Final Civilization

Chapter 43: Beacon Fire Across Cities

Han Ming first learned about the term "Memory Palace" back in high school from a book he read called *Matteo Ricci's Memory Palace*.

The Memory Palace, with its formal name being the Method of Loci or the Journey Method.

Its core principle utilizes the innate powerful memory ability of the human brain for spatial locations and visual images, transforming abstract, dry information to be remembered into vivid, orderly visual representations, and "placing" them within a sequence of spaces that one is intimately familiar with.

This cognitive mechanism has three benefits.

First is dual coding, which can simultaneously engage the brain's visual cortex (processing images, space) and the language/logic cortex (processing the meaning of information), forming dual memory traces, which are much more robust than single coding.

Second, it hooks onto episodic memory, embedding information into a virtual "scene" (the palace path). When recalling, one only needs to "revisit" that scene in their mind, and the information will automatically surface in order.

Third, it provides structured retrieval cues. The physical structure of the palace (sequence, location) offers natural, non-repetitive retrieval cues for the information, avoiding memory confusion and interference.

Han Ming was once an avid detective fan. After he first learned about this memory method, he began trying to learn and train to build his own 'Memory Palace'. This allowed him to amass a very rich reservoir of knowledge. Any legal statute, he could recite word for word without a single mistake in just one second.

So, when Han Ming saw that bizarre, spatially-displaced library, he immediately thought of the Memory Palace. That strange spatial structure was pieced together by the 'Memory Master' according to the scenes they were most familiar with.

Inside, one could place memory codes on corresponding bookshelves according to their habits. When needed, they could follow the image information to find the textual information.Logically speaking, when he met Yan Jing for the first time, that file had already begun to be retrieved. It's just that he didn't successfully escape then.

It was during the third time that he saw that silk banner, the information on which represented the starting point of Yan Jing's identity.

That is, key information like her date of birth and address. This was like a certain code on a file.

And after this file was retrieved, the dream simulation made him transform the narrative of the textual file into a visual simulation. The reason for this was likely because he had conducted very detailed Deduction observations at Yan Jing's home!

"So that's it, I finally understand."

Whoosh.

As soon as Han Ming finished speaking, the world suddenly fell silent.

He looked up and saw that everyone in the entire report hall had stopped their actions, their gazes swiveling uniformly towards him.

Shadows, hollow, sending chills down one's spine.

"Subconscious warning?"

Han Ming reacted, seeing everyone start to silently converge towards him. The situation was eerie, making one tremble.

"Wait..."

Before his words finished, the people in the shadows had already surrounded him in the corner. Those cold faces, hollow eyes, countless hands reaching out to grab him!

Instantly, a feeling of suffocation and despair assaulted him.

Hiss!

In the apartment bedroom, Han Ming gasped sharply and sat up from the bed, cold sweat beading on his forehead, as if he were truly about to suffocate and die the next moment.

"Huff... huff..."

He breathed heavily with an ominous expression for a while, checked the time on his phone, and then fell back with a headache.

"It seems I guessed right. This is a subconscious warning. My dreams are truly connected to a Memory Palace!"

"Unfortunately..."

Han Ming let out a long sigh. His original plan was to go find the woman in red and try to obtain some information related to Wallfacers.

But before he could even leave, he was killed by the subconscious defense of the Memory Palace.

Dawn hadn't broken yet. Han Ming lay in bed, sorting through his thoughts.

"The dream isn't really trying to kill me. The first time, I wanted to investigate my account through the bank, and I was killed. The second time, I wanted to investigate Taiping Town through Sun Lulu, and I was killed. Both of these were warnings about getting close to reality. It should be some kind of defense mechanism within the Memory Palace reminding me to be careful about hiding my identity."

"And after I used Deduction on Yan Jing, I started obtaining detailed intelligence information from the Memory Palace. This indicates that the previous Wallfacer must have possessed a powerful intelligence system and memory capability. Being able to store that much intelligence is absolutely not something a simple person could do."

At this moment, Han Ming was becoming more and more curious about the previous Wallfacer. He wondered what other intelligence and information were stored in that library.

For example.

Could there be intelligence about other Wallfacers and Wallbreakers?

Or perhaps,

the ultimate legacy left behind by the previous Wallfacer!

