Light Fortress
Chapter 153 - 141 After the Collapse of Order

Chapter 153: Chapter 141 After the Collapse of Order

"Do you want to take a look?"

"About... the Tenth Floor of Huazhi’s underground..."

Cui Zhongcheng’s voice echoed in the elevator.

Gu Shen did not respond immediately.

Within a few short seconds, he was lost in thought. The implications from Tomb Ghost had been very clear—if Huazhi was indeed conducting live experiments... then it was highly likely that they had situated this project on the tenth floor.

With a "clang,"

Cui Zhongcheng had taken the initiative and made the decision for Gu Shen. He pressed the elevator button for the tenth floor. The only other people in the entire Huazhi Building with this access, besides the honorable members of parliament, was him.

By the time Gu Shen realized what was happening, the elevator doors had already opened.

Cui Zhongcheng stepped out slowly.

Gu Shen could only follow behind.

The tenth underground floor was an extremely secure base, overall tinted a dark gold, as if forged from bronze, very retro in design.

"I believe Huazhi wouldn’t..."

Gu Shen had just begun to speak when his voice abruptly stopped because, as one bronze door after another opened, they revealed a series of cylindrical transparent chambers. Nutrient fluid flowed inside the chambers, where curled-up infants lay dormant.

These were all young children.

And their stages of growth varied.

Some appeared to be just a month old, while others might have been around one or two years of age, but the one thing they all had in common was that their eyes were closed, all in a deep slumber currently.

"What you see before you is what Tomb Ghost referred to as the so-called ’experiments’ against morality... But unfortunately, there’s nothing to shy away from because this has been a mature bill passed by parliamentary vote a long time ago. Not only in Da Du, but people in Changye City are also doing it. We call it the ’Genetic Revolution Bill’."

"Tomb Ghost was just a pawn; without gifts from the parliament, he would have neither the status nor the privilege to understand any of this."

Cui Zhongcheng’s expression was calm. He stopped walking and faced Gu Shen, speaking indifferently, "Your teacher, Zhou Jiren, has long known what secrets were buried on the Tenth Floor of Huazhi’s underground... As for the underlings, they do not need to know any of this."

Gu Shen gazed at every one of those children slumbering in their chambers.

The infants immersed in the nutrient fluid, their ideologies adrift in Chaos, some children who had grown up in nutrient chambers already had hair, undulating like seaweed. Everything in the bronze base felt lifeless, who could have thought that there would be rows of vivid, living beings here.

"Should I feel happy..." Gu Shen said softly, "You’re telling me all this, clearly you don’t see me as ’just another underling’ anymore."

"Don’t get me wrong; based on the current power hierarchy, you’re still a small fry. The team leaders of the Sincere Heart Association are at least Transcendents from Deep Sea Fourth Level, and even they are superior to you," Mr. Xiao Cui said evenly, "I simply don’t want you to do anything foolish in the future based on what Tomb Ghost said... like exploring the secrets of the tenth floor on your own."

To the big shots, this secret wasn’t really a secret.

"Since you brought me here to see, then you’re acknowledging my... potential."

Gu Shen walked slowly to a nutrient capsule and looked at a baby inside, suddenly feeling a complex and sorrowful emotion, "I have a few questions to ask, what was the council’s purpose in agreeing to genetic engineering? After these children are created, what will their fate be?"

"..."

Cui Zhongcheng did not answer this question.

He came to Gu Shen’s side.

"During last night’s conversation on the river bank, Zhou Jiren convinced the council member to let you join the ’New World’ project. He said he wanted you to witness the process of the bill being pushed forward, but in reality... what he hopes is for you to understand why we are making all these efforts behind the scenes."

"Those of us in the public eye, including Tomb Ghost and of course myself, are merely pawns."

Cui Zhongcheng said softly, "To accomplish something, sacrifices are inevitable... Some sacrifices are tangible, like death or destruction, while others are intangible, like concealment or deceit. In the ’New World’ project, my assigned task is simple: to ensure every pawn, under my coordination, can stand in the position they should be in, to ultimately complete this arrangement. In this arrangement, whether tangible or intangible, sacrifices are always inevitable."

"So... Tomb Ghost doesn’t need to know too much. He just needs to know that during the implementation of this project, I can fulfill all his demands."

Gu Shen looked at Mr. Little Cui with a complex expression.

So, this also means... the authority Xing Yun has in the implementation of the New World project might very well be fake.

He experienced concealment and vaguely felt he was being kept in the dark, prompting him to explore the secrets of the Tenth Floor.

"The execution of the Awakening Bill is, in essence, a response to an imminent major crisis in the human world." Cui Zhongcheng touched the children in the nutrient capsules and spoke softly, "The emergence of Extraordinary Essence has led to the world of the Five Continents beginning to collapse... The disintegration of order means something you might not yet grasp."

He slowly walked to the end of the two rows of nutrient capsules, and the bronze door opened, revealing a very small storage cabinet. Under layers of Purple Silver, an extremely tiny black dot hovered inside the cabinet.

"Look."

"When logic is destroyed and the framework ceases to exist... it creates an ’abyss’ like this one."

Cui Zhongcheng spoke impassively, "The Huazhi Building was constructed to cover up this core truth. At the location of the Tenth Floor underground, a collapsing ’black dot’ originally appeared. If no measures were taken, this black dot would spread endlessly, until it swallowed the entirety of Da Du... There are already many such black dots."

"This is the consequence brought about by the collapse of order."

Mr. Little Cui looked at Gu Shen and whispered, "Once the disintegration of Extraordinary Essence begins from within, there is no way to stop it. The Purple Silver here needs to be replaced regularly, ensuring no accidents occur. During the period the building was constructed, the radius of this black dot of collapsed logic would increase by one millimeter a year."

"One millimeter a year..."

Hearing this, Gu Shen felt somewhat relieved.

The speed was not fast.

"You must be thinking, it would take a thousand years for it to grow by one meter. And how big can one meter be?" Cui Zhongcheng spread his arms to indicate a distance, turned his head to look at Gu Shen and said, "But... what if I tell you that the number of black dots in this world is far more than just one, and there are many places we haven’t discovered, and the number of black dots increases every year?"

Gu Shen’s expression gradually became somber.

"If I tell you more..."

"What if the world outside the Five Continents has already been destroyed by the collapsing black dots of order?"