Light Barrier

Gu Shen was startled.

Yes, before the fire, Mr. Tree had already extended an olive branch.

He didn’t understand. If not for the transcendental awakening, what else about him could have attracted Mr. Tree?

“Meow~”

After Nan Jin left, the eyes of the orange cat, which was lying obediently on the sofa, suddenly glowed, and its cries became sharp.

It jumped onto Gu Shen’s knee and wrote in the air with its claws while meowing.

“Ruler!” Gu Shen immediately understood. Chu Ling was online again. “Did you hide the ruler? Where did you hide it?”

On the day of the fire, his last memories were already blurry.

After he used the Ruler of Truth, his mental power had been overdrawn, and even the phone call at the end had been made by Chu Ling on his behalf. Although Gu Shen had not experienced what had happened afterward, he knew that it had definitely been very complicated.

This fire had a great impact, and the government would definitely block the area directly after taking over.

And the source of the fire, his residence, had probably been searched inside and out several times.

It wouldn’t be easy for a cat to hide the Ruler of Truth.

The orange cat grabbed the corner of Gu Shen’s clothes and led him into the inner room… When they arrived in front of the holographic screen, the screen automatically turned on. Accompanied by the special effects of waves washing over, the familiar dialog box popped up again.

It was a message from Chu Ling.

“Gu Shen, we will meet again.”

After this message popped up, the fluorescent glow in the orange cat’s eyes slowly disappeared. The silly cat yawned and looked around, seeming confused as to why it was here. Then it wagged its tail and left.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes. While lying on the hospital bed recuperating, he had been thinking about an issue.

How did Chu Ling communicate with him through the orange cat?

In the end, he could only come up with a somewhat forced answer.

Technological invasion.

In the era where Deep Sea connected the Five Continents and artificial intelligence was highly advanced, it wasn’t difficult to control a stray cat using an implanted chip.

However, once too many coincidences piled up, they ceased to be mere coincidences.

The series of bizarre encounters he had experienced over the past few days… Chu Ling had foreseen them all and given him warnings in advance. In addition, there was the stray cat he had ‘coincidentally’ picked up half a month ago. These events were clearly not simply ‘by chance’.

“You…” Gu Shen slowly typed. “Are you a geek specializing in network hacking?”

This was the most reasonable explanation he could think of.

No matter what, Chu Ling had saved his life, so Gu Shen felt that he could trust her without reservation.

The warning in the train carriage, the reminder during the fire, the final phone call… If Chu Ling hadn’t done any of these matters, he would most likely already be dead.

“Heh, a geek specializing in network hacking… Interesting opinion. You can think of it that way.” Chu Ling quickly replied and added, “Including but not limited to that.”

“Including… but not limited to that,” Gu Shen repeated softly, feeling that this girl’s talent and courage were astonishing.

The network security of Deep Sea was exceptionally important. As the link that connected the Five Continents, its servers were responsible for the lives of billions of people, and the world’s top security team was in charge of patrolling them and ensuring their safety at all times.

And Chu Ling can actually hide her identity and speak with me, Gu Shen mused.

This was already an irregular, ‘unauthorized’ privilege.

If she could do more… It was hard to imagine what the consequences would be if the authorities discovered it.

“What you are doing is very dangerous.”

The more Gu Shen thought about it, the more his head hurt. Once Chu Ling was exposed, it would trigger a large-scale manhunt. At that time, the Adjudication Bureau would most likely be involved in the pursuit. These people were all true monsters. “What if you’re discovered?”

“Don’t worry,” the girl replied calmly. “They can’t find me. I’ve already sent you the location of the Ruler of Truth. I suggest you act tonight and get it as soon as possible.”

It seemed this girl didn’t care about the consequences of being tracked down at all.

Gu Shen didn’t say anything else. He clicked on the data packet labeled ‘Ruler’ sent by Chu Ling, and a three-dimensional map with overlapping layers unfolded before him. He looked at it in silence. Without a doubt, this was another powerful privilege that could only be accessed after connecting to Deep Sea.

This map was extremely precise.

At a glance, Gu Shen could tell that… it was the half-destroyed unfinished building. Due to the fire, all the residents had been evacuated and relocated to temporary shelters nearby. This building was now cordoned off, and unauthorized people were not allowed entry.

