Chapter 16 Is This Considered a Prodigal Son Returning?

"Using your words, is this considered a prodigal son returning?"

Not long after Zhao Qi left the building, Chu Ling's voice rang out, interrupting Lu Nanzhi's contemplation.

The Madam raised her head.

She thought of Chu Ling's status as the [Source Code], assuming that all the information occurring in the entire building was under Chu Ling's control... perhaps even the alarm at the entrance was transmitted to her by Chu Ling.

"Perhaps it is."

Lu Nanzhi smiled, sighing, "Zhao Qi's changes over the past few years have indeed been unexpected. I thought he came to Hua Zhi wanting to return to Da Du. But let's not talk about that. How is the experiment on your end?"

In the Madam's life, Zhao Qi had always been an unimportant person.

This meeting, Zhao Qi came for the "Xin Yang Fortress," and that problem would be resolved, so it wasn't worth wasting time thinking about it.

"It's progressing smoothly, but the experiment requires time."

Chu Ling sat down, slowly saying, "As for what the future results will be, no one knows."

The Madam nodded slightly, then cautiously asked, "That infant... what exactly is going on with it?"

Previously, she had met Chu Ling in the mental network and learned about the divine infant.

Chu Ling had appeared, hoping that Hua Zhi would provide technical support and financial assistance to the Neutrals.

With the [Source Code] as the connection, Lu Nanzhi confirmed Qi Mozhuang's solemn identity, and funding and technology were no longer an issue.

It's just that she had never seen a freak like the "divine infant" before.

Chu Ling was silent for a moment, thinking for a long time about how to explain this "thing" to the Madam.

"Many years ago, Hua Zhi conducted research related to the 'Gene Decree.' You should have reviewed those documents back then, right?"

Chu Ling looked into the Madam's eyes, and after receiving an affirmative gaze, slowly said, "I think the divine infant may be the end point that the Gene Decree can reach... This is a truly perfect, flawless embryo in the truest sense. If there really is a container in this world that can carry a 'god,' then it is him. Because he is inherently immortal, and the years cannot leave traces on him."

The most powerful ancient Wen forbidden technique in legends is the art of longevity. Countless people have gone mad for the word "longevity," and the divine infant... possesses all of this from birth.

"This..."

Lu Nanzhi realized the importance of the divine infant.

Her expression became solemn, and she said, "According to your description, if the existence of the divine infant is exposed, even the Seven Gods might take action?"

"That's right."

Chu Ling nodded, "The Seven Gods are certainly powerful, but they are not omniscient either. At least they are currently unaware of the existence of this infant."

The Source Tower's gazes are all focused on Gu Xiaoman. They have found the future God of Wine and are already content.

As for Guang Ming Bi Lei and the Storm Church, they each have their own purposes in the Sangzhou Cave.

Due to the ash shielding the [Authority], this extremely important infant was able to be successfully sent to Da Du.

"In that case, the safest place for the divine infant should be Chang Ye."

Lu Nanzhi rubbed her brow, feeling a surge of pressure, "After all, there are no gods stationed in the Da Du District... If the existence of this little guy is really exposed..."

"Don't worry, with me here, no information will leak out."

Chu Ling calmly said, "This is also the reason for transferring the 'Neutrals' to the tenth basement floor. I will ensure the absolute information security of this infant."

She raised her palm again, and countless golden threads swirled and dispersed from her fingertips.

"This is truly... a miracle."

Lu Nanzhi looked at this scene, murmuring with emotion, "I'm afraid no one could have imagined that Mr. Turing's [Source Code] would actually descend into the world one day."

"There are no perfect miracles in this world. My life is limited, only a few days... and each rebirth may be the last."

Chu Ling retracted the golden threads, her tone self-deprecating, "Perhaps this is the last time we'll meet."

"..."

Lu Nanzhi smiled wryly. After a deep exchange with Chu Ling, she realized that the woman before her was completely different from what she had imagined.

This woman dressed in red and white divine maiden robes didn't seem like an AI.

Her every gesture and word had already integrated with humanity.

She could perceive Chu Ling's joys, sorrows, and even more subtle emotions, whether it was self-deprecation or helplessness, she could clearly feel it... No matter who looked at it, this was a truly "living" person.

Lu Nanzhi said, "Miss Chu, what are your plans for the future?"

Chu Ling lowered her eyes, "For my last time... I want to go to Nan Zhou, to see that disappeared island. I heard that Chang Ye has established an investigation team that will go to the Ice Sea to investigate. I should go with them."

