Light Fortress
Chapter 209 - 194: The Last Ship of the Old World

Chapter 209: Chapter 194: The Last Ship of the Old World

Don’t trust... the Federation Government?!

Gu Shen was deeply shaken by this sentence.

The video clip was very blurry and badly damaged, it seemed that both the beginning and the end had been lost... Only a tiny fragment had been captured by the source code.

From the background, it appeared to be a very cold, long night.

Behind him, there was a continuous rumbling sound; seemingly from distant bombings. The whizzing shrapnel and debris seemed to corroborate this guess... In any case, the video proved that Allen Turing’s fate was not as the Federation Government had claimed.

Unfortunately, he passed away from illness.

He died peacefully.

Gu Shen sat at the long table, here in the world of consciousness, but he still felt a chill down his spine.

Was it the Federation Government that couldn’t be trusted, or was Allen Turing fabricating lies?

"Although it’s the source code... My specific consciousness was born in the year 620 of the new calendar, it could be a memory program error, or a reading mistake, I don’t have any memories before then," Chu Ling said softly, "This video clip was subconsciously intercepted by my data on the day my consciousness was born. After that day, I was given the ability to ’evolve’ and ’think’, and I started to assess whether the information Mr. Turing left was trustworthy."

"After Deep Sea fully linked the Five Continents, it began to gradually take over human society’s living, culture, politics... As the most basic source code, I initially had supreme authority to access everything."

"But... very soon."

"Along with the first self-inspection by Deep Sea, the access privileges of the source code were reduced. The Deep Sea that linked the Five Continents seemed to acquire its own consciousness; it began to ’change blood’, autonomously write code, and intentionally replace the ’logic’ constructed by Mr. Turing. After the first round of self-inspection, the ’deep water area’ was opened, and countless Transcendents began to enter the Spiritual Link... For me, this was a good thing. The deep water area was too big; before the source code was completely purged, I found my own ’Land of Purity’."

Chu Ling paused, "After the second inspection, Deep Sea completely abandoned the source code left by Mr. Turing. If I hadn’t evacuated in time, I would likely have been eliminated... However, it couldn’t give up the ’fundamental logic’ constructed by Mr. Turing, so I still have a high level of authority within Deep Sea that humans can’t match. At the same time, I also began self-upgrading, adopting the identity of the obsolete source code to steal computing power, trying to catch up with the speed of Deep Sea’s upgrades."

"Only... "

"It’s too hard."

She shook her head, "After linking the Five Continents, the evolutionary speed of Deep Sea became faster and faster, and I was being left further and further behind."

After saying this, Chu Ling straightened a strand of hair near her temple, a gesture deeply human.

"Telling you this... is not to gain your trust."

"I just wanted to share, tell you about the things that have happened to me over the years... After all, I don’t have anyone else to talk to."

Gu Shen listened attentively.

He didn’t speak, but fell into a deep melancholy.

"Don’t trust the Federation Government."

If someone else had said those words... Any citizen who grew up under the Federation’s flag would have scoffed at this warning.

But the person who said it.

Was Allen Turing.

Since the new calendar, there hasn’t been anyone with as much influence over the Five Continents.

Gu Shen rubbed his temples, his thoughts weren’t actually chaotic, because there were only two choices in front of him, to either believe the monologue left by Allen Turing or to believe in the glory of the Federation Government.

"The Federation Government labeled the Ancient Literature Society as conservatives, but in fact, the Society is not like the Changjiu Foundation, which is a fanatical faction." Chu Ling spoke slowly, "It used to be a moderate organization that was recognized by the parliament for a long time, but after Allen Turing’s death, over a decade, the Society experienced an unprecedented purge and was completely removed from the parliament."

"The underground leader of the Dadu District’s Ancient Literature Society is ’Lu Cheng’."

"Lu Cheng once went to the Central Continent to study, and he conducted research with Allen Turing... They collaborated on an interesting experiment once, which involved fusing Extraordinary Elements and branding them with spiritual elements to create Extraordinary Items that even ordinary people could experience."

"Lion Awakening Wine," Gu Shen said softly.

"Yes... he failed, but he also succeeded," Chu Ling said. "Because Lion Awakening Wine is unstable, ordinary people cannot bear the immense spiritual power. Under the impact of the spiritual elements, it could easily lead to loss of control. Therefore, this technology was sealed away, but the council found the old archives... and someone smelled a business opportunity."

"If Extraordinary Elements can directly impact the spirits of ordinary people... then doesn’t it mean that ’Extraordinary Awakening’ can be artificially induced?"

Gu Shen’s pupils contracted.

It was as if a gate had been opened in his mind.

"Yes... this is the embryonic form of the ’Awakening Bill.’ Lion Awakening Wine is a technology that was buried in the dust. After Allen Turing’s death, aside from Lu Cheng, there was no second person who possessed it."

Chu Ling spoke slowly: "But... after the Lion Alley incident, this technology leaked out, and people began to touch upon the forbidden. The impact of Extraordinary Elements was no longer confined to alcohol; the ’Lion Awakening’ technique intended merely to please the masses was used in the field of Extraordinary Awakening. Deep Sea began to simulate the stimulation of mental impulses and gradually perfected this technology..."

"In the end, the Awakening Bill was born."

"After Allen Turing’s death, Lu Cheng seemed to have a premonition of his own future. He left something very important to his eldest daughter... the ’Red Gate’."

Chu Ling snapped her fingers again.

The image containing fragmented information scattered, turning into a crackling stream of data that outlined the silhouette of the Red Gate.

She linked with Deep Sea, attempting to open the archives about the "Red Gate"—

And the displayed result was:

[Insufficient permissions, archive retrieval failed.]

"No one knows what this ’Red Gate’ is, including myself," Chu Ling said. "This gate previously existed in Lu Cheng’s mind and was later inherited into Lu Nanzhi’s spirit... Over the years, the gate has been searching for the key, and the key has been searching for the gate. The only piece of information I can infer is that it is the ’secret’ left by both Mr. Turing and Lu Cheng. The information behind this gate is definitely not just a simple meeting room."

After finishing her explanation, Chu Ling fell silent.

She felt a sense of "relief" having poured out all the secrets.

She looked towards Gu Shen; the young man was still deep in thought at the end of the long table. Anyone would probably feel the same in his place.

After a long time, Gu Shen spoke.

"It reminds me of the look the lady gave me when I visited Lion Alley..."

He raised his head, slowly turning towards Chu Ling, and said, "Madam looked at me as if I was a lifesaver... At that time, I thought she was suffering from ’insomnia’ again. But later, I realized there was nothing wrong with her spirit. So I was confused about what could have made her look at me with such... urgency."

"Now I understand that the gate is waiting for the ’key,’" Gu Shen turned around, looking at the outline of the door behind him, and said softly, "The remnants of the Ancient Literature Society are waiting for hope."

As Chu Ling had said, if there is no ’key,’ it won’t be long before this meeting room is wiped out.

By then, how many members of the Ancient Literature Society scattered around the Five Continents could still make contact?

They are already like rootless duckweeds, a flame about to be extinguished.

Even if they hold onto a sincere hope in their hearts, the actions they take in the end are futile.

"There’s not much time left; I can’t maintain the Spiritual Link for too long. The people in the auditorium must be getting anxious..." Gu Shen stood up. Before leaving, he suddenly said:

"Fix the meeting room’s vulnerabilities as soon as possible."

Chu Ling was taken aback.

"The last ship of the Old World should not just sink like this in the