was enough explanation for him.
Inside the house, Li Yue was still studying.
Her math workbook was open on the table.
"Brother," she called.
"What?"
"This question."
Li Wei looked at the problem.
A calculus exercise.
"You're learning this already?"
"Advanced preparation," she said proudly.
Li Wei quickly explained the solution.
Li Yue stared at him suspiciously.
"You solved that too fast."
"You'll get faster."
"I hope so."
Later that afternoon, Li Wei decided to go for another walk.
He told his mother before leaving.
"Back before dinner."
"Don't disappear too long," Li Lan replied from the kitchen.
Ronghe's streets were quiet in the afternoon heat.
Most people were working or resting indoors.
Li Wei walked toward the city park without any particular destination.
But inside his mind, the Archive Map appeared again.
Several nodes still glowed faintly around the city.
One in particular caught his attention.
Ronghe Industrial History Museum
Distance: 2.3 km.
He had noticed it earlier.
Museums often contained large amounts of archived information.
Which meant a high probability of another node.
Li Wei considered it briefly.
Then started walking.
At the same time—
Su Yan stood outside the Ronghe Municipal Archive building reviewing local maps on her tablet.
The pattern of node activations suggested something interesting.
The activator didn't stay in one location for long.
They moved naturally through the city.
Almost like a tourist visiting knowledge-related places.
Which meant…
Museums were also possible targets.
Su Yan checked nearby institutions.
Her eyes stopped on one location.
Ronghe Industrial History Museum
She looked up.
The building was less than three kilometers away.
"Worth checking," she murmured.
Twenty minutes later—
Li Wei reached the museum.
The building used to be an old factory warehouse that had been converted into a historical exhibition space.
Large iron structures decorated the entrance.
A sign displayed old photographs of Ronghe's early industrial years.
Li Wei bought a cheap visitor ticket and entered.
Inside, the museum contained several large rooms.
Old factory machines.
Historical photographs.
Industrial blueprints.
Models of early manufacturing equipment.
Visitors walked slowly through the exhibits.
Li Wei glanced around calmly.
Then he spoke in his mind.
"System."
[ONLINE]
"Confirm node."
[CORE INFORMATION NODE DETECTED]
LOCATION: INDUSTRIAL ARCHIVE ROOM — EAST WING
Li Wei walked toward the east side of the building.
Just as he entered the hallway—
Someone else stepped inside from the opposite entrance.
Su Yan.
Both of them walked toward the same exhibit area without noticing each other at first.
The archive room was quieter than the main exhibition hall.
Shelves containing old industrial documents and design records filled the room.
Only a few visitors stood near the displays.
Li Wei moved between the shelves.
The system notification appeared.
[CORE INFORMATION NODE CONFIRMED]
[SIGN-IN AVAILABLE]
He looked around casually.
"Sign in."
A moment passed.
Then the system responded.
[SIGN-IN COMPLETE]
LOCATION: RONGHE INDUSTRIAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Another message appeared.
[REWARD GENERATED]
DATA ANALYSIS — LEVEL 1
Li Wei felt the familiar shift in his mind again.
When he looked at the industrial blueprints displayed on the wall, the design structure became clearer instantly.
Production flow.
Mechanical relationships.
Efficiency patterns.
His brain automatically processed the information faster.
"Very useful," he thought quietly.
Then—
The usual alert appeared.
[ARCHIVE NODE ACTIVITY REGISTERED]
[EXTERNAL RESPONSE DETECTED]
At almost the same moment—
Su Yan's phone vibrated.
She looked down.
A monitoring alert flashed.
Energy fluctuation detected — Ronghe Industrial History Museum
Her eyes narrowed immediately.
"So it's happening right now."
She turned and walked quickly toward the archive room.
Inside the archive room—
Li Wei finished looking at the blueprint display and began walking toward the exit.
As he stepped into the hallway—
Someone approached from the opposite direction.
A woman.
Tall.
Sharp eyes.
Calm expression.
For a brief moment—
Their eyes met.
Neither of them spoke.
Just a normal moment between two strangers passing in a museum hallway.
Li Wei continued walking.
Su Yan slowed slightly as she passed him.
Something about the timing felt strange.
She entered the archive room.
But the signal spike had already faded.
She looked around the shelves carefully.
Too late again.
Outside the museum—
Li Wei stepped into the sunlight.
He opened the system interface.
[TOTAL CORE NODES ACTIVATED: 9]
NEXT SYSTEM UPGRADE AT: 10 NODES
"Just one more."
He didn't realize how close he had come to being discovered.
Inside the museum—
Su Yan stood in the quiet archive room thinking.
Her intuition kept returning to the young man she had just passed in the hallway.
He looked familiar.
Very familiar.
Slowly…
She opened her tablet and reviewed the security images again.
Then her eyes widened slightly.
The same face.
Li Wei.
She looked toward the museum exit.
But he was already gone.
The distance between hunter and mystery had just become much smaller.