The unknown signal was vibrating in the invisible domain. No one knew how far it traveled, and no one knew what it meant. The faint ripples it stirred up in the ubiquitous magic field were so small that even the most powerful and sensitive mage could not sense the traces it left in the atmosphere. However, through the more sensitive crystal array receiving and amplifying it, the faint ripples that humans could not perceive gradually became clear in the system of the Sorin Hub, and after filtering and strengthening it again and again, it turned into a clear and powerful 'sound'.
Bard and his colleagues had been chasing this sound for a long time, and long before they set up this special monitoring department, the scholars who laid the foundation of the magic network hub had been tracking it for even longer.
"The signal density seems to have increased …" Bard's colleague muttered. What Bard heard was now shared with everyone in the room. "These vibrations seem to have become very dense …"
"This has never happened before …" Bard frowned. "Aren't these signals unchanging?"
"Who knows?" Bard's colleague shook his head and looked at the holographic projection in the middle of the room. "Wait a minute, the image seems to have been converted."
Almost everyone's attention was on the large magic network terminal in the monitoring center. On the holographic projection, some lines were emerging and quickly connecting into a pattern. This decoding technology from Madam Bertilla was now widely used in the eighteen monitoring stations in the Empire, from the cold North Port to the Imperial Capital in the South, from the Palamel Observatory to the main hub in Ten Forest City. No matter which monitoring station received the signal, it would be decoded through this special 'dot matrix drawing' and turned into a planar pattern that seemed to have some meaning.
So far, although Bard and his colleagues (including those in various parts of the Imperium) had not gained much from the large-scale surveillance operation, they had successfully captured the signals several times and drawn more than ten simple "decoding patterns".
Without exception, they were the most basic geometric patterns, and the content was almost the same every time. There was no profound mystery in those simple points and lines, and even children could easily draw them on paper. No one knew why these mysterious signals were transmitted in such a complicated way. Bard's colleagues gave them an appropriate name: "Naughty Doodles".
"Today's' Naughty Scrawl 'seems to be very stable …" The picture in the holographic projection was still going on, and several geometrical patterns had been clearly presented. The colleague on the side whispered softly, "Until now, the signal strength has not shown any obvious signs of interruption or attenuation … Is it because we have changed the main antenna crystal plate?"
"It's very possible," another monitor said casually while paying attention to the parameters of the equipment. "The raw materials of these antenna crystal plates come from the Augulay tribal nation. The crystal ores and protocrystal dust produced in the Ancestral Peak are much better than the Gray Mountain mine."
"Ancestral Peak's crystal mine? Oh, no wonder. I remember that before the trade route was opened, the crystal mine from the Ancestral Peak was a top-grade spellcasting material, something that ordinary mages could not buy normally … "
The colleagues next to him were whispering about international trade, crystal mines, spellcasters, and market changes, but everyone's attention was still focused on the lines that were constantly refreshed. Bard looked at the holographic projection with rapt attention. He had already seen the extremely regular squares, triangles, circles, and hexagons. In the previous monitoring records, this was the limit of the amount of information recorded by the working group.
However, the transmission of the signal was still ongoing, and more patterns were being drawn.
When a spiral curve that kept spreading outward appeared on the picture, the room became very quiet. Everyone stopped their meaningless conversation, and a dozen pairs of eyes stared at the picture.
When a group of dots arranged in a specific grouping appeared on the picture, Bard heard someone whisper to break the silence. "We'd better … report this immediately."
…
The ubiquitous woody fragrance wafted into Bersetia's nostrils, and the refreshing smell made the Silver Queen relax.
After arranging for Irene to rest somewhere else, she, Gwen, and Bertilla stepped into a hall located in the canopy of the giant tree.
Here, there were elegant branches supporting the dome of green leaves. The light-colored wooden pillars were like slightly curved skeletons sticking to the nearby walls. Flower vines were entwined between the pillars and the beams of the roof. Shimmering mycelium or vines hung down, bringing bright but not dazzling light, further soothing the spirit of every visitor who stepped into this place.
"This is my living room." Bertilla's figure moved forward under the cluster of vines. "General Marguarita suggested that I open up a place where I can entertain guests normally, and that I don't have to bring people to the deep biochemical laboratory or the biomass factory every time. Although I still insist that the splitting pool and the biomass chamber I designed are quite cute."
Bersetia did not care what Marguarita said. She just looked at the place in amazement, which was obviously beyond her initial expectations. She came to an arc-shaped open space at the end of the hall and looked curiously at the layers of green leaves in front of her. "The leaves here seem to be different in color from the other places."
"This is my balcony." Bertilla said. As her voice trailed off, the layers of leaves suddenly swayed and rose up like a curtain. A wide arc-shaped opening appeared in front of Bertilla, and bright sunlight instantly shone into the hall. In the open field of vision, half of the Solin Plain and the quaint tower of Solin Castle appeared before her eyes.
"Sometimes I invite General Margarita or someone else to come here and look at the scenery, but most of the time I'm here to test the photosynthetic efficiency of different leaves. This is one of the best areas in the canopy," Bertila continued.
"It's so beautiful …" Bertilla came to the edge of the open balcony and could not help but take a deep breath. She then turned to Bertilla and finally said what she had been wanting to say. "You have really changed a lot … No, this can hardly be described as' changed 'anymore …"
"All of us have changed a lot, for better and for worse." Bertilla quietly looked at the Silver Queen who had grown up. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly asked, "Is there still a portrait of me in the Sacred Circle?"
