Chapter 136 On the verge of breaking out
The anniversary celebration of the True Dimension World officially started at 8 pm, and Lin Guantang and Huo Shizhen set off at 7 pm.
Shao Qingbai and Tian Ye were about to follow, but then they heard Shao Qingbai's new friend say:
To celebrate this anniversary, there will be fireworks on the sea all night long, and there will also be mysterious performances on the sea tower.
There will be a wide variety of stalls and performances on the beach and along the streets.
For the Fugan District, the anniversary celebration of the True Dimension World is a more lively festival than the Chinese New Year.
So it was a great opportunity for them to come during the anniversary celebration. If they missed the related visits and performances, it would be a lifelong regret.
The new friend's words successfully persuaded the two people to run away and join in the fun.
——Between a bustling street market and a boring conference venue, of course you have to choose the first one. Who wants to be in a conference venue that is nothing but a long speech after removing all the business pleasantries?
The result was that Lin Guantang went to the venue with a lifetime of regret.
He was a key invited person, and there were video promotions of his visit to Fugan District everywhere on the streets. No matter who didn't go, he had to go, and there was no option of running away.
Things are different now.
A long time ago, when Lin Guantang attended various banquets, he was no different from a passerby, but this time he attracted a lot of attention from the moment he entered the country. When he arrived at the venue, countless spotlights flashed as soon as he got out of the car, causing a burst of exclamations.
He wore a custom-made black suit and a feather-shaped brooch. Needless to say, he was a man of great appearance. From the very beginning of his fame, he was praised as a product of divine stunts. It was even more rare to see him in person, and his manners were described as just perfect.
With a smile on his face, he greeted people politely. Along the way, fans outside the cordon shouted his name, and he quickly signaled for everyone to be quiet. Some reporters took advantage of the opportunity to run after him to interview them, and he listened quietly. When he answered, his voice was soft, but still clear enough to be heard.
There were also bad questions, but he responded with a smile and forgave the little offense.
The red carpet was only a little over a hundred meters long, and even if you stopped and walked along it took no more than ten minutes. However, the video footage was flying everywhere, making people scream on the Internet, and seeing it with your own eyes was like experiencing a dream.
Various whispers and screams reached Lin Guantang's ears.
"Is this the kind of modeling humans can achieve? It's so beautiful it makes me faint..."
"Kobayashi-san is really different every time I see him. He's more imposing and calm than the last time."
"Now he's Councillor Kobayashi, but he's been to the Imperial Diet before, so a small anniversary celebration red carpet is no small feat."
"Not only is everything perfect, but even the personal bodyguard is so handsome and intimidating. It makes me feel safe. They truly strive for excellence in every aspect."
"You're right, Councillor Kobayashi's bodyguards seem to have a stronger aura than others. If you didn't tell me, I would have thought they were some rich young master."
"Young masters are all pampered, how could they have such a powerful aura? But how can a bodyguard have such long hair? And it's silver."
"Maybe it's because Kobayashi-san loves silver hair, so the bodyguard dyed it like this or wore a wig."
"Forcing others to dye their hair just for your own hobby is too much."
"Who is that? Maybe it was Big Brother who dyed his hair on his own initiative to please others. If it were me, I would dye it too. How can I envy the bodyguard's love?"
“…”
bodyguard?
Lin Guantang had excellent hearing and took in all the discussion. He heard them talking about bodyguards and the like, but at first he didn't pay much attention to who they were talking about, until they mentioned something about silver hair...
He then realized with some disbelief that he was actually talking about Huo Shizhen who was following behind him. He was so shocked that he froze for half a second.
He actually said that about Huo Shizhen.
I'm not really afraid of being scolded by Young Master Huo to the point of crying bitterly.
Lin Guantang glanced sideways at Huo Shizhen behind him without any expression. He couldn't help wanting to laugh, but he managed his expression very well and finally endured it.
I'm just a little worried that Huo Shizhen might not be able to bear it.
