It was the end of the Month of Frost, and winter had arrived in the northern part of the continent.
The cold northern wind whistled through the streets of the city, whistling sharply between the gaps of the buildings. The snow on the roofs was blown off by the wind, forming a hazy curtain in the air, as if a new snowfall was coming.
But all of this was blocked by the thick walls, the interlayer of crystal glass, and the heating system.
Gwen sat in the study, flipping through a book about the monsters in the northern part of the continent. His other hand was holding a dipping pen, casually sketching some images and inspirations that appeared in his mind on a draft paper. The whistling wind outside was filtered by the glass, and when it entered the room, it only left some faint echoes. The echoes mixed with the low and slow music from the magical device in the corner of the room, calming him down.
Betty stood quietly beside the desk, her hands folded on the apron of her maid uniform. She lowered her head, nodding and snoring softly.
Gawain glanced at Betty, who was dozing off, and couldn't help but shake his head with a smile. He then turned his attention back to the sketch he was sketching. Suddenly, he felt a strange sensation in his hand that was holding the pen, accompanied by a soft "pop" sound. Looking down, he saw that the tip of the pen that he had been using for a long time had cracked open. The ink that leaked out was dripping onto the paper along with the crack, spreading a stain on the paper.
Gawain frowned. He put aside the broken dipping pen and looked at the lines drawn on the paper. A meandering river flowed quietly. There were antique brick houses on the banks of the river. A small stone bridge spanned across the river. The sun was setting in the west, sprinkling rays of light along the eaves of the houses on the river.
The scattered ink spread on the small stone bridge as if it was gradually devouring the picture.
Gwen crumpled the draft paper into a ball and threw it aside. The door of the study opened almost at the same time, and Amber pushed the door open and came in.
Betty, who was dozing off, suddenly woke up. She stood up straight, but after seeing who it was, she yawned and relaxed her body.
Gwen looked up at the half-elf lady who pushed the door open and could not help but smile. "… It's really cold."
"… Huh?" Before Amber could open her mouth, she heard this sentence and was momentarily stunned. "Why did you suddenly say this?"
Gwen pointed at the window. "Even you don't use the window in this season."
When Amber heard this, she immediately put her hands on her hips and glared. "Nonsense! It's such a cold and windy day. I climbed up your second-floor window despite the wind and snow, and even took the risk of being locked out by you. I'm not crazy! "
As she spoke, she saw the paper ball on Gwen's desk. As everyone knew, Amber was a very curious species, so she couldn't help but come closer. After judging from Gwen's eyes that it was not a secret, she casually opened the paper ball, only to see that it was just a strange picture.
"What is this place? The Kingdom of Gondor? Is the sun too small … "Amber blinked." What a strange architectural style, and it looks quite nice … But judging from the architectural style, it shouldn't be in the north, right? Where are you going to promote it? "
"It's just a casual drawing, just think of it as my imagination." Gwen flicked the paper in Amber's hand with his finger, and the drawing of the otherworldly scenery silently turned into dust. "Let's not talk about this for now. What's the situation?"
"Hey, don't destroy it, it's a pity …" Amber first subconsciously called out, then pursed her lips. "It's not a big deal, but there's news recently that Typhon's border troops have begun to equip them with arcanotech vehicles … It's faster than we expected."
Hearing Amber's words, Gwen gently pinched his chin. After a moment of pondering, he just smiled slightly. "It will be like this sooner or later, it's the general trend. Inform Changfeng Stronghold to maintain vigilance. "
"Understood. Also, Heti asked me to remind you when we came here. "Amber continued." Imperial College will be open for use next month, and students from all over the country will be arriving at the end of this month. Have you set the specific opening time? "
"Imperial College … This matter is finally in place." Gwen said and nodded. "The opening day will be on the first day of rest next month, and the rest of the schedule will not change."
"Okay, I'll keep it in mind."
Gwen nodded and paused for a moment before asking casually, "By the way, what's Bard doing now?"
