Lost Scroll

In the library, there was absolute silence. 520 Official Website

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Rows upon rows of bookshelves, in the interplay of sunlight, piled up into a dazzling sea.

On the table lay a thick volume titled Logical Research on Constants in Electronic Physics, opened halfway, with a monocle resting on the pages, its chain acting as a bookmark.

A gray suit jacket was draped over the chair at the original seat.

The jacket's owner stood before the massive bookshelf, bathed in the tranquil sunlight.

The Deep Sea connected the entire world, sharing data.

Nowadays, hardly anyone came to the paper book reading room anymore.

Cui Zhongcheng took two books that were next to each other on the bookshelf.

He paused slightly.

After the books were removed, a pair of cunning eyes, filled with a hint of a smile, were revealed in the empty space on the bookshelf.

"It is said that Da Teng Academy's library has 1.5 million books. If you read one book a day, it would take four thousand years to finish. But the Deep Sea only took three seconds to record the entire collection." From the other side of the bookshelf, the old man's voice was extremely low, as if talking to himself, "It's truly ironic, the culture that humanity has painstakingly developed for thousands of years can be completely digested by machines in just a few seconds."

Saying this, he raised his head and asked with a smile, "Places like libraries are already rarely visited. To maintain order, and to give humanity its last bit of dignity, AI is only responsible for recording, not for guidance... In a place like this, finding a book you want shouldn't be easy, right?"

"Mr. Zhou, you probably don't read books often."

Cui Zhongcheng said softly, "Every book is categorized, you just need to follow the index, finding a book is very simple."

"Oh, oh, oh... is that so? I indeed don't read books often."

Zhou Jiren smiled apologetically, "But in this era, the Deep Sea is enough. Except for stubborn people who are nostalgic for the remnants of the old era, who would come to a place like this to read paper books, don't you think... Mr. Cui?"

Cui Zhongcheng glanced at his watch.

He asked calmly, "Is there something you need from me?"

"It's nothing major..." Mr. Shu said with a sincere smile, "Gu Shen's assessment has begun, and this accompanying member of mine has nothing to do and nowhere to go, so I thought I'd wander around the academy... Coincidentally, I ran into you here."

Both of them addressed each other with respect.

Both used the honorific "you."

"This is my alma mater. I haven't been back for a long time, so I came back to take a look." Cui Zhongcheng said softly, "A long time ago, it was also very quiet here... but it's different from the quiet now."

"That must have been twenty years ago, right? Back then, the Deep Sea hadn't connected the five continents, and the technology wasn't so advanced..." Mr. Shu didn't hide his sarcasm, smiling, "We are getting stronger and stronger, which is a good thing. Just looking at the development of East Continent in recent years... Councilor Zhao deserves a lot of credit, he has made Great Capital a city full of radiance like Changye."

Cui Zhongcheng frowned slightly.

"To be honest, I didn't expect that he would agree to issue an Amnesty Decree for an unknown young man." Mr. Shu chuckled softly, "Originally, I wanted to pull some strings for this matter... It wouldn't matter if he didn't agree, I would go and ask the important figures in Changye."

"Isn't it a good thing that someone agreed?" Cui Zhongcheng sighed and said, "It's too embarrassing to ask for help in Changye, a distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, and whether you can get help is another matter."

"What face do I, an old man, still care about?"

Zhou Jiren's smile gradually disappeared, he stared at the other party and said, "Since you agreed to the amnesty, why did you still send such an Assessment Team... This is someone I'm protecting even at the cost of my face. Let's get the ugly words out of the way first, no matter what the final assessment result is, I will protect Gu Shen."

Cui Zhongcheng's fingers caressed the pages of the book.

"Don't you understand?"

He looked at the old man and said earnestly, "It's because I saw your position... that Old Zhao made such a decisive decision to issue the Amnesty Decree and dispatch the Assessment Team..."

"The last person you were so determined to take away was Nan Jin from the Great Capital District, right? Compared to her, Gu Shen is just a pitiful child without parents and with an ordinary background." Mr. Cui said in a low voice, "Old Zhao believes in your judgment, so he immediately issued that Amnesty Decree. At the same time, he also wanted to see what kind of person this child named Gu Shen is, so he sent this Assessment Team."

Speaking of this, he showed a humble and gentle smile.

"I think... you should be able to understand Old Zhao's intention, right?"

"Now, everyone in the Council is troubled by the dispute over the Awakening Decree. Things have come to this point, and everyone seems unable to accept the cost of their failure... This tug-of-war is also about to come to a conclusion."

"At this time, even the slightest deviation can cause huge distortions." Cui Zhongcheng stretched out two fingers and rubbed them slowly, "A butterfly far away in the West Continent, flapping its wings, may cause a storm in the Great Capital."

"Perhaps this butterfly is not in the West Continent, but in the Central Continent, the Northern Fortress..." Mr. Cui paused and said solemnly, "But in any case, the Great Capital cannot withstand a bigger storm."

Zhou Jiren looked serious and had nothing more to say.

He just stared silently at Cui Zhongcheng across the bookshelf. The sunlight shone through, and his body should have been reflecting the brilliance of noon, but for some reason, it looked like it was covered with a faint shadow.

"By the way..."

"The proposals to issue the Amnesty Decree and dispatch the Assessment Team... were all made by me." Cui Zhongcheng said softly, "Old Zhao agreed immediately, so the one who came to Da Teng this time... is also me."

He stared at Zhou Jiren.

"...I have nothing to say."

The old man still had that serious look, and said calmly, "Even without Mr. Cui, there would be others. As long as there is an Amnesty Decree, there will be an Assessment Team. I still understand this principle."

Cui Zhongcheng nodded.

He ignored Zhou Jiren and walked back the way he came, holding the book to himself. The sunlight had shifted an angle, and the original seat was no longer shrouded in light, but was immersed in a slightly darker shade.

After taking two steps.

"One more thing..."

Mr. Shu spoke again, stopping Cui Zhongcheng.

"Hmm?"

He frowned, turned half his face slightly, and couldn't see his face clearly through the book.

"It's about the question we chatted about just now."

Mr. Shu's voice was very soft and slow, "You said that following the map is indeed a very simple and efficient method, but some books... are severely damaged, or have not been recorded in the library by AI due to reasons such as missing titles. Is there any way to find such books?"

"..."

Cui Zhongcheng was silent for a long time, seemingly lost in thought.

"It can only depend on luck."

Mr. Cui said softly, "You have to believe that as long as the book is still there, it will be found one day."