The trivial matters of the world have been dealt with almost completely.

Going to the Ice Sea, this is Chu Ling's final arrangement.

She hopes that the end of this life will be greeted in the Ice Sea.

...

...

Chu Ling didn't wait too long. The Chang Ye investigation team soon arrived in the Da Du District.

The membership list of this investigation team was very simple: currently only three people. The leader was Bai Xiaochi, and the members were Chen Li and Gong Zi.

They came to Da Du this time to invite Chen Mei to go south together.

Bai Xiu didn't join the investigation team. After the farewell at the mausoleum, he left Snow Forbidden City alone.

No one knew where he was going... As an S-level genius carrying a large amount of resources, this kind of departure without saying goodbye was actually quite a bad behavior. However, no one dared to gossip, because in the Elder Council, apart from the titled levels, no one was Bai Xiu's opponent anymore.

So even if some elders were dissatisfied, they could only swallow it silently.

Fortunately, with Bai Xiu's current cultivation realm, not many people in the Five Continents could pose a threat to him.

Joining the investigation team went smoothly.

With Chu Ling's identity as a "graveyard keeper" in the real world, and her status as a "successor of divination," there was no way Bai Xiaochi could refuse.

However, she wasn't interested in the investigation into Gu Shen's death. Joining the investigation team was just to hitch a ride.

Chang Ye's "investigation mission" received the support of Bei Zhou. The Central City donated a small source energy boat.

In the end, the investigation team personnel were determined. Five people boarded the source energy boat and headed south.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they landed, the Storm Church sent a Saint to greet them.

Judging by this posture, they had obviously guessed what Chang Ye wanted to do. Next, the investigation team's actions went very smoothly. The Storm Church opened its doors wide to the investigation team.

It wasn't hard to guess why they were doing this: on the one hand, the Sangzhou Cave had disappeared, so there was no evidence to search for. Regardless of whether the Holy City cooperated or not, the investigation team's work would be very difficult to carry out. This investigation was destined to be a futile ending from the very beginning.

On the other hand.

The Holy City was indeed innocent in Gu Shen's death!

Since Chang Ye suspected that there was another conspiracy behind this case, the Storm Church naturally fully supported them. They couldn't wait for the investigation team to really find out some conspiracy... If this matter involved the Source Tower or Guang Ming Bi Lei, then there would be a good show to watch.

As the weakest party among the Five Continents, the Saints of the Storm Church hoped from the bottom of their hearts that the world could be a little more peaceful before the return of the gods, or that the other four continents would have conflicts and confront each other in a turbulent manner.

This way, their pressure would be much less.

The handful of dust that Lu Zhe picked up on the ridge of Mount Tanyao was the only clue for the investigation team.

Bai Xiaochi's [Zhaoming] ability could extract blood and decipher transcendent factors, but there were too many blood samples in that handful of dust, from dozens of sources.

[Zhaoming]'s analysis ability was strong enough, but there were really too many blood sources on Mount [Tanyao]... There were beast spirits running on the ground and birds falling from the sky. These awakened beast bloods were difficult to distinguish because they were not in the [Deep Sea] database. Therefore, the investigation team's first task was to search for related species in the Ice Sea area and look for surviving awakened beast spirits.

They could only use the elimination method.

Since Chu Ling had joined the investigation team, she naturally had to integrate into this group... Although she had already reached the end of this investigation, knowing that Gu Shen had not died, she was also curious about the truth behind the Sangzhou Cave incident.

In fact, she couldn't understand it either.

After disconnecting the link, what exactly happened that caused Gu Shen to be "buried" in the eruption of [Tanyao]?

The Holy City's cooperation greatly improved the investigation team's efficiency.

However, the analysis of these blood samples was not something that could be completed in a day or two. Two weeks later, the investigation team screened out several blood samples that were worth investigating.

One of the blood sources that was recorded in the database has been confirmed...

It was the blood of the Vermilion Bird Envoy.

In other words, the Vermilion Bird Envoy had appeared in the [Tanyao] Mountain ridge area.

Based on this result, it was inferred that the Vermilion Bird was most likely... dead.

When the Chang Ye investigation team announced the investigation results of this blood sample, it caused a series of chain reactions that were both laughable and absurd: the Source Tower no longer concealed it, and they immediately announced the news of the Vermilion Bird Envoy's confirmed death, and immediately publicly selected the next Envoy... The Upper City didn't care about the Vermilion Bird's life or death at all, because they had already found the perfect "God of Wine."

There will always be Four Divine Envoys.

