After a series of brief operations, the information about zero was sold to Parkland at a price about 30 percent higher than the purchase price. Although Parkland was a large company in the wilderness, he was not qualified to meet Hades in person. The information was exchanged through the communication channel used by the dark merchants, so no images would appear during the whole process.
Hades stood up and left the room when he saw that Parkland had put the credit point into the dark merchant"s account. The moment he walked out of the room, hexagonal lattice appeared on the surface of everything from the ceiling to the carpet, from the fireplace to the wall. As each lattice disappeared, the room became correspondingly dark, an inorganic set of data, waiting for the next activation.
Hades was walking in the darkness. Directly in front of him was a glowing door. That was the exit, and at the same time that the virtual room disappeared, the virtual information technology on Hades also faded away. Golden hair that was originally as bright as the sun quickly lost its l.u.s.ter, and wrinkles quickly covered his handsome face. His originally bright skin had also gradually lost its moisture, and spots of age had even appeared on the back of his hand.
In just ten seconds, Hades had completed the physiological process of moving from young to old age. When he walked out of the exit, Hades was no longer young, but an old man in his sixties. Only, those gem-like blue eyes were as bright as ever.
The alloy door behind him automatically closed, and a bookcase moved over from the left, hiding the secret door behind it. This was an office that was two hundred square meters. The office was decorated in a retro fas.h.i.+on, exactly the same as the virtual room. The only difference was that the walls of the office were not painted by the Mona Lisa, but were filled with religious paintings.
Last dinner!
The old man stared at the scroll. He was not a Christian. The oil painting in the office was purely out of personal taste.
"The Last Supper" is one of the masterpieces pa.s.sed down through the generations by the painter Leonardo da Vinci. The oil painting, through its realistic form, makes a sharp contrast between the calmness of Jesus and the treachery of Judas. Trust and betrayal were a melody that was not lacking in any era. It was the same in the old era, but it was even more common in the new era. The conflict of interests, the divergence of ideas, in this changing age, betrayal sometimes required nothing but a piece of black bread.
In the old man"s time, he had betrayed his ideals like Judas. However, everything was for the sake of better survival, so the old man had never regretted it.
"One day, I will prove you wrong... Ben! You"re not Jesus, and even Jesus can"t save everyone. There was no savior in this world, only the people who guided them in the right direction. And I"m doing such a thing! " The old man said in a low voice, but each word was firm and forceful, like his determination that was like a rock.
At this moment, the desk phone rang. The old man was still looking at the oil painting, but he said to the room, "Answer it."
The voice control system immediately took effect. The phone switched to amplifying mode, and a melodious female voice rang out from the phone. "Respected Speaker Oglock, Dr. Shaw just called you. He asked you to visit the Polytechnic Inst.i.tute when it"s convenient, and the research project called WX1875 has made new headway. "
When he heard that special number, the old man"s gaze finally left the oil painting. He indifferently said to the girl on the phone, "I understand. Christine, please prepare me for my trip." In 15 minutes, I will arrive at the Inst.i.tute of Technology on time. "
"As you command, sir."
After the conversation ended, the old man looked out of the window towards the city where red electricity was shooting in all directions, and the corner of his mouth curved into a smile.
No one would have thought that the leader of the Dark Merchant, who suddenly appeared thirty years ago and quickly grew up to this day, Hades, was actually the Dark Council"s chairman, Oglock. In fact, if not for the silent support of a giant like the Dark Council, the dark merchants would not have been able to develop so quickly on the continent. On the other hand, through the operation of the dark merchants, Oglock held most of the continent"s secret intelligence.
Of course, the dark merchant was Oglock"s private inst.i.tution. As such, no one in the council knew about it yet.
From Oglock"s office building, he could see a city shrouded in darkness. This city was the headquarters of the Dark Council. Yongye City!
Yongye City is located at the northernmost point of the coastline, behind it is an endless polluted sea. The size of the city was similar to that of Asgard. The only difference was that Asgard had hollowed out the Julian mountain range and built it in the heart of the mountain. As for Yongye City, it was built on the basis of cities that were not completely destroyed in the old era. This method was somewhat similar to Remus", but whether in terms of wealth or resources, the Dark Council was not something Remus could compare with.
After half a century of operation, the center of the city had basically been restored to its original appearance. There were tall buildings, city roads that were as dense as spider webs, and the city lights that were dotted with city lights. If one did not look at the radiating clouds of red electricity in the sky, this city would not be much different from the developed cities of the old era.
However, the buildings on the outskirts of Yongye City were almost completely cleaned out. Here, the Dark Council had built fortifications, and the factories were built in between. The Polytechnic Academy was located in the suburbs to the southwest of the city. The Inst.i.tute of Science and Technology was mainly involved in the research of genes, biochemistry, ability formulas, and even weapons and war machines.
15 minutes later, a black car stopped in front of the main building of the Polytechnic Academy. Two guards in black suits opened the door, and Oglock stepped out on crutches. He looked up at the top of the building just as a bolt of red lightning struck down from the sky, causing the top of the building to appear in a layer of red light.
A moment later, Oglock took the elevator to the top floor. On the top floor of the main building was the office of the dean of the Inst.i.tute of Science and Technology, but in this room, which was no less than Oglock"s, the Speaker saw a jumbled and busy scene.
The office was littered with all sorts of data reports. More than a dozen a.s.sistants were coming in and out with tablets or information, but no one had the time to stop and greet Oglock. But the Speaker did not mind this lack of courtesy. It was well-known that most of the students at the Polytechnic Academy were lunatics and workaholics, so Oglock did not expect to meet gentlemen here.
Through a mountain of papers, Oglock meets Dr. Shauna, the head of the Inst.i.tute of Science and Technology. The doctor was in his early sixties, and his hair had long since fallen out, but a bald head was very clean. He wore thick gla.s.ses and a white coat that was gray and even yellowish, and he was scribbling something.
Even in this age of popular plain computers, Dr. Shona maintained the old generation"s practice of recording the evolution of formulas and important results in pencil and paper. To that end, Oglock had to a.s.sign a special a.s.sistant to the Doctor, who would record his research and his important formulas into the vast database of information at the end of the Dark Council"s intellectual brain.
Oglock rapped on the doctor"s desk with his cane, but the doctor, who could not afford it, ignored him. It was only with a helpless cough that Oglock managed to divert the doctor"s attention from the report. At the sight of Oglock, Dr. Shona stood up happily and said, "You"re here. Look at our latest research. Guess what we found. Haha, it"s a set of source code. Og, this is a set of source code that we"ve never seen before! "