Chapter 963 - 31: Zuo Jun

The room where Zuo Jun was located was inside a "mezzanine" of the Dubhe Tower. From the outside, it didn't look like there was a room there at all; the space was completely sealed off, with no passages connecting it to the outside world.

According to the design plans of the Dubhe Tower, this should have been part of the tower's load-bearing structure. If it were to be hollowed out, it would significantly weaken the stability of the building. However, this was only the conclusion from the perspective of ordinary people's understanding of architecture and material science. For the Dubhe Tower, hollowing out the load-bearing column and using some "black technology" to maintain its original strength was nothing more than a simple "experimental subject."

Even the technical difficulty was much less than the way of entering this room.

This room had no windows, doors, or hidden pathways. To enter, one must use a short-distance teleportation device, or more precisely, an instrument with short-distance teleportation functionality.

The officer from the hidden security department of the Dubhe Tower was the suitable person for this device. With just a thought, this room would become an "impenetrable cell."

Since the space was created inside the load-bearing structure, its strength was extremely terrifying. According to Professor Cao, even a series of strategic nuclear bombings couldn't harm those inside the room. If necessary, this part of the load-bearing structure could even sink underground and connect with the Primordial Palace.

"An inescapable prison, huh?" Sun Hang said half-jokingly to Professor Cao as he stepped onto the short-distance teleportation device.

"It's not inescapable," Professor Cao shook his head and burped, "at least not for 'Number One.'"

"So he's willingly imprisoned by you?"

"Not imprisoned, actually. He's quite free. His level of authority within the Dubhe Tower is even higher than mine," Professor Cao said. "It's just that he likes staying here. This room was also built according to his demands."

"...A socially withdrawn recluse?" Sun Hang was somewhat startled to hear this from Professor Cao.

But at that moment, the white light unique to the teleportation device had already started to brighten. Sun Hang only saw Professor Cao's lips move, but couldn't hear a sound.

When everything returned to normal, Sun Hang found himself standing in a very spacious but dimly lit room.

The room was a regular hexagonal prism, fifty meters high, with sides ten meters long. Bookshelves, packed with dense paper books, lined each wall from floor to ceiling.

In the center of the room, someone sat cross-legged at a desk, their back to them. On the corner of the desk, a candle flickered with a flame as small as a grain of rice—the room's only source of light.

Apart from the candle, only piles of books, varying in height, covered the desk. The person had their head buried in a thick tome, seemingly unaware that two more people had entered the room.

Sun Hang and Professor Cao exchanged glances. Despite the slightly eerie atmosphere, Sun Hang inexplicably felt a sense of peace here... The only sounds were the rustling of pages turning and the faint cracking of the candle's flame.

Sun Hang took two steps forward and broke the silence: "Reading in such dim light isn't good for your eyes, huh?"

The person at the desk turned around, and a chilling gaze fell on Sun Hang.

Sun Hang then noticed that the person's eyes were entirely devoid of whites, both as black as bottomless wells, emanating an almost all-consuming aura.

"Alright, never mind," Sun Hang shrugged. "Nice to meet you, I'm Sun Hang."

"Zuo Jun," the other responded, closing the massive tome that might weigh ten kilograms. Dust danced in the air, illuminated by the candlelight like microorganisms floating in the air. "I know you."

"Am I that famous?" Sun Hang scratched the back of his head a bit embarrassed.

"Pei Zongjun has mentioned you to me more than once," Zuo Jun remarked. "He thinks you can save the world."

"Uh..."

"But I don't like you," Zuo Jun quickly added.

Is it because I took a position that originally belonged to you? Sun Hang couldn't help but think... If he hadn't shown up, perhaps the successor to Pei Zongjun would have been this man without any eye whites?

Of course, the responsibility of "saving the world" would also fall on this guy.

Sun Hang had already made up his mind. If this guy opened up, he'd immediately hand over this position along with its crushing burden to him.

There are always people eager to be heroes, but Sun Hang wasn't one of them.

He just wanted to live while satisfying his curiosity.

"Because you are uncontrollable," Zuo Jun continued. "I can reverse countless out-of-control experiments, but I can't alter a person's life trajectory... Do you believe in destiny?"

"No," Sun Hang shook his head.

"Let me tell you a story," Zuo Jun sat back down, and Sun Hang casually seated himself on a pile of books stacked on the floor.

"When I was a child, I already had this ability, but back then, the Dubhe Tower hadn't discovered my existence, and I was leading an ordinary life."

"A true story?"

"In this current timeline, it's just a tale. Just listen," Zuo Jun continued. "I witnessed a bloody car accident just a block from my home—a van with failed brakes hit a young man on a crosswalk who was engrossed in his phone. Amidst the crowd's exclamations, I heard bones cracking; warm blood spattered on my face..."

"And then you used your ability to save him?"

"Almost instinctively, I activated my ability, and the blood disappeared along with the chaotic crowd, restoring everything to normal... But I knew that in thirty seconds, an out-of-control vehicle would rush through the intersection... I found the young man who was hit, and I grabbed him."

"And then?"

"Thirty seconds passed quickly, but his face grew annoyed, repeatedly asking what I wanted... Yet the van that was supposed to hit him never showed up."