Inside the meeting room, which was lined with many picture frames, the atmosphere was slightly peculiar. Faced with this sudden public judgment and assassination attempt, most of the attendees had never heard of such a thing.
“Since a renewed public declaration is useless, how did these assassins manage it? ” A woman in her thirties asked in confusion, pointing at the bound person.
Those around who heard this began to murmur in discussion.
The warm lamplight cast a glow upon the men and women present.
Yang Zicang thought to himself that perhaps this was precisely the reason why the officer from the Blackwen Zick New Defense Command and the guard of the Goas clan were not afraid to make this information public.
“That is exactly what we want to know, ” said the Goas family guard. “Now that we have finally captured a living one, we must dig out everything about this organization’s affairs. “
Yang Zicang felt relieved. Indeed, the response to the future anchoring wasn’t something so easily resolved.
This damned organization had already made him their target; from now on, he would have to be cautious even about the sounds he heard.
With this thought, Yang Zicang let out a soft breath of stale air, placed his hand on the oil-blackened lacquered conference table, and said:
“To prevent the situation from escalating, we should first follow the most necessary course of action: urgently detain the relevant personnel, incinerate the newspaper with this poem, and prohibit its reading. “
“Although I still don’t quite understand what curse this is about, ” Ma Shuo interjected, arms crossed as he pondered from the side,
“But if members of that mysterious organization continue to spread the story of this ‘Poem of Gratitude,’ what should we do then? “
The atmosphere in the conference room tensed up slightly; indeed, this was the very problem everyone was worried about.
Yet, Yang Zicang replied very bluntly:
“Then counter-propagate. “
“What does that mean? “
Those around him looked over, puzzled, though a few people had already begun to show expressions of sudden understanding.
Yang Zicang picked up a notepad, confirmed that it contained nothing unusual, and then continued,
“As soon as this organization starts a large-scale public campaign claiming that the ‘Poem of Gratitude’ actually describes the future—or offers whatever other interpretation—we’ll go all out and anchor it to the past instead. “
“I see! “
“That’s right. After all, how many people would actually believe a description of the future? ” The well-dressed, elegant men and women in the group nodded in agreement with the idea.
“Hmph, when it comes to propaganda power, no one can currently match the World Ark,” said a middle-aged man with gray and white beard from the Haili family.
“But, President,” another person chimed in, “if we do reverse propaganda, then those of us who know the inside story, including you, upon hearing such large-scale publicity, wouldn’t we all know the content of this letter of thanks?“
“Well, this… ” Milena and others were dazzled, watching as people spoke here and there around them. “This feels so difficult,” she muttered softly.
Yang Zicang looked toward the ordinary-faced woman in a black dress who had asked the question.
“Actually, this isn’t hard either.“
“Not hard?“
Yang Zicang’s gaze lingered for two seconds on the flamethrower-like face of the ‘Radiance of the Verdict’ executioner.
“I think, for the desired effect, those poetic lines probably shouldn’t be arbitrarily changed. So, just rewrite the poetry content. Create several different versions, with slight variations in meaning, enough so that even we ourselves don’t know which is the original.“
His words made everyone’s eyes flash with a glimmer.
“Good heavens!“
“This must be done immediately.“
A soldier stepped forward excitedly, his voice harsh and loud: “I’ll take charge of writing several versions. I guarantee no one will ever know what the original was.“
Hope gradually faded from the eyes of the young man on the ground, using the alias ‘Wald’.
Thinking of this, Yang Zicang turned his head and continued speaking to the person beside him:
“It would be best if the rewrite is not handled by a single person. As long as it’s done by someone unaware of the true situation, a few changes should be fine. Do not publish the revised content until the situation changes, and anchor the words and phrases to our previous efforts. “
“If this kind of assistance is enough, I think our family could also help, ” said a member of the Goas family.
In the two to three minutes that followed, Hemans Augustus, whose heart had been racing like a roller coaster, calmed down and immediately said:
“I think it would be best to leave this matter to the officials. We should not keep the original content, because no one really knows what it’s referring to. The safest course is to ensure that no one here knows which version is real. “
Yang Zicang couldn’t help but take another look at him.
