In 2055, a groundbreaking invention hailed as the "Babel Problem Solver" was finally declared a success after more than a decade of painstaking collaboration among leading scientists from several countries: the LinguaCore Chip.
This neural interface device, no larger than a grain of rice and implanted beneath the skin behind the ear through minimally invasive surgery, can capture and analyze signals sent by the brain's language centers in real time. By seamlessly connecting to a database of the target language, it instantly converts thoughts into speech and decodes incoming messages.
Its arrival completely shattered the language barriers that had long stood in the way of communication between human civilizations. In theory, as long as you were on Earth, this newly redefined "village planet," you could communicate as naturally as in your mother tongue with locals, no matter what dialect or language they spoke.
Of course, this convenience of "no matter where you are" did not extend to Mars or other dangerous regions of outer space, which remained off-limits to humanity and had extremely poor communications environments.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye, and the year was now 2058. Night fell over LD City in the country of Mi, an international metropolis known for its rainy weather and rich history.
The daytime haze and bustle had faded into the night, replaced by dazzling holographic billboards, neon lights, and streaks of light racing along magnetic levitation tracks. The whole city was immersed in a dazzling, surreal din.
Inside a mid-to-upscale bar in the city center called Titanic Embers, soothing jazz flowed through air thick with the scents of cigar smoke, expensive perfume, and whiskey
