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Part 5

The Thirteen Realms' Ban (Part 1)

It's normal for there to be arguments during meetings.

Indeed, over the past three months, humanity has clearly felt the threat emanating from Planet X, a view supported by most scientists. The Matrix project has made groundbreaking progress in the laboratory, a golden key to solving the slow evolution of human civilization. However, the barely perceptible cold smile on Park Soo-seok's face frightened Kim Shield. Behind that smile seemed to lie a vast conspiracy.

Professor Nie's disappearance caused a huge shock, and Jin Dun himself was an admirer of his. Jin Dun was not completely clueless about the professor's disappearance; he had some clues, but the time was not right, and there were still many doubts, so he could not disclose them publicly.

He subconsciously felt that the professor's disappearance was somehow connected to his daughter in Xianyang, and that it could be linked to those mysterious clues. When he heard the report of the theft of the original copy of the Book of Changes at Leipzig Airport, he felt even more strongly that there must be some mystery involved, and he rushed to the museum.

Xianyang was deathly silent, save for the occasional long cry of an owl from the sky and the soft screeching of the singing sands in the wind. This ancient city was about to be buried by dust, becoming yet another "Loulan Kingdom" to evoke sighs. The Earth's environment is deteriorating day by day. The ozone layer in the Southern Hemisphere is almost nonexistent, forcing many to go "naked" under ultraviolet radiation. Forget about extraterrestrial invasions; if things continue like this, humanity will eventually destroy the Earth.

He arrived at the museum at 11:30 PM. Following his usual investigative practice, he planned to look around the museum for anything of interest. Details are the knife, reasoning is the blade—this was his principle in handling cases. However, the museum director in Xianyang, having learned of his arrival, was already waiting for him at the museum entrance.

As they approached the museum, the halo of light reflected from the top of the crystal ball building allowed Jin Dun to see the entire museum's structure, which was somewhat similar to the teardrop-shaped Olympic venues in Beijing. A cold smile appeared on Jin Dun's lips: "Museums are places for collecting antiques, why make them so modern? This is probably another work from the early 20th century when China was in a nouveau riche mentality."

As he reached the museum entrance, a slender figure brushed past him, but moved with incredible agility, disappearing in a flash. He frowned; someone was still loitering in a museum at this hour…

Just as he was about to follow and take another look, the bald museum director, panting, ran to the door. He saw Golden Shield in his police uniform and knew that the Global Investigation Bureau had arrived.

"You, you are..."

"Hello, I am Detective Jin Dun from the Global Investigation Bureau. This is my identification." Jin Dun looked at the bloated man in front of him.

“The original text of the Book of Changes, the original text of the Book of Changes…” The museum director did not take the credentials, but just opened his mouth and pointed into the museum, stammering for a long time before finally saying, “The original text of the Book of Changes has… been returned.” Only then did he catch his breath.

The original copy of the Book of Changes was returned? Jin Dun was also taken aback.

"Take me inside and have a look," he ordered swiftly.

The original copy of the Hese Ancient Book of Changes seems to be intact, hidden in a transparent crystal box made of SiAl, protected by quantum technology.

The museum director stood there, clutching his chest, panting with a mixture of surprise and delight. He was surprised that the original copy of the *I Ching* had inexplicably flown back, and how he would explain it to the Global Investigation Bureau. He was delighted that the original copy of the *I Ching* was finally back, and his job was safe.

He was panting as he touched and rubbed his full breasts. He had been so overwhelmed by a series of events over the past few days that he was almost fainting.

"Are you sure this is the original version of the Book of Changes?"

“The Book of Changes was originally the museum’s most prized possession, I can guarantee that,” the museum director said, his face pale and his hands trembling.

"Are you sure the original copy of the Book of Changes was just released back into circulation?"

"Yes, I was here until 10 p.m.," the museum director finally calmed down and began to express his dedication.

Jin Dun dashed out in a few strides, and as he reached the gate, he saw a bluish shadow flicker around the corner. Specially trained, Jin Dun swiftly closed in with a light touch of his toes. The bluish shadow, perhaps not expecting Jin Dun's lightning-fast movements, quickly turned and fled. But the battle-hardened Jin Dun wouldn't let the shadow escape so easily; in a few leaps, he was already around the corner. The bluish shadow's speed was no less than Jin Dun's. Although Jin Dun followed closely, the shadow vanished in the blink of an eye. Jin Dun gazed at the deep night sky, took a breath, and thought, "That figure is like a nimble fox! Not only is it as fast as lightning, but its steps are also unpredictable and deceptive—impressive!"

