Chapter 15: God’s Father
Dr Bartholomew drove a car on the highway A1. He looked at the dreamy scenery out of the window, then he opened the car audio. The opera “Rose Knight”, which was written by Richard Strauss, echoed in the car. It was played by Erich Kleiber in the nineteen fifties — and Kleiber’s sound recordings was always Bartholomew’s best love.
Though British, he was born in Germany, brought up in America, and is currently working in Austria. His interests was a bit complicated; opera and jazz were two most contradictory yet the most harmonious hobbies of his. He has never felt that putting “The Marriage of Figaro” and Nat King Cole together on the shelf was a strange thing, although many of his guests have complained about it.
Suddenly, the phone rang. It interrupted Shaina Julia’s beautiful soprano. “Brandon, where are you?”
“On the way from Bern to Salzburg.” Bartholomew glanced at the navigation screen and added, “Just passing by Zurich.”
“Are you driving in your buzzing vintage car?”
“You are an idiot, Mark. You don’t know how to appreciate.” Bartholomew pressed the button of the car phone and refused Mark’s video call application. “DBK is the highest achievement of gasoline powered vehicles, and the last challenger to the European Environmental regulations. How can an environmentalist like you understand that the roaring of a V12 engine is the most beautiful form music?”
“I’m not an environmentalist, Brandon. I’m just not a fan of paying bills to fuel tax, green tax and luxury tax. In the past twenty years, the money you spend in the car is enough to buy an island in the Caribbean.” Mark Thompson said and sniggered.
“Deposit is just a series of meaningless numbers. Dr Thompson, I just need to make sure that my legacy is enough for my son smoke pot in the university for a lifelong time.”
“You mean that Chinese boy you adopted?”
“Yes, he is 29 years old, in Beijing.”
“And has not yet left the university?”
“He applied to the A4 credit system, and he can graduate from Tsinghua University in twenty years at any time when he gets enough scores. He said to me that he didn’t want to work before he solves a problem. I agreed.”
“A problem?”
“I don’t know what’s the problem.” Bartholomew said and smiled, “but I’m glad to see my boy is full of energy. He also manages my Quantum Angel Fund, and as far as I know, the operation of the fund is very successful.”
“Look forward to seeing him.” Thompson said, then he changed the subject, “GTC (Genesis Timing Committee) will hold a meeting. Twelve members of the standing committee, ninety-seven sponsors and the top people of ThaiHo company will participate in the meeting. You team also need to make a report. In addition, Wu is also looking forward to seeing you.”
“Mark, you know, I’ve been out of office, and now, I only work on the peripheral study. It doesn’t seem to be necessary to take part in the core meetings for me, right?”
“You might have change your mind after listening to the topic.” At the other end of the line, Mark’s voice became serious. “In recent years, terrorism towards ‘Genesis’ grew in intensity. Because we have control over the entire Internet, be it the wired and wireless communication networks, this caused panic to the pessimists and anti-science groups. Just before the opening of the Berne Convention, GTC received an information from a peripheral intelligence agent. He reported that an anti-GTC group will create terrorist activity in Asia – stealing nuclear material for a dirty bomb. They said that they would not hesitate to make the most serious humanitarian disaster.”
“Only aims at GTC? No political complexion?” Bartholomew asked and frowned.
“Their political complexion is very weak. That group is a small organization. Its leader is Indian, and has strong anti-reconnaissance capability.”
“Where did you get the information?”
“From IPU, the world’s largest anti-GTC organization. The peripheral intelligence agent lost contact after he sent the message, so, I think it has higher reliability.” (IPU: Independent Computing Alliance)
Bartholomew felt a little irritated. He stepped on the throttle, then the V12 engine made a strong roaring sound and ejected smoke as if it was a bullet. It overtook two hydrogen cars immediately, which were traveling slowly in their exclusive lane.
“At first, GTC is a purely academic coordination institution, for balancing the various requests towards “Genesis”. However, beginning from the second session of the committee, GTC becomes stronger more and more, and already has many branches, just like octopus’s tentacles. Today, it has become a superpower above the United Nations – it’s an academic institution, but has spies all over the world! Mark, what the hell are you thinking?!”