Fortunately, Young Master Huo didn't seem to have any intention of confronting the crowd. He didn't say a word the entire time and acted like a silent and reserved bodyguard following behind him.
He walked into the venue under the gaze of the onlookers.
Most of the guests in the inner court were nobles, so they certainly would not mistake Huo Shizhen's identity.
But apart from the aristocratic families who were on good terms with him and came over to chat for a while, few people wanted to go through the trouble of talking to him. At most, they would just say hello and that was it.
Even when talking to Lin Guantang, he was frightened and came and went in a hurry. After achieving his goal of making friends, he slipped away quickly.
When no one was around, Lin Guantang whispered to Huo Shizhen:
"How does it feel to be treated as a bodyguard when you're always hiding yourself?"
Huo Shizhen looked at him through his sunglasses, and didn't mind saying something nice at this time:
"It is an honor to be Councillor Lin's personal bodyguard."
Lin Guantang suppressed his laughter and nodded:
"Yes, yes, it's my honor to have Young Master Huo, who is feared by all the nobles, as my bodyguard."
While talking, he turned his head and looked at the venue in a good mood. His eyes swept across the guests without any purpose, but he made an unexpected discovery.
After sweeping his eyes over a person, he shifted his gaze back in shock, looking at a figure more than ten meters away in disbelief.
He looked like a member of the organizing committee, introducing various matters related to the real-dimensional world to the guests.
He had his back to Lin Guantang, and his hair was gray - not the completely silver-white color of Huo Shizhen, but grayish-white mixed with black and white like an old man.
But he has an upright posture and agile movements. When a passing waiter almost fell down while holding a plate, he helped him up while talking to him. It can be seen that he has quick eyes and hands, which is not something an elderly person should have.
He seemed to sense someone's prolonged gaze and turned to look. It was the facial features that Lin Guantang was very familiar with, except that he was wearing a pair of thin-framed glasses. One of his eyes had a blue glass luster, perhaps because he had a cosmetic contact lens or something.
Sikong——Senior!
Lin Guantang almost shouted out, but he held it back.
Because the way Sikong Tan looked at him was no different from the way he looked at other guests, at most there was some doubt from being stared at for a long time -
So you don't plan to recognize each other at this time?
If it was because of a lurking mission, then Lin Guantang would certainly not rush over and ruin his plan.
But Lin Guantang didn't quite understand.
If he was disguising his identity for the mission, why were his most important features not covered at all?
If not, then why did she mess up her hair like this? She looks like a stranger, and what's wrong with her eyes?
as well as……
Not knowing how to put it, Lin Guantang intuitively felt that this was Sikong Tan, but when he turned around and looked at him, he instinctively sensed a sense of danger.
A familiar figure, a strange feeling, it's too contradictory.
While Lin Guantang was lost in thought, Sikong Tan had finished talking to someone and walked towards him.
"Councilor Lin, Master Huo, good evening."
He smiled and greeted the two people in front of him, extending his hand and introducing himself:
"I'm Hermes, the person in charge of the True Dimension World Anniversary Celebration. I'm very happy that you two have taken the time to come and attend the anniversary celebration."
Hermes!
Lin Guantang shuddered for a moment.
He shook hands with him and talked with a calm face, but a huge wave was surging in his heart.
Some tentative questions:
"Do you know who I am?"
Hermes smiled at him, with some friendly yet measured teasing:
"Of course I recognize you, Xiaolin. Everyone in the Empire knows you."
I really don’t know myself.
At least it couldn't be the Sikong Tan that he was familiar with.
Lin Guantang said in his heart——
If he really recognizes me, he should call me Xiao Haitang or classmate Haitang. Even if it is inconvenient to recognize each other, he should make some small gestures to show familiarity.
It shouldn't be this attitude that seems friendly but is actually very distant.
But if this person is not Sikong Tan, but just looks very similar to Sikong Tan, it would be even more terrifying.
Because a piece of information emerged in Lin Guantang's mind.
The latest top-secret information about Eden is that the code name of the most recently emerged member of Eden is Hermes.
