Light Fortress Chapter 1997 - 50: Extinguished Flames

"The Fire Extinguishing Sword... has been drawn!"

Light and heat waves surged through the bronze hall.

Turing struggled to open his eyes, his gaze blurry as he looked at the splendid core of the flames.

A hazy golden figure hovered attached behind Gu Shen.

"Chu Ling."

Turing was stunned; the presence of that golden figure meant that everything Gu Shen had theorized was real.

As he murmured subconsciously, the figure seemed to turn back and glance in his direction.

The dust settled.

Gu Shen stood silently in the center of the bronze hall, holding the Fire Extinguishing Sword.

He weighed it in his hand.

The Fire Extinguishing Sword... had no weight.

This sword was merely a "sword shape" that was unimaginably light and insubstantial.

Because it was an illusory sword existing only in "concept," without the Spiritual World, Gu Shen wouldn’t have been able to "draw" it so easily.

"Where did Chu Ling go?"

Turing rose anxiously, and after the dust settled, the throne in the bronze hall remained, but the golden figure hovering behind Gu Shen had vanished with the dust.

"I am here."

A light, ethereal voice echoed inside the Initial Ship.

At that moment, the corridor lights inside the Initial Ship lit up sequentially, as if an invisible breeze swept through, linking every corner of the Initial Ship system, ultimately responding to Turing’s question as the system AI.

Alf: "???"

As the steward of the Initial Ship, it hadn’t sensed anything unusual!

Being the AI crafted by the Lord of Melting Iron, it had spent years with the Initial Ship, considering it its "physical body."

Now there was another AI inside the Initial Ship...

Logically, such a matter should have required its consent first!

"What the heck?"

Alf angrily exclaimed, "What do you mean, ’you are here’? Where are you?!"

"If you’re asking for my specific location..."

Chu Ling’s voice paused for several seconds.

"Then I am everywhere."

The two red shadows that had been standing respectfully beside the bronze hall emitted a red glow in their eyes, bending in a somewhat stiff bow gesture. Clearly, Chu Ling was adapting to the "objects" here, but her adaptation was swift, and the posture of the rising red shadows was already quite fluid.

Within just a few seconds, she had acclimated to the place.

"I’m sorry," Chu Ling sincerely said, "I currently don’t have a corporeal shell to house my spirit and can only reside within the Spirit Network, temporarily staying in the main system of the Initial Ship... If this causes you any inconvenience, please forgive me."

"..."

Alf was at a loss for words.

It looked at Turing, feeling a bit angry, but more so wronged: "Look at the mess you’ve made!"

Turing saw the red shadows bowing to him, he sat back down, letting out a big sigh, and his posture relaxed.

"The Fire Extinguishing Sword has been drawn. You should be happy about that."

Alf was momentarily stunned.

Only then did it realize that the most crucial matter... was that Gu Shen had drawn the Fire Extinguishing Sword.

At that moment, it felt a surreal dreamlike illusion.

Waiting for a thousand years, drawing the sword was this simple?

It was as if in a dream.

"I know what you’re thinking, but... if everything Gu Shen says is real, then whether it’s the Fire Extinguishing Sword or our existence, everything, including this entire world, is ’false,’ theoretically speaking, your current happiness is just dreaming."

Turing leisurely sipped tea, unhurriedly pouring cold water on the matter, as if it were an insignificant affair.

"Wait, why are you so calm, acting as if none of this concerns you?"

Alf has never been able to understand this man, it couldn’t help but grumble: "If you can’t even be certain of your own existence... is that possibly a good thing?"

"Should I be sad, angry, or mad?"

Turing was speechless.

He set down his teacup, looked at Alf, and asked softly, "Alf... in your view, are the concepts of true and false subjective or objective?"

Alf was suddenly bewildered.

"The ’living’ at this moment is what’s most important."

Turing stretched out his hands and said calmly, "We exist now, that’s a ’fact.’ So, given that what Gu Shen says is true... I too want to see what the outside world looks like, breaking through this layer of false reality."

This was something Alf had never considered.

All along.

The boldest idea it ever entertained was to leave the Ice Sea in search of the "legacy" left by its master, the Lord of Melting Iron.

But now Turing’s thought led it to consider an even larger possibility.

If.

The outside world is just like this one?

Is it possible that the master is no longer "here," but has gone to the "real world" outside?

"So... Alfred."

"Shall we embark?"

...

...

A towering pillar of light rose from the Ice Sea.

"All components of the Initial Ship are normal."

"Energy reserves are ample."

Chu Ling’s voice rang out inside the Initial Ship.

In the end, Alf chose to embark, although it was still somewhat unaccustomed to the current situation within the vessel... Chu Ling had fully taken over the "management duties" of the Initial Ship, leaving it with much more free time, but since the Lord of Melting Iron designated Alf as a "steward," being a steward and not managing the ship made it feel a sense of emptiness.

"Have you truly made up your mind..."

Gu Shen sat atop the simulated snowfield mountain, looking at the man beside him, "Are you sure you want to leave the fortress with me?"

For Allen Turing before him, staying on the Five Continents, nothing will happen.

He can live well.

