The city's surface is prosperous and peaceful.
Skyscrapers stand tall, neon lights illuminate the entire metropolis, and the world as ordinary people see it only exists during the day.
But after midnight,
the real city begins to operate.
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Layered Worlds
Layer 1 | The Surface World
Where all ordinary people live.
Government.
Corporations.
Police.
Hospitals.
Media.
Everyone believes that laws maintain order.
Little do they know, the answers to many major cases are already known before they are made public.
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Layer 2 | The Gray Zone
Where the law cannot fully intervene.
Underground transactions.
Cross-border intelligence.
Identity trading.
Illegal commissions.
Corporate moles.
Political interests.
As long as the price is high enough, anything can be traded.
But this is not chaos; on the contrary, it adheres to rules more strictly than the surface world.
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Layer 3 | The Night Veil
The true core of the underworld.
Less than one in ten thousand people know of its existence.
No fixed location.
No organizational name.
No leader.
Everyone relies on "contracts" to maintain order.
Here,
there is no justice, only transactions.
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The Four Powers of the Night Veil
【Intelligence】
Controls the flow of all information.
Representative figure— Dao Yan
The most famous information broker in the underworld.
Anyone can find him, but not everyone is qualified to meet him.
【Execution】
Specializes in completing commissions.
Bodyguards.
Mercenaries.
Assassins.
Trackers.
As long as the price is paid, no mission is impossible.
【Whitewashing】
Responsible for handling the finances of the underworld.
Forged identities.
Companies.
Laws.
Finance.
Media.
Making everything appear legal.
【Intermediary】
Responsible for introducing commissions.
Arranging transactions.
Establishing rules.
No one is allowed to resort to violence in intermediary locations,
otherwise, the entire underworld will hunt them down.
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Rules of Underground Transactions
Rule 1: After a transaction is completed, the source of the information shall not be investigated.
Rule 2: Information that has been traded shall not be resold. Each piece of information can only have one owner.
Rule 3: The underworld shall not arbitrarily kill information brokers. Once information disappears, profits will be lost.
Rule 4: Violence is prohibited in intermediary areas. Any violator will permanently lose their trading qualifications.
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Dao Yan
Identity: Underground information broker.
Codename: NOX
No one knows his surname.
Whether "Dao Yan" is real or fake, no one knows.
Status: He is not the strongest person in the underworld, but he is the one you cannot afford to offend.
Because everyone's secrets might be in his hands.
Dao Yan's intelligence network spans the entire city.
No one knows who his informants are.
They could be:
Coffee shop barista
Bartender
Delivery person
Cleaner
Journalist
Doctor
Police officer
Lawyer
Hacker
Taxi driver
Each person might have just received money,
without knowing who they are working for.
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Dao Yan only adheres to his own three principles.
1. Information is sold only once.
2. Do not sell information about people he cares about.
3. Do not accept insincere transactions.
Therefore, even if someone offers him a billion dollars,
he will still say:
"Not for sale."