Chapter 117 Neutral

The walls of the S3 living area under the night sky were pitch black.

The fiery red lanterns floated in the air, like swimming fish.

"Mr. Zhuang..."

Gu Shen smiled.

This was the moment he had been waiting for. Locking onto the S3 living area, and the entire Nan Ku, was all for the purpose of meeting the Neutralist.

"You know I'm not dead yet?"

Zhuang Su still had his hands in his pockets. He was very interested in Gu Shen. From the kid's reaction when he saw him, he knew that he had guessed the "truth" about him.

But how did Gu Shen know?

The Neutralists had been quietly observing Sang Zhou Ku...

From many years ago.

Until now.

They could find out about every disturbance on this island at the first moment. So, the moment Deep Sea opened the F area entrance, they knew that "outsiders" had entered.

Not only that.

Mr. Zhuang also knew that Vias had personally led Gu Shen and his party into Nan Ku.

In that case... Gu Shen should know that "he" was already dead.

"How did you know?" Zhuang Su couldn't help but ask.

The faint smile on Gu Shen's face was enough to explain the answer to the previous question.

As for the latter.

"Mr. Zhuang, I have to have my 'secrets'," Gu Shen smiled, "Just like... you have yours."

This was their first meeting.

From the distance between the two, one could feel...

That both sides were not "honest" enough.

In this case, it was impossible for Gu Shen to confide in Mr. Zhuang and the Neutralists.

"That makes sense."

Mr. Zhuang nodded.

He suddenly stretched out a hand and grabbed towards Gu Shen.

This grab was unannounced!

But the effect was significant. The space on the high wall instantly solidified—

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes, and he also stretched out a hand.

"Bang!"

A sound of metal clashing rang out in the air.

Mr. Zhuang's sleeves fluttered in the night wind. He retreated back, putting his left hand back into his pocket...

Gu Shen's expression was as usual.

He glanced at his palm covered in "Iron Scale Skin". The collision just now was not weak. The Iron Throne instantly defended, so he was not hurt.

But...

His "spiritual sense" still did not warn him of danger.

"Is this the 'great hero' who saved Nan Ku during the day?" Mr. Zhuang said lightly, "I don't think you quite live up to your name."

Gu Shen smiled dumbly.

The iron-blue color on his skin slowly faded, returning to its original state.

Mr. Zhuang wanted to test him.

Or rather... the Neutralists wanted to test him.

"This doesn't seem like the attitude to 'have a talk'," Gu Shen was not angry, he still smiled, "The people of the S3 living area respect you. You saved many of them. I always thought... we could become 'allies'."

"Is that so? I thought so too."

Mr. Zhuang also smiled, "I did come as a Neutralist. They hope I can have a good talk with you. I have to say, the superficial work you did after you came to Nan Ku was very beautiful. You almost deceived everyone. At least most of the Neutralists didn't see that the 'black curtain' you arranged in Nan Ku during the day was filled with ominousness..."

He paused slightly.

Mr. Zhuang asked quietly, "If I'm not mistaken, is that the spiritual toxin left by 'Hades'?"

"..."

Gu Shen fell silent.

He sighed softly, not expecting that the trick he had played for the Western and Central Continents would be mistaken by "Mr. Zhuang" and see through the source.

Obviously.

Mr. Zhuang misunderstood.

But, before Gu Shen could explain, the hooded figure in the dark night rushed up again.

Mr. Zhuang's toes stepped on the ground not covered by "Azure Frost". His figure was as fast as lightning. He was clearly a spiritual transcendent, but he possessed a terrifying physical combat power that was not commensurate with it.

"Bang!"

Another crisp sound rang out.

The two faced each other on the high wall of the S3 area. Iron Scale Skin covered his palm. At the moment of the fight, Gu Shen narrowed his eyes. In the Chihuo vision, he finally saw Mr. Zhuang's left hand clearly...

It was an alloy iron hand!

No wonder...

He had been keeping his hand in his sleeve, not taking it out.

No wonder, a spiritualist could possess such terrifying close combat power!

"Bang bang bang bang—"

Azure Frost spread, and muffled sounds exploded continuously on the city wall.

Mr. Zhuang's figure was extremely erratic, like a butterfly, stepping on the narrow area not covered by Azure Frost, and moving with extreme agility. He deliberately avoided Gu Shen's domain... Little did he know that Gu Shen had never had the intention to kill from beginning to end. At this moment, he had already withdrawn his domain. Even if he stepped on the Azure Frost of the Pure Land domain, he would not be frozen.

