Chapter 1861: Chapter 454: Setting Sail
Bai Xiu waited patiently outside the golden illusion.
After a moment.
Alf slowly drifted out from the ripples of the illusion, and the human and the machine stared at each other across the distance for several minutes.
Bai Xiu didn’t ask Alf what he saw or heard.
He never liked prying into other people’s "privacy."
The story of Alfred was something he only vaguely heard from Gu Shen... An AI left behind by its master during the Starship Civilization era, guarding this starship silently for nearly a thousand years.
Even though he only heard a small part.
But that small part was enough to make one feel lonely.
For so many years.
Alf had never stepped into the realm of the Lord of Love, not because the pressure of that area was too strong.
Perhaps...
He was worried about what he was guarding.
Just a dream, shattered at a touch, and utterly meaningless.
After a long while, Bai Xiu spoke.
"Did you... meet the Lord of Love?"
Alf lightly hmmed.
The conversation with the Lord of Love wasn’t long.
But it was enough. Alf stayed here not for anything, even though its master didn’t return, because the throne of the Lord of Love was there, and the lingering spirit was still present, it was enough to fill the loneliness of its long life, letting it know that its guardianship was meaningful.
Only now, it’s time to head to the next stop.
After a brief silence.
Alf flew to Bai Xiu’s front, speaking solemnly, "Where is Gu Shen... give me the coordinates."
Bai Xiu’s eyes lit up.
He had actually given up persuading Alf and was preparing to "set" back on the Black Silver Airship.
Though he wasn’t clear on what happened between Alf and the Lord of Love.
But... this was the best news of the journey!
Bai Xiu spoke rapidly, "Gu Shen is now in the ’Old World,’ he only gave a vague return coordinate. If we head north from the East Sea, we should be able to contact him near the northern frontier!"
As the words fell.
Alf uttered two words, "Hold on."
"Rumble..."
A deep rumble arose from the bronze hall, and the entire submerged Initial Number began to awaken, the extinguished Source Energy Core exploded with blazing light and fire, illuminating the darkness deep in the East Sea like the sun.
Boom!
The next moment.
The ocean current in the deep sea shattered, this gigantic ship, like a massive whale, set off countless splintered waves, slowly sliding and starting on the seabed.
Bai Xiu’s body shook slightly.
The internal space of the Initial Number was very stable, but the "Thunder Realm Walker" felt the rapid speed of this giant ship cutting through the waves.
Alf asked, "How long did it take you to come from the ’Old World’?"
"Nearly forty hours."
Bai Xiu’s expression was solemn.
Those forty hours mainly depended on the full firepower of the "Thunder Realm Walker."
"Now you can see the technology of the ’Starship Civilization.’
Alf smiled, "The journey of a starship is never a regular continuous voyage... if time is tight, we will capture ’portals’ in the void and achieve forced docking."
Bai Xiu knew this point, the "Old World" had many doors.
The Investigation Corps, during their long missions beyond the border, recorded useful "doors," through which one could quickly reduce travel distance, essentially reducing the displacement between two points to zero.
But Bai Xiu could hardly imagine that the Starship Civilization could capture and dock with portals by itself.
"Once there was a leader who mastered very formidable ’time’ and ’space’ origin... My master and that leader set up a ’device’ to capture portals, only I never used it, for reasons you understand."
The Initial Number had always stayed at the bottom of the Ice Sea.
Unless it was a major emergency, this device would not be activated... because each use would consume a large amount of energy, and this was contrary to Alf’s mission duties.
From the beginning, the Initial Number was designed to be put into use, because it was too huge, so a shuttle device to seek and capture portals was installed.
Without such a shuttle device, this behemoth would indeed be "too slow" to move.
Back then, it was impossible to escape the storm.
But now everything is different.
The Lord of Love told Alf that this gigantic ship was due for a new journey... so it was determined to set sail for the ’Old World,’ not just to find Gu Shen, the sword wielder, but also to search for the traces left by its master.
Extinguishing Candle, is a very good clue.
...
...
"You seem to know the ’Initial Number’ very well."
The conversation in the spirit sea domain of the array box continued.
When Gu Shen was at the ’Ice Sea Ruins,’ he had already guessed that Turing was still alive and had most likely set foot on the Initial Number, but no amount of guessing could compare to asking directly.
"I not only know the ’Initial Number,’ I’m also very familiar with Alf."
Turing smiled, "It is a stubborn, obstinate fellow to the extreme... its only mission is to protect that big ship, not to let it be destroyed by the Source Material Storm, nor destroyed by people. Imagine, if the ’Initial Number’ intervened in the Five Continents war, it might provoke a God-level force to attack. In that case, Alf would fail in its duty, it values that ship more than anyone else, it would not let the ’Initial Number’ fall into such a crisis."
Indeed...
Turing really knew Alf well.