“Well said. ” The surrounding major families and the attendees all nodded in agreement with this plan.
A middle-aged colonel was full of vigor: “Alright, the Special Command will take full responsibility for this matter. “
This matter would definitely not be kept secret from them, so Yang Zicang didn’t object.
“Those rats that have been hiding in the shadows for hundreds of years—I hope this can help us catch them by the tail, ” said the colonel.
The crowd muttered and nodded in agreement. They were under a temporary lockdown, all because this involved a ghost-like special operations organization from history. Everyone understood and stayed put, waiting for the people in charge from the National Defense and Technological Heritage Special Command to act swiftly.
A gentle breeze drifted through the courtyard trees.
Entrusting Wager to protect the place, and instructing him to notify him immediately if any problems arise, Yang Zicang patted Anda on the head as a farewell, then walked out of the meeting room with Bai Yuan, Zhao Anlong, and two commanders from the Special Command.
Inside the meeting room, seeing the three leave, Milena and the others were immediately approached by the two members of the Haili family, who invited them to stay in their private estate. As targets that the mysterious organization had chosen to approach, Yang Buchen’s friends should clearly no longer stay in crowded places.
“Don’t leave just yet. ” Zhao Anlong narrowed his eyes at Bai Yuan, who looked somewhat uneasy.
Bai Yuan kept his mouth tightly shut.
Beside Yang Zicang, the colonel of the Special Command spoke at his side:
“This post-disaster reconstruction plan that the Prince wants to promote is truly beneficial to the country and its people, and holds great significance for people all over the world. So, could we jointly prepare a special program to publicize the Prince’s plan? “
“This matter… Right now, across the world, spanning tens of millions of square kilometers of land and dozens of countries, the iron vines that erupt daily claim lives ranging from dozens to hundreds, or even tens of millions. I think we should wait until the apocalypse is truly over before discussing such a program. “
Suddenly, a wisp of cool wind blew onto the necks of the group, making them look up involuntarily.
“It’s a bit chilly. “
“Yeah, the weather keeps fluctuating between hot and cold like this. “
“It’s been getting quite cold the past couple of days. It finally warmed up a bit today, but now it’s turning cold again after just half a day. “
In the distance, a black car stopped outside the courtyard, and two people dressed like secretaries ran inside.
“Could it be that the climate anomaly isn’t caused by the Golden Shell legacy operations around the world? ” the Colonel asked, before noticing the figure running toward him.
“What happened? ” the Colonel asked sternly.
The messenger clicked their heels in salute and handed over a document with both hands.
“Report, last night in the early hours, north of Waldestadt, outside the seawater tributary area, a large batch of iron vines grew. Some have already extended into the tunnels of the reverse irrigation plan and are slowly spreading toward the opposite bank of the river. “
Upon hearing this, everyone’s expression tightened. The Colonel immediately picked up the document and began reading it. Several heads leaned close to him.
“Have they crossed the river? “
The secretary hesitated, then everyone saw the somewhat blurry black-and-white photos that had been transmitted back.
The faces of several uniformed officers gradually fell. These iron vines had already spread across more than half of the seawater channel.
“Fortunately, their growth rate slowed considerably afterward, and they are now hesitating left and right. “
Yang Zicang and Zhao Anlong looked at the casualty report on it.
“At least… thirty thousand people awaiting the crossing have died, ” Zhao Anlong murmured.
“This is Waldestadt’s official statement, ” the military secretary said matter-of-factly.
Bai Yuan silently withdrew his head.
Catching a glimpse of his movement out of the corner of his eye, Yang Zicang immediately stepped toward him. “You haven’t told me yet, exactly what you’ve done to me. “
Hearing this, Zhao Anlong also looked over. Facing this so-called “Great Prophet, ” the two people who had come out of the meeting room also sized him up with curiosity.
“President Buchen, about that issue of ‘Mistpeeps,’ do you need me to provide you with the relevant materials? “
The other person exhaled and said, “That’s mainly a publication aimed at you Mist People. “
Yang Zicang chuckled, “Before today, I had never heard of this magazine. “
Bai Yuan glanced at the sky and said, somewhat awkwardly.