"He's working as a researcher and special consultant in the Druil Research Institute of Thorin's giant tree. According to the report from the surveillance team, he's doing well. He actively cooperated with various operations and assisted the staff there to transfer a large number of dangerous samples out of the underground palace. "Amber reported." Now that the transfer of the dangerous samples has basically been completed, Bard's next job is to cooperate with Druil and the scholars to study the photosynthesis of Thorin's giant tree in winter. They hope this part of the research can help improve crops. "
"Well, very good." Gwen nodded and asked again, "What's Bertilla doing?"
"Photosynthesis."
Gwen: "… Huh?"
Amber could not help but roll her eyes. "What else do you expect her to do?"
Gwen was startled for a second and covered his forehead with his hand. "… That's true. After all, she's a plant. Usually she …"
While sighing, a strange wave from the depths of Gwen's mind suddenly appeared and stopped the latter half of his sentence.
Amber looked at him curiously from across the table. "What's wrong?"
"Wait a minute. Daniel seems to be looking for me." Gwen waved his hand. "You watch over me. I need to meditate. Betty, go to the door. Don't let anyone in. "
Amber nodded and the little maid ran out of the door. Gwen did not waste any more time. He quickly focused his mind and sneaked his consciousness into the level of the mental network.
After a brief moment of dizziness and the illusion of spatial displacement, the scene before his eyes had turned into the endless and calm blue sky of the Origin Dimension. Huge geometric patterns and gear-like structures were quietly operating in the sky, and on the vast surface of the windless and rippling water, there were metal platforms erected. But unlike when this dimension was just born, the metal platforms were no longer empty, but were furnished with various experimental devices, forming a non-interfering experimental environment.
There were flashes of light on the metal platforms in the distance. Apparently, at this moment, a group was connecting to this cyberspace through immersion pods and conducting some experiments.
The open area in the center of the Dimension of Origin was never disturbed by the experimental environment. There was still a white round table here, and around the round table was a circle of empty chairs. Daniel was standing in front of one of the chairs. When he saw Gwen, the old mage immediately bowed respectfully. "My Lord, I'm sorry to disturb you."
"Don't stand on ceremony." Gwen waved his hand and sat down on his own high-back chair. "What happened?"
Daniel immediately replied, "My Lord, there are some abnormalities in the mental network recently. I think it is necessary to report to you."
"Oh?" Gwen raised his eyelids. "Tell me in detail."
"Here's the thing …"
Daniel told Hao Ren about the rumors that had appeared in the Eternal's mental network recently. He also told Hao Ren about the various clues that he had found through his own connections and forces. He did not dare to hide anything from Hao Ren.
"… Basically, these are the anomalies that have appeared in the mental network recently. The Supreme Bishops have said that these are all rumors, and my investigation has not found any evidence for the above anomalies. But judging from the frequency and range of 'eyewitness reports', plus the information I have gathered from the bishops, I'm afraid the situation is not as simple as it seems.
"I'm afraid that there are some problems with the mental network. The stability of some virtual spaces is declining. Some of the Eternal's believers who have been connected to the network for a long time should also be in trouble. I found some hidden distress messages in the deep database, but for some reason, when I found the believers who had sent the message for help, they knew nothing about these things.
"Three areas at the edge of the City of Dreams have been sealed off recently. The Highest Bishops said that they were carrying out data reconstruction and necessary maintenance … This is a very normal operation. It's not the first time that the border areas have been temporarily sealed off, but it's inevitable that this kind of thing happened at this time."
Daniel recounted the information he had gathered, and the more Gawain listened, the more his brows furrowed.
The abnormality was very obvious. Perhaps the ordinary believers were still deceived by the words of the Supreme Bishops and the Eternal Pope. But as a bishop, Daniel's information was enough to confirm that there was indeed a problem with the mental network.
There was a flaw in its operation, but … what was the reason?
