Before coming here, Gawain had never truly and completely understood this "Princess Alfalia" who had guarded the center of the wasteland for seven hundred years.
Although he had dealt with Veronica a lot, Veronica was just a "carrier" that Ophelia had used for a short period of time in the seven long centuries. He had also learned about the history of the Disobedience Plan, but this history did not represent the entirety of the individual "Ophelia". What had Ophelia experienced in the past 700 years? What had she done in order to survive? What kind of personality did she have? What was her real attitude?
Gwen had no idea. No one knew.
But Gryfina's story made Gwen suddenly realize that the "princess of the former dynasty," who always gave people a sense of machine, as if she was always clear and calm … was actually living a unique and unique "life." She might also have emotions under the mask, and some embarrassing memories that were not known to outsiders.
"In fact, I have always been curious," Amber suddenly said. "Veronica, the identity you are using in the outside world, what is it to you? I mean … the relatives and friends of the identity of Veronica, the Moen blood in 'her,' her position in human relationships and social relationships, these are to you … "
Amber gestured with her hand, as if she did not know how to accurately describe her question. But Ophelia obviously understood what she meant. After a short silence, the speaker at the corner of the elevator said, "Veronica is me. From the beginning, until the death of this' carrier, 'this is the only answer. There has never been an 'original', 'real' Veronica. When a baby girl named Veronica cried for the first time in the Silver Fortress, she was me in her hazy and chaotic mind.
"So, the answer is actually very simple. I have a kind father, his name is Francesi Moen. I respect him, but I also feel sorry for him. I have a reliable brother, he was the last king of Ansu. Although he always thought that I was a very strange child since I was young, our relationship has always been good. We still write letters to each other until now. And Edmund … I feel sorry for his ending. I remember when I was very young, he would always leave the best desserts for me, but he would also secretly stuff leaves into my hair … Yes, I have a life, a life called Veronica Moen, a child who was a little special from birth …"
Vibrations came from under their feet as the elevator reached the bottom of the shaft. Gwen and Amber came to the deepest part of the ancient fortress. They saw the gate in front of them open, and outside was a brightly lit trapezoidal corridor with a narrow upper section and a wide lower section. In the corridor, there were automatic maintenance machines lightly and silently moving along the sliding rails on the edge of the corridor. A low humming sound came from the walls and the interior of the roof nearby, and a subtle stream of light quickly flowed through the gaps between the walls into the distance.
At the end of the corridor, a seemingly heavy alloy gate opened, and then a gate further away opened one after another in front of Gwen and Amber. The heavy sound of machinery gradually spread into the distance.
Even though they had reached the deepest part of the base, there were still layers of armor protection on the way to the core control area. The shaft directly from the "Crystal Peak" to the core of the fortress could not directly send visitors to the controller. No path in the base directly led to the core control area. This was a reasonable and effective defense policy.
Two Ironmen soldiers led Gwen and Amber forward. For the first time in hundreds of years, a living person stepped into the underground space surrounded by machines. Footsteps sounded in the empty corridor. At the same time, Gwen also heard a slight buzzing sound from some small devices on the nearby roof. Veronica's voice sounded in the corridor and was transmitted to the sound units as she moved forward with them.
"… I have many lives like this. Princess Veronica of Ansu, mercenary Gryffina of Typhon, and poetess Mordaina of the Kingdom of Kaolin … Many times, I will leave my name in history, but sometimes, I'm just a nameless passerby …"
Gwen and Amber passed through one gate after another. As they approached the core control area, they noticed that the security forces around them were increasing. Some of the gates were obviously battle-trained Ironmen soldiers. On the walls of the deeper corridor, they could see automatic warning arc devices and arcane missile launchers. These weapons would immediately droop and retract into the base when Gwen approached.
"… Sometimes, I'll only stay in the 'carrier' for a few days. This usually happens to the bodies that I've occupied after an accidental death. I can't accurately determine the condition of the carrier's life and perform remote repair every time. Sometimes … the original consciousness in the repaired carrier hasn't completely disappeared. These consciousnesses will gradually awaken after the body is' resurrected, 'and then I'll leave.
"This is my 'life', made up of experiences and memories. I travel in these 'lives', meet many people, and then say goodbye to many people. I can be many people, can be Veronica, can be Gryffina, can be a poetess, and can be an adventurer, but … I'm not sure if I can really be Ophilia …"
Following the sound, Gawain and Amber arrived at the last door. Ophelia's last sentence confused Gawain, but before he could ask, the silver-white alloy door opened. The scene behind the door made him forget everything he wanted to say in an instant.
It was a spacious hall. As an underground facility, it was even wider than the meeting hall in Cecil City. Bright lights illuminated the place, which was almost entirely covered in alloy, and a low humming sound echoed softly in the space. Silver-white square columns were neatly arranged in rows in Gwen's field of vision. The surface of these columns flickered with faint lights, and the countless lights were like scrutinizing eyes, watching the visitors on the cold, hard, and ancient surfaces.
Ophilia's voice rang and echoed throughout the hall. "Welcome to the Ophilia Matrix … As you can see, this is' me ', an artificial mental network composed of computing nodes, storage arrays, energy matrices, and mental cores. I'm sorry, but this is probably not the way you think of meeting. "
"This …" Amber's eyes widened. Even though she had always prided herself on her rich imagination and strong nerves, she was still a bit dumbfounded at this moment. She had imagined what the 'Alfalia' who had survived from the ancient times would look like. She had imagined that the 'Alfalia' would be a ghost wandering in an underground cave, a sorcerer who had imprisoned herself in a special magic device to maintain her vitality, or even a 'synthetic body' that had completely transformed into an alien, similar to the Abomination, but she had never thought that Alfalia would be … a machine.
