Sword of Dawn

Page 336

Looking back, Norris remembered owning a similar-looking cart—he pushed it all the way from Old Cecil to the Dark Mountains.

That cart had been burned for firewood that first winter, and the land next to the Dark Mountains was a wonderful place now.

Norris straightened his slightly stooped back.

He's not done yet.

Chapter 0736 Soul Shadow

The Frost Moon is coming to an end, and winter has arrived in the northern countries of the mainland.

The cold north wind whistled across the city streets, making a sharp whistle between the gaps in the buildings, and the snow on the roof was blown off by the wind, flying into a hazy curtain in the air, as if another new The snowfall is coming.

And all of this is blocked by thick walls, laminated crystal glass and heating systems.

Gao Wen was sitting in the study, flipping through a pastime book about the descriptions of the gods and monsters in the Northern Continent, holding a dip pen in the other hand, and casually sketched some pictures and inspirations that emerged in his mind on the draft paper. The sound of the wind was filtered by the glass, leaving only a slight reverberation when it entered the room. This reverberation combined with the slow music from the magic device in the corner of the room made people feel more calm.

Betty stood quietly by the desk, folded her hands on the apron of the maid's clothes, lowered her head and nodded her head, snoring lightly.

Gawain glanced at Betty who was dozing off, couldn't help but shook his head with a smile, and refocused on the casual sketching, but he suddenly felt a strange tactile sensation in the hand holding the dipped pen, accompanied by " There was a soft bang, and looking down, he saw that the tip of the dip pen that had been used for a long time was cracked, and the leaked ink was falling on the paper along the crack, spreading a smudge.

Gao Wen frowned, put the broken dip pen aside, and looked at the lines drawn on the paper - a meandering river flowing quietly, with antique brick houses on the river bank, and a small stone bridge spanning the On the river, the sun sets and casts rays of light along the eaves of the houses on the water.

The scattered ink stains are spreading on the small stone bridge, as if they are gradually devouring the picture.

Gao Wen crumpled the draft paper casually and threw it aside. The door of the study opened almost at the same time, and Amber pushed the door and walked in.

Betty, who was dozing off, woke up suddenly and stood up straight, but after seeing who was coming, she yawned again and relaxed her body.

Gawain raised his head and glanced at the half-elf lady who pushed the door in, and couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth: "...It's really cold."

"...Ah?" Amber heard such a sentence before she opened her mouth, and she couldn't react immediately, "Why did you say this suddenly?"

Gao Wen pointed to the window: "This season, even you don't go through the window."

When Amber heard this, she immediately crossed her hips and stared at her eyes: "Nonsense! It's so cold and windy, I braved the wind and snow to climb to your window on the second floor, and I also risked being locked out by you. I'm not crazy!"

As she spoke, she saw the ball of paper on Gao Wen's desk—as we all know, amber is a very curious species—so she couldn't help but lean over curiously, and judged from Gao Wen's eyes what it was After keeping the secret, she casually opened the ball of paper, only to see that it was just a strange picture.

"Where is this place... Is it the Gondor Empire? Is the sun too small..." Amber blinked her eyes, "What a strange architectural style, and it looks really good... But judging from the architectural shape, it shouldn't be possible Is it the northern region? Where do you plan to promote it?"

"It's just a random drawing, let's take it as my imagination." Gao Wen flicked the paper in Amber's hand with his fingers, and the sketch depicting the scenery of the other world was silently turned into dust. Speaking of which, what's the matter?"

"Hey, don't ruin it, it's a pity..." Amber subconsciously called out before curling her lips, "It's not a big deal, but recently there was news that Typhon's border troops have begun to equip magic vehicles ...sooner than we expected."

Hearing Amber's words, Gao Wen gently pinched his chin, and after a moment of contemplation, he just smiled slightly: "Sooner or later, this will happen, this is the general trend. Just notify Changfeng Fortress and maintain vigilance."

"Understood. In addition, Hetty asked me to remind you when I came here," Amber continued, "Imperial College will be put into use next month, and students from all over the world are also arriving at the end of this month. , Have you set a specific opening time?"