“Brandon, let’s face it. At the first moment of the start of the ‘Genesis’, GTC has became the largest dictator in human history. ‘Genesis’ is the human brain; in thirty years, the human nerve – communications network – has been gradually mastered by ‘Genesis’. No matter whether you like it or not, we humans has stood on the top of evolutionary tree, and the top of power.” Mark Thompson laughed, “Besides, you have to know, GTC has no intention to hurt anyone, and everything we do is just for protecting ourselves. To protect ‘Genesis’ is to protect the future of humanity. If you consider it from this angle, all sacrifices are acceptable.”
Bartholomew sighed tiredly. “All right, I will attend the meeting, but I may not be able to help on anything. You know, ‘EARTH’ is my main job.”
“‘EARTH’ is our common child, Brandon. I’ll send you the information later. The meeting will be held in South Africa. In addition, give your oriental boy a phone call, tell him to leave Asia, as soon as possible.” Thompson hung up the phone.
Bartholomew looked at the scenery outside the window for a while, then he snapped his fingers and said, “Verify my permission.”
“Verified, dear father. I miss you very much.” A tender male voice said. “Father” is the exclusive authority of the first twelve GTC members. In addition to Bartholomew himself, there is only three “father” still alive.
“Take over the car.”
“Understood, dear father.”
The steering wheel rotated automatically. Bartholomew relaxed his hands and said, “Call Gu Tie for me.”
“Understood, dear father.”
Silence lasted for a while, before the male voice reported, “Gu Tie rejected the call, his position is inside an airplane of the Russian National Airline, from China to Ukraine. Do you need me connect to him forcibly?”
“No, leave a message to him. Tell him not to return to China in the near future.”
“Understood, dear father. I have left a message. Your mental state is not very good, and you need more rest. Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Earl Grey.”
“Understood, without milk. Dear father, please wait a moment.”
The zeroth second, on a large tour bus which was 3 kilometers apart from Bartholomew’s car, the waitress heard the driver asked a cup of Earl Grey, without milk. She went to the bar table and made a cup of black tea adroitly, then she held the delicate bone China tea cup and walked towards the front of the car.
The 50th second, “look right”, she heard the driver’s voice. The waitress turned to the right. With a “bang” sound, the airbag on the floor suddenly burst open, and under the hit, the teacup flew out of her hands. At the same time, the bus door opened automatically. The teacup and the tray flew to the outside of the bus.
The 51st second, the quest log of the administration of A1 highway added two quests quietly: move No.X488 air duct to position 15 after one second and conveying 80 units blowing rate; mobile No.X488 air duct to position 66 after two seconds and conveying 400 units blowing rate.
The 52nd second, the No.X488 air duct, which was one of the air ducts equipped on the entire highway of Europe for adjusting the wind speed, moved two quadrants. Its micro turbine opened.
The 53rd second, the tour bus and Bartholomew’s car passed by each other at the relative speed of 200 km/s. At this moment, the air duct between the two vehicles caused an air swirl. The air swirl was like a conveyer belt; the teacup and the tray were sucked into the air swirl and was thrown to the opposite lane smoothly.
The 54th second, the car’s side window was put down. No.X488 air duct moved again and increased the turbine power. The teacup and the tray shot out in the air mass, and drew a beautiful arc towards the car.
The 55th second, the male voice said, “Dear father, the tea is ready. please drink it before it cools down.”
The 56th second, Bartholomew extended his arm, took the teacup from the tray, which was firmly floating on the outside of the side window. Then the air swirl burst. The tray immediately lost direction and speed. It fell into the isolation zone and smashed to it.
“Well, twinings.” Barcelona Samuel took a sip of the steaming Black Tea and said with his Oxford accent.
“No one speaks in the Oxford accent these days, my dear father. Yesterday afternoon teatime, the Queen and the Duchess were talking about the weather using the London accent.” The male voice used its soft sound to talk the gossip.
“Child, I have a question. Why do you ignore all the behaviors that may threaten your personal safety? The terrorists can come up with a dirty bomb, and maybe one day, a bomb will explode in Salzburg.”
