Sword of Dawn

Hetty and the others stood aside with a hint of concern.

However, after a while, Gao Wen suddenly opened his eyes again.

Rebecca leaned forward curiously: "Master Zu, have you forgotten something?"

Gawain glanced at the people around his bed, with a strange expression on his face: "You all... step back a little."

Hetty didn't react immediately: "Ah? Why?"

Gao Wen pointed to himself, then to Hetty and the others: "When I was there, the scene should be similar..."

Rebecca suddenly realized: "Oh, it looks like a corpse..."

Before she finished speaking, Hetty held her down and covered her mouth.

Gao Wen: "...You guys should go out, just leave Amber and Tyr here to take care of you."

Hetty pressed Rebecca, who was still dancing and struggling hard, and was still making a "wow" sound, and bowed vigorously: "Yes, ancestor!"

Gao Wen: "..."

Chapter 0806 Departure

Those onlookers who seemed to be saying goodbye to the corpse finally left.

Gao Wen breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at the amber on the nearby easy chair with closed eyes, and then glanced at Tyre who was waiting for "spiritual food" in the corner of the room. , Let yourself enter the spiritual network of the eternal sleeper.

……

Glenn Collar, Stonebreaker Castle, in Patty's bedroom.

The brilliance of the giant sun completely fell on the opposite side of the mountains, and the faint starlight had already appeared at the end of the horizon on the other side. The bright magic spar lamps lit up in the room, and together with the garden lamps and street lamps inside and outside the castle, they dispersed more and more. In the thick night, under the bright light, Patty was sitting at the desk that belonged to her, seriously reading a beautifully printed textbook with simple binding.

The content of the textbook is not difficult, and it is only at the level of elementary education in the Imperial College of General Studies. However, Patty really missed too much education, so that she only started to read these basic textbooks until now.

But she is still very happy, because being able to sit peacefully on a chair and read like this, without constant pain and convulsions, has been a luck that she has never imagined in the past many years.

A gust of air blew from the vent in the corner of the room, blowing the hair on Patty's cheek, and the girl looked up with a feeling, but saw that there was no one beside her.

Patty lowered her eyelids and pursed her lips in frustration.

It had been a long time since she had that unbelievable dream, and she hadn't seen the kind "Sister Serena", or the irascible red-haired uncle, or the big uncle who called himself "Uncle Selsey".

Everything in that dream seemed to have turned into messy fragments along with her muddled days in the past few years, and became blurred in the girl's spiritual world, which was recovering day by day. Her mother told her that those were all for pain relief. The hallucinations induced by the ointment, as her body recovers gradually, that weird and long dream will eventually be forgotten by her, just like every child's childhood fantasy is fading away, because Patty...has finally grown up.

But Patty still thinks of those dreams from time to time, thinks of those beautiful streets and gardens, and those kind people in the dreams... She never dared to tell her mother that she really wanted to go back to that dream world, Goodbye to those uncles and aunts.

Because she forgot to say goodbye to them in her last dream.

But Mother must be worried, so Patty kept everything to herself.

Another gust of wind came, but it came from the opposite direction to the vent. Patty turned her head quickly, but still saw no one.

Only when she glanced at the opposite glass window from the corner of her eye, she vaguely saw a warm and familiar lantern floating in the reflection, but when she rubbed her eyes and looked carefully, she couldn't see anything.

……

The light golden rune radiance flowed like water on the surface of the large round table, and under the glimmer of light that was only for decoration, figures emerged around the round table.

Compared with the previous Supreme Bishops' Synod, there were obviously several seats vacant at the round table this time, and the archbishops who were normally present obviously noticed this, but they just glanced at the vacant seats, but no one ask aloud.

Soon, almost everyone's eyes fell on the position next to Selina Geer.

A special "conference participant" was sitting there openly, and greeted the eyes of the archbishops with a smile on his face.

"Everyone came on time." Gao Wen said with a smile, and looked at several people he knew in the conference hall one by one - Archbishop Yuri's position was several seats away from him this time, and the archbishop's face The look on the table was much better than last time. Archbishop Magnum was opposite the round table. He pursed his lips tightly, as if he had no intention of releasing the Psychic Storm, which made Gawain nod in satisfaction.

It's what it is, don't carve everything into the subconscious mind, is something like a psychic storm used for self-defense?

