St. George's Public Library

The New York Public Library, the largest library in St. George's state, is also the largest municipal public library. It was formed in 1895 by the merger of the Astor Library, the Lennox Library, and the Tilden Trust Company. At the end of 1992, the library had a collection of 16.47 million volumes, including 4.1 million books, 20,000 periodicals, and 10 million manuscripts, maps, and pictures. It is also the central research library of the St. George's Public Library System, with three research libraries and 84 branches in three districts of St. George's. The total collection of the branch library exceeds 3 million volumes.

Completed in 1911, this palatial building is neoclassical in style, with tall walls, elaborate décor, and sunlight from arched windows on both sides illuminating the reading room, where hundreds of readers read books but no one spoke.

Since 2040, after the introduction of the book distribution system, the library has opened a special reading room for reading online books, in the virtual reading room, readers can enjoy tens of millions of different types of books, the book distribution system and major book companies, publishing houses docking, so that the library can receive the latest works of major literary and artistic producers in real time, but also for readers to provide the best place for reading.

At the same time, offline paper reading has not been neglected, and the largest reading room on the first floor is always open, providing a place for readers who love paper reading to read. Tall bookcases are placed on both sides of the reading room, and books arranged according to different categories are neatly arranged on the shelves, from literary and artistic works, science and technology magazines, detective novels, etc., containing the wealth of human spiritual civilization, and also making this historic library soaked with the fragrance of books.

"Brush ......"

A Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled up in front of the public library, and a tall man stepped out of the car, followed by a young man.

It's Theo and Avis.

The two walked one after the other into the door of the library.

At the entrance of the library, there is a face recognition device, Theo and Ives stand in front of the face recognition device respectively, the system recognizes their pupils, retrieves their personal information, confirms that they have no bad borrowing records and social records, and allows them to enter, after obtaining access permission, the smart door of the library automatically opens, and Theo and Ives step into the library.

"This time it was a good job." Theo turned to Avis beside him.

Ives smiled faintly: "Thank you Mr. Theo for the compliment, it's just that the hacker hacked into the library control system and did something to make the system unable to identify your social record." ”

(Hackers...... ）

Theo smiled faintly and said as if unintentionally-

"Hackers are an interesting group of people who can be of great help if they are used well."

"Yes."

As the two spoke, they came to the reading room on the first floor.

The reading room is very quiet, hundreds of readers sit in the reading area, they bow their heads and flip through the paper books, although in 2060, e-books, audio books, video books have been very popular, but there are still so many readers, choose to read paper books, they are loyal supporters of paper books, they insist on reading the text printed on paper, and firmly believe that only in this way can the true meaning of human civilization be obtained.

Theo and Avis walked past the readers who were reading with their heads down, and when they reached the last row of bookcases, they saw a small door in the corner with a few words written on it—Librarian.

Theo straightened his black coat, walked to the door, raised his hand, and knocked lightly.

"Buckle up."

The knock on the door was clearly audible in the reading room.

"If you want to find a book, you can go to the front desk to consult, and there is also a reference machine outside the reading room."

Inside, an old man's voice came from the room, his voice hoarse and a little tired, apparently reluctant to receive visitors.

Theo lowered his head, smiled slightly, and replied in a low voice, "I'm not here to find books, I'm here to find people." ”

"Looking for whom?"

“Macbeth。”

After a long silence, the door was opened.

Avis looked over Theo's shoulder, and saw that the door was opened by an old man in his seventies, short in stature, somewhat hunchbacked, wearing an old dark green woolen sweater, his face was full of wrinkles, and a pair of somewhat cloudy eyes were watching them through thick lenses.

Theo skeptical.

But the man didn't rush Theo into the house.

"Macbeth, a cruel tyrant, has made a great mistake by listening to the demagoguery of the witch and the lady." The old man's hoarse voice sounded like the recording of an old tape recorder.

“…… But he was still a general, a king, and a hero. Theo replied.

"Is that your definition of a 'hero'? As long as he climbs to the pinnacle of power, is he a hero? The old man looked sideways at Theo.

Theo nodded.

The old man sighed, turned and walked into the room, followed by Theo and Avis.

"Click"

The door was shut, all sound was muffled, and the reading room was calm again.

Ives followed Theo into the room, only to feel the smell of books in the air in front of him, the room was not large, but it was full of thick books, and at the entrance were stacked two large stacks of medieval Western European works half a person high, which seemed to be about to fall down at any moment. There was a small table in the center of the room, and it was a bit reluctant to say that it was a table, because the four legs of the table were also made of stacked books, but a wooden board was placed on top of the four stacks of books, which became a "table". Books with thick cowhide covers were piled up on the table, and behind the table was a bookshelf as high as the room, and the shelves were also densely packed with books, some in English, some in Italian, some in Chinese, and some in Japanese...... Thousands of years of human civilization seem to be condensed in such a small room, turning into every inch of floating dust.

The old man hunched over to the wooden table and sat down on his own.

There were no extra chairs in the room, so Theo and Ives could only stand at their desks.

The old man raised his head and took off his glasses: "I haven't seen you in a long time, Theo." ”

Hearing this, Theo bowed his head politely to show respect, and Avis hurriedly followed suit.

"How are you doing in prison?"

"Yes, except that Victor bought off the jailer and whipped me every day." Theo replied blandly, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

"What are you going to do this time?" The old man leaned on the back of the small wooden chair and looked up at him, "Superior? Seizure of power? Or kill Victor? Takes Victor's place. ”

Theo lightly opened his thin lips: "...... Both. ”

Ives was also slightly surprised, surprised by his straightforwardness.

"Hmph, you're being honest." The old man snorted coldly.

"In front of you, there's nothing to hide."

