What Veronica said confused Gwen.
"An individual?" Hao Ren frowned. "What does that mean?"
Veronica's eyes were filled with reminiscence as if she had sunk into an ancient memory from thousands of years ago. After a few seconds of silence, she said in a soft and gentle tone, "I'm sure you already know that in Operation Disobedience thousands of years ago, the White Frost sisters were hired by the Kingdom of Gondor as consultants. This employment lasted for hundreds of years until the Great Mana Tide broke out seven hundred years ago. Firna White Frost and Rayna White Frost were secretly working for the Kingdom of Gondor.
"The first time I met them was in the Palace of Vastness in the Imperial Capital. It was a Druil facility that studied the natural environment and the evolution of species. They were a pair of cheerful sisters. My deepest impression of them was that they were always smiling. They were filled with curiosity about everything in the human world, and they had many bold ideas. They were very different from the more conservative and old-fashioned elven scholars …
"Sorry, I've digressed. That's how it is when you're lost in your memories. You'll always remember too many unimportant details."
Veronica smiled apologetically. Gwen shook his head at her and motioned for her to continue.
"They are indeed a pair of sisters. Just like what I said earlier, they were indeed two people at the beginning, until that accident …"
"That was when Operation Disobedience had just begun its preliminary analysis and contact with the power of the gods. It was also known as the first phase. In one of the experiments, we were going to test an observation method that had never been tried before. The general process was to open a crack that led to the boundary of the modern world in a highly enclosed room. This crack passed through the Shadow Realm and Looming Realm, and at a certain critical point, it was infinitely close to the divine kingdom. We hoped that through this crack, we could achieve a certain degree of monitoring of the divine kingdom … "
"Now it seems that it was a bold and reckless experiment. But at that time, our understanding of the power of the gods was not as clear as it was later.
"This dangerous experiment required two operators. One operator was responsible for maintaining the crack, and the other operator was responsible for the actual observation. Yes, you've already guessed … it's the White Frost sisters.
"They signed up voluntarily, and the reason is irrefutable. As twins, they have an extraordinary tacit understanding, which can greatly increase the success rate of the experiment. If there is really an accident, they can quickly take countermeasures without communication. Their reaction speed is much faster than ordinary researchers.
"At that time, I personally escorted them into the laboratory … I watched them walk in, and then the entire laboratory was completely sealed off under the control of the automatic system.
"Even the most powerful magus wouldn't be able to see through that tight defense system to find out what's going on inside.
"After the countdown ended, the laboratory was opened. The inside was filled with thick smoke and turbulent magical energy. I brought people and rushed in. The laboratory was already in ruins. In the ruins … there was only one heavily injured elf lying on the ground. The other one was nowhere to be found."
Veronica explained everything with a calm expression. Gwen could not help but frown. "Who's missing? Who stayed behind? "
"I don't know."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "You don't know?"
"The sisters look almost exactly the same, and outsiders have never been able to tell them apart. At that time, the laboratory was a mess, and the identification card on the injured was severely burned, so no one knew who survived."
Gwen could not help but adjust his sitting position. "Then how did they …"
"The one who survived sneaked out of the hospital one day and returned to the Druil laboratory that the sisters built. Three days later, the 'White Frost sisters' returned to the Palace of Vastness. The report later showed that a large batch of biomass was missing in their laboratory … but in fact, everyone had guessed what it was for. "
"She created a …" Gwen had already understood. "And then? You accepted it just like that? "
"The White Frost sisters are back, or at least that's what they said. They look normal. Although everyone knows it, we welcome their return."
Gwen did not hide his surprise. "They … no, her mental state is obviously problematic. Didn't you notice?"
"This is obvious, but among the rebels, especially those who are at the forefront, this level of mental problem is not a problem at all," Veronica said with a faint smile. Her tone was calm, but the content of her words was frightening. "We are fighting against God. Standing in front of the indescribable and vast knowledge, we feel like we are in the abyss. Countless deadly and invisible truths are brushing past us at every moment. Sometimes, just by looking at the wrong sample or mentioning the wrong word at the wrong time, some people will fall into madness, some will suddenly disappear, and some will mutate and die …" Veronica said with a faint smile. Her tone was calm, but the content of her words was frightening.
"Before we roughly grasped some of the patterns, we had already sacrificed hundreds of lives. Many people died silently, the cause of death could not be disclosed, and they could not be awarded after death. Many people fell into permanent madness, and because they had the knowledge of the gods, they could only be put under house arrest in a mental control facility.
"Even myself … As a former Gondor, have you ever heard of the name Ophelia Norton in any book about the history of the royal family?
"In such an extreme situation, every member who can maintain their working ability is precious to the disobedient.
"Compared to those who are in the worst situation, the White Frost sisters are just delusional … The symptoms are very mild, at least back then."
Gwen did not know how to answer for a moment. From a normal person's point of view, it was difficult for him to imagine what it would be like to let a person with obvious mental problems continue to participate in the project because the project itself was crazy enough, and such madness naturally required a stronger sense of reason to fight against it. However …
Mortals were so fragile that sometimes they had to fight against madness with madness. It was not that they wanted to, but they had no choice.