"Imperial College... this matter is finally ready," Gao Wen said, nodding his head, "The open day is set on the first rest day of next month, and the rest of the timetable will not be changed."

"Okay, I'll take it down."

Gao Wen hummed, and after a short pause, asked casually, "By the way, what is that Bud doing now?"

"At the Druid Research Institute of the Sorin Giant Tree, he served as a researcher and special consultant there. Reports from the surveillance personnel said that he was doing well, actively cooperating with various operations, and assisting the staff there to transfer from the underground palace A large number of dangerous samples," Amber reported, "now that the transfer of those dangerous samples has basically ended, Bard's next job is to cooperate with druids and scholars to study the photosynthesis of the giant tree of Thorin in winter-they hope that this part of the research It can help improve crops."

"Well, very good," Gawain nodded, and asked again, "What is Bertila doing?"

"It's photosynthesizing."

Gao Wen: "...huh?"

Amber couldn't help but rolled her eyes: "Otherwise, what else do you expect her to do?"

Gao Wen was stunned for a second, then covered his forehead with his hands: "...That's true, after all, she is a plant, and usually..."

While sighing, a peculiar fluctuation from the depths of his mind suddenly emerged, causing Gao Wen to stop in the second half of his sentence.

Amber cast a curious look across the table: "What's wrong?"

"Wait a minute, Daniel seems to have something to ask me," Gawain waved his hand, "Look at the side, I need to meditate. Betty, go to the door and don't let anyone in."

Amber readily agreed to come down, and the little maid ran to the door. Gao Wen didn't delay any longer, and quickly concentrated his mind, sneaking his consciousness into the level of the spiritual network bit by bit.

After a short period of dizziness and the illusion of space displacement, the scene in front of his eyes has become the endless and calm blue sky of the original space. Huge geometric patterns and gear-like structures are running quietly in the sky, and the vast water without wind and waves There are metal platforms erected one after another—just different from when this space was first born, those metal platforms are no longer empty at this moment, but display a variety of experimental devices, forming a space that does not interfere with each other. lab environment.

There are bright lights flickering on the metal platform in the distance. Obviously, at this moment, a certain group is connecting to this cyberspace through the immersion cabin and conducting some experiments.

The open area located in the center of the origin space will never be disturbed by those experimental environments. There is still a white round table here, and there are empty seats around the round table. Daniel is standing in front of one of the seats. When Wen appeared, the old mage immediately bowed down respectfully: "My lord, I'm sorry to disturb you suddenly."

"There's no need to be formal," Gao Wen waved his hand, and sat down on his own high-back chair casually. "What happened?"

Daniel immediately replied: "My lord, there is something strange about the spiritual network recently, I think it is necessary to report to you."

"Oh?" Gao Wen raised his eyelids, "Tell me in detail."

"That's what happened..."

Daniel talked about the strange rumors that appeared in the spiritual network of the eternal sleeper in recent days, and talked about the various clues he investigated through his own connections and influences. He did not dare to report any details.

"...Basically, these are the types of anomalies that have appeared in the spiritual network recently. Although the Supreme Bishops said that these are rumors, and my investigation has not found any evidence for the above anomalies, but from the 'witnesses' Judging the frequency and scope of the 'report', coupled with the information I have inquired from the bishop group, the situation may not be that simple.

"I am afraid that there are indeed some problems with the operation of the mind network. The stability of some virtual spaces is declining. Some believers of the eternal sleepers who have been connected to the network for a long time should and indeed have encountered trouble-I found some in the deep database. Hidden help messages, but for some reason, when I found those believers who had sent letters for help, they didn't know anything about these things.

"Three areas on the edge of Dreamland City have been blocked recently. The Supreme Bishops' statement is to carry out data reconstruction and necessary maintenance... This is a normal operation in itself, and it is not the first time that the temporary blockade of the edge area has occurred. But it is still doubtful that this kind of thing happened in this period of time.”

Daniel talked about the information he had collected one by one, and Gao Wen frowned more and more as he listened.

