Light Fortress

Wei Shu's voice echoed in the control room.

When he mentioned the term "Deep Sea", the responsible person's gaze became significantly stern, as the emergency report they had just received suggested that the escape of A-009 was due to an operational failure within the Deep Sea system.

Wei Shu was unable to fully trust this report.

Because the "Deep Sea", a vast network covering and interconnecting the entire East Continent, had been operating meticulously and seamlessly for over 20 years, flawlessly completing all tasks in the millions of incidents processed, without a single error… And this time, he would rather believe it was a staff misreport, as there were misreports every year, which were always later proven to be human errors.

The large screen dimmed, displaying a loading screen with layers of ocean waves sweeping across, the loading animation in the bottom right corner was very retro. Upon closer inspection, it appeared as a blurry image of a young girl made of mosaic, running in place on the sand.

Wei Shu tapped his fingers, waiting patiently.

Finally, the room brightened up, and a crisp, gentle voice rang throughout the control room.

"Deep Sea is now connected… Serial number V349708069527, it is a pleasure to serve you."

…

…

The lights dimmed.

The train jolted.

This light rail was like a serpent slithering towards the shattered edge of the night.

And inside this serpent's belly was Gu Shen, who saw the eyes of the tall lady. Her eyes, emitting a red glow and completely unlike those of an ordinary person, were serpentine and narrow as swords.

The lady's voice resonated in the empty train compartment.

"Yes… clearly, you've touched upon it."

Gu Shen's reply followed immediately, with cold sweat on his forehead and his voice trembling, yet his consciousness was clearer than ever at this moment.

One hand touching the Ruler, the other clutching a sharp knife.

The lady in the tall gown paused, seemingly a bit disappointed.

She paused for a moment, then continued to inquire politely, "So… why is that?"

In the dim Blazing Light, Gu Shen closely stared at the blood-stained old newspaper beneath the lady's knees, attempting to make out the content on it, but the light was too dim to see clearly.

Gu Shen chuckled softly, "Madam… forgive my candor, not everything can be perfectly embodied, but as we touch on broader realms, what we hold is only greater than imagined. Between 3 and 4, infinity is encompassed."

The red gleam in the tall lady's serpentine pupils flickered slightly.

She moved her lips, seemingly with a smile.

Seeing this smile, Gu Shen felt a chill down his spine, maintaining a relatively safe distance as he slowly moved forward, the oppressive feeling hanging over his heart still not dissipating.

He had no doubt that a single wrong word, even a single letter… might trigger the conditions for the gown-clad lady to draw her knife.

Thus, he could only remain silent, quietly closing in on the lady in silence.

The newspaper was his only means of gaining information about her, and being able to see it might be helpful.

But the lady merely softly uttered two words: "Continue."

"…π is an infinite, non-repeating constant, implying that it possesses endless precision, yet on a finite ruler, no point can accurately mark π."

As Gu Shen spoke, he tried to stabilize his opponent, simultaneously bending down in the cramped space, looking up at the tall woman. This statement seemed to upset her, as the smile on her lips disappeared instantly, and her gaze turned ice-cold, like a serpent's.

She gripped a bone-picking knife, and a cold wind churned through the light rail, chilling to the marrow.

It was at this moment that Gu Shen saw the trembling newspaper in the wind, the crimson blood letters… it was a series of mathematical symbols, along with proof formulas.

They looked familiar.

He had seen them somewhere before.

His brain was frantically working.

Gu Shen recalled the first time he saw the woman, she was engrossed in reading the newspaper.

A realization dawned on him.

"Even so, I still firmly believe that between 3 and 4, π can be touched."

Gu Shen raised his head, his voice a bit hoarse.

"Madam… As for the reason, you and I both know, don't we?"

"Allen Turing."

When Gu Shen uttered this name, the tall lady's body visibly shook.

She stared at Gu Shen in astonishment.

Yes, Gu Shen had found the "answer"... The lady let him continue, not wanting to hear the proof process but seeking a common aspiration.

The dense mathematical symbols and proof formulas on the newspaper page all pointed to the ultimate figure, whom the tall lady held in fanatic reverence.

All she wanted to hear was this name.

Allen Turing.

The renowned figure who created the Deep Sea Network, scarcely anyone knew he was also a mathematician. In the realm of mathematics, π was easily within the set between 3 and 4.

In the realm of physics, π seemed like a nonexistent fictitious number, untouchable and unable to be denoted by any scale.

After this name was spoken.

The cold wind in the monorail suddenly ceased.

The flickering lights seemed to extinguish as well.

The lady's expression softened, and she reached out a hand, seemingly to help Gu Shen up, but a Ruler slid out from her sleeve, the silver measuring rod she had used earlier.

Gu Shen was stunned for a moment, instinctively reaching out to catch the Ruler.

The next moment—

The two connected by the Ruler parted.

The monorail exited the tunnel.

A howling wind pounded down, a sudden sense of weightlessness assailed Gu Shen, uncontrollably thrown and clutching the Ruler, he slammed heavily onto the floor.

"Thud!"

Gu Shen's complexion changed as he heard a dull thud, like something heavy had crashed on top of the monorail car, right above his head, visibly leaving a pair of footprints—

Sparks and arcs of electricity erupted everywhere.

Accompanied by a piercing, sharp roar, a long knife diagonally pierced through the car's metal body, embedding accurately into the shoulder of the tall lady in the evening dress, nailing her firmly to the side of the car like a peg.

Immediately following, a second knife entered the top of the car, the blade rotating like cutting paper, and a large piece of the car's metal roof fell off as a woman in a long coat and red hair landed heavily on the metal.

Nan Jin landed right in front of Gu Shen.

She squinted her eyes, glanced back at the young man behind her who had fallen sitting down while clutching his clothes, and reported with utter calm.

"Wei Shu... that unlucky guy is still alive."

Unlucky guy, that's a fitting nickname, at least very apt... Gu Shen grimaced, clinging to the railing to stabilize himself, the previous impact had hurt terribly, his butt felt like it was split into eight pieces.

Right now, his entire body felt nothing but pain and dizziness.

He carefully cradled the Ruler inside his chest, hiding it on the inner side of his coat. The Ruler's touch was unexpectedly cool, making him exceptionally alert.

Meanwhile, the lady in the black evening dress nailed to the side of the car was furiously angry. She reached out a hand towards the long blade nailed in her body, attempting to pull it out.

"Hiss—"

The moment her five fingers touched the long blade, the blade flamed up, brilliant silver light illuminating the entire car!

The lady screamed in agony, forced to release her grip.

The silver blade burned with intense light and fire, but the flames were quickly dimming—

Clearly, time was limited.

But at this moment, Nan Jin did not act; instead, she chose to wait.

She was waiting for instructions from Wei Shu.

The sound of electricity crackled.

"Change the combat location, first rescue this young man named 'Gu Shen'."

Wei Shu's voice sounded, word by word, devoid of emotion:

"Do not engage in battle with A-009 on the train, this is the optimal solution given by Deep Sea."