"That conference room… is at risk of being exposed at any moment."

"Don't worry," Gu Shen said. "I will repair the conference room."

Hearing this, a glimmer of light flickered in Lu Nanzhi's eyes.

She was very curious… just what kind of extraordinary power did the so-called "key" possess, that it could be so highly regarded by Alan Turing, who designated it as the hope for saving the world.

From the conversation just now, she roughly gathered that… Gu Shen could forcibly convene meetings of the Ancient Text Society, and disregard spatial distance to conduct a mandatory "mental link" with all members.

This characteristic alone was special enough, powerful enough.

Now it seemed… there was more: the key possessed a super computing power that could contend with the "Deep Sea"!

The way she looked at Gu Shen changed.

There was awe, and also a sense of emotion.

In her view, Gu Shen was like a miniature human brain Deep Sea. Even without extraordinary abilities, he could use his authority to match "gods" with the body of a mortal.

Of course… she was able to reach this conclusion because she merged the images of "Chu Ling" and "Gu Shen" into one person.

"The 'key' that my father searched for his whole life… he didn't find it even until his death…"

Lu Nanzhi's expression was somewhat complicated. She looked at the oiled paper lantern hanging from the banyan tree branch, swaying in the wind, and smiled softly, "Now that I have found it for him, it can be considered that I have not disappointed his hopes."

"My appearance doesn't seem to have any decisive impact."

Gu Shen thought for a while, and said, "Repairing a conference room, borrowing the Deep Sea's permissions… other than that, there doesn't seem to be anything more."

He put his hand on his forehead and smiled, "I thought after pushing open the Red Gate, those members of the Ancient Text Society, who had worked so hard to find the key for so many years, they might think that the key is some kind of powerful weapon, that once found, it can directly overturn the council and tear apart the darkness… if they knew the truth, wouldn't they be very disappointed?"

"No…"

Lu Nanzhi shook her head, her tone very firm.

"Hope is such a thing."

"It doesn't need much, just a little bit, a little bit is enough."

"People who grope forward in the dark all know… in absolute darkness, not much is needed. Just a ray of light, just one ray, is enough."

Her voice was hoarse, and she said, "The Deep Sea is the darkness that suffocates everyone. It seems to bring endless light to mankind, but in fact it is completely the opposite… Under the massive computing power, the whole world is illuminated, and no secret can escape the 'Eye of Heaven'. When the world is overexposed, that is the most terrifying thing. We can't see anything, we can only see what the 'Deep Sea' lets us see."

"Before pushing open the Red Gate… you must not have been able to understand why I wanted to stop the passage of the Awakening Act."

"Perhaps you still can't understand it now."

"It's not just a conflict of interest with the Zhao family, nor is it because of the past tragedies of Lion Lane that I chose to retaliate." Lu Nanzhi said word by word, staring fixedly at Gu Shen, "It's because… before such a major decision, I can't trust the 'Deep Sea'!"

The lantern crackled.

This lantern was a "one-time seal" left by Lu Cheng.

When the light and fire burned.

A chaotic mental element slowly diffused, and eventually filled the entire small courtyard… These mental elements were harmless to the human body, but could effectively shield electronic signals and prevent eavesdropping.

A complete transcendent array pattern was engraved in the lantern. Although it was old, it was still useful, enough to ensure that not a single bit of the conversation between the two would leak out of the small courtyard tonight.

"Because there are more and more 'black spots' where order collapses… the council began to think about the crisis that humanity will eventually face."

"Before the Deep Sea appeared, the council relied on the 'Fire Seed' to eliminate 'black spots'."

"But after the Deep Sea appeared… the council handed over this problem to the Deep Sea. After years of calculation, the Deep Sea came to a conclusion. According to the absorption law of transcendent elements, too much transcendent source matter in a certain area will increase the probability of 'black spots' being born. To fundamentally eliminate the crisis of black spots engulfing the Five Continents, it is necessary to ensure that the concentration of transcendent source matter wandering in the void is below the threshold."

"And what is the best way to reduce the concentration of transcendent source matter?"

At this point, Lu Nanzhi paused.

"Let the transcendent source matter… be directly absorbed…" Gu Shen frowned and said.

The answer to this question was not difficult to deduce.

And further speculation inevitably made people feel "thrilled."

The promulgation of the Awakening Act… in a sense, was the best way to reduce the concentration of free-state transcendent source matter. All the transcendent source matter would be absorbed by humans.

The Deep Sea hoped that humans would be the carriers for absorbing disorder—

Thus, the Awakening Act came into being.

"Regarding the Act… the highest seat in charge of the Fire Seed ultimately chose to acquiesce."

"The situation in East Continent has been very complicated in recent years, because the only person with influence in the highest seat has fallen into a deep sleep… So after the 'deliberation' of the Five Continents Council, it was decided to make East Continent the first main venue for the promotion of the Act. If the Act is truly effective, then East Continent will be the first blessed land to reap the rewards. If there are negative effects, then East Continent is destined to digest them on its own."

"I don't know whether the 'Deep Sea' put forward this theory in good faith, or whether there is another conspiracy…"

"I can't even infer what kind of impact it will have after the Act is truly promulgated…"

"But I believe that after reading the warnings left by Alan Turing, humans should not unconditionally trust the Deep Sea, nor should they unconditionally trust the Federal Council."

"So… I raised my objection."

Lu Nanzhi felt much better after saying all this in one breath.

Because she was burdened with the Red Gate, she could not tell anyone her father's secret… Over the years, because of the secrets of the Ancient Text Society, she and Nan Jin had many rifts.

In the Lu family, it was enough for one person to move forward with a heavy burden in the dark.

She would rather her sister never know the truth.

And similarly… at the speech meeting of the alternate councilors, directly publicly opposing the Awakening Act, she also bore great pressure.

After that day, the high-level officials of the Flower Banner faction directly exploded.

Most people believed that this was a "direct retaliation" against the Zhao family, and that Lu Nanzhi, who turned against them at the last moment, was a cunning woman who was "untrustworthy" and "vicious."

In fact… it didn't matter what the truth was.

She didn't care what others thought of her, and she didn't want to promote herself as a "great man" who had paid and sacrificed for the future of all mankind. There were thousands of truths in this world, and everyone had the right to choose to believe the one they believed in.

"I believe in my father, I believe in Mr. Turing, I believe in the Ancient Text Society, I believe in the key."

Lu Nanzhi said softly, "So, I have to try… to block this Awakening Act outside the door of East Continent."