The abnormality is already very obvious. Perhaps ordinary believers are still blinded by the words of the Supreme Bishops and the Pope the Sleeper, but as a bishop, Daniel has collected enough information to confirm that there is indeed a problem with the spiritual network.

It's not working, but... why?

Gao Wen subconsciously glanced at the surrounding space of origin, and unreasonable associations arose spontaneously, making the expression on his face unbearably weird.

This origin space was opened up by him from the bottom secret of the mind network, using the computing power of the eternal sleeper, borrowing the traffic of the mind network, and recently, due to the establishment of several new project teams at the Institute of Magical Technology, The frequency of use of the origin space seems to be getting higher and higher...

Damn, I'm afraid it's not because I'm too good at pulling wool, so I'm going to kill this sheep soon...

But Daniel couldn't guess what type of train the powerful extraterrestrial wanderer was running in his mind at this time. He was just a little nervous because of Gawain's sudden silence: "My lord?"

Gawain woke up from his contemplation, and looked at Daniel: "You said... Could the abnormal situation of the mind network be related to the origin space?"

"...My lord, to be honest, I also doubted this direction," Daniel thought for a while, then lowered his head and replied, "After all, the origin space is closely related to the operation of the mind network, and it has been executing several large-scale projects recently. A huge amount of computing power has been absorbed in the network, but after careful inspection, I think the possibility of the origin space causing the failure of the mind network is very low."

"Oh?"

"The computing power drawn by the origin space from the mental network belongs to the 'redundant' part, in other words, it is the computing power that is outside the backbone of the mental network and does not affect the overall operation of the network," Daniel explained, " The network resource management method originally designed by the Eternal Sleepers is very simple and rude, and there is a lot of waste of computing power. After I reconstructed their management mechanism, this part of the originally wasted computing power was hidden by me, and it was specially used to maintain The origin space, so theoretically no matter how much the origin space expands and develops, it will not affect the backbone network..."

"Hmm..." Gao Wen stroked his chin, and said in a deep thought, "So, the abnormal fluctuation of the mind network will not affect the origin space?"

"That's the theory, but we'd better strengthen the monitoring of the origin space in the near future," Daniel nodded. 'There are hidden dangers in the infrastructure of this thing, so even if the origin space and the backbone network are isolated, there is no guarantee that there will be no problems."

"Will the researchers working in the origin laboratory be in danger?" Gawain asked what he was most worried about at the moment.

"It doesn't look like it at the moment." Daniel has obviously thought about this issue, and he answered quickly, "Those connectors in the spiritual network who are in an abnormal state all have one thing in common: they maintain a long-term network state, accept It is almost impossible to completely disconnect from the network after too deep a brain transformation, and they often perform deep immersion, and the connection between the spirit and the network is too close-but the researchers in our origin laboratory are connected to the network through the immersion cabin, and there is a layer of reality The protection of the world, and there is no deep immersion, and at the same time, they strictly enforce the working hours system you stipulated, and will not maintain long-term connections, and the security can be guaranteed.”

Gao Wen breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the words: "That's okay... But you should still be more vigilant. I will remind the researchers here to pay special attention to their own mental state when they are online in the near future, and you will continue to pay attention to all abnormalities in the mental network."

Daniel immediately bowed his head deeply: "Yes, my lord."

Gawain exhaled, looked up at the vast sky above his head.

Huge geometric structures and symbolic numbers are still running in the clear sky. The invisible wall of data blocks the connection between this secret space and the backbone network. Standing between the vast water and sky in the original space, people who visit here have It will not feel that there is another larger network running synchronously with this space.

But after Gao Wen opened the more advanced authority, he was able to see more——

He can see that a larger network world exists parallel to the origin space. A magnificent city of dreams covers the sky above this space. Countless light spots are flying and drifting in the void, which are nodes of computing power. The Eternal Sleepers, those are the residents of this online world.

And under his feet, under the vast and boundless "water surface", there is a more chaotic and more complicated flow of light, which is the deeper foundation of the spiritual network, and is the darkest and deepest part of this virtual world that took hundreds of years to build. Network "Abyss".

