Chapter 187 The Sour Taste

Mu Wanqiu's ability, [Judge]… was indeed somewhat similar to the "Power of the Underworld."

Even Gu Shen suspected, could this ability have some connection to him?

The elevator arrived at Gu Shen's floor.

"Captain Lu, want to come in for a bit?" Gu Shen extended an invitation.

"No, no..."

Lu Zhe waved his hands repeatedly. "I say, Little Gu, have you seen what time it is? It's two in the morning… If I come to your place, what will people say?"

Gu Shen paused slightly.

Lu Zhe raised an eyebrow, saying meaningfully, "If it were Mu Wanqiu tonight… I wouldn't open the door either, after only meeting once."

"Don't, don't, don't."

Gu Shen's head suddenly ached. He realized that Chu Ling in his mind had been silent for quite a while.

He quickly said, "Don't say anymore… I'm afraid of misunderstandings."

"Afraid of what? There's no third person here!"

Lu Zhe yawned, winking. "You go back first. Don't worry, I'll keep tonight's late-night visit to Mu Wanqiu a secret for you."

Gu Shen left the elevator.

Zhong Yuan had already left as well. Only he remained in the huge room.

A bad premonition rose in his heart.

He mentally connected to carriage 001.

Gu Shen made a fist with one hand, placed it in front of his lips, and coughed lightly.

Chu Ling, holding a picture book, immersed herself in reading. Without even looking up, she asked faintly, "Lord Gu, what brings you here tonight?"

Gu Shen could clearly hear the sarcasm in her voice.

He said awkwardly, "Miscalculation, miscalculation…"

"Miscalculation that Mu Wanqiu didn't open the door?" Chu Ling closed the thick book and looked up, saying those words quietly.

After saying that, even she felt surprised.

Wasn't she just an AI living in a virtual mental network? Had she already learned "jealousy" at this moment?

However, was this… considered jealousy?

Although she pretended to be reading a book, she hadn't missed a single word of the conversation between Lu Zhe and Gu Shen in the elevator.

Mu Wanqiu's [Judge] was a perfect match for the Underworld.

Hearing this, a strange emotion arose in Chu Ling's heart.

She was supposed to be detached, without love or hate.

But having concerns, having hopes, having something to rely on… added other emotions.

After careful consideration, the emotion in her heart had a hint of sourness.

"The miscalculation lies in the fact that this trip to the Northern Continent was too rushed, and I didn't wait for you to re-condense in 'God's Shrine Mountain.'" Gu Shen sat opposite Chu Ling, his smile fading as he said seriously, "I should have brought you to the Northern Continent together, so that these country bumpkins who haven't seen the world can see what unparalleled grace is, what unparalleled beauty is, what a celestial being descending to earth is…"

"Stop, stop!"

Chu Ling quickly stopped him. This guy was getting more and more sappy. If she didn't stop him, she didn't know where he would end up.

"Actually, I'm not angry. Let's just drop this matter." Chu Ling sighed softly. "I heard what Lu Zhe said just now. I vaguely feel… Mu Wanqiu's [Judge] may have some connection to your 'Fire Seed'."

"Indeed."

Gu Shen's expression became serious. "Don't you think it's too coincidental?"

"The 'River Poison' in the Doru River Disaster Zone is from the same source as the Power of the Underworld…" he murmured. "Does this mean that the Underworld once left some means in the Disaster Zone?"

"I not only think it's a coincidence, but also very strange."

Chu Ling raised a finger, saying seriously, "Remember that conversation you had with the Empress on the second floor? She said she spent a lot of mental energy to fight against the Doru River Disaster Zone… If it was just to dissolve the mental toxins left by that Underworld, isn't it too unreasonable? Can a dead god really be so powerful that even the Empress of the Northern Continent needs to pay such a high price to barely cope?!"

"Hmm…"

Gu Shen also fell into recollection.

When he saw the Empress on the second floor, the furnace was running.

The Empress's mental energy consumption was indeed huge…

Could it be that there was something else in the Disaster Zone that was consuming her spirit?

"Mu Wanqiu's dream and Zhong Yuan's 'Mirror Dream'… may not be the same dream." Gu Shen said slowly, "The reason she refused Lu Zhe's entry into her dream was just to simply keep a secret."

"That's right, I think so too."

Chu Ling said solemnly, "As for what that secret she wants to hide is… we probably won't know until we enter the Doru River."

…

…

Sleepless night.

Gu Shen's mental cultivation was stuck at a critical bottleneck.

He tried to create his own "Breath of Summer" to break through the bottleneck… but found that his accumulated foundation was still lacking. The second volume of the breathing technique was not something that could be created casually.

Two breakthroughs were already comparable to heavenly beings.

Three times would be unprecedented. Even the Fighting God Baishu believed… that Gu Shen's hope of breaking through three times was not great.

