After ending his meeting with Daniel, Gwen did not directly log out of the network. Instead, he left the virtual space and returned to the consciousness stratum of the mental network.
He also called this stratum the 'visible zone'. The opposite of the visible zone was the data link stratum in the depths of the network that would not be noticed by ordinary visitors.
His virtual space was created by tampering with the data link stratum.
"The whereabouts of the massive computing resources are unknown …" Gwen muttered to himself as he walked on the streets of the City of Dreams. "The mental network is a network built on the basis of active nodes. It does not need a fixed 'server' like the 'Brain Servant' …"
He looked up at the Eternal Sleepers walking before him. Those figures were now living computing nodes in his eyes. After filling in the missing knowledge, he had a deeper understanding of the network and the cultists who were active in the network.
The Order of the Eternal Slumbers was a huge dark cult, with a jaw-dropping number of members and a complex and secret inheritance system. Not all the Eternal Slumbers knew the secrets of their own cult. In fact, like Viscount Kant's wife, who was bewitched by the Eternal Slumbers and led astray, but did not know the organization of the Eternal Slumbers, there were many "fringe believers" in this cult.
To be able to escape from the real world, this thing was unimaginably attractive to those who were miserable and despairing in the real world. Even nobles and great mages would find it hard to resist its temptation under certain circumstances. And once you accepted the temptation of the Eternal Sleeper and offered your soul to this huge network for the first time, the beautiful illusion brought by the mental network was enough to confuse the real world, and it was enough to make even the most strong-willed person fall deeper and deeper.
How many of the Eternal Sleepers walking the streets were veteran cultists? How many of them were nobles who didn't get what they wanted? How many of them were Transcendents who had fallen on hard times? Would any of them be members of the Secret Spell Society? Would there be believers from the south of the continent, or even from other races? Or even … would there be members of other cultists who had no hope of advancement?
The Eternal Sleepers had lost their faith and divine spell system. Just like Druil after White Star's fall three thousand years ago, they were in fact a secular Extraordinary organization based on magical technology. That was why they could take in 'believers' without any psychological pressure. They could bewitch nobles and mages, even more so those orthodox believers and clerics who appeared righteous on the surface!
At the thought of that, Gwen could not help but feel that the Eternal Sleepers were probably the most terrifying of the three dark cultists.
As his thoughts wandered, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar little figure from the corner of his eye.
Gwen focused his eyes and saw a little girl in a beautiful white dress skipping along a path of fallen leaves not far away. She was jumping on fallen leaves and stones, and from time to time, she would step on the curbstones that were slightly above the ground and wobbly as she walked across the 'single-log bridge'..... that carefree and innocent and unforgettable.
. Patty? Galen's little? How could it be such a coincidence to meet her again?
Gwen frowned. His first thought was to pretend that he did not see her and take a detour. But before he raised his foot, the little girl had already seen him with her sharp eyes.
"Ah! It's Uncle Selsey! "
The little girl exclaimed cheerfully. Then, she jumped down from the curbstone and ran to Gwen. She lifted her skirt and performed a not-so-standard etiquette of a lady. "Hello, uncle!"
Her speech and temperament showed that she had a good upbringing, but her actual movements were rather clumsy.
It would be too deliberate for Gwen to directly log off at this time, so he could only reply with a dry smile. Then, he subconsciously looked around. That suspected to be Selena? Galen's girl did not seem to be around here.
"Are you looking for Sister Selena?" Patty noticed Gwen's action and immediately asked. "Sister Selena is not here! She's busy at home! "
Gwen breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he looked at Patty with some curiosity in his eyes. He asked the question he had been wanting to ask for a long time. "How do you recognize me every time? There should be a lot of people here who use the same appearance as me, right? "
This was what he was most curious about. In this primitive network where the real-name system had not yet been implemented, and where a user name floated above everyone's head, there was no way for people to recognize others at a glance. Everyone could casually make up a person to enter the network. The Eternal Sleepers were completely satisfied with the "National Internet Access Beginner Stage", but this little girl in front of him could recognize him every time. It was really strange.
One had to know that Charlie the First's face was a hot topic on the Internet …
"Is it hard to recognize me?" The little girl was stunned when she heard Gwen's question. She blinked her eyes and looked blank. "But I can recognize you. Although many people here look the same, everyone 'feels' different …"
"Feels different …" Gwen did not know whether to laugh or cry. What kind of answer was that?
He felt that the little girl in front of him was quite strange and could not help but be more vigilant. But after two or three interactions, he gradually dispelled his initial thought. This little girl named "Patty" should not be a middle-aged, greasy, food-digging cultist behind her …
Even Solderlin, the big boss who founded the sect, was not at this level. This "Patty", even if she was not such a small child in the real world, she should not be too far away from that.
