Gwen, wearing the face of Charles the First, walked on the streets of the "City of Fantasy" without worrying about the risk of being exposed.
Because he had seen more than 20 Charles the First along the way.
Charles the First was not an earth-shattering handsome guy, but obviously, walking on the streets with the face of the founder of Ansu gave off a different feeling. These cultists of the Eternal Sleep who were immersed in the virtual world were still mortals with seven emotions and six desires after all. They still had personal hobbies in some … strange places.
All of this gave Gwen an inexplicable sense of dissonance.
Was this what the Eternal Sleep had been trying to find and create? An illusory, beautiful, and even mythical … dream?
Gwen could clearly feel that this virtual world was very different from the illusions he had encountered before. Not only was this place more magnificent, but it was also more realistic and easier to indulge in. Every leaf, every ray of sunlight, and even every speck of dust had been molded and operated according to the real world. And the "residents" walking on the streets and alleys enjoyed all of this with satisfaction and joy, as if they had completely forgotten that this was a virtual world.
Gwen was also a little surprised — he did not expect the Eternal Sleep to have so many people.
If this huge city, the floating lands, and the palaces in the sky were full of people, then the number of the Eternal Sleep cultists would probably reach a shocking level. It was possible that there were as many as a million of them.
How could a cult that was secretly developing and keeping a low profile have so many members?
Gwen walked in the City of Dreams with a stomach full of doubts, and in the process of interacting with the "residents" of the city, he gradually increased his understanding of this incredible place.
Crossing the avenue in the center of the city, Gwen followed his intuition and wandered here, looking for things that might reveal more of the mysteries of the city. But when he tried to pass through an unvisited dome building, he had to stop.
There was a flaw in the supposedly perfect "dream" here. He saw that the light and shadow inside the dome building were messy and broken. The white marble floor only covered less than one-third of the area inside the building, and in the gaps of the marble floor, there were large areas of grayish-black lusterless holes, and the broken light in the air connected with the holes, forming a chaotic appearance.
This was already the fourth "unfinished area" he had found in this city.
He thought of the information he had heard from the "residents" before.
The City of Dreams was activated in advance. It seemed that in the initial plan of the Eternal Sleepers, they had to prepare for a long time before activating this huge mental network. But the changes in the situation forced them to activate everything ahead of time, which led to many "loopholes" in the City of Dreams. And not only was the City of Dreams unfinished, but even the floating lands and palaces in the sky were also unfinished products. Many of the lands were only complete in outline, and there were no plants or colors on the surface. The palaces were simply empty shells, and inside were the "mental void" that could devour minds.
Gwen did not know what the "changes in the situation" that prompted the Eternal Sleepers to activate the mental network in advance was, but he instinctively thought that it most likely had something to do with the "return of the stars". Tyre once said that the "Children of Storms" who fought the sirens on the sea seemed to know about the return of the stars and the resurrection of the gods. They often held grand astrological ceremonies, or drew pictures related to the stars and the ancient gods on the reef. And Gwen had reason to believe that the Eternal Sleepers, who were close to the Children of Storms, must also know about this.
The return of the stars and the awakening of the gods. In order to welcome this grand event, the cultists had to offer the "sacrifices" that they had not prepared in advance?
This was the only reasonable explanation that Gwen could think of. Although there were still many unknowns, the general direction should be correct.
But perhaps no cultist would have thought that the position of the stars in this world had been correct sixteen times, and their god still had not awakened.
Gwen did not know whether there were other corpses of the gods on this planet, but he knew that the only god whose whereabouts were known was lying at the bottom of the sea, and it was not enough for the deep-sea gods to eat.
In this way, the early activation of the mental network by the cultists was tantamount to a waste of effort, and in the process, the loss of manpower and material resources, the disruption of plans, and the risk of exposure would be a heavy blow to the cultists' confidence.
Gwen could not help but smile as he thought of this. He shook his head and smiled as he left the impassable dome building.
He knew that the three dark cultists had a rich heritage. Even if they had all accidentally activated some large-scale rituals in advance and suffered losses, it would not have any impact on their foundation. But in any case, losses were losses. At least in the short term, the frequency of them causing trouble would be greatly reduced.
The 'residents' in the city were still 'living' happily. Everyone had a joyful look on their faces. They numbed their nerves with illusions and dreams and were immersed in the joy of achieving some long-cherished wish. But there was no telling how long their happy mood would last. Perhaps it would last until the position of the stars had passed, but none of the gods had awakened.
