Chapter 428 What About That Unfortunate Fellow?

Gu Shen stepped out of the off-road vehicle.

Gu Nanfeng and his group were waiting not far away, having just finished their talks with the higher-ups of North Continent.

"He's already asleep."

Gu Shen glanced back at the interior of the vehicle, recalling the scene of Zhong Gui's thunderous snoring, and couldn't help but sigh, "The 'Traveler' incident has had quite an impact on him. He needs to rest for a while. But deciphering the ancient text on the Heaven Sheath will probably have to be postponed."

Deciphering ancient texts is an extremely mentally taxing task.

With his mind shaken, even with Zhong Gui's talent, deciphering the ancient text… would have to be delayed.

"It doesn't matter," Gu Nanfeng nodded. "As long as he's alright."

"The reconstruction of the Iron Wall will take some time."

Clutching his wooden sword, Gu Nanfeng looked at the high tower not far behind him and said, "During this time, I will lead the Gu family to guard the Snow Cage Tower and be responsible for repairing the Tundra Prison."

"Also…"

He said meaningfully, "The cooperation and alignment between East Continent and North Continent are about to begin."

At this point, he cast a glance, and Luo Yu understood, quickly and nimbly leading the others away.

In the snowy field, only Gu Nanfeng and Gu Shen remained.

"You stirred up quite a commotion on this trip to North Continent."

Gu Nanfeng smiled, "We heard the sounds from Central City over here, no matter how big or small… The Madam was asking me a few days ago if you weren't planning to come back. If you don't return, I'm afraid the bigwigs of Nagano will be uneasy. Some are already speculating whether the Empress has bought you off with the position of 'Grand Duke'."

"Don't worry…" Gu Shen also laughed, "If it's just the position of Grand Duke of North Continent, I'm afraid it wouldn't be enough to buy me off."

Calculating the time, it had been several months since he came to North Continent.

Actually, this time wasn't considered long.

It was just that he was too "lucky."

After arriving in North Continent, one big news followed another, especially the most shocking "Traveler Incident," which impacted the entire transcendent world of the Five Continents—

"The most important thing about this trip to North Continent… is already done."

Gu Shen's voice was a little hoarse. "There are still some trivial matters left. After they are dealt with, I will return to Nagano."

"Little Gu… The East Continent Council already knows about Mr. Shu's matter."

Gu Nanfeng was silent for a short while.

He took a deep breath, "Some people said they wanted to hold a funeral for the 'Grand Arbiter,' but this proposal was rejected… Old Master, along with Chairman Zhou Wei, Mr. Shan, and the other family heads of the Five Great Families, have retained the current position of 'Grand Arbiter' of the Tribunal. Even North Continent is willing to leave a door open in 'Piyue Fortress', how can we assume that Mr. Shu and the others have met with misfortune?"

Gu Shen looked at Gu Nanfeng gratefully.

Retaining the position of "Grand Arbiter" was no small matter.

Gu Nanfeng's words just now sounded light, bringing up Gu Qilin, Zhou Wei, and Mr. Shan, seeming like the bigwigs had reached a consensus, but in reality, Gu Shen knew very well… making this decision must have involved a lot of controversy within East Continent.

And Gu Nanfeng, who had cleared himself of any "credit," must have contributed a great deal to this turmoil.

"Oh, right, someone asked me to send you a letter."

Before parting.

Gu Nanfeng took out Meng Xizhou's letter.

Looking at the edge of the envelope branded with the aura of light, Gu Nanfeng's expression became somewhat complicated. He reached out and took this thin piece of paper, but it felt as if he was receiving a heavy mountain…

Gu Shen wasn't interested in the contents of the letter.

But he could tell that Gu Nanfeng's mood was mixed at the moment.

The breakdown of the Lin-Meng marriage was already known to everyone in the Five Continents.

North Continent and Light City had officially broken apart, and through the collapse of the Tundra Prison, they began to try to build a new "cooperative relationship" with East Continent… For the Gu family, this was certainly a good thing.

But behind these major events was the sacrifice of the Goddess of Light.

As a beneficiary from afar, Gu Nanfeng both hoped these things would happen and didn't want them to happen.

"The general trend is like a torrent, and destiny is beyond human control."

Gu Shen said in a low voice, "I've met Miss Meng. She's a good person. I wish you… good results."

"…Thank you."

Gu Nanfeng accepted the letter.

He said softly, "Some things are best not thought about too much. Destiny is an extremely ethereal thing. Even a 'Supreme Expert' like Mr. Gu Changzhi cannot hold it in his palm… Over the years, walking in North Continent, enduring life and death, I only remember one sentence."

"Which sentence?" Gu Shen asked curiously.

Gu Nanfeng said gently, "Just do good deeds, and don't ask about the future."