In the past six months, the Central Military Academy’s large-scale mission related to the Garden of Eden has suffered various failures, and almost all of them are inseparable from this person’s hand.
However, his true identity is hidden very deeply, and he has almost never participated in any actual combat. He only sits in the rear, so no one knows what he looks like.
Lin Guantang was in a complicated mood. He really didn't know whether he should confirm whether the person in front of him was Sikong Tan. But he also thought it would be best if it was just a coincidence of names.
If he was not Sikong Tan, but Hermes of the Garden of Eden, they would be a complete enemy.
An enemy who could figure out the patterns of the Central Military Academy's various mission arrangements was obviously a problem to deal with. Furthermore, they had the audacity to appear so brazenly at the True Dimension World's anniversary celebration, and as the person in charge...
It seems that Fugan District doesn't even want to perform and is really planning to compete with the Imperial Capital.
If he was Sikong Tan, it would be even more terrifying.
It even caused Lin Guantang to feel despair.
Putting personal relationships aside, seeing with one's own eyes the betrayal of an important intelligence officer is enough to make one feel like the sky is falling.
At the same time, I thought that if this was really the case, then the various mistakes that had occurred in recent times at least proved that it was not that the military academy students were so useless and that each generation was worse than the previous one.
If an important person who has access to a large amount of intelligence directly surrenders to the enemy, what's the point?
But isn't Eden full of betas? Could it be that for special talents, they would make an exception and recruit alphas, and they are alphas from the Central Military Academy at that?
Or maybe——
His memory has been tampered with and he has been transformed into a beta.
Lin Guantang stared at Hermes's obviously different eye, wondering what had happened to cause this to happen.
"It was just an accident."
Hermes seemed to see what he was thinking. He reached out and covered his eye through his glasses, then looked at Lin Guantang:
"Councilor Kobayashi is curious?"
"Just wondering—"
Lin Guantang tilted his head and said slowly:
"The artificial eye at Dream House is actually quite good. It can restore you... to your original state."
Hermes smiled and said:
"Councilor Kobayashi is as kind as the rumors say. Thank you for your advice. I will visit you for consultation when I have the chance."
Just polite words.
"I just wonder if Hermes is the same as the rumors say."
Lin Guantang also smiled slightly, revealing a curious and innocent look, and said:
"Please forgive my rudeness, I'm just a little curious. I heard that Hermes was the god of lies and deception in the old era. Don't you think it's a bit rude to entertain guests with this name? Will it make them feel uneasy?"
Hermes didn't seem to expect him to ask such a question, and was obviously stumped - but after only a few seconds of awkwardness, he immediately resolved it:
"How could a distinguished guest be so uneasy just because of a small name? Moreover, a discerning and challenging guest might even be inspired to seek out lies and deception."
He paused, and then said meaningfully:
"For example, do kind and intelligent guests like Xiaolin and Master Huo hold the same thoughts?"
Familiar face, unfamiliar feeling——
The body of the person in front of him belongs to Sikong Tan, but his soul has changed.
Was he brainwashed by hypnosis, or...his memory was replaced?
Or... it's just a casual act.
Lin Guantang was not sure and could not ask any further.
He was testing himself and hinting at himself, but his soul had changed and the hints would be malicious.
Lin Guantang restrained his expression and apologized:
"I'm sorry, I was a little rude, please don't take it to heart."
"It doesn't matter. It's a good thing that customers are curious and want to ask questions. At least it gives me something to do. Otherwise, I'd feel guilty about getting paid for nothing."
He gave Lin Guantang a playful response and glanced at Huo Shizhen out of the corner of his eye.
The latter said nothing throughout the entire meeting, and even refused basic social etiquette such as extending his hand to shake his hand, let alone participating in their conversation.
If Lin Guantang's mood changes in this short conversation were like the ripples of a lake in the wind, then Huo Shizhen was like a stagnant pool of water.
The couple who came together were not physically together but spiritually apart, so how could their emotions change so differently?