But there is only one perfectly matched Fire Seed master.

The remaining blood, another source was confirmed, was from Adam, a famous scholar in the Upper City... The reason why Gu Shen lost contact was to escort Adam to the core area for investigation.

The results of this sample confirmed that Adam was also dead.

However, among these blood samples, Bai Xiaochi also extracted a familiar transcendent factor, which was the transcendent power of "Owl," the "S-level criminal" who had appeared in Da Du District.

Blood-colored flames.

Although it was only a very weak strand.

But this meant that... the power of blood fire had appeared in the [Tanyao] core area.

Based on a vague blood fire transcendent factor, it was impossible to draw more conclusions.

The investigation team's final guess was that when Gu Shen was exploring the core area with Adam, they encountered "Owl," who was hiding there, and ultimately engaged in a difficult battle, and finally both were buried there.

But it is worth mentioning that among these blood samples, [Zhaoming] did not reveal Gu Shen's blood, or the transcendent factor of Chihuo Youli.

This was very strange.

This probably meant that... Gu Shen didn't bleed?

But if this battle wasn't difficult, then how could Gu Shen fail to escape?

Bai Xiaochi couldn't understand this point, but holding on to the clue of "blood fire," the investigation team began to question the Nan Zhou Holy City, questioning the real reason why the Church didn't clean up "blood fire," this high-risk existence, in a timely manner... If the Holy City had contact and protected "blood fire," then this might be a targeted conspiracy!

Since the Sangzhou Cave had been destroyed, no one knew what happened that day, and no one could prove it.

The Church was unable to refute it for a while.

Those Saints never expected that after investigating around, the investigation team would first aim its spear at themselves!

Chun Li's reaction was very decisive.

Compensation and apologies... They would give whatever Chang Ye wanted.

He knew very well that with this little bit of "blood fire" transcendent factor, the investigation team couldn't explain the truth of Gu Shen's death at all... This couldn't be the truth either.

Since the "guests" were here, they had to give something.

After the Holy City bowed its head, Bai Xiaochi's investigation team's southward mission ended very weakly in the Holy City... This seemed to be the best ending after everyone had made their best efforts.

They had touched the truth.

But only a little bit.

The real murderer who "killed" Gu Shen didn't leave a drop of blood.

...

...

The investigation team's mission ended, and Chu Ling's life was also coming to an end.

The few black flowers she brought from the Divine Shrine had burned out their last bit of origin essence. This detail was not noticed.

She knew that she had very little time left, and might not even make it back to Dong Zhou.

So she didn't board the investigation team's source energy boat to return, but chose to leave alone.

Little Iron Man was a little worried and offered to accompany her, but she refused.

Chu Ling couldn't explain to Chen Li that her "life" was periodic, short and long, and that this departure was to go to her death, so she could only refuse.

At the end of this life, she hoped to "die" alone in the Ice Sea.

In a quiet and deserted night, Chu Ling came to the northern edge of the Ice Sea alone. She lifted the hem of her spotless ancient robes and slowly stepped into the sea.

She had seen this sea in Gu Shen's "vision."

There was originally an island here, but now it was empty. Because the severe winter was approaching, the sea surface was covered with a layer of thin ice, making the view particularly empty and desolate.

Chu Ling couldn't see anything.

So she began to borrow the power of fate.

Chu Ling lowered her clothes, allowing the waves to engulf her knees. Her fingertips began to shatter, turning into countless fluorescent lights. The extended divination golden threads rolled toward the end of the sea, the divination technique could not divine the Fire Seed, so she had no way to find Gu Shen's location in fate... The last thing she could think of was to try this stupid way to search the sea.

Of course, there were no results.

Chu Ling stood in the cold sea water, her body becoming illusory and transparent.

The golden threads of fate tried to penetrate the Ice Sea, but the more they extended, the smaller they appeared.

This time, the golden threads did not connect the two.

Before Chu Ling died, she didn't see anything.

The divine maiden disappeared in the long night.

The golden threads sank in the silent sea water.

At the same time, in a very, very distant sea area of the Ice Sea.

A withered figure leaning against a stone wall seemed to wake up from a deep sleep. His eyebrows trembled slightly, and he吐out a few sporadic bubbles.

"..."

Gu Shen opened his eyes.

For some reason, he suddenly couldn't settle down, and a very sour feeling arose in his heart...

He wanted to open his eyes and take a look, but after opening his eyes, he didn't see anything.

All he could see was darkness.

In the depths of the Ice Sea, there was no light, only eternal night.