Geek

Gu Shen was stunned.

That's right... Mr. Shu had already extended an olive branch before the fire.

He was a little confused. If it wasn't for the "Transcendent Awakening," what else about him would attract Mr. Shu?

"Meow—"

After Nan Jin left, the Orange Cat, which had been obediently lying on the sofa, suddenly had fluorescent light reflected in its eyes, and its meow became sharp.

It jumped onto Gu Shen's lap, gesturing in the air with its paws as if writing, while meowing.

"...Ruler!"

Gu Shen immediately understood that Chu Ling was back online. "You hid the Ruler? Where did you hide it?"

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

After using the Truth Ruler, his mental strength was overdrawn, and even the last phone call was made by Chu Ling on his behalf... Although Gu Shen didn't experience what happened afterward, he knew it must have been very complicated.

The fire had a significant impact, and the authorities must have directly sealed off the area 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 Truth Ruler.

The Orange Cat tugged at Gu Shen's clothes, leading him to the inner room... Arriving in front of the holographic screen, the screen automatically turned on, and accompanied by the special effect of waves crashing, the familiar dialogue box popped up again.

It was a message from Chu Ling.

"Gu Shen, we meet again."

After this message popped up, the fluorescent light in the Orange Cat's eyes slowly disappeared. The silly cat yawned, looking around as if wondering why it was here, and then wagged its tail and left in disgust.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes... While lying in the hospital bed recuperating, he had been thinking about a question.

How exactly did Chu Ling communicate with him through the Orange Cat?

In the end, he could only come up with a rather far-fetched answer.

Technical intrusion.

In the era of Deep Sea connecting the five continents, artificial intelligence was highly developed. It was not difficult to manipulate a stray cat using chip implantation.

But once there are too many coincidences, they are no longer coincidences.

His series of bizarre encounters these past few days... Chu Ling had foreseen them in advance and given warnings, coupled with the stray cat he "happened" to pick up half a month ago. These things linked together were definitely not simple "coincidences."

"You..."

Gu Shen slowly typed: "Are you a Geek specializing in network cracking?"

This was the most reasonable explanation he could think of.

In any case, the other party had saved his life, and Gu Shen believed he could trust Chu Ling with confidence.

The warning in the carriage, the fire reminder, the final phone call... If Chu Ling had done any of those things less, he would most likely be dead by now.

"Well, a Geek specializing in network cracking... an interesting view, you can think of it that way." Chu Ling replied quickly and added seriously: "Including but not limited to that."

"Including... but not limited to this."

Gu Shen murmured, feeling that this girl's talent and courage were truly astonishing.

The network security of Deep Sea is extremely important. As a server connecting five continents and responsible for the lives of billions of people, it has the world's top security team responsible for patrolling and escorting it at all times.

Yet Chu Ling was able to hide her identity and talk to him.

This was already an "overstepping" of privileges that was against the rules.

If she could do even more... it was hard to imagine what the consequences would be if she were detected by the authorities.

"What you're doing... is very dangerous."

The more Gu Shen thought about it, the more his head ached. Once Chu Ling was exposed, it would be an extremely serious large-scale manhunt. At that time, the Tribunal would most likely be involved in the pursuit, and those were all a bunch of real monsters. "What if you're discovered?"

"Don't be afraid." The girl responded easily and calmly, "They can't find me... I've already sent you the location of the 'Truth Ruler'. I suggest you take action tonight and get it as soon as possible."

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

Gu Shen didn't say anything more... He clicked on the data packet labeled "Ruler" by Chu Ling, and a layered three-dimensional map popped up. Gu Shen was silent for a while. There was no doubt that this was another powerful privilege that could only be used after connecting to Deep Sea.

The map was marked extremely accurately.

Gu Shen recognized it at a glance... It was the half-burnt unfinished building. Because of the fire, all the residents had been evacuated and arranged to nearby temporary residences. The building was also surrounded by police tape, and no idlers were allowed to enter.