If the reason is not that you are too slow to react or don't care about your partner's emotional changes, then it is that... you know the mysterious identity of the person you are talking to at a glance and have no desire to explore it.
Hermes thought about it and decided to have a brief conversation with Young Master Huo.
Unsurprisingly, it was ignored.
Deliberate disregard can sometimes reveal a lot.
Just like Kobayashi's deliberately calm expression and the completely unconcealed conversation with various tentative purposes, all of them revealed some special connection.
This gave Hermes an indescribable feeling, prompting him to utter a teasing tone:
"Young Master Huo is as taciturn as the rumors say. Even someone like me, the person in charge, is unwilling to even pay attention to him."
Lin Guantang seemed to be hesitant to speak, and looked at him with a helpless expression——
Is it because he is so comfortable working here that he feels like something is missing, so he plans to provoke Huo Shizhen and has to find some trouble?
And I am even more certain that he is really Sikong Tan——
This kind of behavior of jumping back and forth near the cordon looking for excitement is so familiar that it seems to have become an instinct that cannot be changed even if the memory is lost.
"When did a puppet have the right to speak without permission?"
Huo Shizhen finally turned his gaze towards him. His voice was quite textured, and what he said was really unpleasant:
"It's just a disgusting shell. Looking at it any longer is like killing your eyes."
It was so venomous that Hermes was stunned and didn't know how to respond.
Lin Guantang wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere, but someone called Hermes' name, so he made an apologetic expression, apologized, and quickly turned and left.
Although it looks like a desperate escape, at least I don't have to face this embarrassing situation anymore.
Lin Guantang watched his figure disappear in the crowd, then turned to look at Huo Shizhen and said:
"Is he Sikong Tan?"
"Isn't the answer obvious?"
Huo Shizhen said.
Lin Guantang was stunned for a moment, then slowly closed his eyes. A wave of pain swept over him, and the worst situation was gradually unfolding.
***
"You really are as poisonous as your reputation is."
In the lounge, Hermes had a pensive expression, with a puzzled question in his mind:
"Did I know them before I lost my memory? They seemed to have...unusual feelings for me."
"You mean they're taking special care of you? Shouldn't that be expected?"
The other people waiting in the lounge—
Violet was playing with cards, and she was used to this.
"You already know that he knows such confidential information in the early morning, so isn't it normal for him to know your identity? What unusual feelings do you have? You don't think that hatred for you has turned into love, do you?"
Hermes snorted and didn't say anything more.
The break ended quickly and the celebration officially began. As the person in charge, of course I had to go on stage to give an opening speech.
After a series of long speeches and reports, the indispensable part is the experience session of the real-dimensional world.
Hermes extended a friendly invitation to Lin Guantang:
"Councilor Kobayashi, would you like to experience the real-dimensional world?"
Lin Guantang also nodded and smiled:
"This is one of the reasons why I came here."
Hermes looked at Huo Shizhen again:
"In that case, I wonder if Young Master Huo would like to accompany me on this experience?"
Huo Shizhen did not answer immediately, but just stared at him through his sunglasses for a few seconds, then raised the corner of his mouth and sneered silently, and said casually:
"Since you don't mind... then I don't mind."
Hermes' smile seemed much more sincere than his own, and he pointed in the direction of the experience cabin:
"Please—I wish you both a wonderful experience."
After watching them enter the experience cabin, he smiled and led the other experiencers in as well, seemingly without any special treatment.
After everyone had entered, the doors were closed layer by layer. He then calmly exited and headed for the heavily guarded lounge on the top floor.
Several terminals were already on standby, and when the experience cabin representing Lin Guantang and Huo Shizhen was announced to have started operation, he also began to give orders.
"Notify the Imperial Capital and start the action."
While Violet was making the arrangements, she asked thoughtfully:
"Do you really want to destroy the Central Military Academy and the Imperial Capital?"
Hermes simply replied indifferently:
"It's the boss's order, and it doesn't seem like I have a say in whether I want to accept it or not."