He frowned.

This sheep doesn't seem to be killed by himself...

Then why did it suddenly become like this?

Chapter 0737 Overflow

The abnormal fluctuation of the mind network made Gao Wen feel vigilant.

Although this psychic network was created by the Eternal Sleepers, one of the three major dark sects, according to general standards, it is "evil"-and it is indeed stained with blood and taboos in the construction process, but there is a The facts cannot be denied: Gawain still needs it now.

A large number of Cecil's scientific research projects have been affected by it.

Of course, Gao Wen has been promoting the harmlessness and self-development of the spiritual network since a long time ago, and it has achieved certain results until now.

On the one hand, Kamel and other experts have verified his initial conjecture through the combined technology of the immersion chamber and the magic net, that is, the operation of the mind network does not necessarily require the victim of the "brain servant", it should essentially be a dependent The "cloud network" supported by a large number of nodes, the so-called "brain servant" is very likely to be the product of another plan of the eternal sleeper; With rapid development, sooner or later, when Cecil has enough nodes, Gawain will be able to build his own spiritual network and create an origin space that does not need to collect traffic from the Eternal Sleeper.

But these all take time.

The immersion chamber is the cutting-edge technology of the empire. At present, its manufacturing cost and mass production difficulty are still very high. The immersion chambers currently in use are still limited to a few research departments in the capital of the empire, and the number is no more than a hundred sets. According to Kamel's It is estimated that at least [-] to [-] "brain nodes" must be connected to the network at the same time to form a relatively stable mind network and form a "mind-like world" similar to the Dream City of the Eternal Sleeper. This goal is not so easy to achieve of.

It is said that the biochemical technology found in the lair of the end of all things will help break through the bottleneck of the artificial nerve cord, but... can the spiritual network really be maintained until then?

Perhaps because of his intuition, Gao Wen always felt that the phenomenon that appeared in the spiritual network this time was extraordinary, and if it was not done properly... something big would happen.

"My lord," Daniel saw Gao Wen's silence for a long time, and couldn't help but said with a trace of nervousness, "Have you thought of anything?"

Gawain glanced at Daniel.

That’s right, there’s nothing wrong with the psychic network for the time being—not to mention, once the network crashes, how can Daniel still get in touch?

This old mage is a dark hand he cultivated with great difficulty, and it is of great significance in his many arrangements for the Eternal Sleepers and the Typhon Empire—since the Southern Unification War, the original No. 20 Production and Construction Brigade was disbanded , turned into a real production and construction brigade, but Office No. 25 of the Government Affairs Department is still in operation. No matter how you look at it, the core of this team is Daniel, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this line.

"In any case, the Psychic Network cannot disappear now," Gawain looked at Daniel seriously, "I need it."

Daniel immediately took the order: "Yes, then I will do everything in my power to ensure its survival."

After such a long time, the network security director of the Eternal Sleeper has finally decided to take a serious look at the security of the network...

"If I guess correctly, the Pope and Archbishops of the Eternal Sleeper should consult with you soon," Gawain nodded, "You are the security director, although I guess the network problem is a deeper reason, most likely It has nothing to do with external intrusion, but your strength in the field of psychic network technology has been recognized by the senior leaders of the church, and they may ask you to solve the problem. At that time, you will do your best, but remember to pass the information to me in time.

"Another point is that you should pay more attention to those believers who have experienced abnormalities after connecting to the Internet for a long time. Although the inspection conclusion says that they are all normal, I always feel that things are not that simple. They... may have been seriously injured in the depths of their consciousness. The impact just didn't explode for the time being.

"Be careful when doing this, don't show enthusiasm beyond your identity, and be careful of being suspected."

"Please rest assured, my lord," Daniel showed a confident smile, which is the confident smile of the uncrowned king appointed by Office 25 of the Military Intelligence Bureau, "I am already very skilled in this area."

……

City of Dreams, Borderlands.