The map changed in real time, and he could see yellow dots wandering around the old building, as well as a particularly conspicuous red dot.

"Yellow dots are ordinary people, red dots are Transcendent. A Transcendent has already arrived. After tonight, it is estimated that the combat personnel dispatched by the two institutes will gradually increase, and there will be other Transcendent of unknown origin... The possibility of the Ruler being exposed will increase." Chu Ling explained simply, "Did you see the location of the Ruler? It's next to the second deceased, in the pile of wooden boards in the corner of the staircase leading to the top floor."

Gu Shen remembered that location.

It was there that he used the Ruler to bring down divine punishment, burning the arsonist alive.

At the last moment, Chu Ling chose to hide the Ruler there... It was risky.

But it was also wise.

As the source of the fire, his residence would definitely be carefully checked. If he put the Ruler there, it would probably have been exposed.

Other locations could not guarantee that they would not be searched.

Only the location of the two corpses, the rooftop and the stairwell leading to the rooftop, would be completely preserved because they were the first scene.

He was already a member of the Tribunal, and Mr. Shu would not let go of the mastermind behind the fire.

"The best time to act is at 23:00 tonight. 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 you get the Ruler, and this is the escape route."

Chu Ling was like an emotionless machine, and sent two more packaged files.

After Gu Shen clicked on them and read them carefully, he took a deep breath and typed to ask, "What will be the consequences if the Ruler is exposed?"

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

She told a long-ago story: "Before losing control, A-009 was an important member of the Ancient Text Society, and had a close relationship with Alan Turing, the godfather of Deep Sea. With the collapse and destruction of the Ancient Text Society, A-009 embarked on the path of losing control, and was therefore strictly imprisoned, and has been transferred to many cities over the years... A certain big figure in the Council intends to explore the real reason for this lady's loss of control, so they are constantly conducting experiments. They believe that it was a Transcendent item containing powerful power that led to A-009's complete loss of control."

Gu Shen was stunned.

A Transcendent item containing powerful power?

"Inside the carriage, the Bone Scraper you saw, along with that newspaper... are considered the main culprits behind the loss of control."

"After losing control, A-009 perfectly concealed the existence of the Ruler for the past decade. So that important figure didn't know that hidden on her... was a third Transcendent sealed item."

Reading this, cold sweat began to break out on Gu Shen's back.

"For unknown reasons... A-009 chose to give the Truth Ruler to you." Chu Ling said concisely, "You don't need to know the reason why, you just need to know... once this Ruler is discovered, the trouble you'll be in will be immense. The will of that important figure is not something you can contend with at your current stage."

Gu Shen asked with difficulty, "You should know that I have the protection of the Amnesty Decree."

"Of course I know, but that Amnesty Decree only addresses the superficial truth of the fire case... Although the one who issued the Amnesty Decree is also very powerful, his protection is only out of personal favor, and not because he truly cares about your life or death." Chu Ling's reply made Gu Shen tense up all over, "But if the Truth Ruler is exposed, the factions will be thrown into disarray, and that Amnesty Decree will most likely no longer provide protection. Are you prepared to face that kind of outcome?"

Gu Shen's gaze was fixed on the screen.

Unknowingly, a lot of sweat gathered on his forehead... After his brain worked to its limit, it was instead a blank.

Although he didn't want to believe it, he knew that what Chu Ling said was right.

The Truth Ruler... must not be known by a third person.

Letting out a long breath, Gu Shen made up his mind, "I'll act tonight, but there's still a Transcendent, what should I do?"

On the other end, Chu Ling was very satisfied with Gu Shen's reply.

"Don't worry, I will assist you... Before you act, change your attire. As long as you can connect to the Deep Sea, I can contact you at any time."

Gu Shen sat in front of the holographic screen, deliberating for a long, long time, and asked the last question in his heart.

"Chu Ling..."

"Why are you helping me?"

The dialogue box showed that the other party was typing, writing and deleting, and soon returned to silence.

Chu Ling answered all of Gu Shen's questions.

Only this one, she did not reply to.