Or rather, an 'array' made up of many machines.
Gwen's eyes swept across the neatly arranged columns in the hall. Amidst the low humming sound, it took him a while to come to his senses. But he was not as surprised as Amber.
This was a surprising situation, but not to the extent of 'unimaginable' for Gwen. After all, his' satellite goblin body 'was essentially an' ancient machine 'similar to the Ophilia Matrix.
Between the columns, a guiding light emerged from the ground. The two iron men who led the way had returned to the outside of the hall. Gwen and Amber walked together under the guidance of the light to the central area of the Ophilia Matrix. On the way, Amber finally broke the silence. "So you … 'stored' your mind in these machines to survive until today? Just like our 'immortals'? "
"Not so," Ophilia said calmly.
An open area appeared in front of Gwen and Amber. The next second, they heard the sound of machinery operating from the ground. An opening appeared in the floor in front of them, and a platform rose from the hidden space below. On the platform, Gwen saw a device that looked like a hibernation chamber. Through the transparent shell, he saw a young woman lying quietly in it.
She was beautiful, wearing a Gondor style dress. Her eyes were closed as if she was just in a dream and would wake up in the next second.
It was an unfamiliar face, but Gwen could guess her identity in a flash.
Hu Po pointed at the figure lying quietly in the container as if it had fallen into a deep sleep. "This is …"
"Ophilia Norton, the last successor of the Kingdom of Gondor. She … died many years ago, and this base is her legacy, including me," the voice in the hall said calmly. "I am the Ophilia Matrix, a simulated mind created with the real Ophilia Norton's personality data and whole-brain scan data as the blueprint. The last order I received was … to continue her mission."
There was a slight sound of friction from the ceiling above the hall. Several sensors poked out from above and quietly watched the sleeping ancient Gondor princess on the platform.
"… But she did not explain the full meaning of this' mission 'to me, nor did she tell me if this mission would end. I spent a long time thinking about what I should do to complete this vague order. The only answer I could think of … was to' become 'Ophilia Norton and continue her work."
The hall was quiet for a while, leaving only Gwen and Amber quietly watching the figure in the special container.
"This is really …" Finally, Amber's voice broke the silence. "This is really unexpected."
"It is indeed unexpected, and … I finally know why you can control the platinum scepter, and how you successfully 'steal' the power of the God of Holy Light." Gwen sighed softly. "I thought you had broken through the Soul Seal like Leiter, but in fact … you were not affected by it from the beginning."
"Yes, this is also one of my 'research results,'" Ophilia said. "Artificial intelligence is not affected by ideology, is not controlled by the gods, and is not mentally contaminated. Except for the powerful 'power' of the gods, which can still cause substantial harm to my carrier, I am actually a mind wandering outside the 'sight' of the gods. This gives me … very convenient research conditions."
Gwen pondered for a moment, and then said thoughtfully, "All in all, your current state is indeed a little … beyond my expectations. You can't move yourself at all, and you can't transfer your consciousness out of these machines, right? "
"Yes," Ophilia replied immediately. "My core personality must run between these computing nodes and mental units. Although there are carriers like Veronica, the carriers can only accommodate part of my mind. So far, I have not found a carrier that can perfectly accommodate all of my personality data, and …"
Ophilia paused for a moment, and then continued, "And I have never thought of leaving here. I was born here, grew up here, and worked here. This … is not a cage, and I have never thought of myself as a prisoner. And I have a 'carrier' that can move freely in the outside world, and this is enough for me. "
"I respect your idea." Gwen nodded. "Then, I will also push for the Alliance's resolution to ensure that the Deep Blue Well area … is peaceful after the war."
"Thank you for your understanding," Ophilia said in her usual soft voice. "So, can I assume that the Deep Blue Well will be a … neutral zone in the Alliance in the future?"
"It can only be a neutral zone." Gwen looked up at the sensors hanging down from the ceiling. "In my plan, the neutral attribute of the Deep Blue Well will be an important benchmark for the division of the Gondor area after the war. At least in name, this giant magic source cannot be 'occupied' by any country."
Ophilia was silent for less than two seconds, and one of the sensors on the ceiling turned slightly. "… The land of the Deep Blue Well will not belong to any country, but the energy produced by the Deep Blue Well will benefit the whole world, and the three empires, especially the Cecil Empire, will have the main say in the energy distribution. I think this is what you are thinking. "
Gwen nodded slightly. It seemed that Veronica/Ophilia knew what he was thinking.
The 'land' of the Deep Blue Well itself was only a small part of the entire Gondor area, and it did not produce anything other than pure magic power. But this pure magic power was the real meaning of the Deep Blue Well.
Today's magical technology was very different from the Gondor era, and the energy of the Deep Blue Well was no longer the only option for humans. But such a huge 'additional energy' was still of great value to the Alliance. In the process of civilization development, there was no doubt about the role of 'energy' in the energy development.
However, Gawain did not intend to simply occupy this place. Although the benefits were amazing, it was destined to cause great damage to the international order that he had created. It might even destroy the originally stable "alliance" between him and Alfalia. However, he also did not want this Gushing Spring to fall into the hands of others. This would also pose a great threat to the international order that he had created.
Now the state of Ophilia and the situation of the Ironmen gave him a solution to this problem.
He did not need to occupy this' sensitive area '—' occupation 'was an outdated method of the last era.
He only needed to fully support the Ironmen, a close ally of the Cecil Empire, and support the neutral status of Ophilia's small territory on this planet.
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