Gwen could not have been more shocked.
But he still maintained his concealment effect in the mental network and did not show his astonishment.
He just glanced at Selena Geerfen again and confirmed the relevant information of the other party through the network backend.
His first reaction was that the address recognition function was faulty. After all, the system had just been completed, and there were still many things that needed to be debugged. But he also knew that it was the worst idea to blame the problem on a system failure.
Selena Geerfen was very likely to be in Cecil, lurking somewhere in the south!
And in the form of a soul.
His eyes lingered on those words for a long time.
Archbishop (dead), soul …
This part of the content also touched him, but it was not strong. After all, Selena was just an old friend in Gwen Cecil's memory, and an old friend from seven hundred years ago. It was not surprising that a human being who had existed for so long could become in any state. Not to mention, Gwen had seen a person who could perform photosynthesis with his own eyes. He was quite receptive in this regard.
What he was more concerned about was what kind of state Selena Geerfen, who had "survived" in the form of a soul, was hiding in the south at the moment.
While he was thinking, the conversation between Daniel and the others was coming to an end.
"… That's the situation. This time, the new contaminated area is still in the 'Imaginary Area' outside the city. We temporarily call it 'Phantom Town,'" the archbishop named Yuri said. "His Holiness the Pope thinks that the distorted and strange state presented in this area is very special, so he ordered not to reset it for the time being. Instead, he wants to conduct a period of investigation first."
Selena also nodded. "That area has been covered. It will not be noticed by the residents of the City of Dreams. Archbishop Daniel, this is the first time you have entered the contaminated area. It is mainly to familiarize yourself with the environment and the situation. Please pay attention to this. "
"I understand, Archbishop Selena," Daniel replied seriously. "I'm ready."
"Very well, let's set off now." Archbishop Yuri tilted his head and glanced at the clock that appeared in the air. At the same time, layers of rune rings appeared beneath his feet, and his figure began to turn illusory. "Everyone, enter the teleportation area. The transfer will begin in 15 seconds."
Three archbishops and three senior priests wearing owl masks stood within the circle of runes. Gwen silently stood in the middle of them. Everyone was an elbow's length away from him, but no one noticed anything unusual.
As the light flickered, the scenery around everyone changed rapidly.
Gwen felt that he had passed through a 'tunnel' full of chaotic fog. The magnificent city of dreams flashed across the chaotic barrier around the tunnel. When the surroundings stabilized, he was already standing in the middle of a small town.
Did the 'tunnel' just now symbolize the 'unmarked port' in the mental network?
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Gwen turned his attention to the dilapidated town in front of him.
Gloomy and chaotic clouds covered the sky, shrouding everything in sight. Under the sky, there were rows of old houses. The style of those houses was different from that of the real world. They had black slanted or pointed roofs, the outer walls were mottled and faded, and there was always a strange picture painted on one of the walls: a hand that seemed to symbolize some kind of great power covered the sky and the earth below.
The town was silent as if it had been abandoned for a hundred years. Neatly arranged iron-black lampposts were lined up on both sides of the road. Between the lampposts and the stone road, weeds and vines were growing.
Gawain raised his head and looked into the distance, but he couldn't see the scene outside the town. He could only see a hazy fog billowing at the end of his line of sight. The fog seemed to form a wall, isolating the entire town.
Is this the so-called 'contaminated area'?
Although it is deserted and abandoned, in terms of realism, this is a place where it is difficult to distinguish reality from illusion, just like the city of dreams. But why is there no one here?
According to Daniel, such contaminated areas should have human activities. In other words, in the cyberspace supported by the power of the mind, it was precisely because there were mental activities and 'people' observing that an area could appear.
What is going on with this empty town?
While Gwen was thinking, the archbishop named Yuri also said, "This place is not the same as the previous overflow areas. The atmosphere here is weird and depressing, but the scene is logical. There are no twisted and stacked buildings, no colorless ground, and no gaps in the sky."
"This is one of the reasons why His Holiness the Pope thinks this place is special and needs us to investigate carefully," Selena Geer nodded. "All the previous overflow areas showed stacking, fading, hollowing, and curling phenomena that did not conform to the logic of reality at all. It is very much like the distortion and loss of information in the process of the image being projected to the outside world. But this phantom town … except for the fact that it is empty, the physical structure of the town itself is complete and orderly."
Gwen listened and analyzed the situation. The previous overflow area sounded a bit like a virtual scene where the rendering failed and encountered a model bug. Was it a sign of the insufficient computing power of the mental network?
"It's very quiet here, and there's no one on the street," Daniel said, coincidentally voicing Gawain's earlier question. "I remember you told me before that you can see 'residents' moving around in the overflow area. Regardless of whether they appear to be twisted or not, at least the 'residents' themselves exist."
"We also need to investigate and confirm this," Selena Geer said, nodding. "In short, this place is very weird, and it may have broken away from the rules of the mental network. There may be some kind of mind that we can't understand that is affecting and paying attention to this place. Everyone must be careful."
After the reminder, the eternal sleepers raised their vigilance and began to gradually explore this strange 'phantom town.'
They first checked the empty streets and confirmed that there were no signs of living creatures around. Then they confirmed the topographic structure near the streets and roughly grasped the surrounding environment and the distribution of several main entrances and exits.
