Light Fortress
Chapter 217 - 202 - Night Talk (Part 2)

Chapter 217: Chapter 202 - Night Talk (Part 2)

"That meeting room... is at constant risk of exposure."

"There’s no need to worry," Gu Shen said. "I will repair the meeting room."

Hearing this, Lu Nanzhi’s eyes sparkled.

She was very curious... what kind of extraordinary power did the so-called "key" possess that it could be pinned with such high hopes by Allen Turing, designated as the child of hope who would save the world?

From the conversation just now, she had roughly summarized that Gu Shen could forcefully convene a meeting of the Ancient Literature Society and, regardless of spatial distance, perform a mandatory "spiritual link" with all members of the society.

From this characteristic alone, it was already special enough, powerful enough.

Now it seemed there was even more: the key possessed supercomputing power capable of competing with "Deep Sea"!

Her gaze towards Gu Shen changed.

It was filled with reverence and reflection.

In her view, Gu Shen was like a miniature human brain version of Deep Sea, who even without extraordinary abilities, could match "gods" with his authority as a mere human.

Of course... her conclusion was drawn because she fused the images of "Chu Ling" and "Gu Shen" into one person.

"The ’key’ my father looked for all his life... even until his death, he did not get his wish..."

Lu Nanzhi’s expression grew complex as she looked at the oil paper lanterns swaying in the wind on the banyan tree branches and smiled softly, "Now that I’ve found it for him, I feel I have not let down his hopes."

"My arrival doesn’t seem to have any decisive impact."

After thinking for a bit, Gu Shen said, "To repair a meeting room, to borrow the authorities of Deep Sea... Beyond that, there doesn’t seem to be much more."

He smiled with his hand on his forehead, "After pushing open the Red Door, I thought those members of the Ancient Literature Society, who have been painstakingly searching for the key for so many years, might be convinced the key was some kind of super weapon; upon finding it, they could directly overturn the council, shred the darkness... If they knew the truth, would they be disappointed?"

"No..."

Lu Nanzhi shook her head, her tone resolute.

"Hope is just like that."

"It doesn’t need to be much, a little bit, just a bit is enough."

"Those groping in the dark know... In the absolute darkness, you don’t need much. Only a glimmer of light is needed, and with one glimmer, it is sufficient."

Her voice raspy, she said, "Deep Sea is suffocating darkness for everyone, seemingly bringing endless light to humanity, but in reality, it’s the complete opposite... Under the vast computational power, the entire world is illuminated, and no secret can escape the ’Heavenly Eye.’ When the world is excessively exposed, that is the most terrifying; we can’t see anything, except what ’Deep Sea’ allows us to see."

"Before pushing the Red Door open... you couldn’t possibly understand why I wanted to prevent the passing of the Awakening Bill."

"Perhaps you still can’t understand now."

"It’s not just the conflict of interest with the Zhao Family, nor is it to seek revenge for the tragedy in Lion Alley." Lu Nanzhi enunciated each word, staring hard at Gu Shen, "It’s because... before such a major decision, I cannot trust ’Deep Sea’!"

The lantern crackled and snapped.

This lantern was a "one-time seal" left by Lu Cheng.

As the light fire burned,

a chaotic spiritual element slowly spread, eventually filling the entire courtyard... These spiritual elements were harmless to the human body, but they could effectively shield electronic signals and block eavesdropping.

The lantern was engraved with a complete set of Extraordinary Array Patterns, which, though ancient, were effective and ensured that not a single word of their conversation would leak out in the courtyard tonight.

"Because the ’black points’ of chaos are increasing... the Council began to think early on about the crisis humanity will eventually face."

"Before the Deep Sea appeared, the Council relied on the ’spark’ to eliminate the ’black points’."

"But after the appearance of the Deep Sea... the Council handed this conundrum over to the Deep Sea, and after years of calculation, the Deep Sea concluded that when a region has an excessive amount of Extraordinary Essence, it increases the likelihood of ’black points’ arising. To fundamentally prevent the crisis of the black points engulfing the Five Continents, it’s essential to ensure that the concentration of Extraordinary Essence drifting in the void remains below the threshold."

"And what’s the best way to lower the concentration of Extraordinary Essence?"

At this point, Lu Nanzhi paused.

"Let the Extraordinary Essence... be directly absorbed..." Gu Shen frowned as he spoke.

The answer to this question wasn’t difficult to deduce.

And further conclusions inevitably lead to what many would find "horrific."

The enactment of the Awakening Bill... in a sense, was the best way to lower the concentration of free-state Extraordinary Essence, as all Extraordinary Essence would be absorbed by humanity.

The Deep Sea wanted humanity to serve as the vessel to absorb the disorder—

Thus, the "Awakening Bill" was born.

"Regarding the bill... the highest seat in charge of the spark ultimately chose to tacitly consent."

"The situation in East Continent has been complex these past years because the only influential figure in the highest seat fell into a slumber... Therefore, after ’consultations’ with the Five Continents Council, it was decided to make East Continent the first arena to push the bill. If the bill proves effective, then East Continent will be the first region to reap the rewards; if there are adverse effects, then East Continent is destined to deal with them alone."

"I do not know if the ’Deep Sea’ is sincere in proposing this theory or has another agenda..."

"Nor can I deduce what impact the actual implementation of the bill will have..."

"But I believe that, after reading the warnings left by Allen Turing, humanity should not unconditionally trust the Deep Sea, nor should we unconditionally trust the Federation Council."

"Therefore... I raised my objections."

Having spoken her piece, Lu Nanzhi felt a lot more relieved.

Because of the burden of the Red Door, she could not reveal her father’s secrets to anyone... Over the years, because of the hidden troubles of the Ancient Literature Society, many estrangements had arisen between her and Nan Jin.

The Lu family, it’s enough for one person to bear the weight and journey through the darkness.

She would rather her sister never know this truth.

Similarly... openly opposing the Awakening Bill at the candidate councilors’ speaking meeting also put her under immense pressure.

After that day, the upper echelons of the Hua Zhi Faction were in an uproar.

The vast majority thought this was a "direct retaliation" against the Zhao Family, and Lu Nanzhi, who stabbed them in the back at the last moment, was labeled a "traitorous" and "maliciously calculating" woman.

In truth... the actual truth no longer mattered.

She didn’t care how others saw her, nor did she want to be seen as a "great person" who sacrifices for the future of all humanity. There are millions of truths in this world, and everyone has the right to choose to believe the one they believe.

"I believe in my father, I believe in Mr. Turing, I believe in the Ancient Literature Society, I believe in the key."

Lu Nanzhi said softly, "So, I must try... to keep this Awakening Bill out of East Continent’s door."