Midnight. The Bureau's secured archives room.
Kai Lin sat alone, her fingers gliding across a coded terminal screen. Names, files, and redacted records flickered across the interface—until a familiar term appeared:
> "Classified Case: S-Level – Soul Market"
> Status: Sealed. Flagged: Internal Breach Suspected.
> Last Investigator: Lin Qian (Deceased).
She whispered to herself, "So it still exists."
Behind her, footsteps echoed.
Lu Feng entered, holding two cups of hot coffee. "You haven't slept in three days."
Kai Lin didn't look up. "Have you ever heard of the Soul Market?"
He shook his head.
Kai Lin leaned back. "An illegal black net—where souls are bought, sold, and extracted. Spiritual elites are harvested. Their soul energy is refined, sold to rich clients. Some pay to extend life. Others, to awaken power."
Lu Feng's face darkened. "You're saying they hunt people like me?"
"They do more than that. They manufacture awakenings, steal soul patterns, and even—" she paused, "replace individuals through spirit transplantation."
"Why hasn't the Bureau stopped it?"
She looked straight at him. "Because the Bureau helps fund it."
---
Later that night, Kai Lin and Lu Feng descended into the ruins of Sector 13—an off-grid zone marked condemned, where no surveillance existed.
There, they found it.
Hidden behind false walls, beneath a decaying warehouse—an auction chamber pulsing with blue lights and screens. Dozens of transparent canisters floated midair, each containing a flickering, screaming human soul.
Kai Lin growled, "These were meant to be sold tonight."
Suddenly, a voice laughed through the speakers.
"Still so nosy, Kai Lin."
A woman in white appeared via projection, her face hidden behind a porcelain mask.
"You never learned, did you? This is the future. Spirits are just... fuel."
Kai Lin's face hardened. "I'm here to shut you down."
She drew a charm and hurled it.
Boom! The screens erupted in sparks.
> "Self-destruct countdown initiated: 60 seconds."
"Lu Feng! Disable the failsafe!"
He rushed to the central console. His soul chain flared, reaching into the core systems.
"Give me a name," he muttered.
A code surfaced: **Lin Qian's Soul Key.**
"He left this for us…"
With a cry, Lu Feng channeled the key, overriding the destruct protocol.
> "Abort confirmed."
Kai Lin raced to the containment canisters, releasing each soul one by one.
As the last one drifted free, Lu Feng collapsed, breathless.
"I did it… I saved someone."
Kai Lin knelt beside him, hand brushing his.
Her touch was warm.
He smiled weakly.
"You're not alone in this," she said.
And for the first time, he believed it.