Chapter Sixteen: A Conversation

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Something feels a little off. The man in the felt hat thought to himself.

As one of the most renowned cyber domains, Starfall City was not merely a simple virtual metropolis. In a way, Starfall City was also a decentralized blockchain system—essentially, each real-world region had its own exclusive Starfall City, much like a local area network.

Just as countless stars come together to form a brilliant night sky, all these scattered Starfall Cities combined constituted the true “City of a Thousand Stars.”

Regarding a network of this scale, some even claimed that Starfall City was not controlled by any individual or organization, but was instead established by a consortium of artificial intelligences...

However, recalling the so-called “Freedom Revolution” decades ago—sparked by a group of self-aware AIs demanding their own rights, which at one time gained massive momentum only to be crushed swiftly by corporate giants—and the subsequent stringent AI legislation, the man in the felt hat was skeptical of such tales.

In short,

Although there were many Starfall Cities in existence, for most people, moving directly between them within the Abyss was far more difficult than physically traveling through reality to the corresponding region and entering another Starfall City from there.

Yet this individual acted as if intimately familiar with Starfall City, though his registration time clearly indicated this was his first entry into the Paloce region’s Starfall City.

Two possibilities emerged.

Either someone had informed him in advance about Starfall City—but in that case, that person would likely accompany him to guide him through, since entering and exiting Starfall City was hardly troublesome.

Or, he was an outsider.

Someone capable of traversing the dangerous “Wastelands” beyond the city to reach Paloce, while simultaneously possessing familiarity with and immediate access to Starfall City—the underground anonymous trading community...

A dangerous character indeed.

Even with anonymity services shielding his identity, the man in the felt hat had no desire to get involved.

He just wanted to make a bit of money and avoid getting tangled in inexplicable troubles—sometimes, merely hearing a certain phrase, seeing a photograph, or encountering a scene was enough to spell doom.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

“Oh my—”

Muttering with a forced chuckle, he attempted to pull his hand free.

But soon, to his surprise, no matter what he tried, he could not break free.

—How was this possible?

He was a psychokinetic!

A luxury deep-diving pod at a premium price, a massive computing center, meticulously configured calculation services, highly optimized adaptive programs—these were privileges reserved for the wealthy. Most people could only make do with ordinary deep-diving equipment to surf the net.

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Therefore,

Constrained by personal device performance, most people’s virtual “avatars” could not fully manifest their true physical strength. Even if one could shatter a concrete wall with a prosthetic limb in reality, their virtual avatar might be only slightly stronger than an average person.

But due to the nature of the Abyss, psychokinesis could influence the strength of an avatar.

When the equipment fell short, psychic power made up the difference.

He was a first-ring psychokinetic on the Path of Consensus, and although using civilian-grade equipment with limited performance, his first-ring psychic power made his avatar considerably stronger than ordinary individuals!

And yet now, he could not pry the other’s hand loose!

No...

His strength exceeded the other’s by a fair margin; the reason he couldn’t escape was how the other gripped him—was it a grappling technique? Sanda? Or something else?

Damn it! What era was this? How was there still anyone practicing old-school hand-to-hand combat on real bodies?

“Wait a moment.”

Song Shi placed one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointed upward with the other.

“Personally, I don’t recommend you exit Starfall City right now, because I think making a friend is always better than upsetting someone.”

“Honestly, I want to make friends too.”

The man in the felt hat smiled brightly, no longer annoyed at being seen through.

“It’s just that I really have urgent business now. Next time we meet, I’ll definitely buy you a drink. There’s a bar here that’s genuinely good—I recommend their Crimson Dragon’s Breath...”

“I see.”

Song Shi sighed and suddenly released his hold.

“Alright, I’ve taken note of what you said.”

“But...”

“You’re a first-ring psychokinetic on the Path of Consensus, and since you came to Starfall City to make money, I assume you’re an illegal psychokinetic who never reported to the United Government or applied for special talent subsidies.”

“In Paloce, people like you are extremely rare and hard to find.”

“Sigh, it’s a rare meeting, but since you have urgent business, I guess I’ll have to buy you that drink next time.”

At that moment, the man’s expression finally shifted.

Instinctively, he wanted to say some more idle words, but the moment they formed on his lips, he swallowed them back.

With the intuition of a first-ring psychokinetic on the Path of Consensus, he sensed the other was not lying.

But how was that possible?

How did the other figure it out? How could anyone tell?

In two years as a first-ring psychokinetic, no one had ever detected his psychic identity in the network!

No, rather,

How could anyone possibly tell if someone was a psychokinetic online?!

“Although you say you have urgent business—”

“—I’m someone who values friendship above all else!”

Thoughts racing, the man halted his final step to exit Starfall City and suddenly changed his mind, even looping an arm around Song Shi’s shoulder.

But as he did so, he lowered his voice and whispered hurriedly: “Let’s talk somewhere else.”

...

Starfall City (Paloce region).

An online bar called Blue Stone Forest.

Inside a room reserved for “private conversation service,” Song Shi and the man in the felt hat sat facing each other.

Of course, the latter was footing the bill.

“Tell me,”

the man tentatively began, “my friend, do you have anything to say to a friend...?”

He did not waste time with idle chatter.

In an anonymous community like Starfall City, “real identity” was far too sensitive.

Granted, the other didn’t yet know his full truth, but knowing him as an “illegal first-ring psychokinetic on the Path of Consensus, male” was terrifying enough!

Since this was information the other had revealed personally, he had no doubt about the other’s information-gathering abilities.

Even if the other couldn’t do it himself, wasn’t it possible he had hacker allies specializing in information warfare?

Opening sealed files, accessing household registrations, on-site services...

A cascade of such terms flashed through the man’s mind, sending chills down his spine.

“Recommend a few weapons dealers in this Starfall City, and fill me in on the situation in Paloce these past few years.”

Song Shi’s smile vanished.

“Tell me everything you know, and then I’ll tell you how I figured it out.”