"Isn't this young man a spiritualist? How can he fight so well?"

After fighting for more than a hundred rounds, Mr. Zhuang felt a little puzzled because he couldn't take him down.

He didn't expect Gu Shen to be so good at fighting!

During the day, Gu Shen slaughtered the beast tide by relying on his "spiritual ability", so he had been guarding his mind, guarding against assassination. But now it seemed that it had developed into a pure close-quarters wrestling, competing for the length of his Qi.

Mr. Zhuang changed from one hand to two hands.

Gu Shen still responded with one hand, but the speed of his moves increased.

Fighting again.

Mr. Zhuang vaguely felt that... his mechanical prosthetic limb was about to smoke. The young man was still as indifferent as ever, with a faint smile on his face.

Obviously.

He was feeding him moves.

He suddenly stopped.

"Senior, why don't you continue?"

Gu Shen also stopped immediately, and asked with a smile, "Do you want to rest? Don't worry, I'll wait for you here. You can start anytime after you've rested."

"You..."

Mr. Zhuang laughed angrily.

In this way, he suddenly felt that this kid was not quite the same as he had imagined.

"If Senior hasn't had enough, I can accompany Senior until dawn."

Gu Shen said lightly, "If Senior has had enough, you might as well take a rest and give me a chance to 'catch my breath', so I can explain a few words."

"..."

Mr. Zhuang was completely silent.

He then realized that after pointing out the "spiritual toxin", he had not given the young man a chance to speak.

This couldn't be blamed on him.

Twenty years ago.

Hades was a notorious figure.

What good person could use the "Poison of Hades"?

Back then, if you gave this kind of person a chance to speak, you would be the one who would suffer!

"This poison... is indeed 'Hades'."

Gu Shen said calmly, "But it was snatched from 'Hades' by me."

"???"

As soon as this was said.

Mr. Zhuang's expression was very wonderful.

"You? Snatching from 'Hades'?"

Mr. Zhuang looked at Gu Shen with a complicated expression... thinking that this young man might have drunk too much tonight?

Although he had Tier 4 combat power, if he was placed in the Saint Adjudicator's army that was fighting against Hades back then... he could only barely be considered a large "cannon fodder".

But...

Gu Shen was not lying about this.

The Doru River River Poison was the token of exchange between Hades and the Traveler. These River Poisons were a backup plan used by Hades to kill the Traveler clan... It was a pity that this backup plan was never used at all, and was taken away by Gu Shen at the bottom of the Underworld River.

Strictly speaking, he really snatched it from "Hades"!

"Whether what I said is true or not, is not important."

Gu Shen said leisurely, "Senior took action earlier, simply because the 'Hades Toxin' made you believe... I am a hypocritical person with a plausible appearance. So I only need to show something to prove my 'true identity' is enough."

Mr. Zhuang frowned.

The next moment.

Gu Shen took a step forward—

This step made Mr. Zhuang's pupils shrink. He subconsciously wanted to retreat, but the originally solidified Azure Frost suddenly spread, instantly freezing his legs, nailing the whole person in place.

"Don't be nervous."

Gu Shen said sincerely, "... I am not a bad person."

He came to Mr. Zhuang's face, and the black color in his eyes gradually faded. A small flame burned in the depths of his pupils.

Zhuang Su looked blankly at the flame.

He brought the entire high wall of the S3 living area into his dream.

And Gu Shen brought Zhuang Su into his dream.

At this moment, Zhuang Su's spiritual sea caused infinite roars. He watched the flame burn in front of his eyes, and the darkness was burned through. The fire took his soul out of its sheath, and came to an endless wilderness. This wilderness had towering trees that reached into the clouds, and majestic snow that had frozen for thousands of miles. Falling and falling again... He came to the boundless deep sea, accompanied by the sound of the hub exploding, and suddenly sat down on a seat in a train car that was speeding fast but was quiet and silent.

"Buzz—"

The whole world changed from noisy to extremely quiet.

He sat in his seat with a dazed expression, looking at the ethereal woman floating cross-legged not far away. Very few people in the Ancient Text Society had seen this "girl". Before the great massacre began, Chu Ling was responsible for connecting the main body of the Deep Sea in the Five Continents.

However, after the main system was upgraded, this line of source code was wiped out.

As for what Jing Shanyan did after that... no one knew except Zhou Jiren.

"Source code..."

Zhuang Su looked at this familiar yet unfamiliar face, and the black robe covering his face slipped off, revealing an old face. His hair was already gray, but his memory was still clear.

