Sword of Dawn

After finally figuring out the truth about the No. [-] project of the Eternal Sleeper, and finally knowing what those paranoid and extreme "mind manipulators" wanted to achieve, Gao Wen felt surprised in his heart. Lots of new questions.

"Is this item zero... effective?"

"There should be a certain effect, otherwise they would not continue to promote the project until today, which would require a staggering cost," Daniel replied. Obviously, even though he had been promoted to archbishop, due to the short promotion time, he hadn't had time to get in touch with all of them. The core secrets of the No. [-] project are still limited, and some things can only be speculated, "In the process of communicating with other archbishops, I heard them vaguely mention that, at least before the sandbox gets out of control, Complete 'Godless Existence' has indeed been realized in those dream worlds."

"But the sandbox is still out of control..." Gao Wen frowned, "How exactly did it get out of control?"

"The reason has not yet been ascertained, but Archbishop Selina Gerfen once mentioned one point - in the out-of-control sandbox, it is suspected that traces of gods were found."

Gawain raised his brows slightly. He heard a familiar name in Daniel's report, but he quickly put this matter aside for the time being, because another thing made his heart beat even more:

Traces of the gods! !

"That is to say...the sandbox was polluted by the gods?" He looked at Daniel, "And the way of pollution is completely beyond the understanding of the eternal sleepers, is it a way that even their technology can't lock?"

"Yes, all the information related to the sandbox has been checked, and all the minds that enter the sandbox have undergone extremely strict selection, but the sandbox is still polluted by gods," Daniel said solemnly, "out of control The sandbox is called 'Sandbox No. [-]', it is the core of the entire No. [-] project, and it is also the one with the most complete 'world structure' and the longest running time among all testing sandboxes."

Then the old mage paused, and then said: "After losing control, that world is in a state that cannot be closed. It has implemented self-enclosure, and its interior is rapidly evolving under the effect of time iteration. In the first few Within hours, its internal historical process may have completely deviated from the 'script' formulated by the external deduction team, and now no one knows the specific situation there."

Daniel's report is full of professional vocabulary that is difficult for ordinary people to understand, and some words feel a bit out of date, but Gawain himself is already a professional in the field of eternal sleeper technology, so he has no difficulty in understanding it.

He then asked: "Then how did this accident affect the normal operation of the mind network?"

"The sandbox has 'overflow'," Daniel replied immediately, "although the sandbox is closed in design, you should know that its manipulation requires the consciousness of the caster to intervene, and the spell of the eternal sleeper is not like The 'immersion chamber' we created doesn't have triple safety tubes and an emergency stop button on the cover, but relies entirely on the caster's own mind barrier to ensure 'safety'..."

Gao Wen had a deep understanding of the technology of the Eternal Sleeper, and he guessed the truth almost instantly: "The operator is contaminated."

"Yes, the operators who were in charge of monitoring the No. [-] sandbox were contaminated, and then the overflow data used their brains as a springboard, quickly occupied several key ports, and began to spread to the mind network--the spread was very fast, until By the time people on the periphery realize something is wrong, the pollution is out of control."

"What measures have the Eternal Sleepers taken so far?" Gao Wen asked with a frown, "Have any of them worked?"

"They are constantly resetting and clearing the polluted area, deleting the short-term memory of some polluted nodes, but these measures can only temporarily maintain the status quo, and they also use a measure called a 'retarder', a retarder It can produce reverse time iteration, which successfully reduces the time passing speed of No. [-] sandbox to be synchronized with the real world. This can be regarded as the most effective measure at present-otherwise it will only take one to two days, and the time of No. [-] sandbox Pollution will evolve to a level that no one can control."

Hearing Daniel's answer, Gawain couldn't help but widen his eyes: "That's all?"

Daniel nodded: "These are the measures currently being taken - because they want to use my capabilities in network architecture and information security to solve the problem, so they have not concealed from me in terms of these countermeasures, intelligence should is true and reliable."

"Didn't they try to forcibly cut off the connection between the sandbox and the backbone network?" Gao Wen was puzzled, "I mean in the real world, forcibly cut off at the physical level."

"This will lead to the death of all the 'brain servants' that make up the sandbox world..." Daniel seemed to have a subtle expression when he answered here. "At least half of the archbishops object to this...even the Pope objected."

At this moment, Gao Wen even suspected that he had an auditory hallucination, and he couldn't help but confirm it again: "...they didn't execute the physical cutoff because those 'brain servants' would die, not for any other reason?"

Daniel nodded: "At least that's the information I got."

Gao Wen couldn't laugh or cry: "You...I mean them, aren't they cult members?"