“That’s forced.”
Violet chuckled and said meaningfully:
"You don't want to destroy the imperial capital, but you are forced to do so. It makes me wonder if you will release the floodgates."
Hermes looked towards him, also curious about the source of Violet's hostility towards him.
Or it could be said that he was watching the show with his own attitude. He did not hide the feeling that he wanted to make a fool of himself or fail in the mission, from the first time they met after he woke up.
It can't be that he's jealous because I took his place.
"Are you questioning the boss's arrangement, or my intentions?"
Hermes said:
"If you're dissatisfied, why not ask your boss to let you take charge of the Imperial Capital's operations? I can step down and let someone else take over."
"I know nothing about the Imperial City, so of course I can't compare to you."
Violet shrugged, quickly admitting defeat.
Then I looked at him and wished him sincerely:
"I really look forward to the day when the imperial capital completely falls into your hands."
***
In the brightly lit conference room in the imperial capital, Sheng Fenghua glanced at everyone present and said word by word:
"Given the previous example of Dai Zhourong, do you really think Huo Shizhen will stop here?"
"Human greed is insatiable. If he can kill one director, he can kill all the directors. If he can build a new campus, he can destroy it. When Lin Guantang, the puppet created by the Huo family, is truly pushed to the top of public opinion, who can suppress them?"
"Look at the Imperial Military Academy today. Tomorrow's Empire will be just like the Imperial Military Academy today. It will become Huo Shizhen's plaything, ignoring even the most basic school rules. They can easily insert an omega and trample on all the students."
"Look at the All-O Academy today. That will be the consequence for any prestigious family that goes against him. They will be wiped out and replaced."
"By then, the imperial capital will become the Huo family's, and the rest of us will be slaughtered."
Everyone present looked at each other, and someone spoke hesitantly:
"It can't be that serious."
"Daizhou Rong died... because he murdered too many people, which aroused public outrage. He also wanted to sacrifice the noble family. No one could save him. We are not as cruel as him."
Zhu Hechang laughed out loud:
"Who dares to say that they don't have selfish desires and greed in their hearts? Who dares to say that there is no bloodshed and sin on their hands? Even the founding of the empire was built on the corpses of thousands of people. Is it difficult for Master Huo to find a crime to kill you?"
Someone echoed:
"That's right, just because one person offended him, the whole family was exiled. It's not like he has never done such things before."
"Do you really think Huo Shizhen is some selfless, good man who only does things for the good of the empire? He's just treating the empire as a playground where he can decide life and death."
"Do you really think that Lin Guantang is some saintly father who saves the world and helps the people, devoting all his efforts to the benefit of all living beings? He is just enjoying the vanity of being hailed as a star in the empire."
"One relies on his family background and system authority to bully others, while a poor internet celebrity dares to repeatedly offend authority. Tolerating his willfulness once was enough, but now he's going even further and intends to overthrow everything."
"How long do you intend to tolerate them running amok? Do you intend to wait until they take control of the entire empire and wipe out all the noble families who oppose them?"
"They are now in the Gansu region, cut off from the imperial capital and the system. This is our only chance. If we miss it, there will be no more."
"Make a decision, everyone. This is your only chance to overthrow the Huo family, eliminate Huo Shizhen, silence Lin Guantang forever, and stop those foolish people from causing trouble."
…
Even if the purpose of coming here was to launch a coup, when the time came, it still took a long time of deliberation before everyone signed one by one to make the final decision.
Of course, it is human nature to be conflicted, but there is no possibility of changing the established results. If you choose to refuse at this time, you will be included in the list of people who will disappear forever after you go to the meeting room.
"Since we chose to transfer the Empire System to the Central Military Academy, we should have anticipated that this day would come—"
Countless people looked out into the dark night, thinking the same thing in their minds.
Would you think of it?
The Central Military Academy, entrusted with important tasks by the Empire and recognized by all citizens as the solid foundation of the Empire and the one that will forever protect the stability of the Empire,
It will become the root of the empire.
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