"I remember the first time I met you, you were still a hairy kid in your teens." The old man smiled, "At that time, you followed the Pope in front of you, pretending not to be close to anyone, although you joined the army and went to the battlefield, but you didn't stay on the battlefield for long before you came back." It's ridiculous to pretend to be a big man in the underworld just thinking about it...... I didn't expect it to be so fast, and more than ten years have passed in a blink of an eye. ”

Theo bowed slightly, looked around, and replied, "[Elder], you founded [Bloody Eye] with the Pope, the Pope is the leader of the organization, and you are also the supreme leader of the [Overseer] in the organization, one of the five supreme leaders. It's just that I didn't expect that after so many years, you are still nestled in this broken room. ”

(Broken room?) ）

The old man codenamed [Senator] heard the words and smiled: "I stay in this room, absorbing the crystallization of human spiritual civilization, I can read books and dialogue with the sages, understand the story of history, and know the true meaning of the development of human society. Naturally, this is the difference between my values and his, I can see it and let it go, while he attaches too much importance to fame and fortune and gains and losses, so after so many years, although the organization continues to grow, I am still free, but he is terminally ill. ”

“…… Do you know about the Pope's condition? ”

"It's been a long time since I've spoken to him, I don't know if he's still alive." The patriarch replied truthfully.

"Victor has taken control of the Pope, covering the sky with one hand, Senator, we can't let him go on like this." Theo's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Quietly, he pulled the patriarch and himself into a united front, in a position hostile to Victor.

“…… Theo, are you saying this for the sake of the organization, or for the sake of yourself? ”

The patriarch's words left Theo speechless for a while.

"You hate Victor deeply, not only because he controlled the Pope and sent you to prison, but also because he climbed to heights that you didn't climb before, so, you hate him and want to pull him down."

The seventy-year-old man saw at a glance his ambition and jealousy.

Even Avis, who has been following him all the time, can't see through his thoughts, but this old man, who hasn't seen him for many years, can see into his evil thoughts.

I have to say that he is indeed a wise old man.

These books are not read in vain.

“…… In any case, Victor must die. Theo replied coldly.

"Naturally, Victor did go a little too far, and he should be punished." The patriarch said, silently putting on his glasses, "If you climb high, you will fall hard, don't say that you young people, even the Pope, don't necessarily understand." ”

“…… Do you know why I was able to find you? ”

"Did the Pope tell you?"

"Yes. Although the Pope is under Victor's control, he still asked someone to hand me three envelopes, one of which is the location of your [Senator]. ”

“……”

"You are the supreme leader of the Overseer, one of the six highest-ranking people in the organization, and you and your subordinates are responsible for examining all members of the organization and preventing the appearance of dark ghosts." Theo paused, "Victor, in collusion with the Black Police, it is likely that he sold the organization's intelligence to a third party, and you, as the [Overseer], need to investigate him." ”

“…… Theo, that's not what you're here for. ”

The patriarch looked at Theo, seeing through the turbulent undercurrents in the depths of his eyes.

After a while, Theo spoke: "You guessed right, the main purpose of my visit today is to obtain the voting rights in your hands. ”

"You're going to take down Vincent, who is now in charge of all the business of the [Arms Trafficking Team]?"

"Vincent was originally only my deputy, but he was in cahoots with Victor and took my place while I was in prison, taking over all the arms deals. I'm going to replace him and put him back in my original position. The organization stipulates that the replacement of the top leaders of the five major departments must be held at a round table meeting, and voting through the round table meeting. Therefore, I must convene the heads of the five major departments, namely the [Biotechnology Group], the [Arms Anti-Buying Group], the [Human Smuggling Group], the [Financial Affairs Group], and the [Supervisors], to regain my former position through a roundtable. ”

“……”

"As a personnel change group, the [Arms Trafficking Group] naturally does not need to vote. Victor is the top leader of the [Financial Affairs Group], and he will definitely vote for Vincent, and if I want to win, I must get the votes of the remaining three top leaders. Theo took a step forward, propped his hands on the wooden table, and approached the patriarch, "Please, give me the ticket." ”

His words didn't sound like a request, but they were more of a command.

“…… Reason. ”

"The Pope also supports me, otherwise he would not have given me your address."

“……”

"Elder, in fact, you also know that Victor is a madman, he will lead the organization to the abyss......" Theo lowered his voice, revealing great deterrence in his tone, "You should already know that even the eldest lady was sent into the [Minghe system] by him, during this period of time, he has changed the people in the organization at will, and has carried out major changes in the organization again and again, all the high-level people are basically his people, Victor directly emptied your personnel supervision power and personnel recall power, he is too ambitious, In a few years, it will swallow the fruits of your life with the Pope, Elder, this is what the Pope asked me to come to you and want me to say to you—save Bloody Eye, and save him. ”

Theo's voice smashed into the air, as if it was carrying weight.

After being silent for a long time, the patriarch nodded: "I see." ”

Avis breathed a sigh of relief.

Theo also straightened up, restraining the feeling of oppression during the negotiation.

"You are indeed a big man, Theo, and the Pope is not wrong about you."

Theo humbly bowed his head: "It was the Pope who pulled me out of the dust of war, he taught me how to behave and do things, he was my mentor, my godfather, and I will follow him for free in this life, and I will do whatever it takes." ”

The patriarch nodded.

"Although I agreed, the rest of the [Biotechnology Group] and the [Human Smuggling Group] may not be relieved, especially Lola of the [Human Smuggling Group], it is not easy to open the mouth of that old woman."

Theo smiled slightly: "Hmph, I'll give her a reason to 'can't refuse'." ”

This is a line from a classic gangster movie.

"In the second envelope that the Pope gave you...... Is it Lola's address? ”

"No, it's Madame Lola's sister, Laura's address."