The atmosphere at the scene was somewhat weird. Obviously, even though this was the second time that wanderers from outside the territory appeared, the archbishops were not very comfortable with the situation of "a large neutral wild monster suddenly becoming a high-level organization". The participants looked at each other in blank dismay, very It was only after exchanging glances that a few people greeted Gao Wen with embarrassment, but more people could only squeeze out a smile, not knowing how to respond to the "outside wanderer" in order to appear to be in danger chaos.

Gao Wen didn't care about this, anyway, he had expected a similar situation, after a brief greeting, he observed the venue, and found that there were a few people missing as expected.

"How many people seem to be absent?" He calmly looked at Megal III floating in the air, "Do you need to wait?"

"Unfortunately, they have been polluted by the upper-level narrator." Megaul III's starlight aggregate slowly squirmed, and a gentle voice came from it, "It is no longer suitable to appear here."

Gao Wen nodded, and said casually, "...Oh, that's really unfortunate."

Even the Archbishop of the Supreme Bishops Conference has been included in the purge list... It seems that Megaul III's purge of the church is indeed extraordinary. Is this a preparation for the upcoming sect reorganization and core transfer?

It took two or three days to achieve this step, the ability of this dream pope is really extraordinary...

With a little emotion in his heart, Gao Wen shook his head, and brought the topic to the pollution of the upper-level narrator: "Speaking of the pollution of the upper-level narrator, Selena, have the runes I gave you last time produced any effect? "

"It has an amazing effect," Selina responded immediately, with undisguised joy in her eyes, "The compatriots who were polluted while exploring the No. [-] sandbox before quickly quieted down after seeing those runes , now give them a 'rune soothe the gods' every six hours, and the most polluted people have also stopped praying to the upper narrator. The quarantine will continue for a while, after the event is over, if they don't repeat Once it breaks out, it can be declared cured.”

"That's good," Gao Wen said in a good mood, "You see, the upper-level narrators can still be dealt with, can't they?"

The "rune" he mentioned was the siren rune he gave to Selena when she talked with him through the projection of the mind phantom last time, and it was a pattern rubbed from Tyre's sea monster form.

Although there are still many mysteries about the runes derived from the siren, and Cecil's runegraphers have not yet fully deciphered their mysteries, Jenny's research team has sorted out several types of effective rune combinations and combined them. Partially applied.They have been used to cure Daniel's mental illness, have been made into a "mental defense system", and have proved effective against false gods, and now, those runes from the deep sea are even more proven It can effectively fight against the spiritual pollution of the upper storytellers!

Of course, people who recover may fall into squid mania for a short period of time, or become overly excited and optimistic for a certain period of time. The mind becomes a sacrifice for the coming, and these "sequelae" are obviously acceptable, and even negligible.

In all fairness, Gao Wen always felt that the "Let's go dig the giant squid together" rune effect of the Kraken should in fact be some kind of spiritual pollution similar to the erosion of the gods. "Totem" has indeed stolen the God's position of the Lord of Storms, and their patterns in the form of sea monsters are obviously related to the power of the storm, but the spiritual pollution effect of those deep-sea salted fish spirits is so funny that sometimes Gao Wen can't tell the difference. It is clear whether he is an evil god or a evil god, but one thing is for sure, that is, there is no harm in being cheerful and optimistic...

This may be the so-called only spiritual pollution can fight against spiritual pollution...

The archbishops at the scene listened to Gawain and Selina talking about purifying the pollution of the upper narrators, but none of them mentioned those archbishops who were absent today and were declared "believers of the upper narrators". Speaking of the "polluted nodes" that disappeared in the spiritual network in the past two days, everyone has a tacit understanding on this matter——

Some people, polluted by the upper-level narrator, will come back soon after purification, and some people, who are absent today, will really not be able to come back...

"So, let's get back to the topic." After talking about those runes, Gawain ended the topic on his own initiative, and he turned to Megaul III in midair, "Are you ready to take another action against the No. [-] sandbox? "

"Everything is ready," the starlight aggregate in midair swelled and squirmed, "including monitoring and assistance at all levels in the network, as well as shielding and guiding people in the dream world in the real world. As for the specific entry into the No. [-] sandbox Personnel... Having learned the lessons from last time, we will no longer send ordinary priests in, this time there are only three people entering the No. [-] sandbox besides you."

As soon as Megal III finished speaking, the three figures sitting around the round table had already stood up.

Gawain was not surprised to see the three archbishops Selena, Yuri and Magnum.

Obviously, they have personally explored Phantom Town, and they have been dealing with the affairs of the upper-level narrators for a long time, and they have once again become members of the exploration team.