The Silver Queen nodded. "It has always been hanging there."
"Take it down," Bertilla said softly. "A Dark Follower should not continue to occupy that place."
The Silver Queen looked into Bertilla's eyes. She was not surprised at all, but still shook her head. "… I guessed you would say that, but the Sacred Circle has never taken down the portrait of the Sage. Perhaps you think you have lost the right to be there, but your past achievements have not been completely denied. For the Silver Elves, seven hundred years is too short a time. "
"So how long is it not short?"
"Until this giant tree withers," the Silver Queen said calmly. "Then we can determine where the life of Saint Bertilla has gone."
Bertilla stared at the Silver Queen for a while before looking into the distance. "… You elves are a bunch of stubborn creatures."
"We are just used to thinking over a larger span of time, and if you continue to live, you will sooner or later understand our way of thinking." Bertilla suddenly chuckled, and then changed the topic. "Speaking of which, since we are talking about the Perish Society, we have some questions to ask you."
Bertilla turned around and looked at Gwen and Bertilla for a moment. "Is it about the followers in the wasteland?"
Gwen was a little surprised. "How did you guess?"
Bertilla spread out her hands. "It has something to do with the Perish Society, and it still gives you such a headache. I can't think of any other topic."
"It does have something to do with them." Gwen immediately nodded, and then told Bertilla about the information he got from Veronica. "Recently, we have confirmed one thing. Not only are the followers still active in the wasteland, but they seem to be eyeing the remaining energy in the Deep Blue Well, and even …"
Listening to Gwen's explanation, Bertilla's expression did not change much, but the aura around her gradually turned serious. She waved her hand behind her, and the layers of leaves on the balcony closed up, blocking the bright sunlight. Not far away, a crack suddenly opened up on the floor, and a strange-looking arcanotech device rose from it.
It looked like a magic net terminal, but its base was entwined with many vines. There were also some very thin fibrous substances that extended into the gaps between the projection crystal and the runic frame. These special structures made the entire magic net terminal look strange as if it was a parasite. But this was not the result of a 'parasite', but a modification of the magic net terminal given to her by Bertila herself. This helped her directly control the arcanotech device, and even allowed her mind to directly connect with the machine.
The next second, the terminal was activated, and the holographic projection clearly showed the image in Bertilla's mind.
A tall creature that looked like a dry, twisted tree appeared on the picture. On closer inspection, there was a twisted and weird human face on the surface of the 'ancient tree'. There were also things that looked like tumors and enlarged veins covering 'his' branches and withered leaves. The roots of the ancient tree wriggled on the ground, similar to the structure of the lower half of Bertilla's body, except that it was more twisted and disturbing.
The moment he saw these things, Gawain subconsciously furrowed his brows. "These are …"
"These are the followers of the Perish Society who are active inside the Great Wall. In theory … they are our former compatriots."
"Unbelievable mutated limbs …" Bertilla could not help but exclaim. "This is completely out of the human category! How … how did they survive? "
"It is because of this form that they can survive in the harsh environment of the Gondor wastelands," Bertilla said faintly. "This form is to adapt to the terrible environment of the wastelands. At first, it was a mutation caused by the magical radiation, and then the mutated followers took the initiative to adapt and mutate, a process they call 'evolution', and finally stabilized into this form."
"You just mentioned 'in theory'." Gwen noticed Bertilla's use of the term. "It seems that the Perish Society is not united internally, and these followers in the Gondor wastelands have a lot of differences with you 'external followers'."
"Until the eve of the completion of the false god's body, we followers living outside the wall thought that the cult was united internally. But now that I think about it, it was just wishful thinking on our part." Bertilla's mouth twitched as if she wanted to sneer. "Brother Gwen, I remember telling you about the followers of the Perish Society behind the wall. For hundreds of years, they have been living in the terrible environment of the Gondor wastelands that we cannot understand, and they have provided us with first-hand data about the chaotic magic energy, the sentry towers, the mutants, the divine factor, and other things. Our cooperation with them has lasted for so long, and we have always maintained a 'perfect rapport', which directly caused us to overlook something.
"If there is such a group of 'people', who no longer have the body structure of human beings, who no longer have the social organization of human beings, who live in an environment that human beings cannot survive and understand, who deal with the environment in a non-human way, and who continue like this for seven centuries, what are the chances that they can still maintain the essence of 'human beings'?
"Under such circumstances, what are the chances that they can still recognize their human identity, and see us, the 'people' living in the safe zone outside the wall as their compatriots?"
As Bertilla spoke, she looked down at her non-human body and gently shook her head. "After becoming like this, I am even more certain of one thing: even I need to create auxiliary thinking organs to maintain my human identity, then those followers of the Perish Society living in the Gondor wastelands … they are probably no longer 'humans' a long, long time ago."
"So just as I expected, you do not know what your 'compatriots' living in the wastelands are planning." Gwen shook his head. "You think that the cult is carrying out a great plan of salvation, but in fact, your plan has nothing to do with the followers in the wastelands …"
"But if it has nothing to do with them, why would they play along with us for the past seven hundred years?" Bertilla looked at Gwen, a stiff smile appeared on her marionette-like but lifeless face. "They live in the wastelands and have successfully adapted to the environment there. It is an invincible state of safety, and no one from the outside can threaten them. So why would they obediently follow the orders from the dark patriarch, pretending that they are forever loyal to the cult, and still dedicating their energy to the great cause? Are they afraid of being exposed? Obviously not, they should not care about us. "
(End of Chapter)
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