Back at the museum, the museum director practically hugged the original SiAl box of the Book of Changes with his arms crossed, fearing he had fallen for a "trap to lure the tiger away from the mountain".

"Detective, have you found any clues?" the curator asked anxiously.

Jin Dun shook his head, muttering to himself, "Coming and going like the wind, as agile as a dragon." He carefully scanned every corner of the museum: "Impressive, not a single trace left! Ghostly, ghostly..."

Although he had encountered many strange cases in his life, he had never encountered a situation where he arrived at the scene just as the stolen goods were being returned. Moreover, the vanished blue figure just now filled him with questions; its steps seemed to be calculated, with a brisk rhythm and precision like that of a Swiss watch.

"Officer, that's what I think too. According to folklore, the discovery of the original 'Book of Changes' will reveal the secrets of the Yin and Yang realms, so the underworld wants to take it back..." The curator immediately chimed in. If the responsibility could be shifted to the King of Hell, then he could extricate himself from the matter.

“Mr. Curator, I adhere to Marxist beliefs, but I am not a follower of Descartes.”

"But our museum has 13 realms of prohibition, and humans are..."

Jin Dun's cold face became even more resolute: "Apart from the last two layers of sealing, the other so-called 11 layers of sealing are meaningless."

"It makes no sense?" The curator was speechless.

"Although there are eleven doors in the crystal protection from the first to the eleventh layer, once they pass through the naked eye of the guards on the first layer, these eleven layers are almost useless."

“It’s a transparent door; the guards can see anyone coming in,” the curator said, skeptical.

"Let me give you two examples of how to break this. First, just carry a small prism. After passing through the guard's naked eye, use the reflection angle formed by the prism and the crystal wall. When the reflection angle is 15 degrees or an integer multiple of 15 degrees, use the interference of light to polarize it. The crystal wall will then reflect its own shadow into countless fragments. From the outside, you can only see phosphorescent dots inside. There is no real shadow at all."

The curator was completely bewildered and shook his head.

"To put it more vividly, on a sunny day, if you project your shadow onto a calm lake, you can see your clear image. If you throw a stone into the lake and create ripples, the water waves will interfere and turn your shadow into tiny golden fragments. The prism is like that stone, and the entire crystal wall is like the lake surface."

"The second method is to calculate every blind spot in the crystal wall."

"Blind spots in lighting?"

"Light itself has no blind spots; it's just that human-made tools have many shortcomings—thickness, brightness, uneven medium distribution—like a crystal wall, leaving many man-made blind spots, optically known as the darkest brightest shadows, which are invisible to the human eye due to light reflection. By standing in these specific positions and calculating one's angle, one can avoid image formation. If one has a deeper understanding of mathematics and physics, standing in a specific position, not only will sunlight not reach, but even God's light will not reach."

The museum director was dumbfounded.

"This involves the Josephus ring theorem, which, with the development of probability theory and mathematical statistics in recent years, has become a branch of marginal mathematics and physics. In more academic terms, it is the random distribution of static matter."

The curator was covered in sweat, and it sounded as if these 11 layers of crystal protection were simply a waste of money and effort.

"How could a thief know so much?" the museum director murmured, feeling that the detective was exaggerating a bit too much.

"That's exactly the question I was about to ask. Do you think someone who dares to steal the original *I Ching* would be a petty thief driven by greed?" Jin Dun gave the curator a cold look. "The 12th and 13th layers of protection are the real safeguards. I heard the 12th layer is your fingerprint password?"

"Yes, but I've been managing this museum for almost 20 years, and always..."

"For humans, each fingerprint has almost unique and measurable feature points on average, do you understand?" Jin Dun stared at the museum director with eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

"I know." The museum director seemed dumbfounded; it seemed the police officer suspected him.

"Due to biological reasons, there are individual differences. This difference manifests in the uniqueness of fingerprints. Although there are only three basic fingerprint patterns—arch, ring, and spiral—everyone's fingerprints are different and have distinctive features. Are you aware of the consequences?"

The museum director found Jin Dun's gaze incredibly malicious. It terrified him.

"How could this be? I'm the curator, why would I..."

"According to my investigation, that security guard is your nephew, and you are his maternal uncle."

"So what if he's my nephew..."