When tempering the spirit, time passed extremely quickly.

In the blink of an eye.

It was already dawn.

Gu Shen slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. He stood in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking at himself reflected in the mirror. A wisp of flame struggled hard between his eyebrows, tightly bound by the golden ring of the Fighting God…

Compared to the beginning, it was much better!

At least he could use part of the power of the "Blazing Fire"!

But wanting to break free with his own strength… was far from enough. The difficulty of breaking through three times was really great.

Just then, there was a knock on the door outside the room.

"Mr. Gu, did you rest well last night?"

A'Liu Er stood at the door with a smile. The robot waiter next to her was pushing a dining cart, which was filled with classic Northern Continent breakfast… This time it wasn't the black bread from Fort Gubu that was so hard it could be used as a cannonball.

"Black tea, oatmeal, omelet, white curd cheese, grilled chicken breast…"

Gu Shen smiled. "That's really rich. Thank you, A'Liu Er."

"No need to thank me, Fisher placed the order for you." A'Liu Er smoothed her temples. "The thirty-third floor is the buffet restaurant. Except for him, none of the other captains like to eat in the restaurant… He specially ordered these for you, saying he wanted you to taste the real Northern Continent cuisine."

[Living Fish] usually guarded the Deepscale Fortress. He must have been eating black bread every day until he was sick of it… This time, he could finally come to Central City to cultivate in peace for a while. Gu Shen could probably understand the reason why Fisher went to the restaurant.

But he was really puzzled and asked, "Speaking of which, can Fisher really eat with that thing on his head…?"

A'Liu Er smiled.

"He is a top mental powerhouse… As long as he wants, he can change the shape of the food on the table with just a thought. That source armor has a special food delivery tube."

A'Liu Er clicked her tongue. "However, the food that enters the mouth through the delivery tube should taste a little worse, but I see him eating very well."

"I see…"

Gu Shen suddenly understood, and then asked, "Does he eat seafood?"

"…"

The smile on A'Liu Er's face suddenly froze. "He shouldn't… right?"

After Fisher awakened, he became more and more like a fish… He guarded Deepscale City because of his ability. He was almost invincible in water battles. In addition, he could also communicate mentally with aquatic creatures.

"There is one thing I need to inform you of."

A'Liu Er said seriously, "Duke Zhuxue's meeting will probably end the day after tomorrow… The list of restarting missions will be selected within three days. In addition to the seven candidates within the building, there will also be several strong men who will become 'captains'. At that time, there will be a team division, and the captains will choose their favorite members."

"Team division… Does what you said have anything to do with me?"

Gu Shen chewed on the juicy chicken breast and said slowly, "Her Majesty the Empress told me that I don't need to obey anyone, and I don't need to follow any team to act…"

"Yes. You don't need to do any preparations before the team division… These captains have no right to order you."

A'Liu Er nodded. "But after the team division, we will arrange practice and training. Commander-in-chief asked me to come over and ask for your wishes."

Hearing about practice and training… Gu Shen immediately thought of the temporary special training in front of Fort Gubu.

"Last night, Duke Zhuxue announced the news that you had joined the restart mission at the meeting, which has caused a lot of discussion."

A'Liu Er said helplessly, "Although many famous generals have met you on the giant wall of Gubu… This time, the special privileges you enjoy in the restart mission have still caused dissatisfaction among many people."

Gu Shen took a sip of black tea.

"The Northern Continent believes in force. The generals respect Her Majesty's choice, but they still have doubts about you…"

Saying this, Gu Shen slowly raised his hand, signaling A'Liu Er not to continue.

He put down the teacup and said with a smile, "I understand what you mean. After the team division, I should participate in the practice and training, and show my strength… Otherwise, it will be difficult to convince the public, right?"

"Yes."

A'Liu Er sighed softly. These words were really hard to say, it was best to let Gu Shen understand them.

"In addition, there is something to hand over to Mr. Gu."

She took out a list.

"List of candidates."

Gu Shen did not refuse, but took it and simply browsed through it. Last night, he had already obtained this list through his own means. The list given by A'Liu Er was not much different from what he had obtained.

"This is the list I got after asking Her Majesty."

A'Liu Er said sincerely, "Mr. Gu, Duke Zhenyue Meng Xiao is also a 'captain' selected for the restart mission. At this moment, he is in this building. As far as I know, he spends most of his time in the gravity room on the thirty-sixth floor… I hope this news is useful to you."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

The apostle came in person to tell him this news… Did she hope to reduce the conflict between the two and avoid friction?

It seemed that Her Majesty did not want him and Meng Xiao to meet.

"Don't worry, I don't have time to find trouble with him."

Gu Shen said lightly, "Tell me about the team division again…"

…

…

(ps: I spent a lot of time organizing the detailed outline today, and I will explode tomorrow, with a guaranteed 10,000 words.)