“Well, President, let’s go back to the hotel and talk about this later. I was so anxious just now. If we got exposed, all that hard work would have been for nothing. “
That was indeed true.
But did this guy really just happen to show up, or did he hear some wind and orchestrate his way here deliberately? And were his schemes truly following the instructions given by that Full Moon Angel who possesses the Five-Ring Bloodline?
“I’ll trust you for now. But once things here are wrapped up in a few days, you’ll have to come with me to a place. “
“Where to? ” Bai Yuan asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
Yang Zicang thought of Karl, who had been at sea for so long without bringing Kim Tae-cheol and the others to land, and a peculiar, faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You’ll find out when we get there, anyway. “
Catching sight of this relaxed smile that Yang Zicang hadn’t shown in a long time, Bai Yuan’s heart skipped a beat.
This guy… the place he wants to go, it couldn’t be where he got that business card of his, could it?
On the other side, Yang Zicang thought that as long as he could get his hands on the Cornerstone Weapon that Karl had taken away, he would naturally be able to easily verify the truth or falsehood of the brat’s words.
“I said, the reason you’re here today is just to stand there and pass judgment on me?” Zhao Anlong crossed his arms.
“Not at all. We’re here to find someone.“
“Looking for someone?” Zhao Anlong glanced oddly at the young man beside him, who was taller than himself. “I thought you’d sent those Grainwood friends of yours over here first, just to be on the safe side.“
When a future anchor appears, Yang Zicang had already foreseen what kind of things he’d have to do in the near future—likely having already crossed the bottom line of that mysterious organization.
The figure of that mysterious man, barefoot, dressed in a sackcloth robe, and holding a long wooden staff in his hand, involuntarily surfaced in his memory.
This man must be a member of that organization as well, including Lu Wen from before.
So, this thing they’re trying to stop is likely still related to the discoveries of the botanist and the biologist.
The main reason Yang Zicang had brought several people here was to find members of the Hellfire Sect.
After telling the staff at the headquarters of the World Ark whom they needed to find, a few skilled statisticians began searching through files with names and hometowns in a large room. Buried in the bookcases were stacks upon stacks of dense documents, where they hunted for keywords related to the “Hellfire Sect.“
Although there were many refugees within the headquarters of the World Ark, it wasn’t necessarily guaranteed that someone related to that cult would be there. Even if there were, according to what Kim Tae-cheol said, many of them only bought their identity documents to get through border inspections smoothly.
“While everyone here is screening, let’s go to the Special Command and investigate the materials there to see if we can find a genuine Hellfire Sect member. “
“At the very least, we need that kind of Red-robed Elder who can issue qualification certificates, ” Kim Clyster added, helping with the search for names.
“We’ll look into it. This matter may require General Ross’s help. ” Yang Zicang said as he picked up the documents in hand and walked toward the courtyard outside the thick wooden frame door, bathed in the westward-setting sun.
……
The black sedan sped swiftly toward this refugee resettlement area.
Along the way, the incessant honking startled the surrounding crowd, who kept turning their heads and retreating to both sides of the road.
……
Black Writzik: Special Command of Homeland Defense and Technology Heritage.
As the telephone rang, inside a large document repository specifically used to store the asylum applications of people from various countries, individuals dressed in gray-white internal service uniforms, wearing masks and broad-brimmed gray-white front-brimmed hats, conducted material retrieval using the initial letters of the word “D ” “i ” “H ” “u ” “o “. According to the row number and grid code on the forms they received, they retrieved the personnel files containing the names corresponding to those letters from the file cabinets.
Many other professionals who share overlapping letters with this term were excluded, and one after another, files of the relevant individuals were continuously delivered to the young officer in military uniform.
In General Ross’s office.
Yang Zicang and the others waited silently as the hands of the wall clock slowly turned.
“Don’t worry, as long as he exists, it won’t be long before we find him. ” General Ross handed over his cigarette.
Zhao Anlong took it without hesitation, while Yang Zicang declined with a faint smile.