A semi-transparent blurred barrier covers the neighborhood with fluttering leaves. From the outside, this area at the border of Dreamland City is still peaceful and peaceful. It is only blocked by a barrier of "suspended access", and the inside is going on. Normal maintenance and refactoring.

But inside the barrier, the distorted and strange scenery is completely different from the normal neighborhood that is close at hand outside.

The clear and clear sky was shrouded in a layer of muddy and chaotic light and shadow, floating above the city as if the wrong water surface and clouds were mixed together, the ground was covered with undulating hexagonal prism structures, and the color of large areas of prisms faded. Presenting a lifeless gray-white or disturbing dark black color, the original magnificent and gorgeous palaces are stacked at the end of the block, and the balconies, corridors, and steps are all twisted and entangled together, forming a structure like a mass, and a large number of shadows The phantom of the ghost is staggering in this chaotic neighborhood, like a ghost.

A quiet woman in a white dress with gold trim stood on the edge of this chaotic street, quietly watching the wrongly combined geometry and distorted colors on the street. The surrounding air was dull and windless, but her hair was It fluttered slightly in the air, as if the wind from another dimension was blowing on her forehead, or as if she was just a phantom standing here, and her body was still in place.

Under her feet, a ring-shaped noise was trembling and shrinking, as if the chaotic space around her was trying to erode the woman's position, but was blocked by a stronger force.

An eternal sleeper wearing a thick black robe and an owl mask walked over from the side, and a dull voice came out from under the mask: "Archbishop Geerfen, the erosion area has stabilized, but the boundary of the area is towards the outside of the City of Dreams. Spread about a tenth of it—it formed a very weird street there, and it was impossible to get close to sampling."

Selina Geerfen nodded slightly and looked into the distance.

She could see that weird street, which was located at the end of this chaotic block, with a weird architectural style, some figures came and went on the street, outside the street was an endless gray-white void, but the flow of cars, horses and people was constantly flowing The line of nothingness came and went, as if the street led to some invisible but real world.

Selena knew where that "street" came from - it was from Sandbox World One.

Now, no one knows what happened in the No. 1000 sandbox world, no one knows what kind of things are brewing in that closed world, and even... no one knows how long the time in that world has passed, which is 1 year?Or [-] years?or longer...

Archbishops know only one thing—

"Sandbox No. [-] is still overflowing," Selina Geerfen said softly, "These overflowing data are polluting the normal network... This area can no longer be repaired, it can only be completely reset."

"Yes, Archbishop."

The Eternal Sleeper wearing an owl mask led the order to retreat, preparing to reset the block, while another figure appeared out of nowhere near Selena. It was a young man in a white robe, tall and thin, black With straight hair and a refined monocle, he looks calm and has a bookish atmosphere.

"Bishop Selina," the black-haired man said, "The No. [-] overflow block has been reset."

"I'm about to perform a reset here too, Archbishop Yuri," Selina nodded, "It can't be repaired, that's the only way."

"...With all due respect, ma'am," the young archbishop known as Yuri (at least that's how it looks on the Internet) bowed his head slightly. Although he has the same position in the church, he seems to have lower qualifications than Celina, Therefore, there is also a trace of respect in the words, "Just resetting these blocks can only temporarily alleviate the problem-we should still find a way to stop the No. [-] sandbox."

"I know, and His Majesty the Pope also knows, but almost all the emergency stop methods have failed, and the No. [-] sandbox is still running, and it is even gradually merging with all other sandbox worlds," Selina sighed slightly, " After increasing the time iteration multiple to the limit, No. [-] sandbox closed itself within a few minutes. Perhaps in those short minutes, a 'thing' enough to fight against us was bred inside it, and that thing ...do not want their own history to end."

Archbishop Yuri hesitated for a moment, and said in a low voice: "... Archbishop Magnum proposed an emergency circuit breaker plan, which has been submitted to His Holiness the Pope."

"I know, but His Majesty the Pope will not agree to this plan-this plan is not fundamentally different from the sandbox cutting plan, and it is useless except to increase the victims of brain death," Selina Geer shook her head, " And...the situation is not at its worst yet."

"You mean... 'retarder'?"