Chapter 17 The Ancient Book Society

Lu Nanzhi sat beneath the banyan tree, the scattered afterglow of the lanterns swaying and flickering like fireflies.

She spoke for a long time in one breath, from her true thoughts against the Awakening Bill to her ideals and aspirations... In fact, she shouldn't have said so much to the young man before her, even if he was the "key."

After the Lion Lane massacre, she was left to fight alone.

In the conference room, the faces were all shrouded in gloom.

The same was true of Huazhi Building; everyone wore a mask.

At the top of the pyramid lay the throne of power and fame, but those who sat on it were destined to be lonely. It was too high and too cold, and even saying a few words seemed difficult.

"Hoo..."

After speaking so much in one breath, Lu Nanzhi finally stopped.

She exhaled a long breath, and after recounting all the truths accumulated over the years, the stone that had been hanging high in her heart seemed to finally fall to the ground...

Gu Shen sat opposite her, listening quietly.

In the conversation tonight, he was a very good listener.

"No one knows what the 'key' is..."

"For so many years, the Guwenhui (Ancient Book Society) has placed its hopes on the 'key,' but in fact, we don't even know what kind of information the 'key' possesses." The Madam lowered her eyebrows and said, "Now... the 'key' has really appeared, and I'm afraid everyone will feel very lost."

Like moths to a flame.

If they were blocked by a gauze cover, they would never touch the light of the fire in their lifetime.

But if they really threw themselves into the flames... what then?

"So... the decision you made in the conference room was correct." She said earnestly, "There are too many uncertain factors in that conference room. I think it's enough for the current Guwenhui to know that the key exists."

Gu Shen smiled.

"Actually, it's just that I really don't know what to say."

Those members of the Guwenhui scattered across the five continents, judging from the hidden history of suppression, were all embers left in the five continents by Alan Turing. Perhaps some of them lived extremely low-key lives in the back streets and alleys, while a considerable number of them held important positions in the current Federal Parliament. He still couldn't imagine these people willingly offering themselves as his leader—but at least from the tone of Chu Ling and Lu Nanzhi, he could feel that the "key" left by Alan Turing was the ultimate leader of the Guwenhui.

"Mainly, my current strength... is not enough."

The extraordinary trial in the Deep Sea Zone was a lateral evaluation of the depth of an extraordinary person's development of their own abilities.

Gu Shen now... had only barely reached the third level of the mental system, "Great Hypnosis."

Comparing horizontally.

This speed was already extremely, extremely fast.

But the real duel didn't look at the speed of cultivation, only the strength of cultivation.

"Before a prairie fire, it's just a tiny spark."

Lu Nanzhi also smiled. "I will hide your identity for you... When the conference room is repaired, if the Guwenhui convenes another meeting, you can just sit by and watch, without having to make any statements."

Besides her, the only other person in the conference room who knew Gu Shen's identity as the key should be 031.

Judging from 031's actions, he would definitely not expose Gu Shen.

As the key, one needed to maintain a sense of mystery when one's own strength was not yet sufficient.

"By the way, come with me."

Lu Nanzhi stood up. She picked a lantern from the branches of the banyan tree. After burning for half the night, the core of the lantern was almost exhausted, and the spiritual elements in the air were no longer dense... Old items were useful, but they also had many drawbacks. A lantern like this could only last for a short time after being lit.

She went into the inner room.

Gu Shen followed closely behind. This old mansion still had many modern facilities... At least it wasn't lit by gas lamps, but everything in the mansion needed to be turned on manually.

"This place has only established the most basic connection with the Deep Sea..." Lu Nanzhi placed the lantern on the counter at the entrance. She said softly, "This was the result of deliberate customization ten years ago. Now, the lives of the people of East Continent are completely inseparable from the Deep Sea, and mansions like this are almost extinct in Great Capital. And wherever the network spreads, that is where the Deep Sea's Tianyan (Sky Eye) can reach."

An invisible spiritual network floated above the five continents.

This world had become more closely connected.

And it had become more transparent.

"As far as I know, the Council can see everything they want to see... as long as they have enough authority." Lu Nanzhi said calmly, "The feeling of being spied on is not pleasant... don't you think?"

"...Agreed."

Gu Shen looked at the crimson lantern that, after being lit, could provide a private space under the surveillance of the Deep Sea.

Although it was an old-fashioned thing, it was really useful.

"In my eyes, among the legacies left by my father, the value of this house far outweighs the millions of cash in the Huazhi account." Lu Nanzhi led Gu Shen to an old safe. The entire safe was cast in bronze, consisting of six dials and a lock.

The Madam squatted down and picked up the bronze box.

"This house isolates the connection to the Deep Sea and prevents outside snooping. That's why he came to Lion Lane... The old district is the most remote and safest place in Great Capital."

"Is it for the 'Lion's Awakening Wine'?" Gu Shen asked. "Song Ci offered me this wine."

Lu Nanzhi was stunned.

She nodded slowly. "Yes... it's for the 'Lion's Awakening Wine.' This is a cross-epoch-making experiment. If we can extract the chaotic spiritual elements of the extraordinary and materialize them in the material world, this technology will shock the world."

Speaking of this, the Madam paused and smiled softly. "Let me tell you a secret, this technology was initially developed by Mr. Alan Turing and my father..."

This was a long, long time ago.

As she spoke, the Madam's smile became a little dim. "It's just that later, Mr. Turing passed away, and my father also met with misfortune... After that day, the Lion's Awakening Wine experiment was interrupted, and the technology was lost with it."

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes.

He vaguely felt that something was wrong...

The Madam didn't seem to know that the connection technology of the current Awakening Bill was actually derived from the experimental research of the Lion's Awakening Wine.

But this was also reasonable.

The "experiment" conducted by Zhong Gui beneath Huazhi was unknown to anyone except Cui Zhongcheng. The original Lion's Awakening technology had been upgraded several times through continuous improvements by the Council... Unless it was a source code like Chu Ling who could trace back to the origin, ordinary people, even if they participated in the Awakening Bill experiment beneath Huazhi, would not be able to feel the commonality between the principles of the two technologies.

"Actually, the technology of the Lion's Awakening Wine has not been completely lost, but it has been sealed."

She patted the safe and said, "My father left the technology of 'Lion's Awakening' in this bronze box."