He would always remember this "girl".

"Sir."

Chu Ling said softly, "I have a name. You can call me Chu Ling."

Chu Ling.

Yes... this name had not appeared for many, many years.

Zhuang Su suddenly moved his head, looking at the young man who brought his spirit down and came to this space... If this girl was regarded as the source code of the reconstruction cornerstone of the Ancient Text Society, then this young man was...

Gu Shen stood at the end of the OOL train car.

He reached out and opened the door of the train car leading to the next car... In the spiritual space, no one knew what world the door would lead to.

With a desire for the truth, Zhuang Su stood up unsteadily, took a deep breath, and then stepped into the back of the door.

Behind the door was a small meeting room.

Pure Land, OOL, all the spiritual images were shattered.

"As you think."

Gu Shen said softly, "I... am the key."

...

...

Everything in the spiritual world dissipated like bubbles.

The seawater disappeared.

Returning to reality.

The Chihuo in the depths of Gu Shen's pupils... slowly dissipated.

The glow reflected in Zhuang Su's eyes returned to calm.

"Key..."

He murmured, "So that's how it is... you are... the key..."

Those doubts and confusions that he couldn't figure out on the way here had all disappeared at this moment.

Because Gu Shen was the key.

So when he came here, he noticed the true identity of the Neutralist from the clues in the S3 city...

So he replicated everything the Neutralist had done.

He had been waiting for the Neutralist to come and prove his identity.

"Senior, is the information about the Hades Fire still important now?"

Gu Shen said with a smile. He spread his arms and leaned back against the city wall to rest.

The Pure Land was withdrawn, and the ice and frost dissolved with a crash.

Zhuang Su regained his freedom of movement, but he did not take action again. Instead, he said with a complicated expression, "The Hades Fire is indeed not important anymore... If you are the key, then anything is possible."

Gu Shen smiled.

"I'm sorry... I was abrupt."

Zhuang Su slowly bent down and bowed. He said with a serious expression, "I almost made a mistake..."

"It's nothing. There was nothing wrong with how you handled it."

Gu Shen shook his head. Zhuang Su's mental power was very strong. It should have reached the top level of the tenth floor of the Deep Sea. If he had chosen to launch a surprise attack as soon as he came up, it might have really posed a threat to him.

But he had Iron Scale Skin. Once Zhuang Su had murderous intent, Chihuo would immediately sense it.

So...

Nothing would happen.

Gu Shen did not tell Zhuang Su where his Hades Fire came from. Even though he had completed the exchange, he did not reveal his true identity...

As long as he could prove that he was a good person.

Did these things still matter?

"Mr. Zhuang, to be honest, I have been waiting for you to come."

Gu Shen said calmly, "The situation in Sang Zhou Ku is quite serious now. Besides me, there are also the Three Continents, and the 'extremists' hidden in the Southern Continent, who are all active... If the Neutralists are discovered by them, they will not have a good end."

"Yes..."

Zhuang Su nodded and said, "But we are watching everything. The current situation is still stable."

"Maybe the Goddess of Destiny is blessing us," he paused and smiled, "The activities of the Neutralists are mainly concentrated in Nan Ku, and Nan Ku happens to be the garrison territory of the Eastern Continent..."

"..."

Gu Shen sighed softly in his heart.

It seemed that the Neutralists' information was still limited. Deep Sea had cut off the connection of everyone on Sang Zhou Ku. The members of the Ancient Text Society were no exception. They did not have special means to communicate with the outside world.

So Zhuang Su did not know about the redistribution of the Four Continents' territories.

If Gu Shen had not been sensitive enough to realize the true identity of the Neutralist, then the ones participating in the division of this area at this moment should have been the Western and Central Continents...

No matter what, the Neutralists' territory was safe. He had made the right bet.

So after a little thought, Gu Shen just nodded and smiled in agreement.

He did not tell Zhuang Su that the Goddess of Destiny was himself.

"Respected key, please forgive my previous reckless probing."

Zhuang Su bowed again, "It was very rude, but I had no other way. To survive in a place like Sang Zhou Ku, the Neutralists must be extremely cautious and careful. We cannot afford the slightest mistake..."

Gu Shen returned the salute.

He shook his head and said seriously, "It's nothing. You don't have to feel guilty, and you don't have to apologize anymore."

"..."

Zhuang Su came to the top of the wall. He stood under the lantern and stretched out a hand to Gu Shen, making an inviting gesture.

"Next is the true face of the Neutralists..."

"Mr. Gu, please come with me."