This map was updating in real-time, showing yellow dots wandering around the old building and a particularly eye-catching red dot.

“The yellow dots represent ordinary people, and the red dots are transcendents. One transcendent has already arrived. After tonight, it is estimated that the number of combat personnel from the two organizations will gradually increase, and there may be other transcendents of unknown origins. The possibility of the ruler being exposed will increase,” Chu Ling explained simply. “Do you see the location of the ruler? It’s beside the body of the second victim, in a pile of wooden boards at the corner of the stairs leading to the top floor.”

Gu Shen remembered this spot.

It was there that he had used the ruler to administer divine punishment and burned the arsonist to death.

At the last moment, Chu Ling had chosen to hide the ruler there. It was very risky.

But it was also very wise.

As the source of the fire, his residence would surely be thoroughly inspected. If she had placed the ruler there, it would have been exposed.

Other locations couldn’t guarantee the avoidance of the search either.

Only the place where the two corpses were, the rooftop and the corridor leading to it, would be preserved due to being the primary crime scene.

He was already a member of the Adjudication Bureau, and Mr. Tree wouldn’t let the mastermind behind this fire get away with it.

“The best time to act is tonight at 23:00. There will be a shift change for the staff at the old building. You can take the opportunity to sneak in. This is the action plan before obtaining the ruler, and this is the escape route.”

Chu Ling, like an emotionless machine, sent out two more documents.

After Gu Shen opened and read them carefully, he took a deep breath and typed. “If the ruler is exposed, what will the consequences be?”

There was a short pause, as though Chu Ling was thinking. Or perhaps she was searching for information.

She recounted a tale from long ago. “Before losing control, A-009 was an important member of the Ancient Text Society and had significant ties with the Father of Deep Sea, Alan Turing. With the destruction of the Ancient Text Society, A-009 embarked on the path of losing control and was strictly detained. Over the years, she has been transferred to many cities. A certain prominent figure in the Parliament was interested in investigating the true cause of this lady’s loss of control, so he kept conducting experiments. They believe it was a transcendental object containing immense power that caused A-009’s total loss of control.”

Gu Shen was startled. A transcendental object containing immense power?

“In the car, the boning knife you saw and the newspaper, they are believed to be the main culprits behind the loss of control.

“After losing control, A-009 perfectly concealed the existence of the ruler for over the past decade. So that figure doesn’t know that… there’s a third transcendental sealed object hidden on her.”

Cold sweat began to trickle down Gu Shen’s back.

“For unknown reasons, A-009 chose to give the Ruler of Truth to you,” Chu Ling stated concisely. “You don’t need to know the reasons. You only need to know that if this ruler is discovered, you will be in big trouble. The will of that figure isn’t something you can resist at your current stage.”

Gu Shen asked with difficulty, “You should know that I’ve received the protection of the pardon order.”

“I am well aware of it, but that pardon order only applies to the surface truth of the fire… Although the issuer of the pardon is very powerful, his protection is merely out of favor, not genuine concern for your life and death.” Chu Ling’s reply made Gu Shen’s entire body tense. “But if the Ruler of Truth is exposed, the factions will be in chaos, and the pardon order will most likely no longer provide protection. Are you prepared for such an outcome?”

Gu Shen stared intently at the screen.

Unbeknownst to him, sweat had gathered on his forehead. After his brain worked to the limit, it was blank.

Although he was unwilling to believe it, he knew that what Chu Ling said was right.

The Ruler of Truth… must never be known by a third person.

After taking a deep breath, Gu Shen made up his mind. “I’ll take action tonight, but there’s still the transcendent. What should I do?”

On the other end, Chu Ling was very satisfied with Gu Shen’s response. “Don’t worry. I’ll assist you. Before the operation, change your clothes. As long as you can connect to Deep Sea, I can contact you at any time.”

Gu Shen sat in front of the holographic screen and deliberated for a long time before asking the last question in his heart. “Chu Ling… why are you helping me?”

The chat box showed that she was typing and deleting, but it soon returned to calm.

Chu Ling had answered all of Gu Shen’s questions.

Only this one remained unanswered.