The Dawnlight glided silently through the vast sea of stars, its engine’s low hum reverberating through the cabin, sharply contrasting with the quiet outside. Tara leaned against the porthole, arms crossed, her gaze piercing through the thick glass, fixed on the planet slowly coming into view—Cyber Eye.

  Sky Dome Tower rose like a sharp blade, piercing through the heavens and pointing at the stars. The tower’s body was wrapped with countless transparent elevators and spiral observation corridors, with dozens of micro hovercars climbing and swirling along invisible magnetic tracks every second. The spire pulsed with a blinding blue light, scanning the planet’s surface every thirty seconds like a mechanical giant eye that never closes.

  At the city’s edge, suspended ring-shaped overpasses intertwined into twisted M?bius loops. Countless aircraft zipped through them, their afterburners dragging colorful light trails behind. Giant holographic billboards floated in the sky, playing the latest promotional video from the Federation Corporation—a blonde woman smiled, the liquid in her crystal glass shifting colors with each gesture: “Fountain of Life, Federation-made, long life guaranteed.”

  Next to it, a two-hundred-story skyscraper had an entire facade made of pixel screens, flashing countless colored squares at random, occasionally forming a smiling face that winked at space.

  On the city’s lower levels, neon tubes wrapped densely around building surfaces, flashing red, purple, and blue in sequence, dyeing the entire city in a bizarre dreamscape. In the industrial district, chimney stacks belched fluorescent green smoke, creating a stark contrast with the towering luxury residences reaching into the clouds.

  “Whoa, this place is fucking awesome!” Tara suddenly exclaimed, shattering the cabin’s silence. Her voice carried excitement, and her wide eyes looked like they might devour the entire scene. “That tower—it’s like a monster that grew straight outta hell, sucking up all the light around it. And the city down there? Looks like a sleepless lunatic, flashing lights all over the damn place!”

  Ethan walked over slowly to stand beside her, following her gaze. Pointing at the Sky Dome Tower, he said in a low voice, “That’s Sky Dome Tower, the Federation Corporation’s core structure on Cyber Eye. The planet-wide surveillance network spreads out from there. They’ve got eyes everywhere on the surface. But we’re not landing on this side.”

  Tara turned, raising an eyebrow. “Not here? Then where are we going?”

  “Underground.” Ethan’s tone was calm but left no room for argument. “The underground city of Cyber Eye is larger and safer than the surface. The Federation’s surveillance may be thorough, but the underground sprawl is too vast for them to fully control. We can lie low there and find allies.”

  With a metallic click, the Dawnlight’s hatch opened, and the team began to disembark. The metal floor beneath their feet was cracked and oil-stained, creaking with every step. A deep mechanical rumble echoed from afar, like a slumbering beast breathing beneath the ground.

  They entered a narrow underground alleyway, flanked by a dense array of stalls. Dim yellow lights flickered erratically, casting distorted shadows. Floating holo-signs blinked slogans like: “Exam Hacks, Level 3 in a flash!” and “Federation Fake IDs—Guaranteed Authentic!”

  Nick led them through the labyrinthine alleys, twisting and turning until they arrived at a massive circular shaft. He pointed downward: “This is the gateway to the real underground city.” As they stepped onto worn metal steps, the space widened, slowly revealing a breathtaking underground world.

  The deeper they went, the more expansive the space became, and the more astonishing the sights. The underground city wasn’t just a cave—it was an inverted, twisted metallic labyrinth that defied physics. The entire structure resembled an upside-down tree, with branches growing downward, connecting to the surface at the top, and its crown stretching toward the planet’s core. Thousands of decrepit caves, weathered wooden huts, and irregular shacks clung to the central light column, held precariously in place by rusted chains and fraying ropes.

  Most peculiar of all was how people lived—due to the geography, every home was built at strange angles. Some were nearly vertical, others completely upside-down. Residents walked on slanted floors, using nails and ropes to secure their furniture, forming a chaotic yet fascinating lifestyle. Some shacks even swayed gently with the underground airflow. The locals were used to it, relying on crude counterweights to keep balance.

  The central light column wasn’t high-tech—it was an enormous abandoned industrial pipe. Years of water leakage had fostered a layer of glowing moss on its surface, emitting a faint blue glow. People had drilled countless holes into it, rigging primitive winches and baskets. Every day, crowds of residents crammed into these rickety lifts, operating crank wheels and pulleys to move up and down. The tangled mesh of ropes and chains looked like a messy spiderweb—but it was the underground city’s only transport system.

  On the plaza below, street magicians performed for small crowds. A blue-skinned girl pressed her palms together, and as she slowly opened them, a rose made entirely of pure water floated in midair, each petal refracting multicolored light. Nearby, an old man stabbed a common knife into his palm without bleeding—once the blade passed through, it split into dozens of tiny metallic butterflies, which flitted about the audience before reforming into a knife again.

