Three minutes later, Amber stood in front of Gwen, rubbing her head. Her face was full of resentment. "I was just joking with you. Do you really have to knock on my head?"
Gwen rubbed his fingers and said casually, "I'm used to knocking on Rebecca's head. I'm not used to your unblessed head …"
When Amber heard Gwen's attitude, she knew that her plan to extort a sum of money from him had failed. She looked up and glanced at Gwen. "What happened to you just now? You suddenly fell asleep. Don't tell me that was meditation. Although I'm not a mage, it's not like I've never seen meditation before. "
Gwen rubbed his forehead as he recalled his experience in the mental network. He suddenly looked up and asked, "How long did I 'sleep' for this time?"
"… About an hour?" Amber rolled her eyes and thought for a moment. "Hey, don't change the subject. I'm asking you something serious …"
"Only an hour …" Gwen frowned slightly. "The ratio of time flow seems to be different from the last time … Is the flow of time slower in the deeper layer of the network?"
Then he denied this loose theory in his mind. It should not be said that the flow of time had changed. It should be that the speed of the human brain in the virtual world and the subjective perception of time was different from reality. This kind of 'acceleration' phenomenon was very common in dreams …
When Amber saw that Gawain was still ignoring her and seemed to be deep in thought, she puffed up her cheeks in anger. However, she did not continue to disturb him. Instead, she quietly waited for Gawain to come back to his senses. She had already noticed that Gawain was a little easily distracted and absent-minded. This abnormal mental state was very likely related to the one hour of "Cogitation" from before. Although Amber was usually careless and rash, she was still able to distinguish between priority and urgency at critical moments.
After a moment, Gwen came back to his senses. He looked at Amber in front of him. After a brief hesitation, he chose not to tell her about the mental network.
It was not that he did not trust the half-elf girl, but for safety reasons. The Eternal Sleeper's means were strange, and there were many 'divine spells' that could affect people's minds without contact. The cultists were temporarily deterred and did not dare to attack him. But there might be a few among the cultists who would pry into the memories of those around him. So before he was 100% sure, he could not reveal that he had successfully infiltrated the Eternal Sleeper's mental network.
"I'm doing a very confidential thing. I need to enter this special 'hibernation' state occasionally," Gwen said to Amber. "One day I will tell you this secret, but I can't tell you now."
Amber pursed her lips. "Tsk … You're being weird."
Gawain's answer did not explain anything. Hu Po knew that the 'old dumpling' he had dug out was probably plotting something again. Judging from how cautious and meticulous he was this time, the scale of his scheme this time was probably bigger than any of his previous ones.
She was curious, but she decided not to ask.
Gwen saw Amber's expression and nodded. As he knew, the seemingly careless Amber also had her own intelligence and reason. The half-elf girl would not continue to dwell on this issue.
"Help me get the blueprint of the acceleration track that I didn't finish last time. It's in the cabinet next to the bookshelf on the left." Gwen stretched and adjusted his sitting position behind the desk. "I just had an epiphany in my sleep and thought of something that needs to be changed …"
"What do you mean by an epiphany? And look at your tired face. Are you sure you don't need to rest? You want to continue drawing the blueprint? "
"I have to draw it quickly. Otherwise, Kamel and Nicholas's work will be in vain …"
As Hu Po walked toward the bookshelf, he kept mumbling to himself, "I'm telling you, you're going to die from a heart attack sooner or later. If you really die from a heart attack, I'll have to dig a hole for you, and then your two granddaughters might not even give me a raise …"
Gwen was puzzled. "Why are you so insistent on digging a hole for me after I die?"
"Nonsense. I'm the one who dug you out. I'll finish what I started …"
Gwen felt that he had knocked too lightly. Although the half-elf's skull was not as hard as Rebecca's, her mouth was really asking for a beating!
At the same time, in the eastern part of the Gloom Mountains, in the border town of 'Cedar Town'.
This town was one of the few towns on the border between Ansu and Typhon. The people of Typhon built it two hundred years ago and used it as a resting place for hunters, merchants, and soldiers on the border. Two hundred years of development did not make the town prosperous. Instead, due to the deteriorating relationship between Typhon and Ansu in recent decades, the town had become bleak and tense.
Winter nights always came early. Under the dusky sky, the small town was covered in snow that had fallen a few days ago. Many places had turned the snow into mud due to being trampled by people and animals, causing the streets of the town to become even dirtier and more dilapidated. There were very few pedestrians on the deserted streets. The few permanent residents were currently holed up in their homes to avoid the bitter cold and northern winds outside. Other than the patrolling soldiers of the Typhon Empire, there were only armed people dressed as mercenaries and adventurers walking on the streets. The latter all seemed to be in a hurry and basically would not stay on the streets for too long — that would easily attract trouble.
