Shen An didn't speak for a long time.
We sat on a rooftop balcony of the Ascendant Healers Guild, where golden sunlight filtered through cultivated spiritual vines. Her hands never stopped moving—plucking herbs, grinding petals, adjusting the ambient Qi flow—but her eyes never left me.
"Everyone said you died," she finally murmured. "That the Emperor ordered your core shattered for treason."
"I did die," I replied. "Just not the way they think."
I told her everything. The moon base. The System. The man in white.
She listened in silence, then stood and opened a small side panel in the greenhouse wall. Inside was an archive chip, plain and silver.
"This is all I've gathered," she said. "I was too afraid to act, but I never stopped watching. Someone scrubbed your name from every official record."
I took the chip. The moment it touched my skin:
[Encrypted Data Detected – Clearance Mismatch.
Decrypt Using: Imperial Core Access or Archive Key Fragment]
Of course. The Empire didn't leave doors open.
"I need to get into the Imperial Archives," I said.
An raised an eyebrow. "You'll be killed before you cross the second tier. It's locked by bloodline key."
I smiled. "Then I guess I need a new identity again."
Hours Later – Tier Two Market Sector
I walked through the crowded alley wearing new robes dyed in the Ministry of Stars' midnight blue, a forged pass tucked into my sleeve. My hair was braided high like a mid-level technician, and the spirit threads woven through my sash shifted to blur facial recognition scans.
[Alias Active: Yue Lin – Astronomical Records Consultant]
Faction Affinity: Neutral – Monitored]
The Archives sat like a buried beast beneath the Capital's highest tower, accessible only to those carrying a Celestial Seal—or someone pretending to audit the Tower's Spirit Pulse Calibration Logs.
Luckily, the system had helped me fake one.
Scene: Imperial Archives – Hall of Silent Memory
The air inside the archives was unnaturally still. No spirit flow. No voices. Just shelves of pulsing data crystals, stacked higher than any eye could follow.
A young acolyte approached, his eyes glazed from hours of chant-duty. "May I assist you, Master Yue?"
I smiled faintly and handed him the pass. "Level Four inquiry. By order of the Star Calibration Council."
He bowed and vanished into the shelves.
I had minutes—maybe less.
[Activating Data Scan… Searching: Subject – Shen Li
Records: Restricted, Imperial Access Only.
Bypassing Level Lock… Success.
File Reconstructed: 14%]
Suddenly, a sharp voice sliced through the stillness.
"I thought you were dead."
I turned slowly.
A man stood in the aisle. White cloak. Bronze insignia.
It was him.
The man from the moon.
Only now I could see his face—sharp-jawed, amber eyes, flawless features sculpted by cultivation and cruelty.
[Target Identified: Ji Wen – Imperial Shadow Commander
Threat Level: High
Status: Former Crown Prince's Retainer]
"You were supposed to vanish," he said, stepping closer. "But you came back. Why?"
My hand twitched toward my blade. "To find out who destroyed Shen Li."
"You were too dangerous," he said simply. "Too loyal. Too powerful. We needed a villain. So we made one."
I felt something snap inside me.
"And the Emperor agreed to that?"
Ji Wen tilted his head. "He chose the empire over you. As we all did."
I struck.
Blade met blade in a hiss of Qi. I twisted left, ducked low, and swept his leg—but he danced away, faster than expected. I kicked off the wall, flipped, and slashed across his chest. Sparks flew.
[Combat Triggered – Class: Shadow Duel
Ji Wen Skill: Imperial Edge Form (Rank S)
Countermeasures: Shadow Orbit Step + Spirit Interference Thread]
He landed two quick blows across my ribs—but I planted a spirit thread into the ground and used it to launch myself forward. My foot caught his shoulder.
He staggered.
"You've improved," he muttered.
"I've remembered who I am."
I used the moment to slam a data crystal into my wristband.
[Download Complete – Archive Fragment: Crownfall Protocol Log Alpha
% Synced: 21%]
Then I activated a flash thread bomb and vanished into the smoke.
Later – Abandoned Temple Sector
Shen An met me under cover of night, her spirit beast flitting nervously at her heels.
"I got the file," I said, pressing the still-glowing crystal into her hand.
"What was in it?"
I looked at the stars above—the same ones Shen Li had once charted from the palace observatory.
"They built the charges before the rebellion even started," I said. "They planned the entire Crownfall Protocol in secret, and they used Shen Li as the fall."
"But why?"
[New Objective Unlocked: Locate Crownfall Master List
Possible Location: Vault of Eternal Balance – Tier 1]
I met her gaze. "Because someone didn't want the Emperor saved. And now I know who to ask."