The Lost Book

The library was silent.

Rows upon rows of bookshelves formed a dazzling sea beneath the interlacing sunlight.

A thick copy of "Logical Research on Constants in Electronic Physics" lay open halfway on the table. A monocle stood on its pages, its chain pressing down on the paper as a bookmark.

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

The owner of the jacket stood before the enormous bookshelves, bathed in quiet sunlight.

Deep Sea connected the entire world, sharing data across it all.

Hardly anyone came to paper-book reading rooms anymore.

Cui Zhongcheng removed two books joined together from the shelf.

He paused.

Once the books were taken away, a pair of sly eyes carrying a hint of amusement appeared in the empty gap on the shelf.

"I heard Da Teng Public School's library has 1.5 million books. If you read one a day, it would take four thousand years to finish them all. Yet Deep Sea cataloged the entire library in just three seconds." On the other side of the shelf, the old man kept his voice low, as if talking to himself. "How ironic. The culture humanity painstakingly developed over thousands of years can be completely digested by machines in a few seconds."

At that, he looked up and asked with a smile, "Hardly anyone comes to places like libraries anymore. To maintain order, and to preserve humanity's last shred of dignity, AI only catalogs books and does not guide readers... In a place like this, finding a book you want can't be easy, can it?"

"Mr. Zhou, you probably do not read often."

Cui Zhongcheng said softly, "Every book is categorized. You only need to follow the catalog. Finding a book is very simple."

"Oh, oh, oh... I see. I really do not read much."

Zhou Jiren smiled apologetically. "But in this era, Deep Sea is enough. Other than stubborn people clinging to the fading glow of the old age, who would come to a place like this to read paper books? Don't you think so... Mr. Cui?"

Cui Zhongcheng glanced at his watch.

He calmly asked, "Did you come to see me for something?"

"It is nothing important..." Mr. Shu smiled sincerely. "Gu Shen's assessment has begun. As an accompanying member, I have nothing to do and nowhere to go, so I thought I would take a walk around the school... What a coincidence, running into you here."

Both men addressed the other with great respect.

They both used the formal "you."

"This is my alma mater. I have not returned in a long time, so I came back to take a look." Cui Zhongcheng spoke softly. "A long time ago, it was quiet here too... but it was not the same kind of quiet as now."

"That must have been twenty years ago, right? Deep Sea had not yet connected the Five Continents then, and technology was not nearly so advanced..." Mr. Shu did not hide the mockery in his voice as he smiled. "We are becoming stronger and stronger. That is a good thing. As for Eastern Continent's development in recent years... Councilor Zhao deserves much of the credit. He made Dadu into a city as radiant as Nagano."

Cui Zhongcheng frowned.

"To be honest, I did not expect him to agree to issue an Amnesty Decree for an unknown boy." Mr. Shu chuckled softly. "I had originally planned to pull some strings... It would not have mattered if he refused. I could have gone and begged one of Nagano's influential figures when the time came."

"Isn't it a good thing that someone agreed?" Cui Zhongcheng sighed. "How humiliating would it be to go begging in Nagano? Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, and whether you could obtain help would be another matter entirely."

"At my age, why would I care about saving face?"

The smile gradually vanished from Zhou Jiren's face. He stared at the other man and said, "Since he agreed to the amnesty, why send such an Assessment Team as well... This is someone I intend to protect even if it costs me all my dignity. Let me make this clear: whatever the final assessment result may be, I will keep Gu Shen safe."

Cui Zhongcheng's fingers brushed over the pages.

"Do you still not understand?"

He looked at the old man and spoke earnestly. "It was precisely because Old Zhao saw your stance... that he made such a decisive decision, issuing the Amnesty Decree and dispatching the Assessment Team..."

"The last person you were this firm and determined to take away was Nan Jin from the Great Capital District, was it not? Compared to her, Gu Shen is merely a pitiful child without parents and with an utterly ordinary background." Mr. Cui lowered his voice. "Old Zhao trusts your judgment, which is why he issued that Amnesty Decree immediately. At the same time, he wanted to see what kind of person this child named Gu Shen... truly was. That is why he sent this Assessment Team."

As he said this, he revealed a humble, gentle smile.

"I think... you should be able to understand Old Zhao's intentions, shouldn't you?"

"Everyone in the Council is currently troubled by the dispute over the Awakening Decree. Things have reached this point, and it seems that no one can accept the cost of their own failure anymore... This tug-of-war is nearing the moment when its outcome will be decided."

"At a time like this, even the slightest deviation could trigger enormous distortions." Cui Zhongcheng extended two fingers and slowly rubbed them together. "A butterfly far away in Western Continent might flutter its wings and cause a storm in Dadu."

"Perhaps that butterfly is not in Western Continent, but in Central Continent, at Northern Fortress..." Mr. Cui paused, then said solemnly, "But regardless, Dadu cannot withstand a greater storm."

Zhou Jiren's expression turned grave. There was nothing more he could say.

He merely stared in silence at Cui Zhongcheng across the bookshelf. Sunlight fell across him; it should have reflected the brilliance of noon from his body, yet for some reason, he appeared to be veiled in a faint shadow.

"By the way..."

"The proposal to issue the Amnesty Decree and dispatch the Assessment Team... was mine." Cui Zhongcheng said softly. "Old Zhao agreed immediately, which is why I was the one who came to Da Teng this time..."

He stared at Zhou Jiren.

"...I have nothing to say."

The old man still wore that solemn expression, though his tone was casual. "Without Mr. Cui, there would have been someone else. As long as there was an Amnesty Decree, there would be an Assessment Team. I understand that much."

Cui Zhongcheng nodded.

He ignored Zhou Jiren and walked back in the direction he had come from, books in his arms. The sunlight had shifted, and his former seat was no longer covered in light, instead soaking in a slightly darker patch of shade.

After taking two steps—

"One more thing..."

Mr. Shu spoke again, stopping Cui Zhongcheng.

"Hmm?"

He frowned and turned half his face slightly. His features could not be seen clearly through the books.

"It concerns the question we were just discussing."

Mr. Shu's voice was very soft and slow. "Following the catalog, as you said, is indeed a simple and efficient method. But some books... have been badly damaged, or their titles are missing, and for reasons like that, they were never entered into Deep Sea's catalog. Is there a way to find books like those?"

"..."

Cui Zhongcheng remained silent for a long time, seeming lost in thought.

"You can only rely on luck."

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