“Throughout history, we have seen countless cases of those who are in charge of security stealing from others. It seems that your nephew did not fulfill his duty as a guard that night.”

"No, it's true that I, Xiao Lin (his nephew's name), didn't go to work that night, but we...we didn't..."

"Was he deliberately neglecting his duties, or was it a pre-arranged scheme?"

“No, we really didn’t,” the museum director said, sounding somewhat hysterical. “That last layer of protection was also done by your Bureau of Investigation, and you failed to protect it properly. You even claimed it was some kind of ultimate protection for the universe. Why don’t you question the Bureau of Investigation personnel who used encryption?”

"Nothing in the world is absolute; you haven't even mastered the most basic dialectics!"

"I am the curator, you can see me anytime you want."

"But the Book of Changes was originally locked by quantum cryptography and could not be opened. You had ulterior motives, so you resorted to theft. At the same time, you deliberately spread rumors to mislead the media. And when I arrived, you deliberately arranged for some strangers to wander around outside the museum to create a false impression in front of me."

"I, I, I really didn't..." the curator stammered.

Jin Dun sneered: "Since the original copy of the Book of Changes has been returned, the Global Investigation Bureau won't investigate too deeply. It doesn't matter if you don't confess, because we don't have much evidence. Otherwise, you would be a prisoner instead of the curator."

"Go ahead and investigate. I'm not afraid."

"You may not be afraid, but that unique fingerprint password is terrifying."

The museum director immediately deflated.

“As long as the media and relevant departments know that the 12th layer of protection is your fingerprint password, basically no lawyer will defend you.”

"Then, what should we do?" The museum director's face was ashen.

Jin Dun sneered, "From now on, tell your nephew to take good care of the library. If that's not possible, find someone who is responsible and dedicated to their work. Don't practice nepotism. Also, I've re-encrypted the original copy of the Book of Changes using quantum encryption. You and all the staff must protect it properly. If you disappear again, I'm afraid no one can protect you."

The museum director forced a wry smile and replied, "Okay," then cautiously asked, "But is your encryption effective this time?"

Jin Dun sneered, "I'm afraid no one in the Earth Federation has been able to crack my code yet." He lowered his voice so that only he could hear it, a smug smile playing on his lips. "Perhaps no one will be able to crack it even in 50 years."

He suddenly thought of that fleeting green figure, those mysterious and nimble steps under the night sky. His face darkened. He had encountered a true opponent in Xianyang, China. That was his feeling, and his feeling couldn't be wrong.

Unfortunately, the Global Bureau of Investigation's remote monitoring network told him that Xavier and her boyfriend were going back to Germany. Otherwise, he would have stayed to have a good showdown with them and find out what had happened to this ancient Eastern city that was originally mentioned in the Book of Changes.

Several questions lingered in his mind: Who was that slender shadow? Why was it moving around in this museum at night? The security between the 12th and 13th floors was so tight—had that blue shadow broken through it?

Note:

① Loulan was an ancient kingdom in western China. It disappeared about 1,600 years ago, leaving only the ruins of an ancient city. The ancient city of Loulan is located at 89°22′22″ east longitude and 40°29′55″ north latitude, in the northern part of Ruoqiang County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, 7 kilometers from the northwestern corner of Lop Nur and the south bank of the Peacock River.

②A great French philosopher, and also a famous subjective idealist, whose philosophical spirit is concentrated in the phrase "I think, therefore I am".

Computational Awareness (Part 1)

Xi'an Xianyang International Airport is the largest airport in western China. It was built in 1984 and has been expanded several times. It now covers an area of about 10 square kilometers.

During the momentous "Western Development" movement in China's history, this airport reached its peak. According to the "Xi'an Annals," the airport's green area reached 66%, and its flight zone rating was once upgraded to 55E. At that time, the entire airport operated 24 hours a day, handling 40 million passengers and 3 million tons of cargo annually. It was on par with H Port International Airport, which was once a renowned pearl of southern China.

However, with the vicissitudes of history and the changing times, this airport, once a leading international airport connected to Wuhan Tianhe and Shanghai Hongqiao, has made invaluable contributions to the rejuvenation of Greater China. Due to increasingly harsh environmental conditions and repeated sandstorms, it no longer possesses its former pristine appearance.