To avoid trouble, Gwen did not return to the main road of the city. Instead, he walked along the small paths between the buildings and gradually approached the central area of the City of Dreams. The moment he stepped into the central area, he felt that the atmosphere around him had changed.
A solemn atmosphere lingered here. The relaxed and leisurely atmosphere of the outer layer of the city seemed to be separated by an invisible barrier and disappeared. Gawain looked around in astonishment, and he actually saw an extremely thin, almost transparent 'wall' standing behind him. This wall even extended to both sides, seemingly enclosing the entire city center.
Gwen cautiously did not move. Instead, he carefully observed the situation around the transparent wall. He soon found that almost all the 'residents' were only active outside the wall. Only a few 'residents' would pass through the wall, and these 'residents' could be divided into two types. Some of them casually walked in like him, while others had to stand in front of the wall for a long time to chant some incantations or press their hands on the wall to input some instructions before they could enter.
Is this a 'privilege lock'? Only those who are qualified can pass through?
Gawain lowered his head and looked at his body in shock. He was sure that he had just casually walked in. It was only after he passed through the wall that he realized the existence of the barrier due to the change in the surrounding atmosphere.
Do I have some kind of 'high privilege' here?
Where did this high privilege come from? Could it be the 'privilege' of the Eternal Sleeper that he had devoured?
Gawain frowned. If that was really the case, then this group of Eternal Sleepers had really messed up the authority system. The dead members of the Church were actually not deleted. Someone else had actually snuck in just like that under a fake identity...
But after thinking about it carefully, he realized that this was actually not a loophole. Under normal circumstances, this person's death was equivalent to automatic cancellation. Who would have thought that there would be a devourer like him who came in with the identity of a dead person?
In any case, Gwen raised his vigilance and decided to be more cautious and avoid contact with others. The higher the privilege, the fewer people could pass through. And the lower the number of people who could pass through, the higher the chance of him attracting attention. If the Eternal Sleeper that he had devoured was an existence similar to the Four Heavenly Kings and Five Grand Elders in the cult, everything would be exposed when he broke into the highest privilege space and met the remaining Heavenly Kings and Elders.
He was not afraid that he would lose to these weaklings who had less than a few hundred years of memory and experience on the mental level. But if his account was canceled and he was kicked out of the mental network, he would be in big trouble.
And in the process of keeping a low profile, he suddenly noticed a small square in front of him. In the middle of the square floated an extremely beautiful pale blue crystal. The glimmering particles on the surface of the crystal made the square mysterious and beautiful. And around the crystal, there were scattered figures. They did not talk to each other. Obviously, they were not here to meet. Gwen saw that a few of them had their hands on the surface of the crystal, while the rest just stood there with their eyes closed as if in deep thought.
What is the crystal for?
Gawain frowned and began to search through the memories of the Eternal Sleeper that he had devoured. After a difficult search, he finally found a hint from the messy and fragmented information. It seemed to be some kind of item used to transmit information, and it was a high-grade item.
Is it the superior communication node of the mental network? Is it the "projection" of the communication node in the virtual space?
Gwen hesitated for a moment and decided not to let go of this opportunity.
He quietly came to the square and put his hand on the crystal. The cultists next to the crystal glanced at him slightly, but no one spoke. The two nearest to him just moved a little and made way for Gwen.
Gwen did not respond. He just nodded slightly. He had established a connection with the crystal, and now he had to concentrate.
After a few unsuccessful attempts, he finally figured out how to use the knowledge he had devoured. Suddenly, he felt some fragments of information flashing in his mind. The next second, a huge database was opened to him!
It worked!
A huge amount of data and information flowed through Gwen's mind. He looked at the "database" that the cultists of the Eternal Sleeper had built in the mental network in amazement. He once again lamented the fact that he could not tell whether this world was advanced or backward in terms of technology.
Who would've thought that a bunch of lunatic cultists would create an enormous mental network, an enormous virtual world, and an enormous information exchange and processing structure in such a medieval-looking world!
Of course, they had built all this with unreasonable magic, and the way they used this advanced system was very primitive and backward. In Gwen's view, they were intoxicated in creating a virtual world of extreme pleasure, and their intention was far more than using the mental network to solve various problems in the real world. But it was undeniable that this was a great creation.
It was so great that Gwen could not help but have an idea …
While Gawain had all sorts of ideas to steal the technology, he did not stop searching for information streams. Most of the information was useless because the virtual world had just been activated. Most of the information in the information network was reporting the operation of various Illusory Spaces. But suddenly, a piece of information caught his attention.
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