Maybe geniuses do exist … Being able to access the Network of Eternal Sleepers at the age of ten or something.
Thinking of this, he looked around and did not see Selena. Seeing Gerda's figure, Gawain felt that it was okay to have a chat with this strange little girl. So, as he led the little girl slowly along the avenue, he casually asked, "You seem to come here often?"
Patty looked curious. "Uncle, are you talking about this garden? Or this dream? "
Does this little girl simply see this virtual space as a 'dream'? How could there be such a dream in the world …
Gwen muttered in his heart, but there was no strange expression on his face. "I'm talking about this' dream '."
"Yes, I come here often, especially at night. I must come here." Patty stuck out her tongue. "Because I can't sleep well if I don't enter this dream …"
"Can't sleep well?" Gwen frowned. "Why?"
Patty seemed to be an ignorant child. She answered almost everything Gwen asked. "Because my body hurts and itches …"
When she said this, there was a look of resistance and fear on the little girl's face. Gwen wanted to continue to ask, but he swallowed the words back and changed the topic rather abruptly. "Speaking of which, I don't see your parents here. Aren't they 'compatriots' of the church?"
The 'compatriots' of the church was a colloquial term used by believers to call their own people in private. Gwen believed that even if Patty was really naive, she must have often heard similar terms in this network.
The little girl shook her head. "Dad passed away a long time ago … Mom is very busy, and she doesn't like it here."
Her father passed away, and her mother seemed to be a person who opposed the eternal sleepers? Then how did this little girl access the network?
So, she was not brought into the church because of her parents?
Gwen had all kinds of guesses in his mind. He silently outlined the possible situation of the little girl in the real world and asked, "I see … Then what does your mother do? Why doesn't she like it here? "
"Mom said that she doesn't like to be immersed in dreams, but I don't understand what she means," Patty said as she jumped on the curb next to her and staggered forward. "Mom is a very powerful person! Everyone in the castle listens to her! "
Gwen could not help but stop. "Castle? Do you live in a castle? "
"Yes! A very, very big castle! "Patty said happily." And my room has a very, very big window! "
A castle with big windows? This kind of architectural style is not common in this era …
Gwen quickly guessed the identity of the little girl in the real world. She should be a noble, but judging from her speech and behavior, she should not be a high-ranking noble. She lived in a castle with big windows, but in this era, the aristocratic castles in Ansu took care of the power supply of military fortresses. Basically, there were only narrow windows and very high skylights. So, she might not be an Ansu citizen … But this was not necessarily the case. Recently, more comfortable new castles and manor buildings had begun to become popular in the Sacred Plains. Some nobles in the south were also imitating this kind of architecture.
With this in mind, Gwen said, "Sounds great. By the way, are there high mountains near your castle? Or rivers and forests? "
He wanted to ask about the characteristics of the scenery near the castle where Patty lived to determine which country the little girl was from. Although it was likely that he would not be able to tell anything, he still wanted to try.
But after hearing these questions, the little girl shook her head. "I don't remember … Since I was very young, my mother did not let me leave the castle. She said that it was dangerous outside. But uncle, let me tell you, I secretly asked the maid to take me to the terrace this morning! I can see a large area of snow under the castle! Don't tell anyone. My mother rarely even lets me go to the terrace … But my mother went out a few days ago. "
Gwen's mind wandered as he casually said, "Oh, your mother went out."
"Well, my mother said that she was going to visit Earl Hosman. She has been out for a few days …"
"Oh, Earl Hosman … Earl Hosman?!"
Gwen repeated the name absentmindedly. But as soon as he finished repeating it, his eyes suddenly widened.
He had heard of this name before!
Not long ago, in Amber's report!
"Yes, Earl Hosman." Patty seemed to be a little startled by Gwen's reaction. "Uncle … Do you know the earl?"
"… No, I just didn't expect that the person your mother was going to meet was such a big shot. I was scared by the word 'count'." Gwen casually made up a reason. After all, a child would not think too much about it. However, his mind was in turmoil.
Could there be other Earl Hosman in this world? Gawain could not guarantee this, but there might be. After all, the four human kingdoms were located in the four corners of the continent, and each country had its own independent but huge aristocratic system. There were countless large and small aristocrats. It was hard to say if there were a few aristocrats with the same title in the north and south of the continent. But compared to this groundless possibility, Gawain was more convinced that the "Count Hosman" mentioned by Patty was the one he knew!
Karloff, a noble of the southern border of Ansu. Hossman.
So Patty was actually a descendant of a noble in the Southern Territory?
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