Light Fortress
Chapter 221 - 206: Soul Chain

Chapter 221: Chapter 206: Soul Chain

"The reason we can confirm that Xiao is dead...is because tonight in the Dadu District, several ’missing persons’ suddenly appeared."

"These people are concentrated in South Bay, Huazhi, and in the underground organization of Sincere Heart Association on both sides."

"At the moment when the evil spirit died, Deep Sea lost the Spiritual Link with these ’missing persons’ in the Dadu District. In the process of tracing the records, it was discovered that the links to these people were faked by virtual ports..."

Gu Shen sensed deeper issues: "Does that mean...that all along, their link statuses were disguised?"

"Correct."

Zhou Jiren spoke with deep meaning, "The councils of the five continents have long reached a consensus that Deep Sea could not possibly make a mistake, even when carrying billions of thought links, they still firmly believe that this machine could not be wrong... This time, the S-class file has completely overturned the council’s perception. The appearance of these missing persons validates that someone can indeed forge link statuses."

"It’s a terrifying matter, if there’s one, there may well be a second..." Zhou Jiren paused for a moment, looked at Gu Shen, and said seriously, "Council-related personnel will thoroughly investigate the underlying logic of Deep Sea, they need to find the specific reason Deep Sea was deceived. Do you understand what I’m saying?"

This sentence was somewhat like a direct reminder.

Gu Shen felt a cold sweat break out on his back.

He was able to borrow Deep Sea’s authority because he had the assistance of the "source code," which was an official backdoor left by Allen Turing, so what means did Xiao have?

Turning off the lights in Freedom Hall, cutting off private channel conversations, and accessing high-level files, these were clearly "taboo" acts that could only be done by invading the Deep Sea system... How was he able to do these things?

Xiao’s death, in some ways, had a very negative impact on himself!

Without a doubt, this matter would ring alarm bells for the council... They would surely investigate anomalies in the deep water area and once again push for a further upgrade of Deep Sea. Was the old man telling him these things just a coincidental slip of the tongue?

Or was it...an intentional warning?

However...no matter how Deep Sea is upgraded and changed, it could never completely replace its original underlying logic from the time of its birth.

That is to say, the source code would always find a crack in the door.

This time, Chu Ling should not be in danger from the investigation.

"It’s indeed unexpected that Xiao could deceive Deep Sea. Perhaps there really is a problem with Deep Sea, and it is time to fix it." Gu Shen kept his composure, slowly saying, "However...I’m still very curious, how did Xiao die?"

Tangling with an existence that should not be provoked...recalling the old man’s face filled with a scornful smile.

Obviously...was he talking about himself?

"You should first take a look at the list of missing persons." Zhou Jiren sent another file.

The file included a series of names of missing persons and their related information.

"Ye Ningqiu?"

Gu Shen immediately spotted the key name.

"Hmm..." Zhou Jiren was pleased with Gu Shen’s sharpness, he said leisurely, "After leaving Freedom Hall last night, Ye Ningqiu went to the old building where Chen Mei was detained. Clearly, he was targeting my gap, trying to take advantage of the chaos to do something."

Gu Shen wouldn’t believe that Xiao, with his personality, would truly consider "Chen Mei" as his disciple.

If Xiao’s ability was to take over the flesh...

Then it’s very likely... Chen Mei prepared that "flesh" for himself!

"If he hadn’t gone to that building... then this tug-of-war would have continued for a very long time," Zhou Jiren said calmly, "He was still very safe, until I personally went to the Southern Continent to kill him."

Gu Shen’s expression was subtle.

What had the teacher arranged in that old building?

Recalling what Chen Mei last confessed from the heart... it all seemed very strange.

He couldn’t help but think of the bizarre dream he had experienced, the "Mr. Bai" holding a bottle of wine...

"In essence, Xiao’s Spirit had been worn away."

"Last night, news reached Freedom Hall, and Chen San expressed shock and anger because, during a self-inspection, Deep Sea found a blind spot on the nineteenth floor of the South Bay Building," Zhou Jiren opened a virtual projection and said, "There is a separate secret room on the nineteenth floor in South Bay, with abandoned flesh containers and residual blood... This storage room is in a special location that normal people wouldn’t enter, and the blood in the room is a mix of different sources, among which were traces of Ye Ningqiu’s blood."

"Is this Ye Ningqiu’s... morgue?"

Gu Shen’s face looked somewhat awful.

The last time he broke into the South Bay Building, he was able to escape the comprehensive surveillance of Deep Sea by relying on the secret room on the nineteenth floor.

Separated by an entire continent to maintain a Spiritual Link, even Xiao, with his powerful spiritual power, still needed rest.

And the flesh he controlled, the container, also needed a sufficiently hidden place.

Of course... Ye Ningqiu had his own residence, but not every time they disconnected the link, there was enough time to prepare. So the secret room on the nineteenth floor of the South Bay Building was probably a kind of temporary rest stop?

Damn... Was the pale woman he saw last time Ye Ningqiu?

No... that was Xiao.

No wonder his escape from the nineteenth floor immediately attracted Chen Mei’s attention.

"We haven’t fully figured out the rules of Xiao’s abilities yet. In the Transcendent Genealogy Map, his ability is named ’Soul Chain’, a special trait group. We can guess the effects of this ability... Once a Spiritual Link is established with Xiao, the ’Soul Chain’ can invade consciousness. It’s a pure battle of wills. The loser will be banished from their Spirit, and their flesh will be taken," Zhou Jiren continued.

"Yes..."

Gu Shen recalled his experience being drawn into the ’Dissolving Dream.’

Xiao wanted to use ’Soul Chain’ to crush his will and make him a container for himself.

"’Soul Chain’ should belong to Spiritual Extraordinary Abilities... but this ability is really too preposterous. After taking over the host’s body, he can to some extent wield the host’s own Extraordinary Power and even activate Extraordinary Essence that isn’t his own."

"This is a kind of ’deception’ that goes against the Extraordinary Law."

"The flesh containing the Extraordinary Essence still believes that its own consciousness is present. But in fact, the master has been changed."

Zhou Jiren said, "Using this ability, Xiao has developed many believers, but those believers haven’t been completely controlled by ’Soul Chain’, he only chose those with strong Extraordinary Abilities as his containers. As for ordinary people, once linked by the ’Soul Chain’, they don’t even have the qualifications to struggle, they are immediately infected by the spiritual force and begin to worship spontaneously."

This was the very origin of the Changjiu Foundation’s development!

"Now that Xiao’s spirit is shattered... the remnants of the Changjiu Foundation are still there. However, with the villain dead, the organization should be completely eradicated before long," Zhou Jiren concluded.