He believed that Veronica and the team led by her must have thought about it seriously back then. Perhaps they confirmed that the White Frost sisters' mental problems would not affect their daily work, or perhaps they thought that the White Frost sisters would be more useful as consultants than their mental problems. Either way, it was a choice made a thousand years ago. Today, he, and even Veronica/Ophelia, could no longer comment on what happened back then.
Now, he could only sigh. "… She may have just been delusional back then, but now, she … or they have become ghosts of the Disobedience Project."
"… Everyone who participates in the Disobedience Project in the first phase is on the countdown to falling into madness. We usually discuss this matter frankly because we all know that most of the members will not live to see the day of the results. They will either go crazy, die, or disappear into all kinds of strange supernatural phenomena … Even if everything goes well and they survive safely, the lifespan of human beings determines that most of the members in the first phase will not survive more than two phases … But the elves, their lifespan is too long."
Veronica sighed softly as she spoke.
"Perhaps they have lived for too long, or perhaps they have never seen hope, but the White Frost sisters have finally lost control. Unfortunately … I don't even know if 'they' are Firna or Rayna."
"I have a hunch that we will have to deal with the 'sisters' again sooner or later." Gwen shook his head. "Such persistent ghosts will not really die."
"Perhaps." Veronica pursed her lips. "Other than that, what else did you get?"
"Technology, the technology of the Demise Society." Gwen said. "We have recovered a lot of technical information from the underground palace, complete laboratory equipment, various samples, semi-finished products, and specimens. These things will be sent to the Pitman's research facility in batches in the near future. But we all know that there is more than just Druil knowledge in there …"
"I understand." Veronica lowered her eyes. "I will help identify and analyze the Disobedience technology. If I find any dangerous factors, I will alert you immediately."
Gwen nodded with satisfaction. Veronica suddenly looked into Gwen's eyes after a moment of silence and asked, "So, after eliminating the dangerous factors, what do you plan to do with the 'results' of the Demise Society?"
Gwen looked at her and smiled. "Of course, I will use them."
"Even if they were created by the Demise Society?"
"Technology is technology, of course we will use what is useful. It is always humans who commit crimes, it is meaningless to judge tools." Gwen said. "Using flesh magic to create monsters is indeed chilling, but if it is used to heal the wounded, it will be very useful."
"But there may be people who hold grudges against you, and may even criticize you for using black witchcraft in private. The ignorant will always have unnecessary fear of things they do not understand. For a thousand years, no matter how much the world has changed, only prejudice and conservatism have never changed."
Gwen and Veronica looked at each other and suddenly laughed.
"Of course, these people will always appear. It is better to blame one's failure on dead things than to admit one's incompetence and ignorance. But it doesn't matter. If they are ignorant, we will teach them and let them know the truth. If they can't be taught, or deliberately make trouble, then we will set the rules and write a contract. I will allow them to not come into contact with the technology and derivatives excavated from the ruins of Solin Castle. After all … when it comes to the application of new technology, our social resources are not enough. If some people actively want to be isolated from the new technology, then why not satisfy their loyalty to save social resources?"
"… I admire your way of doing things."
Veronica left, and the study was quiet for a moment. Gwen exhaled, stretched his body a little, and was ready to return to work.
But just as he picked up a document on the table, before he had time to look at it, he heard a slight wind blowing through the window.
In the next second, there was the sound of someone hitting the window frame with a loud bang.
Since this was already a daily occurrence, Gwen had long lost any thoughts of lamenting and complaining. He just got up naturally, opened the window, and let the dizzy Amber in.
As soon as Amber landed, he began to yell, "Why did you lock the window in broad daylight …"
Gwen was expressionless. "The weather is cold, and old people are afraid of the cold."
Amber: "…"
"What's the hurry?" After successfully choking back the shame of all things, Gwen was in a slightly better mood, and asked seriously.
Although Amber jumping out of the window was a standard operation, there were different styles and situations.
Standing outside the window sill and carefully studying the Anti Amber Clip and Lock for a long time, and carefully eliminating all the traps before jumping in through the window was a routine operation. Usually, when there was nothing important, he would come to report work. Jumping in in a hurry and accidentally stepping on the clip was an ordinary emergency, usually there was a report that Gwen needed to read first. But now, he didn't even notice that the window was locked and bumped into the window frame, which Gwen had encountered twice.
The first time was to report that Francis II was assassinated, and the second time was to report that Rebecca's experimental aircraft had malfunctioned and fell from the sky and killed Tyre.
When she heard Gawain's question, Hu Po couldn't care less about the details of what she had choked back. She was indeed here to report something important, so after she caught her breath, she quickly said, "Rebecca's aircraft …"
Before she could finish, Gawain frowned. "Tyr, that unlucky siren, was smashed to death again? It's okay, you know she can recover … "
"No!" Amber almost jumped up. The short wintermelon's face was particularly excited. "It flew! It flew successfully this time! "
Then she took a deep breath and said, "And it landed smoothly — face up!!"
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