“Bu Chen, are you planning to continue exploring those strange high-tech technologies? “
“We still have some plans for that. “
“This world… hmm, I never expected that even in this time of apocalypse, Jin Bei’s technology would still be a cut above all the other nations in the world. “
The general, with his rough skin, gave a proud, faint smile and took a puff of smoke:
“If you need any labs, equipment, or even personnel for a project, Heiwen Zike can be an excellent partner. Young man, I believe you can make the right choice. The future Heiwen Zike will be beyond comparison to those lands crumbling into ruins. “
Yang Zicang glanced at the sky. “I’ll consider it. ” His gaze suddenly fell on the general’s desk, where a device that resembled a calculator sat.
He had seen far too many designs of this kind of machine—with its complex buttons and various strange hand-cranked dials—over the past two days.
“Is that a calculator? “
“Oh, this? ” The general turned his head. “Mm, yes, the cipher machine. Whenever we relay commands, we need this thing to encrypt them. Hah, shouldn’t be much of a secret to you folks, right. “
“Mind if I take a look? ” Zhao Anlong, nursing a cigarette and gazing at the dim twilight outside the window, couldn’t help but turn back and glance at it, speaking. The last rays of the setting sun fell upon the figure by the window, casting a tipsy, mottled wine-red light.
“Heh heh, ” the general chuckled, with the air of an elder indulging a troublesome junior who doesn’t quite grasp human affairs. “The principles are all the same principles—just the back-and-forth cycle of 1 and 0, of on and off. “
Yang Zicang, leaning against the edge of the table, suddenly looked up, a flicker of hesitation crossing his mind.
“Binary, so that… ” He parted his lips slightly, then fell into questioning deliberation within himself.
Suddenly he raised his head, glanced at the twilight outside the window, and turned to General Ross, saying, “Sir, I have a top-secret plan that requires the immediate cooperation of your cryptography experts. “
“What? ” The general hesitated for a moment, the hand holding his cigarette pausing. But seeing the earnest look on the young man’s face, he promptly and decisively stubbed out his cigarette, walked back to his seat, sat down, and cranked the telephone.
Before long, a cipher machine expert whom the general had confirmed could be absolutely trusted knocked on the door and entered.
The man’s features were relatively statuesque, but his eyes were very gentle, and his whole demeanor exuded a mild, somewhat reserved, bookish temperament.
Zhao Anlong stared somewhat strangely at both this person and Yang Zicang. However, he did not ask Yang Zicang what exactly he planned to do.
The electric light of night filtered in through the window outside, coming from below the building. On the horizon, only the dark blue glow of the dome of the sky remained. Yang Zicang silently calculated the time—roughly half an hour or so—before the Demon Train could cross the sea and return to his side.
He looked at the man in his thirties who closed the door and walked in.
“Mr. Yang, my name is Mike Jason. May I ask why you’ve called for me…“
Before this cryptography specialist could finish his first sentence, Yang Zicang blurted out urgently:
“How feasible is a ternary computer?“
Behind the desk, General Ross’s eyes bulged, and Zhao Anlong let out a slight hiss of cold air before immediately clamping his mouth shut.
Mike Jason was stunned into wide-eyed astonishment by this blunt, hammer-blow question. A few seconds later, he suddenly felt an exhilarating surge of heat pulse through his spine.
“This… this… I, I need a pen!” The man turned excitedly, losing all interest in the realities around him, impatiently snatching the pencil just lifted by the general from his hand, and quickly began drawing on the blank back of some paper—some sort of administrative command document.
Yang Zicang stepped closer. He could hear—not just from himself or the man before him, but perhaps from all four people in the room—their heartbeats growing faster and faster.
“If we add 2, outside of 0 and 1—wait…!“
He rapidly started a new line of mathematical formulas underneath, alongside a sketch of a suggested mechanical structure chart.
“And if… is -1 for and 0…“
Majesen’s pen suddenly halted, his breathing becoming rapid and urgent. “Feasible, yes! Everyone…! “
He turned his head, his eyes wide with unrestrained joy, and opened his mouth into a beaming smile:
“We may be… glimpsing a path that no one in the old era has ever tread before! “
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