“Genesis” took a few seconds to think about it. Bartholomew knew the answer was already saved in the sequence of its speech synthesis software. The quantum computer just set aside a few seconds based on the language habits to show its attention towards the question.
The car turned a corner. The deep red liquid in the cup tilted slightly.
“My dear father,” said the male voice, “Your problem is difficult for me to answer. If you set the Three Laws of Robotics in my underlying system, instead of the Logical Core of Altruism, the whole world would maybe completely different from today.”
“I don’t know.” The old man sipped the black tea thoughtfully. He felt the sweet taste of Bergamot partly hidden and partly visible in his mouth.
“Gu Tie is calling back. Do you want to connect?”
“No.” The old man turned the knob, pumped up the volume of “Rose Knight”.
ish a strong prestige, and the passionate and provocative speech that was necessary to ignite the passion of the people.
Anna could not believe her eyes, she saw the townspeople of Transylvania who had not taken an action in hundreds of years, had actually started to actively prepare for a resistance against slavery.
They began to build fences with huge logs to resist the attacks of werewolves and goblins. The blacksmiths began to build weapons day and night, all kinds of crossbows, bows and arrows, knives, axes, armor, javelins…
Shen Yi had full respect from the people. Shen Yi’s help also made them surprised, the origin of complicated machinery engineer made that Shen Yi had remarkable ability in the forging of tools. He taught people how to use a more efficient way of forging, to help them build some new weapons, while also rapidly forming a convoy team.
Surprisingly, the captain of the convoy team is the once-tavern-waiter Gasken.
The descendants of Vikings had strong abilities.
Shen Yi had used Appraisal on him and found that not only was Gasken’s attributes higher than his doubled attributes, he also had two special combat skills.
Time passed.
Surprisingly, Count Dracula did not immediately come with his minions to attack. It seemed that the death of the silver werewolf and the goblin leader was nothing in his eyes. When the time hit the eighth day, the Bloody Crest finally prompted:
“One hour later, Monster Hunter Van Helsing will arrive at the town of Transylvania.
“If you choose to accept Van Helsing’s help, it will be counted as passively accepting the Optional Quest, and the penalty of Mission Failed will be changed into deducted by half of the BP reward and item rewards.”
Shen Yi was slightly surprised, in accordance to what the Bloody Crest prompted, in the killing of Count Dracula, Bloody City would arrange plot characters to help him.
Of course, the cost of accepting the help was that the Optional Quest would become the Main Quest, and the failure also came with a penalty.
Accept or not?
Shen Yi had almost no hesitation to choose accept.
From the moment he made his plan, he did not intend to spare Count Dracula. Now that the Bloody City was just plainly giving him another secret weapon towards securing his victory.
After selecting to accept the help of Van Helsing, the Bloody Crest once again sent the message:
“Optional Quest 1: Kill the Vampire Count Dracula, advanced to Mandatory Quest. Mission failure: Reduce rewards by half. Time to execute this quest will count into the Main Quest execution time, from now to the end of the Main Quest execution time: 49 hours.”
“Information of character to appear in plot 1: Monster Hunter Van Helsing.
Class: Marksman.
Skills: 1 – Waveform Dancing Bullets. 2 – Accurate Hits.
Passive Effect 1: Increases the power of shots by 25% and improves rate of fire by 25%.
Passive effect 2: Normal gunshot have a fixed probability of shooting multiple bullets at the same time.
Deputy Skills: 1 – Sliding Side Strike. 2 – Elbow Bash.
Main attributes: Strength: 30. Agility: 25. Vitality: 50. MP: 20. Will: 20. Equipment: Pneumatic Crossbow, Demon Hunting Guns.”
“Information of character to appear in plot 2: Friar Carl.
Class: Mechanic (primary-level). Has ability to make special items.
Main attributes: Strength: 5, Agility: 7, Vitality: 5, MP: 25, Will: 4.”
As he looked at the information of the two characters, Shen Yi fell into a state of deep meditation.
***
Dark clouds covered the sky, two horse riders entered the town of Transylvania.