  But the most eye-catching act came from a young man with no arms. Embedded in his forehead was a diamond-shaped crystal. When he closed his eyes, a dozen translucent “phantom limbs” extended from his body, simultaneously playing virtual instruments in midair. The resulting harmonies were both eerie and breathtaking.

  The air was thick with a strange mix of smells—sulfur from underground, motor oil from cyborgs, the cloying sweetness of fluorescent mushrooms from the underground farms, and ever-present cheap synthetic fragrances. Despite the rudimentary ventilation ducts, the blend lingered everywhere, like a shared scent imprinted on the city’s people.

  “My god,” Rebecca stood at the edge of a crude lift basket, eyes wide. “I’ve only ever been to the surface of Cyber Eye. I had no idea the underground was a whole other world.”

  Lila looked around, her eyes soaking in every technical detail with excitement. “Look at these DIY-modified devices! That booth over there is using a power converter that’s been obsolete for ten years, but they’ve tweaked it to be more efficient than standard models. The underground’s creativity far surpasses Ashen Valley.”

  Tara leaned casually against a rusty railing, wearing a rare look of satisfaction. “At least there’s real life here. People, stuff—not like Ashen Valley with its endless dust and ruins.” Her eyes instinctively scanned the crowd, assessing potential threats, only to be surprised by the absence of fear so common in Federation colonies.

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  Nick added in a low voice, “The underground network of contacts is Cyber Eye’s true treasure. The intelligence trading here is more valuable than any weapon.”

  Vendors’ cries echoed from all directions, forming a strange kind of subterranean music:

  “Rare parts—not sold in Federation zones!”

  “Homemade bio-enzyme, cures in three sips!”

  “Mining blend, boosts stamina!”

  Their calls mixed with the creaking of pulleys and wheels in the narrow corridors.

  As they wound through a few wooden walkways and turned past dangling vines and cables, Lila suddenly tugged Ethan’s sleeve, pointing at a stall belching multicolored smoke, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “What’s that? The whole place is crowded around it!”

  They squeezed through the crowd and saw a plump old woman sitting cheerfully in a battered folding chair, a seemingly ordinary limestone sphere placed before her. A handwritten sign, scrawled in flamboyant strokes, read: “Ancient Magic—10 starcoins a try! Guaranteed to amaze!” The woman patted her chest and grinned mysteriously, “This isn’t just any magic. This is native Cyber Eye sorcery—outsiders never get to see it!”

  Lila couldn’t resist. Her tech-savvy nature compelled her to crack the mystery. “It just looks like a regular mineral. How could it possibly—”

  Before she could finish, the old woman tapped the sphere lightly with her crooked finger. A soft click sounded, and countless fine cracks spread across the sphere’s surface, glowing with a soft emerald light. In the next moment, it bloomed like a flower, transforming into a lifelike mechanical hummingbird. Its wings fluttered so fast they were nearly invisible, emitting a crisp chirping sound.

  “Holy shit!” Lila gasped, her expert mind already analyzing. “That’s not a hologram… Could it be a mineral-phase transformation tech? I’ve never seen it used this way!” Her fingers twitched, desperate to take it apart and study it.

  The old woman smiled mysteriously and folded the hummingbird back into a stone ball. “Old craft, old hands. Not all miracles can be explained by your Federation science.”

  Ethan was just about to pull Lila away from wasting time when he realized Tara had somehow wandered to the adjacent stall. She was already holding a pile of bizarre items—a skewer of charred bugs, a stinky green blob, and a faintly glowing stick. She proudly showed off her haul: “Try this! Said to be glow beetles from deep underground—grilled, they enhance night vision.”

  “And this,” she continued, holding the glowing green sludge, “comes from the underground fungus farms. Helps with radiation poisoning. Tastes kinda like over-fermented casein, but works wonders!”

  Rebecca instinctively took a step back, waving her hands. “Thanks, but… I’ll pass.”

  The stench was like rotting fruit mixed with burnt rubber—she wrinkled her nose.

  Nick hesitated before accepting Tara’s offering. His military training had taught him to adapt, but these underground snacks were clearly out of his comfort zone. “Thanks for the thought.”

  Tara shrugged indifferently and bit into something that looked like a cross between a plant root and a tentacle. “You guys are too stiff. If you want to blend in, you gotta embrace local customs.” She chewed thoughtfully, then smiled in surprise. “Tastes way better than those nutrient bars. Real chew to it!”

  Lila burst out laughing. “Looks like we’ve found our team’s culinary explorer.”

  But her eyes kept flicking back to the old woman with the stone sphere, clearly still haunted by the technical marvel.

