A ray of sunlight pierced through the window, shining on Molina’s face. She let out a moan as she woke up dizzily from her sleep.
She felt like there was a bomb stuffed inside her brain. She was almost going to cry.
She took a sip of water from the cup on the bedside table. This slightly eased the pain. She scratched her head, then leaned her head on her hand as she tried to recall what happened yesterday.
She couldn’t remember the details.
She could only remember that after she gave her notes to Lu Zhou, she stood up from the table, then… Oh right, she was drinking.
She slowly began to piece together her memory.
However, she could only remember blurry fragments.
However, even though she couldn’t remember what happened after she was drunk, she wasn’t worried about what happened to her.
After all, she had been friends with Lu Zhou for over seven years. She knew exactly what kind of person Lu Zhou was. Lu Zhou was the type to think with his brain, not think with his…
This was why she felt so safe drinking with him.
Suddenly, Molina froze.
She looked at herself in the mirror as she touched her neck.
Where did my clothes go???
Lu Zhou was interrupted by a doorbell. He rubbed his eyebrows and closed the notebook he was reading. He stuffed the notebook into his jacket pocket and opened the door.
When he saw Molina standing at the door, he paused for a second and spoke.
“Hey, you woke up pretty early—”
“What did you do to me last night?!”
Lu Zhou looked at Molina with a strange look.
“I read the notes all night… The things written on there are pretty interesting. Oh yeah, by the way, are those sketches drawn by Professor Abel himself, or did you draw them?”
“Sketches? I didn’t draw anything… Wait, you didn’t answer my question!”
Molina’s look of confusion was replaced by murderous eyes. Lu Zhou looked at her and spoke.
“Didn’t I answer? I read the notes all night… What did you expect me to say?”
Molina clenched her teeth, blushed, and spoke.
“… What about my clothes?”
Lu Zhou: “…?”
What about your clothes?
Suddenly, Lu Zhou noticed the clothes she was wearing today were different than the ones she was wearing yesterday.
However, he didn’t think this was too strange.
“The hotel staff probably washed it.”
“… You, you changed my clothes?”
Lu Zhou looked at her red face and spoke.
“Why would I do that?”
What if you vomit on me?
This reminded Lu Zhou of his dorm roommate, who was also a lightweight drinker. Lu Zhou and two other people would have to carry this person back to the dorm every time. So he had his fair share of experience.
Lu Zhou guessed that she probably vomited on herself last night. Her clothes probably got dirty and were washed by the hotel staff.
Molina saw that Lu Zhou didn’t seem to be lying. She finally realized how weird her questions must have seemed.
Lu Zhou looked at Molina and changed the conversation topic.
“The restaurant is on the second floor. The breakfast buffet is available until ten o’clock. If you feel better, you can go and eat something yourself. I already ate, so I won’t go with you.”
“Thanks… What about these clothes? Whose is it?”
Molina looked behind Lu Zhou, as if she was trying to see if the clothes belonged to someone else inside Lu Zhou’s room. However, she didn’t see anyone.
Lu Zhou: “It was probably given by the hotel.”
“… Given? The hotel gave me clothes?”
Lu Zhou looked at Molina and sighed.
“Come on, it’s a five-star hotel, don’t act like you’re surprised.”
“What? It’s just that… I haven’t stayed at this kind of hotel before.”
Even though she didn’t know how much this hotel was, judging by the decoration and the status of the guests, she knew that staying here one night would be expensive.
Molina began to feel embarrassed.
“… How much was the bill yesterday? I said it was my treat…”
Lu Zhou: “It’s fine, I handled it. If you want to pay me back, just be my tour guide for a day.”
Molina paused for a second: “… Tour guide?”
Lu Zhou nodded and said, “Yeah, even though this is a diplomatic visit, my itinerary is actually quite free. I’ve never had a chance really to explore Paris before. I plan on going to all the tourist spots.”
Besides, I’m sure this counts as a cultural exchange.
Molina: “… Where do you plan on visiting? I’m a local, but I don’t know any tourist spots in Paris.”
Lu Zhou smiled and spoke.
“Let’s start with Professor Abel’s former residence.”
Molina: “???”
[… I have seen this scene countless times in my dreams, the dead city, the tall pillars, the endless concrete jungle… The air here feels solidified. The atmosphere felt depressive and pressurizing. I don’t know if this is someplace created by God, maybe our souls all return here one day.]
This was the most complete paragraph in the diary; it was written on the page behind the sketch.
Lu Zhou read this paragraph many times.
There was no such thing as a computer in the early 19th century, which was when Professor Abel was alive. From his perspective, the black steel forest was like a graveyard, while Lu Zhou knew that it was a representation of a computer array processor.
However, both were valid interpretations.
The tombstone could actually be a computer.
And vice versa.
Lu Zhou felt like it was more likely that both he and Professor Abel were wrong.
The only thing he could conclude now was that Professor Abel probably did not have the “high tech system”. But for some other reason, Abel was able to see a segment of the Void Memory in his dreams.
After all, Abel never mentioned anything like the system in his diary, or anything similar to an “oracle”. Secondly, according to his description, Abel repeatedly experienced the same dream and was puzzled by the dream.
If he really had access to the system, he would only have one chance to experience this dream.
After the pair left the city, the road began to become narrower, but the traffic was a lot better.
The car slowly drove to a small town, and it eventually parked in front of an old house.
The French driver looked at Lu Zhou in the rearview mirror as he spoke with a heavy accent.
“We’re here”.
Lu Zhou smiled and closed the notebook in his hand.
“Okay, thanks.”
After they got out of the car, Molina led Lu Zhou into the front yard. Wang Peng silently followed the two from behind as he quietly observed the surrounding environment.
The old man at the front door looked at the strange man walking next to his granddaughter. He frowned and spoke.
“And you are…”
Lu Zhou smiled and politely said, “I’m Lu Zhou.”
When the old man heard the name, he had a surprised look on his face.
“Oh oh, the professor from Princeton. My granddaughter talked about you before.”
“I haven’t worked at Princeton in a long time.” Lu Zhou smiled and said, “May I come in?”
The old man gave his granddaughter a strange look. He stepped aside and made an inviting gesture.
“… Come on in, it’s a bit messy, hope you don’t mind.”
“Thank you.”
Lu Zhou nodded and walked into the house.