"... I am also deeply surprised, but compared with the Society of the End of Everything, the Order of the Eternal Sleeper is indeed a relatively...'mild' dark sect," Daniel said, with a still subtle expression, and the more he said, the more subtle he said, "Of course, The existence of a 'thing' like a 'brain servant' may not be considered gentle."

"...Maybe it's because they judged that the loss would be too great, and they didn't want to spend a huge amount of money to 'make' a new batch of 'brain servants'. It's the same mentality as cherishing tools," Gao Wen couldn't think of it for a while. For a better explanation, I can only say casually and bypass the topic, "In short, it is obvious that the Eternal Sleeper has no better way to solve the problem now, is that right?"

"Yes, my lord," Daniel replied.

"Then you should do your best to help them find a solution." Gao Wen shook his head, although he was full of disobedience, he still had to say, "Priority should be given to maintaining the spiritual network. If it is really impossible... evacuate in time, I I will find another way to contact you."

"Yes, my lord..."

Daniel responded respectfully, but just halfway through his words, his expression froze for a moment.

Gao Wen noticed the slight abnormality of the other party: "Is there something wrong?"

"I left a 'clone' in the City of Dreams to deal with the situation, and now the clone has received instructions," Daniel replied immediately, "There is another overflow pollution area outside the City of Dreams, and this time the pollution area seems to be somewhat It's weird, the Supreme Bishops Council asked me to check the situation with several other archbishops."

"Then go," Gawain nodded, but when Daniel was about to take orders to retreat, he suddenly had some bold ideas, "Wait a minute."

Daniel lowered his head: "Please tell me."

Gao Wen smiled: "I'll go with you."

"My lord?" Daniel was a little surprised for a moment, but soon he understood Gawain's intentions, "I understand——I will prepare enough safety springboards for you."

Gao Wen hummed, and Daniel couldn't help but reminded: "Also, please be careful, I will be accompanied by archbishop-level eternal sleepers, and there may even be the gaze of the Pope. They can easily detect the spiritual network. Abnormal fluctuations in..."

As soon as the words fell, the old mage himself felt that something was wrong. He thought that he should not be so bold as to remind a powerful "outsider wanderer" to pay attention to safety, and said: "I have overstepped, my lord, I should not doubt Your……"

"Don't worry about it," Gawain interrupted Daniel indifferently, "Let's go, to prevent those archbishops from doubting you."

Daniel didn't say anything else, he just saluted Gao Wen, and then the light and shadow scene beside the two suddenly trembled and shattered silently.

The bright sun shone on his body, and in just a blink of an eye, Gao Wen was already standing in that dream city, on a grand circular square surrounded by hundreds of decorative columns and covered with golden fallen leaves. .

There were only a few people standing not far away in the square, and Gawain soon saw the woman in a long white dress with a gentle smile and a lantern in her hand—she was standing directly facing Gawain , that face is exactly what the latter remembers Selina Gerfen.

The lantern in her hand is obviously a "copy" made in the dream world - after all, the original copy is now in Gao Wen's hands, and has been dismantled into parts by a group of people led by Rebecca.

But in this world supported by psychic power, the functions of the copy and the original are no different.

Beside Selina Geer is a tall, slender man with a gentle temperament, wearing a scholar-style robe and a monocle.

Judging from his temperament and standing position, it should be another Archbishop of the Eternal Sleeper.

Daniel was standing opposite the two men, talking to them about something.

Gawain glanced at his side, and saw that Daniel, who was standing next to him, had long since disappeared—obviously, his "information" had been re-fused with the "clone" in front of Selena, but this process did not Anyone can find out.

In addition to the three archbishops, there were three figures wearing standard black robes and owl masks standing beside them. Those should be the special operations personnel of the Eternal Sleepers-directly under the command of the Supreme Bishops or the Pope, The kind that specializes in confidential matters.

Advanced tool people don't need to care much.

Gao Wen confirmed his own state, and walked forward swaggeringly.

Everyone in the square was indifferent, as if subconsciously ignoring the appearance of the unexpected guest.

Gao Wen couldn't help showing a smile on his face.

If he had just penetrated into the spiritual network, he would not dare to act as boldly as today. After all, he only occupied the authority of a high-ranking believer at that time, and his understanding and control of this network was also very limited. As for seeing the figure of Selina Gerfen, I have to worry about whether I will be recognized, but today is different from the past.

The Psychic Network already has perfect address recognition technology—he designed it.

There is a more efficient identity feature expression technology in the network - also designed by him.