As for Daniel, he was not selected for this operation, and Gao Wen is not surprised by this—as the security director of the Psychic Network, Daniel's role in the No. [-] sandbox is quite limited, and he should be assigned to the main network Provide technical support to ensure the stability and reliability of the network environment and prevent unexpected data pollution in No. [-] sandbox.

"A team of four... less people, less trouble," Gao Wen nodded, seeming not to care much about the specific "teammates". "Is there anything else that needs to be paid attention to?"

A female archbishop wearing a white robe with a slightly gloomy temperament stood up. She seemed to be in charge of the technology: "According to the agreement, after you enter the No. [-] sandbox, we will partially restore the time iteration of the system. The speed of time in the No. [-] sandbox will therefore be increased to ten times that of the real world—this is the highest rate currently supported by the sandbox security system without causing pollution to worsen."

The voice of the female archbishop fell, and Daniel, who was wearing a black robe, also stood up, and then said: "During this period, the backbone network will use all remaining computing power resources to maintain the stability of the level of consciousness, which can maximize Ensuring that the contamination in the sandbox does not leak out, this can be supported in the real world for a day..."

Gao Wen nodded knowingly: "It's easy to understand—by relying on the acceleration of time, you have won ten days for us to act. During these ten days, no matter how much noise we make in the No. [-] sandbox, you will do everything Possibly ensuring that the outside world is not polluted."

The gloomy woman nodded: "That's right, you can let go."

Gao Wen asked again: "What if I don't solve the upper-level narrator within ten days, or the operation in the sandbox fails?"

The female priest with a gloomy temperament immediately replied: "...We will destroy all brain servant nodes, and all priests who have established connections with the No. [-] sandbox will also kill themselves immediately to cut off the spread of dreams. We will try our best to prevent the arrival of the upper-level narrator , as for you... We think you must have a way to leave."

"I have a way to leave..." Gawain said, his eyes swept over the three people around the round table including Magnum, "The three of them can just..."

"I have written the suicide note." Yuri said calmly.

"Damn it!" Magnum's loud voice rang out immediately, "We agreed that we don't need that stuff!"

Yuri glanced at the red-haired short man: "If you need to make up a copy, I can lend you a pen and paper—in the real world."

"Damn it, I don't need it!!"

Gawain ignored the two archbishops who seemed to have a good relationship, and looked at Selena beside him: "Have you said goodbye?"

"I met once." Selina said calmly.

Gawain nodded: "Okay, let's go."

Chapter 0807 Visit No. [-] Sandbox

Gao Wen has been paying attention to the No. [-] sandbox for a long time, and has long been quite curious about where its entrance is. According to the information obtained before, although the No. [-] sandbox is an independently operating thinking network, it still has a connection to the backbone network. The entrance and exit of it, but Gawain and Daniel once scanned the entire spiritual network, but did not find where the entrance and exit of it were.

And now, he finally knows why no one knows about this mysterious entrance——

After deciding to take action, the archbishops in the golden chamber left their seats one after another. Although Gawain didn't understand why, he also stood up, and then he saw everyone took a step back, and the picture depicted many mysterious symbols The surface of Wen's golden round table suddenly rippled with circles of light that alternated between reality and reality.

Megal III's ever-expanding starlight aggregate slowly descended from midair, and touched the center of the round table like some kind of viscous liquid. The next second, the rippling virtual and real light suddenly dyed layers The stacked stars quickly expanded to the entire surface of the round table like a halo——

A vortex-like hole was formed in the starlight, and floating clouds and dust, as well as hazy mountains and rivers could be vaguely seen in the vortex.

At the same time as the entrance opened, the round table sank to the same height as the ground: it truly became a portal embedded in the ground.

The round table in this golden meeting hall is the entrance to the No. [-] sandbox, and Megaul III is the "key" to open the entrance!

"...This is a bit beyond my expectation," Gao Wen stood beside the vortex-like entrance, looked down at the hazy clouds and dust inside, and said with a smile, "Then, here is the No. [-] sandbox. ? Just walk in?”

"It is easy to enter the No. [-] sandbox, but we are not sure what will happen after entering. When the exploration team entered last time, many strange changes have taken place in it, which proves that the No. [-] sandbox is losing monitoring. The situation has been constantly self-evolving," Megal III re-floated into the air, and said in a weaker voice than before, "Outsider Wanderer... Although my entrustment may seem redundant to you, please Remember—be careful in everything."

"I will remember."

Gawain nodded, and beside him, Selina Geerfen had already stepped forward, stepping into the entrance of the vortex wrapped in clouds and mist.