…

…

After that, the reconstruction of the 【Snow Cage】 Iron Wall had nothing to do with Gu Shen.

The lords and generals who had witnessed the end of the "Traveler" with A'leuer could not truly act as "laborers" to build the Iron Wall. After completing the initial negotiations with the Gu family, Duke Zhuxue stayed in the Tundra with his confidants.

A'leuer started the main boat, preparing to return to Central City.

The Traveler's corpse was hanging from the front of the giant boat.

Other miniature airships were scattered around, enveloping the large boat in the center.

"I can't believe… that guy is just dead."

The Legion Commander piloted the airship, keeping it level with the head of the giant boat. Whenever she turned her head and saw that large creature emitting a dead silence, a sense of "恍惚不敢置信 (disbelief and bewilderment)" rose in her heart.

"Whether it's dead or alive, it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Gu Shen stared at the corpse and said, "What North Continent needs is actually that 'Fire Seed'… that divine power source that can support the ascension of Central City and its surrounding cities."

The Traveler was dead but still exuded waves of pressure.

The lords and generals subconsciously kept as far away as possible from this dead "God."

"Yes. What North Continent needs is pure energy… but if it hadn't died, extracting the 'Fire Seed' would have taken many years. Now, the underground research institute can directly possess a complete 'Gospel Box Fragment'."

"Obviously, this is the best result."

"But sometimes, I can't help but wonder… is this guy who seems to have no brains really the 'Traveler'?"

The Legion Commander said with emotion, "Because this victory came too easily."

"I understand."

Gu Shen said, "I think so too…"

He couldn't help but think of Zhong Gui again.

Although that probing in the off-road vehicle didn't reveal anything.

But Gu Shen still kept a trick up his sleeve. He left a "spiritual seed" of Blazing Fire on Zhong Gui's body. This seed had no negative impact. It only stored a wisp of his own spirit.

As long as Zhong Gui's spiritual sea showed any abnormalities.

He would be the first to notice.

Moreover… he wasn't the only one who noticed Zhong Gui.

The two Divine Seats were truly all-seeing and all-knowing "Heavenly Figures."

The Divine Seats' insight could cover an entire continent.

This release of the Traveler was obviously something the two Divine Seats had agreed upon—

So, even if Gu Nanfeng and Zhuxue didn't notice Zhong Gui's strangeness, these two probably wouldn't miss it.

However, the Divine Seats' handling method might not necessarily be "thunderous."

Gu Shen conservatively estimated that before he cast a dream on Zhong Gui, he had probably been scanned by Divine Sense countless times.

…

…

Returning to North Continent, Gu Shen once again went to see the Empress.

This time, the audience was quite simple.

He spoke of what he had seen and heard in the Lacquer Stone and confirmed that the Empress had never heard him mention the "Lacquer Stone" in countless "reincarnations…"

This discovery was very interesting.

It showed that in the previous countless bracelet deductions… he had not even obtained a single chance to "peek."

Perhaps because of tearing the letter, perhaps because of other things, big and small, intertwined and related to each other, forming an impact on this destiny.

In the collision of thousands of causal threads, this "discovery" of great significance appeared.

"The Traveler and Hades once left each other a curse…"

The Empress was shocked when she learned of this information.

Soon she regained her composure.

This information seemed shocking but actually had little effect… because these two were both confirmed "dead people."

Hades' Fire was in Gu Shen's hands.

The Traveler's Fire Seed was in the Empress's furnace.

The real importance of this information was that it revealed that there was an unknown second half to the transaction between Hades and the Traveler back then.

What kind of transaction… would make these two play it so big…

"Bai Shu and I have already inspected 'Zhong Gui'. His spiritual sea is normal."

"If all of this is a conspiracy, then until this moment, I have not seen the harm of this 'conspiracy' to the Five Continents… And now, that big guy died in the Tundra, which is equivalent to personally delivering the Fire Seed into my hands."

The Empress frowned, "Under the guidance of fate, I have seen some of the future, but there are still layers of fog. I think the reason why the Traveler ran to the Tundra this time was because of the 'Heaven Sheath'. The power emitted by that Stone Sword comes from the 【Old World】… perhaps that was something very important to the Travelers six hundred years ago?"

Behind the fog was an even bigger fog.

A person as powerful and confident as the Empress would certainly not fear "disaster," "ominousness," or the "curse" that Gu Shen spoke of.

The Traveler's Fire Seed was right in front of her.

She would definitely grasp it… At this moment, the Traveler's corpse had been thrown into the furnace reactor.

Before long, Central City would ascend!

…

…

Leaving the Empress's阁楼(ge lou - attic).

Gu Shen had one last thing left to do in North Continent.

This thing was called "Farewell."