Because possessing such a terrifying amount of intelligence is enough to show that the previous Wallfacer had a very powerful intelligence-gathering ability. That definitely couldn't have been done by one person alone. There must have been a massive intelligence organization and control chain. Moreover, the death of the previous Wallfacer might also signify that he might have grasped some kind of secret.

Thinking of this, Han Ming pulled his thoughts back to focus on the present.

"Why is there only Yan Jing's information and not anyone else's..."

Han Ming then thought of the end of that file.

Secondary member of the Hua Nation Wallfacer organization, Beacon Fire Across Cities.

"Yan Jing is actually also related to the Wallfacer organization? What a coincidence?"

Han Ming felt puzzled. Since that's the case, and Tao Jie is also a member of the Sacred Realm of Science, why didn't he obtain any information about her?

Although he had gained something, doubts still piled up.

As for that woman in red who looked exactly like Shen Siwei, he could only find a way to learn more about her tomorrow.

Han Ming rolled over and got up. He wasn't in a hurry. The dreams that had previously thrown him into chaos now had some clues, which was already a huge gain.

"The police station represents the subconscious, the archive represents the Memory Palace... then what would be outside the police station..."

Han Ming felt a surge of excitement. Such powerful intelligence information would be a great help to him. Putting aside everything else, just Yan Jing's intelligence alone completely lifted the mysterious veil off this White Widow of Jinghai.

He not only grasped the path intelligence of Yan Jing's development history, but he even knew that this woman... was tone-deaf.

Thinking of this, Han Ming couldn't help but let the corner of his mouth quirk up slightly.

"Everyone says she's not simple, and it seems she truly isn't. To be so ruthless from a young age, becoming a street gang leader at 12, and climbing all the way to the level of the White Widow of Jinghai... truly impressive."

"Beacon Fire Across Cities... sounds like it should be a domestic organization. I wonder how it differs from the Sacred Realm of Science."

Setting aside his thoughts, Han Ming got up, changed into sportswear, and went out for a morning run. After clearing his head, he came back, took a shower, and then drove to the Tianzhou Group.

On the way, Sun Lulu called. Han Ming was surprised by their efficiency and answered directly.

"Got results?"

"Of course. Look at who you're dealing with."

"Also a level 2 password?"

"Yes. Verbal."

"What verbal password?"

"We've only met once. To ensure safety, use a verbal password. Then you find it yourself. From now on, we won't convey any messages via phone or WeChat."

Han Ming took a deep breath and said helplessly, "Alright, tell me."

"The password is my three measurements."

Upon hearing this, Han Ming immediately frowned. "Are you testing me on purpose?"

Sun Lulu said slyly, "I already gave you a discount, which means you are our detective consultant. What's wrong with testing you? Besides, this also ensures the information truly reaches you."

"It also ensures I'm a pervert."

"That's not my problem. That's it, bye-bye."

Beep.

The call ended. Han Ming stared at his phone in astonishment, his face written all over with speechlessness.

At the Spirit Butterfly Detective Agency, the glow from a computer screen illuminated the face of a beauty with heavy gothic makeup. Sun Lulu leaned back in a swivel chair, chewing gum. After a while, she saw the information in the email change from unread to read. She immediately narrowed her eyes into a smile and murmured,

"Truly a master, but also truly a pervert."

...

Jinghai, Songshan, a certain private villa.

Within the villa grounds was a rather old-fashioned classical garden, discreetly built at the foot of the mountain. Inside the garden were white marble steps, babbling streams, scattered rockeries dotted with red pavilions, and a tranquil lotus pond where a school of precious koi fish swam joyfully beneath the water lilies.

By the clear pond, a man in his early forties with quite handsome features and a bit of stubble held a dish of fish food in his hand. His slender fingers lightly pinched a bit and tossed it into the clear pond, watching the fish churn.

A phone rang. The man raised his hand to answer.

"Someone is investigating the Wenhai Road car accident."

"Who?" the man asked.

"A detective agency. The employer is still under investigation."

The man put down the fish food in his hand and said,

"Thoroughly clean up the network of connections again."

"If we find the person, what should we do?"

"Don't do anything. Just send the list up. Beacon Fire Across Cities has already lit a fire in Jinghai. It's best to avoid their edge at this time."