Chapter One: The Message After Midnight

Shen opened the diagnostics panel. The message had no server ID or routing trail, yet its signature passed verification with Island's internal key. Stranger still, the sender's account was online at that moment, located at the municipal hospital. He called the hospital and asked whether a nurse named Su He was working. “Yes, the night shift,” the operator said suspiciously. “Who is this?” He hung up. A prank, he told himself. Ten minutes later, the screen lit again. “You won't believe me. You never believe until after you've lost something.” The words pierced a place that had scarred years ago. Seven years earlier, Lin Wan had said almost the same thing. During a storm, she called and begged him to meet her at the old clock tower.