Although Gu Shen had only met Alf once and spent a few days with him, he was well aware that the likelihood of the Origin joining the war was not that high.
But he still sent Little Xiuzi.
Because he had a very important "trump card," which was Gu Xiaoman. Alf desperately hoped someone could remove the spiritual illusion left by the Lord of Love, and the Lord of Wine was the best candidate.
Therefore, he wouldn’t just stand by and watch Gu Xiaoman fall into the war.
"In this kind of situation, even if you bring up Gu Xiaoman, it won’t work."
Turing spoke faintly: "Unless the Lord of Melting Iron speaks personally, or the Lord of Love speaks... both of them are ’old antiques’ buried long ago. Do you think it’s possible?"
"..."
This remark directly left Gu Shen speechless, and he could only look at Turing helplessly.
Is there a technique called "Mind Reading Technique" in the Taboo Ancient Text?
How could this old guy see through all his thoughts, and guess them accurately?
"Trying is better than having no hope."
Gu Shen said softly: "When I sent Little Xiuzi southward... I had another thought, if I die in the [Old World], then the Origin and Gu Xiaoman will be entrusted to him."
When a person dies, everything becomes void.
So many secrets, they become useless.
The news of himself being the "Netherworld King" spreading is not good.
But the secret of the Origin, telling Bai Xiu, can also allow him to enjoy the technology of the Starship Civilization... With Bai Xiu’s strength, he might obtain some opportunities from the Origin, at the very least he could take Gu Xiaoman onto the Origin.
Once the war ignites.
The inheritance of the "Wine Spark" becomes a major problem.
Qinglong is no fool, from the beginning he knew Gu Xiaoman’s identity, and he was extremely confident in transforming Gu Xiaoman into his "underling," so he always kept this little girl.
Once the situation gets out of control, Qinglong won’t show mercy.
If the Lord of Wine cannot be controlled, Qinglong will not hesitate to destroy him.
Actually, this is the same principle as "Di Jiu" back then.
In Qinglong’s eyes, people are no longer people, and life is no longer life.
Di Jiu’s strength was the weakest among the top seats, so Qinglong mercilessly "eliminated" him.
If you replace Di Jiu with Gu Xiaoman, it’s actually the same.
"You’ve played a good hand."
Turing chuckled and said, "You seem unconcerned about your own death..."
When making this arrangement, Gu Shen was being wanted by the [Deep Sea], and he had already foreseen that even in the [Old World], he wouldn’t be safe.
Ordinarily, one would think about how to flee for their life.
But Gu Shen...
Is he making preparations for after his death?
In the Spiritual Sea Domain, an old man and a young man stared at each other.
Gu Shen smiled and spoke, "Death is not the end... isn’t it?"
Turing was speechless.
"Some things, I don’t say, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know."
Gu Shen smiled, "I know you’re still alive, I just don’t know what identity you’re living with... But in my heart, I actually have some candidates. Do you remember where we last met?"
"..."
Turing narrowed his eyes and laughed: "Frost Iron Mountain? You’ve been suspicious of my identity since then?"
Back then, Gu Shen and Mu Wanqiu were handling the Netherworld King’s Disaster Realm incident at Frost Iron Mountain.
The follow-up of this disaster was managed by Cui Zhongcheng...
When Gu Shen cleared the toxins within the disaster, needing Hua Zhi to lend a hand, Cui Zhongcheng was nearby.
At the time, it seemed just a small coincidence.
But now, it seems that those coincidences were never "accidental."
"Even earlier than Frost Iron Mountain."
Gu Shen said lightly: "Of course, I’m suspicious of not just ’Cui Zhongcheng,’ besides Cui Zhongcheng, there are other candidates on my suspicion list... Since you’re still alive and living in the Five Continents, why couldn’t you be by my side?"
Turing smilingly agreed: "Makes sense."
"I just don’t understand... some of the traces you’ve left overlap and contradict each other."
Gu Shen stared directly into Turing’s eyes.
He puzzled, "How could there be someone in this world, leaving so many ’marks’ at the same time?"
In the Taboo Ancient Text, there is a technique called Teleportation Skill.
Teleportation Skill can open a [portal] allowing Transcendents to reach any location at will...
But no matter how one teleports.
It’s ultimately still one person.
When Gu Shen went to see the Tundra Tomb with Xie Zheng, he clearly verified the time Turing taught Xie Zheng... at that time, Cui Zhongcheng should have already been working for Hua Zhi.
If Turing was Cui Zhongcheng.
Then who was the one who taught Xie Zheng?
"You won’t have to wait long to find out the answer to this question."
Turing looked at Gu Shen, his eyes full of solace.
He smiled and changed the topic, asking: "Rather than exploring my existence... shouldn’t you be more curious about what you are?"
...
...
(There’ll be another update tonight.)
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