Gawain, Yuri, and Magnum followed closely behind and stepped into it.

The four figures quickly disappeared into the depths of the vortex. When the entangled clouds closed again, the circles of rippling starlight around the entrance wriggled and returned to their original state, and the round table embedded in the ground also returned to its initial appearance.

There was silence in the hall for two seconds before Megaul III's voice broke the silence: "Everyone, let's start—do what we should do.

"Concentrate all remaining computing power on the No. [-] sandbox and security system, shut down all non-essential functions of the backbone network, and shut down...Dream City."

The archbishops responded in unison: "Yes! Your Majesty the Pope!"

One after another figures disappeared in the golden meeting hall, and with the disappearance of each figure, the light in the golden hall seemed to dim a bit.

And outside the golden hall, the entire Dream City also changed immediately——

The clear and bright sky suddenly faded its color, and the gray-white boundless chaos enveloped the whole world. Those resplendent palaces, elegant and towering towers, and rare and dreamy plants all disappeared into nothingness in the scattered light spots, black and white grids Lines covered the land of the city, and even the black and white grid lines were engulfed by endless fog...

The once beautiful city of dreams created by exhausting human imagination has returned to the most chaotic initial dream in a few breaths, and in this boundless darkness that is only illuminated by fog and the light of chaos, only The "golden meeting hall" that has shrunk to only one hall still stands on the ground.

In the already dimly lit hall, the squirming starlight aggregates quieted down, quietly floating in the air, seeming to be thinking, seeming to be remembering...

……

In the underground palace of the Eternal Sleeper in the real world, priests in black or white robes returned to the real world one by one, running around the palace while maintaining the most basic connection with the spiritual network and providing their own surplus computing power with.

"Dream control begins! Dream control begins!"

There are priests issuing orders loudly, some priests are checking every restriction in the palace, and some priests set off to the surface to perform dream monitoring on the entire "Olandelle" area.

Even the lowest floor of the underground palace can hear the noisy movement in the palace. Wendy, who is located in the containment area on the bottom floor but has already lowered the containment level due to the relief of pollution symptoms, sensed the change in the atmosphere in the corridor outside, and couldn't help it. Zhu raised his head, came to the iron gate with complicated runes, and asked gently: "Mr. Guard, what happened outside?"

"Dream control, Archbishop Wendy," the guard's muffled voice came from outside, as if he was wearing a thick helmet, "please wait at ease and don't fall into a dream."

"... wish I could help."

"Please stay awake tonight, this is the greatest help to everyone."

"You are quite right, Mr. Guard."

Wendy said softly, then retreated to her own bed, and sat down quietly on it.

On the wall opposite her, gleaming crystal dust paint depicted an intricate set of symbols, made of many curved lines and circles, like the symbol of some deep-sea animal, with a deep and mysterious meaning.

Looking at those symbols, Wendy's mind quickly became sober and rational, and most of the tense and depressed mood dissipated before.

I'm just a little greedy, I want to dig a big squid...

……

Gao Wen felt that he was walking on a slope that continued to extend downwards, deep into the endless yellow sand and deep clouds. The clouds cleared, and the eyes suddenly became clear.

A city standing in the yellow sand appeared in front of him, Selena and others.

The city has a khaki-yellow outer wall, and the towering walls are clearly fortified. The arrow towers and watchtowers look imposing under the blue sky, but no guards can be seen on the walls or in front of the city gate.

While seeing this desert city, a strange rotten smell floated into Gawain's nostrils.

"This is the first city you can see when you enter the No. [-] sandbox, Nim Sandro city-state, and it is also the starting point of civilization in the sandbox world," Selina said in a low voice, "This desert was originally a grassland. At least it was set like this when the sandbox was launched, but later, with historical evolution and climate change, this place was eroded by deserts, but it was still an important traffic route and business flourished.”

"It's an empty city now," Yuri continued. "The last time the expedition team entered reported that the city and the surrounding villages and towns were empty. In addition, they were also attacked when they stayed in the city overnight. We need to be more careful about this.”

"There's a stench here," Magnum muttered, frowning. "It's like something is rotting away."

"The exploration team also reported this weird phenomenon before." Selina nodded, "This weird rotten smell is everywhere in Nim Sandra and the surrounding villages and towns. Very widespread. The expedition team has not been able to locate the source of the smells, but the smells themselves do not appear to be harmful."

Gawain sniffled, and said casually, "Could it be that those disappearing sandbox residents are rotting somewhere we can't see, or are slowly rotting away in a state we can't see?"