Gwen instinctively looked at the Origin Space around him, and an inexplicable thought came to his mind. He could not help but have a strange expression on his face.
The Origin Space was secretly opened up from the bottom of the mental network. He borrowed the computing power of the Eternal Sleeper and borrowed the flow of the mental network. Recently, due to the establishment of several new project teams at the Arcanotech Research Institute, the frequency of the Origin Space's use seemed to be increasing …
Bloody hell, I'm afraid I've pulled the wool too hard and almost killed the sheep …
Daniel could not guess what kind of train was running in the mind of the powerful extraterritorial wanderer at this time. He was just a little nervous because of Gwen's sudden silence. "My Lord?"
Gwen woke up from his contemplation and looked at Daniel. "Do you think … the abnormality of the mental network has something to do with the Origin Space?"
"… My Lord, to be honest, I also suspected this direction." Daniel thought seriously for a moment before he bowed his head and replied. "After all, the Origin Space and the mental network are closely related, and it has been carrying out several large-scale projects recently, drawing a huge amount of computing power from the network. But after careful examination, I think the possibility of the Origin Space causing the mental network to malfunction is very low."
"Oh?"
"The computing power drawn from the mental network by the Origin Space belongs to the 'redundant' part. In other words, it is the part of the computing power that is outside the main range of the mental network and does not affect the overall operation of the network," Daniel explained. "The original way of network resource management designed by the Eternal Sleepers was very simple and crude, and there was a lot of computing power wasted. After I reconstructed their management mechanism, this part of the computing power that was originally wasted was hidden by me and dedicated to maintaining the Origin Space. So in theory, no matter how the Origin Space expands and develops, it will not affect the main network …"
"Hmm …" Gawain rubbed his chin and muttered, "In that case, the abnormal fluctuations of the mental network won't affect the Origin Space?"
"In theory, yes, but we'd better strengthen the monitoring of the Origin Space in the near future." Daniel nodded. "After all, we haven't found out the cause of those anomalies in the main network. If there is a hidden danger in the basic structure of the 'mental network,' then even if the Origin Space and the main network are isolated, it is hard to guarantee that there won't be any problems."
"Will the researchers working in the Origin Lab be in danger?" Gwen asked the question he was most worried about at the moment.
"Not at the moment." Daniel had obviously thought about this issue, and he answered quickly. "Those abnormal connectors in the mental network have one thing in common: they maintain a long-term connection and have undergone deep brain nerve modification. It is almost impossible for them to completely disconnect from the network. And they often go into deep immersion, and the connection between the mind and the network is too close. Our researchers in the Origin Lab are connected to the network through immersion pods. There is a layer of protection from the real world, and there is no deep immersion. At the same time, they also strictly implement the work time system set by you and will not maintain a long-term connection. Their safety is guaranteed."
Gwen was a little relieved. "That's good … but you should still be vigilant. I will remind my researchers to pay special attention to their mental state when they are online. You continue to pay attention to any abnormalities in the mental network. "
Daniel immediately bowed his head. "Yes, my Lord."
Gawain exhaled and raised his head to look at the vast and boundless sky above him.
The huge geometric structure and symbols were still running in the clear sky, and the invisible data wall blocked the connection between this secret space and the main network. Standing between the vast sky and water of the Origin Space, the visitors here would not sense that there was another larger network running in sync with this space.
But after Gawain unlocked a higher level of authority, he was able to see more.
He could see that a larger network world existed in parallel with the Origin Space, and a magnificent city of dreams covered the sky above this space. Countless light spots were flying and drifting in the void. Those were the disciples of the Eternal Sleep, who acted as the computing nodes, and those were the residents of this network world.
Below his feet, below the vast and boundless "surface of the water", there were even more chaotic and complicated streams of light. It was the deeper foundation of the mental network, the darkest and deepest "abyss" of the network in the virtual world that took hundreds of years to build.
He frowned.
It seems that this sheep was not killed by me …
Then why did it suddenly become like this?
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