Dockside Verge pulsed with restless energy. Ever since Kai had returned from the ruins beneath the city, something in the atmosphere felt… aware. As if the shadows behind street vendors and neon signs were watching.
Even the TradeNet was acting strange.
When he opened his console that morning, there was a new tab he hadn't authorized:
HOLLOW WATCH– Access Level: Undefined– Origin: Hollow Node 7B– Status: Observer Active
Kai frowned. "Echo, did you install this?"
The AI replied with a cold hum.
"No. This presence… predates me. It has linked to your system through observation rights, not code."
"Observation rights?"
"A Watcher has taken interest."
Curious and slightly on edge, Kai decided to test the waters of the Hollow market. He had only enough funds to unlock one trade item from the Tier Alpha catalog.
He selected the cheapest—but also the most curious:
Chrono-Dust Capsule (x1)– Price: 25 C.U.– Function: Reverse local time by 6 seconds– Warning: Highly unstable, one-time use, dimensional drag possible
He transferred the units.
The trade processed instantly, but this time, instead of a digital acknowledgment, the capsule materialized directly onto his table—a swirling glass orb filled with shimmering dust that bent light like a black hole.
Yena leaned forward, whispering, "You're not actually planning on using it… are you?"
Kai looked at it for a long moment.
"No. I'm going to sell it."
His plan was simple: sell the capsule to a high-end black market contact known only as Madame Vo—a quiet operator with ties to multiple off-chain syndicates and illegal tech brokers.
They met in a private booth beneath the Verge Bazaar. Kai kept the capsule sealed in an adaptive nanocase.
Madame Vo's mechanical eye focused on it. "Hollow tech… where did you get this?"
Kai smiled. "From where the Chain won't admit exists anymore."
She chuckled softly. "Dangerous man, aren't you? I'll give you 120 C.U. for it."
Kai didn't flinch, but Yena almost dropped her glass.
"One-twenty? For six seconds of time reversal?"
Vo tapped the table. "That's worth lives in the right hands."
Kai nodded. "Deal."
He transferred the capsule.
Cosmic Units surged into his account instantly.
+120 C.U. ReceivedNew Balance: 133.4 C.U.
On the walk back, Kai felt lighter. Richer. Smarter.
He had bought forbidden goods and sold them in less than 12 hours.
This was the power of the Hollow Chain.
But when he logged back into his system, something had changed.
A new message sat in his inbox—encrypted in symbols older than Galactic Common.
It auto-translated with a hiss:
To the One Who Trades from the Forgotten Node:
"You have disturbed the silence.You sell what should remain locked.The Chain does not forget.
Continue, and the Watchers will respond."
There was no name. No sender ID. Just a timestamp—and a warning.
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Let them come."
Yena looked at him sideways. "You sure about that?"
He smiled.
"No. But if they come to trade—I'll profit either way."
That night, he upgraded his node interface using part of the credits, re-establishing faster uplinks and improving data encryption. He also opened a new trade route via sub-node 9C, routed toward an asteroid colony with a desperate need for off-world medicine.
With a Hollow market supply and a legal system front, he was about to bridge both sides of the galaxy.
Kai was done surviving.
It was time to build his empire.
Current Status:
Kai successfully purchased and sold a forbidden Hollow Chain item—earning +120 Cosmic Units from a black-market transaction with Madame Vo. His bold move has placed him on the radar of an unknown entity—referred to only as "The Watchers."
He now sits at 133.4 C.U., his highest balance yet, and 225.9 Earth Credits after expanding his legitimate small medical supply operation.
But whispers have begun circulating across the Chain.
A trader, unranked and unconnected, is awakening the Hollow.
And those who remember the old trade wars… are watching.
📌 Author's Note:
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— S.A.