Throughout the whole process, Gawain had been following them unhurriedly, listening to their conversations, recording maps, and checking the abandoned water wells, street lamps, and other facilities.
After completing the preliminary investigation of the surrounding environment and confirming that there were no dangerous factors, the eternal sleepers naturally turned their attention to the houses on both sides of the road.
In this abandoned town, all the doors and windows of the houses were tightly shut. There was no light or sound coming from the windows. Thick curtains and crisscrossed wooden planks blocked the view of the outside from prying into the house. However, this block became a kind of temptation. Even if people felt strange and dangerous, they couldn't help but want to take a look inside the house.
The eternal sleepers had been treating this town with the greatest caution, so they first checked the streets for dangers. But in any case, in order to complete the investigation, they would have to check the closed houses sooner or later.
The three senior priests in owl masks came to a hut with a closed door. Before they tried to open the door, Selena Geer first shone the lantern in her hand outside the hut, checking for possible abnormal data or hidden minds with malicious intent. Then she nodded and said, "Open the door."
One of the masked priests pushed the door, but the seemingly weak wooden door did not budge.
They began to check the lock on the door to see if there was anything stuck in the wooden door.
Gwen came near them and came to the window of the hut facing the street. The window was nailed with crisscrossed broken wooden boards, and there were wide gaps between the boards. Gwen's gaze fell through the gaps and fell into the house.
It was dark inside, and he could only vaguely see the outline of some furniture. Everything seemed to be shrouded in a thick layer of black gauze.
A series of creaking sounds came from the direction of the door. Gawain turned his head and saw that the three Priests of Eternal Rest in owl masks had successfully opened the tightly shut wooden door. A bright ball of light appeared in one of their hands, while the other two cast a protective spell on themselves. The three of them carefully covered each other as they carefully stepped into the house.
This was the world projected by the mental network. Everything here was the result of mental simulation. The conventional spells in the real world were basically ineffective here. Only the power of the mind could work. The spells used by the three priests of the eternal sleepers, such as illumination and mind protection, should be a kind of simulated 'special effect' used to produce strong mental guidance and suggestion to prevent the caster from losing themselves in the network.
Gwen's mind spun many rules of action in the mental world as he stepped forward and followed the three priests into the hut.
The illumination ball of light emitted a pale light, illuminating the furnishings in the hut. But the light seemed to be affected and suppressed by an unknown force, so it could only spread out a few meters and only illuminate things nearby. Deep inside the hut, everything in every corner was still shrouded in shadows like thick gauze.
Gwen stared at the shadows and felt that there was emptiness in the depths of the shadows. It was as if the unilluminated places were not just darkness, but really nothing existed. He even had some inexplicable associations. He felt that if anyone recklessly stepped into the darkness without light, they would fall directly into nothingness, and their mind would be annihilated in the void of the network.
The three priests in charge of investigating the hut apparently also realized the strangeness of the shadowy areas. They cautiously maintained within the range of the illumination spell, and no one went close to the darkness.
"There is no dust … but there is an air of abandonment …" One of the priests brushed his finger across the square table in the center of the hut. A low voice came from under the owl mask. "It seems to be a phenomenon of 'emotional resonance'."
"It's possible." Another priest nodded. "There is some kind of power that can influence people's thoughts, creating an 'air of abandonment'."
The third priest checked a few other places. "The furniture and utensils are placed in the places where they are used daily. There is still water in the water bottle, and the flowers on the wooden pillars have not withered. The people who lived here seem to have suddenly left not long ago …"
"This should be the data leaked from Sandbox No.1. It is a projection of a town in the sandbox. Judging from the undistorted state of the projection, it is most likely a reconstruction of the situation in Sandbox No.1," the first priest said in a low voice. "Sandbox No.1 … Is this the scene now?"
"At least one town looks like this."
Gwen followed the three priests and followed them to check the situation in the hut, but he did not find any clues. He turned around and left the hut, returning to the street where Selena and the others were.
While the three priests were checking the hut, the three archbishops who stayed outside were not idle. On one hand, they maintained the spiritual defense of the area to prevent malicious minds hidden in the depths of the town from attacking the priests who entered the hut. On the other hand, they were monitoring the movements in the town, paying attention to whether there were any synchronized changes in the town after the three priests entered the hut. In the spiritual world involving the activities of the mind, a similar 'linked reaction' had to be considered.
Gwen heard Selena Geerfen talking to Daniel.
"… This town is not in the blueprint of Sandbox No.1," the woman with the lamp said faintly. "It is not in the subsequent blueprint. It is the history that evolved after Sandbox No.1 went out of control and created this town."
Daniel asked, "Are there other similar 'self-evolving products'?"
"Yes." Selena nodded. "We have observed a mysterious plain, several broken streets, and a mountain of unknown origin. The mountain is floating over the City of Dreams. If His Holiness the Pope had not sensed the anomaly in advance and sealed it in time, it would have been exposed to the ordinary people."
Daniel was a little curious. "… These overflows seem to be around the City of Dreams, but at most, they only affect the peripheral streets and did not directly invade the central area of the City of Dreams?"
"Yes, the City of Dreams is heavily guarded. It is not that easy to invade."
Daniel and Gwen, who was standing beside Selena, looked thoughtful at the same time.
At this moment, a melodious and mysterious bell suddenly rang in the town!
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