The rider that was ahead, wore a big hat that blocked half of his face, exposing just a bit of his bristling beard on his chin. He was also wearing a dilapidated leather coat while carrying a large package on his back. Behind him was a young man who had a black cloth covering his head, as he looked around.
These two men were the story’s characters: Van Helsing and Carl.
Standing on top of the church bell tower, Shen Yi carefully observed the two men.
Van Helsing could be known as the most famous monster hunter who lived in the 19th century, he accepted the church’s request to kill zombies, vampires, and any other evil stuff that roamed the world. Ironically, Van Helsing himself is a monster; he has lived for thousands of years, but has always maintained a thirty-year-old appearance and physique.
Unfortunately, he lost his memory and he did not even know who he is, thousands of years of his life experience eventually left his mind in the last few decades of his hunting career. He did not even know that Count Dracula who, before becoming a vampire, was actually killed by him.
As he was already aware the he was being observed by someone, Van Helsing suddenly lifted his head from under the cowboy hat, a pair of sharp eyes gazed straight at Shen Yi. It felt as a dagger had been stabbed at Shen Yi’s heart, it made Shen Yi feel an unspeakable pain.
This guy was so powerful, that even from such a far distance he was still able to feel another person’s gaze. Shen Yi was shocked.
This was not good news – If the helpers are so powerful, how much more powerful would Count Dracula be?
Since Van Helsing has found out, Shen Yi simply left the bell tower and walked toward Van Helsing.
“Mr. Van Helsing? I was sent by the Catholic Church to meet you, my name is Shen Yi.” Shen Yi extended his hand toward Van Helsing.
What he said was not made up by himself, but it was the identity that the Bloody City had given to him after he had accepted the task.
Van Helsing shook his hand, Van Helsing’s hand was big and powerful and had thick calluses on fingers.
He lightly said, “Your strength is much worse than I imagined.”
“Against the devil, sometimes strength alone will not suffice.” Shen Yi laughed.
He could see that the sides of Van Helsing ‘s mouth turning upwards, “Don’t rely on strength, then what do you want to rely on?”
He also noted that Shen Yi actually made the townspeople establish defensive measures, but in his eyes, this wasn’t anything worth mentioning.
Shen Yi looked at the young monk behind him and slowly said, “Strength is very important, but definitely not the only thing that will decide victory, I believe Mr. Carl will support my argument.”
The young monk grinned, “Hey, Van, he is right. I’m a man without strength, but you can’t deny that you need me.”
Van Helsing hummed a few times then changed the topic, “Where do we live?”
Before Shen Yi answered, Anna’s voice came over, “You can live in my home. I am Anna Valerious.” Then Anna turned to Shen Yi, “Are they the friends you talked about?”
“Must be, even though this is the first time we meet.” Shen Yi shrugged.
After hearing the name Anna Valerious, Van Helsing finally moved. To protect the last member of the Valerious family, was also one of his tasks.
They chatted for a bit, just in order to get to know each other.
“Let’s go back and a rest,” said Anna, ” And then we can discuss about how to deal with the vampire.”
Shen Yi suddenly said, “Perhaps now would be the best moment to discuss about how to deal with the vampire.”
“Why?” Anna asked.
“Because they have already arrived.” Shen Yi leisurely answered.
Suddenly shrill screams echoed throughout the sky. The three vampire brides with wings on their back and sharp fangs in their mouths, impressively appeared in the town of Transylvania.
***
(Author’s note: In the original Van Helsing plot, the vampire count is immortal, and is only afraid of the werewolf attacks, but if used in web novels, this would clearly be inappropriate. Moreover, vampires, depending on the Western novels, have their own fear, completely not the same. So this time I re-unified the strength of all the same theme film background.
In this “Infinity” genre1 novel, all creatures, BOSS or non-BOSS, all of them can receive damage from normal attacks. In other words: Vampire Bride, Count Vampire, Van Helsing, vampires in other films, or werewolves, even Satan2 will be hurt by attacks and can be killed by receiving enough damage. Of course, if the attack can’t break through the defense, or the HP recover faster than the damage received, that is another issue. In addition to this, the things they fear still has some effect, but can’t cause direct death, can only cause increased damage.)
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