Qin Ye was dead.

The news spread throughout the capital in just three minutes.

The joint effort of Nanwan and Huazhi lasted only one night... Before both sides could sort out the suspicious case files of that year, before the Central Tribunal of the Federal Parliament could complete the intercontinental trial, everything was already over.

For the high-level parliamentarians investigating the old case of Lion Lane, Qin Ye's death was the end. Even according to the strictest laws... the deepest and heaviest punishment that could be given to this man was only death.

At this time, death became a "light" matter.

But... was it really over?

Lu Nanjin, who witnessed Qin Ye's death, and Lu Nanzhi, who was waiting in Song Ci's ward, did not think so... Qin Ye was just a knife used to kill people. The knife was broken, but the hand holding the knife was still there.

If they wanted to avenge Lu Cheng.

Then the real enemy... was not Qin Ye, but the Throne of the Source Tower.

...

...

Brilliant stars hung high in the dome.

In today's capital, it was rare to see such a clear and bright starry night even once in ten years. The night sky, flashing with neon lights, always felt illusory and unreal... Information deduced everything, and data simulated all things. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before the starry sky above people's heads would also become a product of intelligence.

This was Gu Shen and Chu Ling's first "night together."

In the virtual world of mental connection, freed from the shackles of the material world, they could meet in pure spirit... This was actually a very romantic thing.

The spirit transcends the physical body.

In the virtual consciousness, emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness would be displayed nakedly.

Perhaps... this was true "frankness."

Without a heart, they could still hear a heartbeat, a sound similar to mental pulsation... In the silent wilderness, accompanied by the twinkling stars, it rhythmically throbbed slowly and powerfully.

Gu Shen could hear Chu Ling.

Chu Ling could also hear Gu Shen.

The two lay in the wilderness, with blades of grass brushing their cheeks and the wind ruffling their hair.

Time seemed to freeze in this realm.

If only it could be so... It didn't seem bad to freeze at this moment.

Chu Ling stretched out her white palm, slowly aiming at the top of the sky. Her index finger and thumb curved slightly into an arc, outlining a circle. She framed a star, squinted her eyes, looked at the starlight flickering within the frame of her fingers, and asked softly.

"Have you heard of 'astrology'?"

"Qizheng Siyu, Sizhu Bazi... are these considered 'astrology'?" Gu Shen rested his hands behind his head. He smiled and said, "I've read a wide variety of books before... I know a little bit, but I thought it was all a scam."

When she heard the four words "Qizheng Siyu," Chu Ling looked at Gu Shen with some surprise.

These were not words that could be said casually.

She smiled and said, "You've read quite a lot... It is indeed astrology, but only one of its branches."

Compared to Gu Shen, she was the truly "knowledgeable" one. From the moment the [Source Code] constructed the deep sea network, it began a massive and efficient learning process. After all the science and logic had been absorbed, the deep sea began to deduce towards the realm of the "transcendent."

"It is said that a long time ago, in an age without transcendence, people always believed that 'astrology' existed." Chu Ling looked at the star she had framed and murmured, "All of us... whether in Dongzhou, Nanzhou, Beizhou... when we look up, we see the same starry sky."

"Every star in this starry sky has meaning."

Gu Shen also imitated Chu Ling's actions. He slowly stretched out his palm, framed the stars, and said softly, "Meaning..."

"Small, like the fate of one person, large, like the fortune of an entire race." Chu Ling said, "Of course... this is what the books say. Those are all ancient people from many years ago. People seem to feel awe because of the remoteness of time, but Mr. Turing didn't think so when he created the [Source Code]. Knowledge has no distinction between old and new, only the distinction between correct and wrong. Until now, I still can't understand 'astrology.'"

After a slight pause.

Chu Ling said, "Just as I can't understand 'transcendence'... I can only accept these rules that do not conform to cognition, and tell myself that this is another basic state of the rules."

Gu Shen slowly turned his head.

He looked at the girl lying in the wilderness, wondering why Chu Ling would suddenly talk about astrology...

"Actually... I was just saying it casually."

Chu Ling also looked at Gu Shen. She seemed to have telepathy and saw what Gu Shen was thinking.

"You don't have to take it seriously, and you don't need to think deeply..."

Her cheeks were slightly red, and she said, "When I was alone before, I was very bored... Thoughts like this often appeared, and I always wanted to find someone to talk to."

Gu Shen was stunned.

Did Mr. Turing really just create the [Source Code]?

The girl sitting in the 001 carriage, from the first time Gu Shen met her... he didn't think that this was a string of codes without emotions or a physical body. In his heart, she was not data.

She had happiness, sadness, and her own emotions... She also felt lonely in the closed sea of data, and wanted to confide in someone over the long years.

Gu Shen framed the star with both hands, tilted his head slightly, squinted his eyes, and watched very seriously for a while. He said, "Well... astrology is real."

"...Ah?"

Chu Ling was slightly stunned.

She looked at Gu Shen, who seemed to be divining from the star, with a serious face, and the wisp of blazing fire drifting between his eyebrows swayed back and forth.

So far, what she couldn't understand the most was not actually astrology, nor those abilities on the transcendent spectrum... but the wisp of flame between Gu Shen's eyebrows, that was the fire of hope that could create miracles, and it would not be surprising to do anything.

"Did you... see something from the stars?" Chu Ling leaned over with some curiosity.

"Shhh... I'm divining."

Gu Shen moved his shoulder, raised his palm, and motioned for Chu Ling to move closer.

Chu Ling rested on Gu Shen's shoulder. She looked in the direction of Gu Shen's raised arm. Framed in his palm was an unremarkable star... In fact, she knew that the Four Seasons Wilderness was a fictional spiritual realm, and everything here was fake. Even if Gu Shen really learned astrology, he couldn't use it here.

But she still believed it.

"What are you... divining?" Chu Ling opened her mouth very quietly, like a cat, shrinking in Gu Shen's arms, for fear of disturbing the divination.

"I'm divining... our future."

The girl looked at Gu Shen in astonishment and surprise, and a blush spread across her baby-fat cheeks like a flying cloud.

Gu Shen said calmly, "I'm asking the stars... what our sea, and this wilderness, will look like a long time from now."

Chu Ling asked guiltily, "Then... what did the stars say?"

"A long time from now, that sea will be more beautiful, and this wilderness will be more vast... Our future..."

Gu Shen paused deliberately.

He saw Chu Ling lying in his arms, looking at him cautiously, waiting patiently for the rest of the sentence.

"About our future..."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes and smiled: "That's really a story from a long time ago. The stars said they would tell us after a long time."