Chapter 335: Neuromancer
The sun had already set, but the color of the sky seemed completely unchanged.
Gu He followed the friendly-looking older man in casual beachwear along the shore. They were gradually leaving Vivian and her photography crew behind, and it felt as though the entire coastal city was receding further and further away.
Along their path, even the tourists playing on the beach had vanished from sight.
"You must know that the era of the Transcendent Program began with the excavation of the Black Stone."
The older man's voice was perfectly calm. "A group known as the Blackstone Team deciphered the Black Stone language. The mysteries of the Twelve Palaces and the Twenty-Eight Mansions were uncovered, and various Transcendent Programs were introduced to the world."
Gu He had heard all this from Elizabeth, but what she hadn't known was the Blackstone Team's final whereabouts...
"At first, the Blackstone Team didn't overthink things. Deciphering the language and the source code, creating the programs—it was all strictly for research. Later, they wanted to make the world a better place, to bring humanity closer to the profound mysteries of life."
The older man smiled. The tide rushed in, washing over the shore, yet it failed to even dampen his beach sandals.
"But the world didn't develop that way. Nations engaged in transcendent arms races, fighting over resources and conducting forbidden research. Wars broke out. Pollution, Mutants, corporate monopolies... everything took a turn for the worse.