On this trip to North Continent, he had made many friends… the members of the Second Team who had fought alongside him in the Battle of Gubu Fortress, and the captains who had experienced the Doru River Reboot mission.

The Traveler had died, the Fire Seed had been lit, and the lords and generals would not stay in Central City for long.

They left one after another, returning to the fortresses and borders of North Continent to ignite the beacon fires on the great wall.

Gu Shen ignored the Central City dignitaries who came to visit, not even bothering to say a few polite words.

He stayed in Central City to say goodbye to these friends one by one.

Meeting in North Continent, sharing life and death, as comrades-in-arms.

These guys had already agreed to have a gathering in Gu Shen's Hanging Mountain courtyard.

Perhaps because he had merged with "Hades' Fire," or perhaps because of the temptation of the Devil in the Ruler… Gu Shen always felt that his blood was turning cold, and matters of life, death, and separation seemed unable to touch his heartstrings.

This was not a good thing.

He hoped to preserve these precious memories in his heart before he truly merged with "Hades' Fire" in the future.

With every gain, there must be a loss.

But he was unwilling to lose his "emotions" and "warmth" in exchange for that Fire Seed that controlled "life and death."

Before leaving, Fischer gave Gu Shen a guest token from Shenlin City. This guy imitated the Divine Seat, drafted and created an exquisitely made flat章纹(zhang wen - heraldic crest), with a blood-red shark carved in relief on it.

Zhong Yuan gave a dagger, which was quite sharp. This was a top-quality knife produced in the town of Qiasike. A thin layer of "Purple Silver" flowed through the blade. Users could replace the mithril according to their needs.

Lu Zhe gave a coin from the era of the Empress's reign, with "Gift to the Brave" personally carved by Her Majesty. This coin symbolized peace in North Continent and was quite commemorative.

Gu Shen returned the gifts one by one.

The men of North Continent all liked to drink. He gave away his few bottles of Lion's Wake Wine… This was a priceless wine, and anyone could get drunk on it.

Except for Gu Shen himself.

Finally.

The courtyard returned to coldness. The lords and generals left, but Gu Shen did not.

He was still waiting for someone… Whether it was the Maze Mission, the Battle of Gubu Storm, or the bloody battle of the Doru River, that guy had never been absent. He was a life-giver who fought on the front lines.

He was also the watcher hidden behind the scenes of the North Continent royal family.

With the breakdown of the Lin-Meng marriage, Lin Lin's status as a member of the royal family was naturally suppressed… There were only a handful of people in North Continent who knew the true identity of this Gubu garrison. He did not attend the courtyard gathering, and many people felt regret.

After the Reboot Mission ended, Lin Lin disappeared.

This guy was the Empress's younger brother. If he was willing to unlock his permissions, then only the Empress and Zhuxue would know his location in the entire North Continent…

Until the end, Gu Shen did not wait for Lin Lin to arrive.

But he received a handwritten letter.

This time, he was no longer the postman but the recipient.

A'leuer brought him Lin Lin's letter… In this 【New Era】 of full deep-sea connection, few people used letters to communicate. This was something that had been淘汰(tao tai - eliminated) by the times.

Gu Shen sat at the stone table, quietly looking at this letter.

"Gu Shen, meeting the letter is like meeting the person."

"When you see this letter, I will have boarded an airship, left Central City, and headed to Gubu… Just as I said when I came, I will not stay here. Although this trip was bumpy, I finally fulfilled my promise."

"Thank you for those words you said to me on the great wall. Looking at the world from a different perspective will reveal the 'truth' from another angle."

"It was because of these words that I decided to go out and take a walk."

"Then I discovered that you were right. There is more than just the flying snow and寂灭(ji mie - desolation) of Gubu in this world. There are other… more shitty things, such as the royal marriage."

"There are thousands of cages in this world. For me, Gubu is definitely not one of them."

"So, after I solved the family affairs in Central City, I couldn't wait to return, without even leaving a word of farewell. Please forgive me… because I am like this to everyone. While writing this letter, I have already begun to miss the heavy snow,炮火(pao huo - artillery fire), and storms of Gubu."

"Although I will be stationed in Gubu from now on, I believe we will meet eventually."

"—In the near future."

Gu Shen silently finished reading the letter.

In his mind, Chu Ling's gentle voice sounded: "Part of the list of the Ancient Text Society… has been deciphered."

A fragmented network of names appeared before his eyes.

Gu Shen smiled softly.

His gaze fell on the line pointing to North Continent.

Turning the letter over.

There was a small伏笔(fu bi - foreshadowing) on the back of the letter.

Lin Lin wrote his signature here, as well as the purpose of this letter.

"073."

"—Gift 'Key'."

…

…

(End of Traveler Arc.)

(End of chapter)