There are also the latest "stealth" loopholes, thousands of camouflaged springboards, hidden data ports...he designed them.

In this way, he came to Daniel's side openly, listened to their conversation, and casually looked at the strange male archbishop with a gentle temperament.

Immediately above the latter's head appeared a light screen undetectable to others, with clear letters displayed on it:

Yuri, archbishop, male, high-level pinnacle.

Current location: Typhon - Sutini Province - Harentan Valley.

Is this person called "Yuri"...

Gawain glanced at the Archbishop of the Eternal Sleeper named Yuri, feeling a little sigh in his heart.

Unfortunately, it is not bald, and the back of the head is not intubated.

Of course, in the real world it might be intubated—or it might be bald.

Gao Wen complained and teased in his heart, but soon he calmed down his slightly divergent thinking in a dull way—he could only tell himself in his mind about these memes from the earth.

While listening to Daniel discussing the details of the operation with Archbishop Yuri, he turned his attention to the other priests of the Eternal Sleepers. Words also appeared above their heads, but some were detailed and some were brief.

In the end, his eyes wandered casually to Selina Gerfen.

At first, he didn't pay much attention to it, because he already knew this "Saint of Dreams". Although he didn't know how she survived to this day like Beltira, he at least knew the truth about Selina Gerfen. identity.

But when the words rose from the latter's head, Gao Wen's eyes suddenly froze.

Selina Gelfen, archbishop (death), female, spirit body.

Current location: Ansu/Correction/Cecil Empire·Southern Territory.

Chapter 0762 Phantom Town

The shock in Gao Wen's heart couldn't be overstated.

But he still maintained his concealment effect in the mind network, and he didn't show his astonishment.

He just took another look at Selina Geer, and confirmed the other party's relevant information through the network background again.

His first reaction was that the address recognition function was malfunctioning—after all, the system has just been completed and there are still many areas that need to be debugged, but he also knows that it is the most undesirable idea to push the problem to the system failure in the first place .

Selina Geerfen is very likely to be in Cecil, lurking somewhere in the southern border!

Moreover, it is in the state of the soul.

His eyes stayed on those words for a long time.

Archbishop (death), soul body...

This part of the content also touched him, but it was not strong. After all, Selina was only an old person in Gawain Cecil's memory, and she was also an old person from 700 years ago. It's not surprising - what's more, Gao Wen has also seen one that can carry out photosynthesis with his own eyes, and his ability to accept this aspect is quite high.

What he is more concerned about is what kind of state Selina Geerfen, who has "survived" with her soul body, is hiding in the southern border at the moment.

While thinking about it, the conversation between Daniel and the others was coming to an end.

"...This is the case. The new overflow pollution area this time is still in the 'imaginary area' outside the city. We temporarily call it the 'phantom town'," said the archbishop named Yuri, "His Holiness believes that The distorted and weird state presented in this area is very special, so it is ordered not to reset for the time being, but to conduct a period of investigation first."

Selena also nodded: "It has been covered over there, and will not be noticed by the residents of Dreamland City. Archbishop Daniel, this is the first time you have entered the spill pollution area, mainly to familiarize yourself with the environment and the situation. Please note."

"I understand, Archbishop Selina," Daniel responded seriously, "I'm ready."

"Very good, let's go now," Archbishop Yuri turned his head and glanced at the clock dial that appeared in midair. At the same time, layers of rune circles appeared under his feet, and his figure began to become unreal. Get up, "Everyone, enter the teleportation zone, and the transfer will begin in 15 seconds."

The three archbishops and three senior priests wearing owl masks all stood within the range of the rune circle, and Gawain also stood silently among them—everyone was exactly an elbow away from him, but No one noticed the anomaly.

As light and shadow flickered, the scene around everyone was changing rapidly.

Gao Wen felt that he had passed through a "tunnel" filled with chaotic mist, and the magnificent dream city flashed past the chaotic barrier around the tunnel. When the surrounding scene stabilized, he was already standing in a lifeless central town.

The "tunnel" just now symbolizes the "unmarked port" in the mind network?

A few thoughts flashed in his mind, and Gao Wen had already focused on the dilapidated town in front of him.

Gloomy and chaotic clouds cover the sky, covering everything in the field of vision. Under the sky, there are scattered old houses. The styles of those houses are different from those of other countries in the real world. They have black sloping or pointed roofs and mottled exterior walls. Faded, and there was always a strange picture painted on one wall: a hand that seemed to symbolize some great power covered the sky and covered the earth below.