Ever since the relationship between the two empires fell to a freezing point, the merchants on this route had almost been cut off. The town's most important economic pillar had suffered a huge blow because of this. Coupled with the fact that the frost and snow this winter was especially severe and the Eastwolf Fort had issued a ban on hunting in the southern and western forests, the days became even more difficult. Other than soldiers, the only people who could wander the streets at this time were the 'desperadoes' who had gathered here to make a living during the war.
To the commoners, mercenaries and adventurers were really not much different from desperadoes.
The only tavern in the town was the only place that could be considered lively in this place. Before the curtain of night had completely descended, the tavern had already been lit up with bright lights. The semi-solidified ointment made from the powder of pyrotechnic stones mixed with animal fat was a new product that the Empire's soldiers had brought from the east. This ointment would emit an unpleasant smell when burned, but its bright and lasting light and its low price were very popular among the lower classes.
Under the bright light of the 'oil lamp', the mercenaries and adventurers in the tavern gathered together in groups of three to five. They held up cups of bubbling ale of inferior quality and drank to their hearts' content as they talked and laughed loudly, not caring in the slightest about the various smells that pervaded the tavern. All sorts of disgusting smells pervaded this chaotic space, and even the strange smell of burning petroleum ointment did not have any sense of existence in this place.
In this chaotic and noisy environment, the door of the tavern was suddenly pushed open. A tall figure in a cloak flashed into the tavern and went straight to the bar.
The cold wind poured into the tavern as the wooden door opened and closed. A few mercenaries sitting near the door cursed, and some of them looked at the person in the cloak. When the person in the cloak sat down at the bar, took off her hood, and revealed a beautiful elven face, a few whistles immediately came from all directions.
The beautiful elven huntress casually waved her hand, and a few throwing knives accurately nailed to the table in front of everyone who whistled. Then she waved her hand, and all the throwing knives were drawn back to her hand under the guidance of magic.
He was a superhuman with a very high level. He was in a bad mood.
After confirming these three elements, everyone in the tavern quickly adjusted their positions. Those who were supposed to drink continued to drink, those who were supposed to brag continued to brag, and those who were supposed to chuckle began to chuckle. Everyone continued to be peaceful and lively.
The tavern owner behind the bar only looked at all of this coldly. He waited until the new customer was seated before he went forward and asked, "Beer again?"
This elf had been here once. Even though it was only once, as a tavern owner, he had to remember her appearance. Moreover, this was a person with great strength, so he could not ignore her even more.
"Beer," the elven huntress said with a very magnetic voice. Her blonde hair hung down from both sides of her face, blocking some of her face, but it could still be seen that her expression was somewhat gloomy. "I will compensate for the damaged table."
"Don't worry about it. Anyway, there will always be people who will stab a knife on it," the tavern owner said with a smile, and pushed a large wooden cup filled with beer in front of the huntress. "What, you didn't pass the checkpoint?"
"Martial law," the huntress said in a bad mood. "They actually started to ask for a pass to Eastwolf Fort …"
The tavern owner smiled. "The situation is tense after all."
"But in the past, didn't we pass the checkpoint with a mercenary document or a recent employment certificate?" The huntress raised her eyelids. "Since when did we need a certificate from Eastwolf Fort?"
"This is a rule that has just started recently." The tavern owner was not a mercenary or an adventurer, but in his line of work, especially opening a tavern at the border next to Eastwolf Fort, he had to be well-informed. "It's said that because Eastwolf Fort was attacked, those Empire's soldiers began to seal off the checkpoint …"
"Attacked?" The huntress's eyebrows immediately rose. "Could it be that they started a war with the Ansu?"
"That's not the case." The person who answered her was not the tavern owner, but an adventurer sitting nearby. This adventurer looked very enthusiastic, or perhaps he simply wanted to worm his way into being friends. He held his wine cup and moved to the side of the female elf, and said with an "I know the inside story" expression on his face, "It is said that they were attacked by a type of humanoid demon that has never been seen before … Eastwolf Fort suffered great losses, and even the walls of the fort have cracked. The general there issued a martial law order, and now all the checkpoints at the entire border are very strict …"
"A humanoid demon!?" The female elf finally showed a surprised expression. "What are the details? Where did this demon come from? "
The adventurer who came to worm his way into being friends with her did not expect that he would really succeed in arousing the interest of this beautiful elf who seemed difficult to deal with. He clumsily concealed his complacency, and continued to say with an "I know the inside story" expression, "It is said that it came from the Gloom Mountain Range, and it is a monster released by the Ansu Kingdom … But there are also people who say that it came from the wasteland of Gondor …"
"… This is a big problem …"
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