Overwhelmed by the dust and wind, it has grown somewhat forlorn, even showing signs of decay, despite the presence of giant ion displays, state-of-the-art iris detectors, and massive billboards advertising REE, China's most powerful software outsourcing company. Yet, it cannot withstand the erosion of environmental degradation; the entire Qin Chuan Plain, stretching for hundreds of miles, has been steadily retreating under the relentless onslaught of northwesterly sandstorms.

However, since tourism is a pillar industry in Xianyang, with nine international routes connecting to Paris, London, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Delhi, and Leipzig, international routes to Europe, America, and Asia have not been affected.

Based on the secret network of the Global Investigation Bureau, Golden Shield had already arrived at the airport ahead of time.

Saviel and Chu Xunfeng's actions were all within his observation range.

Saviel's face was streaked with tears. This bright student from Leipzig had withstood the unexpected blow, but quickly regained her former rationality and composure. She held a bronze handbag in her left hand and linked her right arm with Chu Xunfeng's. With delicate features and a slender, graceful figure, she stood beside Chu Xunfeng.

There weren't many people at Xianyang Airport, and he quickly calculated where he should stand. He happened to be right behind Chu Xunfeng when Saviel and Chu Xunfeng bought their tickets.

Professional instincts told Jin Dun that Saviel had bought ticket number 23, and Chu Xunfeng's was number 24. Following the order, Jin Dun, sitting right behind Saviel, should have received ticket number 25. However, he ended up with number 26. A thought flashed through Jin Dun's mind – it was unbelievable. In such a quiet time, could anyone have booked tickets? And why, specifically number 25?

On the plane, Saviel leaned heavily on Chu Xunfeng's shoulder, lost in thought. Chu Feng held her tightly in his arms. Saviel, shivering, looked exceptionally pitiful. The Global Investigation Bureau announced that Nie Longping was merely missing, but no one knew if he was gone forever. Moreover, before his disappearance, three professors from WAR had mysteriously vanished, and to this day, there has been no news of them.

Looking at Saviel's thin face, Chu Xunfeng felt a deep tenderness and affection. He had been thinking about Saviel's slender waist and her exquisite naked body, but those thoughts had been thrown to the back of his mind.

Sitting next to Jin Dun in seat number 25 was a man in blue robes with a cold and stern face.

This strange person was sitting in this bizarre spot. Jin Dun frowned, the image of that fleeting blue figure in front of the museum flashing through his mind. Could it really be such a coincidence?

Most strangely, the man in blue had a bronze handbag on his lap, which was very similar to the handbag of Saviel, who was sitting in the front row.

He was oblivious to his surroundings, intently calculating something with a small calculator that resembled a PDA.

Jin Dun quietly watched him. This man in blue was a bit strange. Why was he sitting right behind Saviel and carrying the same handbag as Saviel? Was it just a coincidence?

The man made no move except to calculate something intently, not even bothering to lift his head. He was shrouded in shadow, exuding an indescribable gloom and indifference.

Having not slept for several nights in a row, and after staring at the golden shield for a while, he began to feel tired. He closed his eyes to rest and organize his thoughts from the past few days: "The source of the nuclear explosion in western China is actually from Planet X; the Earth's magnetic field has been disturbed by a mysterious strong magnetic field several times; four top scientists from WAR have gone missing; the astronauts from Planet X sent a distress call but have not been heard from since; Project Matrix; the original copy of the Book of Changes was stolen and then recovered; several major events are happening at once, creating a sense of impending doom. And the man in blue standing next to me also exudes mystery." He narrowed his eyes: "It seems that if any unexpected events occur, the Federation will definitely implement Professor Park Woo-seok's Project Matrix."

He felt a strong wave of drowsiness wash over him and yawned. Saviel and Chu Xunfeng, who sat in front of him, were people he was monitoring and protecting, and there was also a mysterious man in blue beside him. He knew he couldn't afford to sleep now, no matter what.

He felt extremely tired and soon became drowsy. His trained mind was always clear; he wouldn't be so confused even when exhausted. He sensed something was wrong. A consciousness was calling to him, heavy and languid, yet very clear, trying to pull him into darkness, into another world. Highly vigilant, he sensed this consciousness possessed a demonic quality, wanting to devour him, to completely possess or control him.

Jin Dun began to struggle, trying to break free from this pull, but the thought entangled him, communicating with him, smiling, tugging, making it hard for him to breathe, impossible to resist. Finally, he was exhausted, and thought, "I'll leave it to fate!" He resigned himself to fate. Too tired, too tired…