The town was quiet and deserted, as if it had been abandoned for a hundred years. Iron-black lampposts were neatly arranged on both sides of the road. Between the lampposts and the stone road, weeds and vines were overgrown.

Gawain raised his head and looked into the distance, but he couldn't see the scene outside the town. He only saw the hazy mist billowing at the end of his line of sight. The mist seemed to form a wall, isolating the whole town inside.

Here is the so-called "overflow pollution area"?

Although it is desolate and abandoned, but only from the degree of reality, this place is the same as the dream city, it is a place that makes it difficult to distinguish the real from the fake... But why is there no one here?

According to Daniel, there should be human activities in such overflow pollution areas—or in other words, in the cyberspace supported by spiritual power, it is precisely because of mental activities and "people" observation that an area has may appear.

What's up with this empty town?

While Gawain was thinking, the archbishop named Yuri also spoke: "This place is different from the previous overflow area... Although the atmosphere here is weird and depressing, the scene is logical, and there are no twisted and stacked buildings. , nor a ground that loses its color or a sky that shows gaps."

"This is also one of the reasons why His Majesty the Pope thinks this place is special and requires us to investigate carefully," Selina Geerfen nodded, "All the previous overflow areas showed a stacking and fading that did not conform to the logic of reality. Phenomena such as , void, curling, etc. are very similar to the distortion and loss of information in the process of projecting the scene in the sandbox to the outside. However, this phantom town... except for being empty, the physical structure of the town itself But it's in perfect order."

Gao Wen listened and analyzed - the previous overflow area sounds a bit like a virtual scene where rendering failed and a model bug encountered... Is it a manifestation of insufficient computing power of the mental network?

"It's very quiet here, and there's no one on the street," Daniel said from the side, just in time to ask Gawain's question just now, "I remember you told me before that you can see active 'residents' in the overflow area , no matter whether they appear weird and twisted or not, at least the 'residents' themselves exist."

"This also requires our investigation and confirmation," Selina Geer said with a nod, "In short, this place is very weird, and it may have been separated from the rules of the mind network. There may be some kind of mind that we cannot understand. Pay attention to this, everyone must be careful in their actions."

After being reminded, the Eternal Sleepers raised their vigilance and began to explore this weird "Phantom Town" step by step.

They first checked the empty streets and confirmed that at least there were no signs of life activity around them. Then they confirmed the terrain structure near the streets, and roughly grasped the surrounding environment and the distribution of several main entrances and exits.

During the whole process, Gawain has been leisurely following them, listening to their conversations, or following them to record maps and check the abandonment of water wells, street lights and other facilities.

After completing the preliminary inspection of the surrounding environment and confirming that there were no dangerous factors, the attention of the Eternal Sleeper team naturally shifted to the houses on both sides of the road.

In this abandoned town, the doors and windows of all the houses are tightly closed. There is neither light nor sound in the windows. Instead, it became a kind of temptation, making people curious to take a look inside the house even if they felt weird and dangerous.

The Eternal Sleepers had always treated the town with the utmost caution, which was why they checked the streets for danger first, but anyway, sooner or later they had to check the closed houses in order to complete their investigation.

The three senior priests wearing owl masks came to a hut with a closed door. Before they tried to open the door, Selina Geerfen first illuminated the outside of the house with a lantern in her hand to check for possible abnormal data. Or a malicious hidden mind, before nodding: "Open the door."

One of the masked priests pushed the door, but the seemingly weak wooden door remained motionless.

They started checking the locks on the door, checking to see if something was stuck on the wooden door.

Gawain came near them, and came to the window of the hut facing the street. The window was nailed with criss-cross broken wooden boards, and there were quite wide gaps between the boards. Gawain's eyes passed through those gaps, fall inside the house.

It was dark inside, and only the outlines of some furniture and utensils could be vaguely seen. Everything seemed to be covered with a thick layer of black veil, which was vague and indistinct.

A creaking sound came from the direction of the door, and Gawain turned his head to look, and saw that the three priests of the Eternal Sleeper wearing owl masks had successfully opened the closed wooden door, and a bright light appeared in the hand of one of them ball, and the other two were respectively blessed with spells to protect the mind. The three of them carefully covered each other and stepped into the hut cautiously.

This is the world projected by the mind network. Everything here is the result of mental simulation. Conventional spells in the real world basically have no effect here. Only the power of the mind can work, and the three priests who sleep forever Spells such as lighting and mind protection should be simulated "special effects" used to generate stronger spiritual guidance and hints to prevent the caster from losing themselves in the Internet.

In Gao Wen's mind, there were many rules for acting in the spiritual world, and while walking, he followed the three priests and walked into the hut.