Perhaps this time, Gu Shen will still fail... but what restarts is only the world where Gu Shen "exists".

Theoretically speaking, the Turing before him still has his own "world" to live in.

But once he leaves the fortress...

What Turing has to face is the "origin will" of this world.

"Gu Shen..."

Turing folded his glasses.

He squinted his eyes, gazing into the vast, boundless snowfield in the distance, then suddenly smiled and asked a question.

"Do you think they could guess that the ’snowfield’ they’ve lived their entire life on is actually just a man-made false environment?"

Aboard the Origin, there is a large snowfield.

To replicate the ecological environment of a real snowfield, the plants and animals on this snowfield are real. They’ve been reproducing here since the Starship Civilization Era, and in the distance, in Turing’s view, one can vaguely see polar bears curled up in the caves... In addition, there are reindeer, wild rabbits, snow wolves.

Millennia have passed, and they’ve lived well here.

The Origin supplies nutrients, controls the weather, creating an "ecological balance".

Living here, they can "live" well.

"Perhaps... they could guess."

Gu Shen pondered for a moment, then said, "After all, so many years have passed."

"Indeed. So many years have passed, these living creatures, though not possessing much wisdom, but there’s always an exception or two... that would touch the boundaries."

Turing looked back.

At the end of this simulated snowfield, under the snow, many bones lie buried... these bones belong to the creatures that touched the boundary.

To maintain the stability of the external environment of the airship, the ecological system boundary defined by Alf is an air wall. If one attempts to cross it, they’d be "executed"!

Over time, the rationale that this snowfield has an "end" has deeply rooted itself in the minds of these living creatures.

They no longer explore, nor do they pursue the extremes.

For... survival.

Turing asked again, "So, if you were them, would you try to leave here?"

Gu Shen remained silent.

He understood Mr. Turing’s implication.

"Death is not truly frightening. What is truly terrifying is not knowing the reason for living."

The snowy scenery at Skytop gradually transformed.

Chu Ling shut down the false Heavenly Curtain covering the snowfield in the sky... The Origin had officially departed Ice Sea, entering the [Old World], the external sky gradually dimmed, and the mundane living creatures on the snowfield all raised their heads. They had never seen such a magnificent and spectacular scene. The Origin broke through the sea’s surface, soaring into the clouds, a brilliant meteor streaked across the skytop, large flares of light and fire blossomed on the Heavenly Curtain above.

"Oh, there’s even a meteor. The outside world is truly beautiful."

Turing laughed and said, "If I truly have to choose a life, I’d rather choose to die outside than remain in a man-made false ecosystem, leading a mundane and purposeless life."

Gu Shen also looked at the flowing lights blossoming at the skytop, his expression contemplative.

A few seconds later, he earnestly spoke, "I must admit, your words just now were quite philosophical, but there’s one thing I need to remind you of... that isn’t a meteor, it’s a Source Material Storm."

Turing: "?"

Nobody is more familiar with this flame than him... Gu Shen sighed and added, "And it’s a supermassive one at that."

Turing: "???"

The alarm sounded throughout the Origin’s interior!

The Source Energy Shield activated immediately!

The entire airship began to shake, and Mr. Turing staggered slightly, appearing somewhat helpless. In rage, he exclaimed, "Damn, how did it come so fast? We just left the fortress!"

"Choosing ’breaking the boundary’ requires you to bear the cost."

Gu Shen watched Mr. Turing, seriously saying, "Mr. Turing, thank you."

Turing paused for a second.

"Seeing you still maintain your original intention in this world gives me great comfort."

Gu Shen smiled lightly.

A loud bang!

A fierce flame ignited on his brow, the virtual snowfield’s Heavenly Curtain split open, a fierce sky wind poured in, yet Gu Shen was unafraid, lifting his hand, the Fire Extinguishing Sword from the bronze hall pierced through layers of obstructions, leaping into his palm. The fierce fire did not extinguish because of this but burned even more vigorously.

The Fire Extinguishing Sword, extinguishes all source material, all transcendent...

Theoretically speaking, holding this sword is tantamount to holding absolute order.

"Next, let me show you a performance."

Gu Shen held the sword in one hand, the tip of the sword pointed upwards, and at this moment, the wild winds across the entire snowfield extinguished.

The snowfield’s Heavenly Curtain retracted, Gu Shen stood atop the Origin, expressionless, watching the supermassive storm moving closer from afar.

One sword.

Just one sword.

The slender sword qi in the void didn’t even ripple!

The radiant flare was instantly cleaved in two, and this vast Source Material Storm, was like withering fireworks, countless light fires were sucked into the darkness—

Turing sat on the snowfield mountain top, dazed, watching countless light fires ignite, countless light fires extinguish.

Such a terrifying Source Material Storm, yet in a few short seconds, it was exceedingly splendid, but quickly withered.

Turing muttered.

"Did it... extinguish just like that?"

Gu Shen sheathed the sword, replying calmly.

"Yes. It’s extinguished."

...

...

(PS: Afternoon, evening... I don’t know exactly when, but it’s certain there’s at least one more Chapter today, the later it gets the more words there will be~ Continuing to ask for some monthly tickets~)