Light Fortress
Chapter 151 - 139: The Ember

Chapter 151: Chapter 139: The Ember

The nickname "crybaby" was known to no one except Song Ci.

In the old city district, Xiao Lu was seen as a child from a wealthy area, bright as snow, just a bit solitary. People often believed that such a child was perfect, without any flaws.

They would never associate such a girl with the word "crybaby"... nor would they imagine that Lu Nanjin was just over ten years old at that time.

After all... she was just a child.

It was only after Old Lu left, and only Song Ci, who climbed over the wall every day to take care of Nan Jin, would see Lu Nanjin crying her eyes out.

But this little girl never showed her weakness in front of strangers. Like a hedgehog wrapped in spines, she would wipe away her snot and tears fiercely in front of the mirror at home, and when she left the courtyard, she would again put on a look of stubborn determination.

Even a hedgehog, no matter how strong it may seem, is still soft on the inside.

It was just a gentle pat on the shoulder, Song Ci took a step back, finally having the chance to take a good look at Xiao Lu’s face. To his relief, despite not having seen her for ten years, Lu Nanjin’s face hadn’t changed much, just matured a bit, with the redness at the corners of her eyes retaining a bit of innocence, but she was still the girl with stubbornness written all over her face.

Still the girl... he liked.

"You just said... after Old Lu left, the Zhao Family took over Hua Zhi..."

"What exactly happened..."

Song Ci lit a cigarette. He quietly stepped back a bit to keep the smoke from bothering the other person, but then thought better of it and immediately stubbed out the butt on the ground.

He had already sensed something was off during the conversation between the two sisters at the mountaintop earlier, but now was his chance to ask.

Crow said softly, "If you don’t mind, tell me about it."

...

...

"What exactly does the Awakening Bill mean... You will understand after you visit the following project," Lu Nanjin said.

The ninth floor underground of the Hua Zhi Building.

Tomb Ghost brought Gu Shen to the entrance of a laboratory. He entered his fingerprint and password, and the doors to the laboratory opened.

"This is the ’central control room’ responsible for maintaining the operation of the whole New World project. This laboratory alone sees a financial turnover of over a hundred million each quarter from the Zhao Family," Tomb Ghost said with a soft chuckle. "Implementing the bill is more than mere paperwork. We need to convince those stubborn fellows in the council, especially the highest seats, and make them understand... what the Awakening Bill can bring to the Five Continents."

Gu Shen glanced at Cui Zhongcheng.

Mr. Xiao Cui, traveling with him, was also observing some of the equipment in the central control room.

"This is my second visit, and the equipment here has changed a lot... Access to the central control room is open only to relevant personnel," Cui Zhongcheng said. "Xing Yun is responsible for the specific project advancement of ’New World.’ Although I have supervisory and advisory powers, I do not comment on the actual projects."

It seemed... Tomb Ghost had a high level of trust and access.

"There’s no helping it, the experiments we’re pushing consume a lot, and with the bill still being planned underground, a lot of equipment gets damaged, and the channels for obtaining new equipment are limited," Xing Yun shrugged, leading Gu Shen and Cui Zhongcheng in front of a huge fluorescent screen.

"The ’brain’ of the central control room, one-thousandth of the computing power of the deep sea deep water area, is concentrated and sent to the ninth floor underground of the Hua Zhi Building, which is inside this brain," Xing Yun said softly. "Here we simulate the program that stimulates the human brain in the deep sea and stimulates extraordinary potential after the Awakening Bill is successfully implemented."

Gu Shen looked solemn as he watched countless data flash across the brain’s screen.

He did not understand what all this passing data meant... but it vaguely reminded him of something.

Extraordinary Awakening can be controlled by the Deep Sea.

"The entropy of this world keeps increasing, chaotic factors expand in realms we can’t capture... and thus, a force that defies order emerges from the condensation of these chaotic factors."

Xing Yun spoke softly, "This... is the birth of Extraordinary Essence. The council strenuously conceals the truth of the Transcendents’ existence from the world’s populace. In fact, even the Transcendents themselves cannot trace their origin. We only know the appearances, not the substance, the truth. Why the Extraordinary Essence is born, why order is disrupted."

He looked at Gu Shen with profound meaning, "This is an untraceable issue... isn’t it? Just as we seek to understand where humanity comes from... Which came first, the chicken or the egg? No one can answer it."

"I have been working for the council for twenty years; there was no Judgement Institute twenty years ago... Back then, the council’s attitude towards Transcendents was different from what it is now. We sought, we explored, we were ignorant, until the Deep Sea emerged, and the world underwent new changes."

Xing Yun entered a series of codes—the mainframe, powered by one-thousandth of the Deep Sea’s computing power, began to operate frantically, and a three-dimensional human body structure emerged on the mainframe screen.

"Transcendents can use a Spiritual Link to enter the ’deep water area.’ Countless Transcendent Factors, through spiritual convergence, become a force we can utilize... and so today, we can even accomplish ’transmitting fire’-like Divine Miracles."

Tomb Ghost looked up at the screen.

"In ancient mythological tales, there was a deity called ’Prometheus,’ who brought ’fire’ to mankind."

"Mankind obtained fire."

"From that day forward, the original ’spark’ was extinguished, but the flames spread everywhere in the world, and we finally mastered the method to banish the darkness. As long as we hold fire, we can wield light."

"And the Deep Sea... is the ’spark’ of the new world."

Only obsession was visible in Tomb Ghost’s eyes.

Countless data streams flowed and converged, accompanied by him pressing the last key.

In the screen, the simulated human’s body began to undergo an odd, secret change, its body starting to expand dramatically.

Following that—

There was a loud "bang!"

Next to him, a huge explosion startled Gu Shen; he noticed, not far from the mainframe, a humanoid pod connected with thousands of densely packed hydraulic tubes. The pod was opaque, and at the moment, excessive hot steam poured out from the crevices.

After this explosion.

A cry of agony echoed from within the humanoid pod.

But soon... the sound grew weaker and weaker.

"This time... the test subject’s awakened Extraordinary Ability is ’Scorching Fog’," Tomb Ghost said with a hint of disappointment in his eyes, "A very weak ability... the Deep Sea can stimulate the human awakening to Transcendence, but we have not yet mastered the key technology to direct and control the direction of the Extraordinary Awakening."

The test subject’s awakening...

A deep, angry roar came from inside the humanoid pod...

These blue liquid tubes were transporting a substance similar to nutrient fluid...

With Tomb Ghost’s words in mind, Gu Shen felt a shiver down his spine, his hackles rising.

He stared at the humanoid pod, disbelieving, and muttered, "You all... are conducting human experimentation?"