  Rebecca looked around. Despite the unsettling conditions, she couldn’t deny the city’s incredible vitality. People of all types lived and traded here, exchanging goods and information, forming a functioning society entirely outside the Federation’s grasp. She murmured to Ethan, “This place might be more valuable than we thought. If we can build ties here, it’ll greatly help Rebirth Corporation.”

  Ethan nodded in agreement and gently guided the team forward. “Keep moving. Stay alert, but don’t scatter. We need to find Otis—every second counts.”

  The group made their way through the bustling alleys of Cyber Eye’s underground city, arriving at a small stall piled high with worn-out books. The vendor was a man so skinny he looked like a walking stick, wearing a grimy monocle, shouting in a hoarse voice, “FQC secrets! Guaranteed to pass Level One! Don’t miss out—last chance!”

  Lila stopped, frowning as she picked up a book with a yellowing cover. Flipping through a few pages, she looked up at Rebecca with her usual disdainful tone. “What the hell is this FQC exam? Why is everyone here so obsessed with it like they’ve gone mad?”

  Rebecca took the book and glanced at the grease-stained pages. Her response was simple and to the point. “FQC stands for Federal Qualification Certification. It has eight levels, from Level One to Level Eight, covering hundreds of different exams. Held four times a year. Anyone over sixteen can take them. Passing means you get Federation recognition—and a chance to change your fate.”

  She paused, then added, “Cyber Eye is the only designated test site by the Federation Corporation. People from across the star system have to come here to take the exams.”

  Tara leaned against a nearby metal pillar. Upon hearing that, she raised an eyebrow and scoffed. “That magical, huh? And I’ve never even heard of it? This dump decides people’s lives?”

  Ethan stood beside her, hands in his pockets, his gaze sweeping over the bustling crowd in the distance. He spoke quietly, “That’s because of information asymmetry. A lot of people don’t even know what FQC is. Even those who do have no idea which tests to take—so they just take wild guesses. Some stay stuck on Level One their whole lives. Others pass effortlessly.”

  He paused again, then sighed. “A few years ago, a genius passed the Federation’s highest-level technical certification—FTC Level Eight—at just twenty years old. Rumor is he got perfect scores on every level.”

  Lila gave a dismissive snort and casually folded the page’s corner, a mocking smile on her lips. “Another system for screening out obedient little lapdogs. Boring as hell.”

  She glanced at Rebecca. “Lemme guess, you Federation elites had to take this stuff too?”

  Rebecca nodded, her fingers gently brushing the edge of the page. Her voice was calm but carried a hint of complexity. “Yeah. FTC is the top-tier technical exam within the FQC system. Evan and I both took it. Ethan, the guy you mentioned—that genius—was Owen, right? Victor’s most trusted right-hand.”

  She looked up at Ethan. “You were talking about him, weren’t you?”

  Ethan nodded slightly, his tone laced with emotion. “Yeah. Owen Pierce. Joined the Federation Corporation young and has been with them for over a decade—utterly loyal.”

  He frowned slightly, his voice lowering, “I still don’t get it. How can someone that brilliant be willing to serve Victor so loyally?”

  Tara let out a cold snort, suddenly kicking an empty can at her feet. It clattered noisily into the crowd. She ground her teeth and said, “FQC, FTC—what bullshit. Just breeding more Federation lapdogs and leeches. Sounds just like the damned colonial army to me.”

  Ethan glanced at her, his lips twitching slightly, as if agreeing but choosing not to comment. He simply nodded in silence.

  Nick, at the back of the group, remained silent. His face grew darker by the second, eyes locked on the ground, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. The noise of Cyber Eye seemed to fade around him. His thoughts were clearly pierced by something sharp, brimming with barely concealed pain.

  Lila threw a glance at Nick, then casually tossed the book back onto the stall. Stretching lazily, she muttered, “So if I want to get into the Federation’s tech department, I have to jump through this idiotic hoop first? Tch. What a waste of time.”

  Rebecca gave a helpless smile. “In theory, yes. FTC is your entry ticket to the tech department. But it’s not easy.”

  Tara scoffed loudly, cutting in. “Hard? My ass. Just another brainwashing tool for those pompous assholes. I’d rather slice them up with a knife than take their stupid exam!”

  Ethan finally spoke. His voice was low but firm. “Whatever it is, their rules don’t apply to us. We didn’t come to Cyber Eye for tests—we came to find allies. The people down here hate the Federation just like we do.”

  A brief silence settled over the team. Everyone’s eyes instinctively flicked to Nick, but no one said a word.

  The stall owner seized the moment to chime in. “Hey, don’t just stand there! This secret guide’s only fifty starcoins—guaranteed pass on Level One! You buying or not?”

  Lila rolled her eyes and flung the book back on the pile. “Fifty starcoins for a bunch of trash paper? What do I look like, an idiot?”

  She turned and walked away, muttering under her breath, “Still… this FQC thing’s kinda interesting…”