Chapter 733 — Stealing Knowledge

Mei Heng jolted awake from her trance. She whipped her head around to stare at Gao Yang, her gaze burning, her tone unusually grave. "You said just now that this book was found in the lair of the Finality of All Things? That the Finality of All Things has spent the past several hundred years using this book to develop itself, drafting all manner of plans capable of influencing the state of the continent?"

Gao Yang looked at Mei Heng sternly and deliberately let the silence stretch for two seconds before slowly nodding. Then he asked in a low voice, "What exactly are the origins of this book? Why are you so tense?"

In that instant, Mei Heng seemed to fall into hesitation and conflict. Only after a full half minute of thought and silence did she shake her head slightly. "...I don't know whether I should tell you these things... But I will tell you this: it is very dangerous—very, very dangerous to the progress of civilization. You should stay as far away from it as possible. And as for those cultists of the Myriad Dark Silence... thank goodness their minds are twisted and their behavior lacks logic. Perhaps that is precisely why they never fully brought out this book's power. Otherwise, this continent... would be in far greater trouble!"

This agent of the Mithril Vault was clearly tense and wary to a certain degree, so much so that when she spoke to Gao Yang now she even forgot to add that professional "you."

Gao Yang did not mind this small change in address. He merely reminded the dragon lady, who seemed rather too tense, in a mild tone, "It's already defunct."

"Regardless, you had all best stop coming into contact with it..." Mei Heng said instinctively, but halfway through she reacted. "Huh? You said it's defunct?"

"Yes. Though we don't know the reason, it is completely unusable now," Gao Yang said without changing expression. "If you don't believe me, you can see for yourself."

As he spoke, he deactivated the laboratory platform's safety barrier. Once the steel railings and energy shield were both shut down, he reached out and took the large black-bound book. But before handing it to Mei Heng, his movement suddenly stopped. "Let me confirm first—you won't destroy this book the moment you get your hands on it, will you?"

Judging by Mei Heng's tense and wary reaction, Gao Yang was genuinely worried about this.

"I swear by the honor of dragons and by my name," Mei Heng said at once, gravely. "I will not do such a thing on my own initiative. I will only confirm its condition."

Gao Yang decided to trust her.

On the one hand, Mei Heng's oath did sound rather solemn; on the other, this dragon lady did not look like the sort to act so rashly. Of course, the more important reason was his confidence in his own strength—to destroy an ancient divine artifact before a legendary powerhouse could react, even for a dragon, would not be such an easy feat to pull off.

Mei Heng took the thick black-covered book, her breathing quickening slightly, her expression as grave and tense as if she were cradling a half-ton aerial bomb with the safety already disengaged.

She opened the book and saw a vista filled with notices indicating that connections had been severed, red warning characters flooding her field of view.

Gao Yang felt this was probably much the same as a screen flooded with 404s...

"...It truly is unusable," Mei Heng said at last, after rapidly flipping through it several times, letting out a breath and speaking in a rather lighter tone. "But you have one thing wrong—it is not broken, at least not in its physical structure. Yet... the end result is much the same. It can no longer be used, and in theory no one can restore it to its former state, unless... no, never mind."

Curious as Gao Yang was about what came after that "unless," he was more concerned at this moment with what this Ultimate Book actually was. "So can you tell me now? What is the origin of this book?"

Mei Heng was silent for two seconds. Through the thin veil, Gao Yang vaguely saw her bite her lip—a clear sign of hesitation—and only after that did this senior agent softly exhale. "You must know that in ancient times, the dragon race and a certain civilization on the Loren Continent once fought a war..."

"The War of the Counter-Tide?" Gao Yang reacted at once.

"Yes, I have mentioned it to you before..." Mei Heng said heavily. "And I also told you that in dragon history, that war is called the 'Counter-Tide Rebellion.' It bears the word 'rebellion' because it was far more than a mere war—it was a crisis brought about by a race that was too reckless, that set itself upon a wrong path of development, a crisis that nearly plunged the entire world into eternal ruin. And this book you found..."

Mei Heng lifted the thick black-covered book in her hand and gave it a little shake in midair.

"...was made by the Counter-Tide Empire."

Gao Yang's eyes went wide.

This ancient secret that had stirred his curiosity for so long, and that he suspected had some connection to the Black Pit, had actually had a corner of its veil lifted here and now, in this very way!

"May I ask one more thing?" He looked into Mei Heng's eyes. "Why do you say this book is very dangerous? What exactly did the Counter-Tide Empire make this book for?"

"To steal knowledge," Mei Heng said calmly. "To steal knowledge beyond their control—and that knowledge beyond their control very nearly destroyed the future of the entire world."

To steal knowledge!

That single simple word cut across Gao Yang's mind like lightning, stirring up a storm in his heart.

Anyone else would probably not have connected anything from Mei Heng's simple word, but he knew what the data source linked to the Ultimate Book was.

It was the satellite array in space!

(A plug for a new book, in the fantasy category, "Coffin-Lid Coup"—yes, some of you have surely noticed that this author's previous book is gone... but this one should be quite safe, no problem at all, and the premise is good too. Worth a look.

Also, audio chapter comments are now open! Anyone with a fan value of 500 or above can post voice messages!)