When the two archbishops, Yuri and Magnum, regained consciousness, Gwen stopped communicating directly with Daniel and turned back into a quiet and harmless extraterritorial wanderer.
From a certain point of view, Hao Ren felt that he, the 'outsider' who had been acting with the Eternal Sleepers from beginning to end, was the most terrifying element in this strange place …
On the other hand, Daniel learned from Archbishop Yuri about his experience when he recalibrated his mind.
"You said … you saw the projection of the Narrator in the depths of your memory?" Daniel's expression was particularly serious as he stared into Yuri's eyes. "And the part of your memory that symbolizes the 'hidden self' has begun to praise the Narrator?"
Archbishop Yuri nodded gloomily. Magnum, who was next to him, also agreed. "I also encountered a similar situation. Damn it, I went back to a few decades ago when I was still a priest in the Church of the God of War. The church was full of people, and suddenly, everyone began to pray to the Narrator … I swear, from the time I gave up the faith of the God of War and became the Mentor of Nightmares until now, the most terrible nightmare I have ever weaved was at this level!"
Gwen listened to the two archbishops talk about their experiences and realized that the two of them should be priests of the Eternal Sleepers who had 'transformed' halfway. One of them used to be a noble in Typhon, and the other used to be a priest in the Church of the God of War. But it was clear that they had completely broken with their past, and through their own strength and long-term loyalty, they had risen to the top of the Eternal Sleepers.
This was very similar to Daniel's experience. Before becoming a dark priest, he was a high-ranking mage who left the Typhon Guild of Mages, and also 'transformed' halfway into an Eternal Sleeper.
"Now I have to confirm one thing." Daniel stared at the two archbishops, Yuri and Magnum. "Have you been corrupted by the Narrator?"
Yuri and Magnum looked at each other, and neither of them showed any objection.
In the depths of their memories, at the bottom of their subconscious, they had personally experienced the weird corruption of the "Narrator from above". They would not underestimate the power that human beings could not understand at all, nor would they blindly trust their own judgment about their own situation.
After all, if the corruption came from their own subconscious, then a person would not be able to realize that they had been corrupted.
Daniel, on the other hand, was the security manager of the mental network. He had high attainments in the fields of mental warning and pollution protection. It was very reasonable for the archbishop to conduct the inspection.
But before that, Archbishop Yuri first asked a question. "Archbishop Daniel, how are you not affected by the abnormal environment here?"
Daniel's face did not change of expression. He had already's of view of the Eternal Sleeof the mind's mind to's mind's eye to eye.
"As a security director, I have a habit of not fully immersing my mind in any level of consciousness. During this exploration, I also kept a part of my thought threads in the shallower level of consciousness.
"When the town changed, the thought I left outside noticed the abnormality and woke up on its own."
Daniel was not just spouting nonsense. What he said was an effective defense plan that he had come up with when he was talking to Gawain about the strange situation in the town. The only thing he lied about in front of the two archbishops was that he actually did not have such a unique habit, and he did not do any "thinking assignment" in this exploration.
But after this trip back … perhaps he really should develop such a "habit."
After all, the mental network was no longer safe. Before completely eliminating the threat of the Narrator, he, as the security director who often dealt with network pollution, had to protect himself.
The two archbishops, Yuri and Magnum, did not seem to doubt Daniel's words. They nodded. The loud-mouthed Magnum then asked, "How are you going to check if we are contaminated by the Narrator?"
As he spoke, the short archbishop of the Eternal Sleepers could not help but look down at himself. He sounded quite dissatisfied. "In this damn place, I still have to act like this …"
"Our virtual disguise doesn't seem to work here." Archbishop Yuri glanced at Magnum. "You should accept your real appearance. Indulging in your virtual disguise is not what an archbishop should do."
"I know, I know … You talk too much!"
Daniel did not pay attention to the conversation between his two colleagues. He just nodded and answered Magnum's question. "It's easy to check if you are contaminated, but you need to cooperate. Open your mind and let me check your surface memory. Don't worry, I only need to check the surface to confirm if there is any belief of the Narrator … "
He was hoping to take this opportunity to reasonably examine the superficial memories of the two archbishops to gather some information. If he only examined the superficial memories, it would not be too sensitive and offensive, but he still needed a reasonable reason, and this seemed to be a very good opportunity.
The two archbishops would not refuse to "eliminate the contamination of the Narrator" as the reason.
Gwen also showed a faint smile, apparently quite satisfied with Daniel's performance.
However, things did not develop as Gwen and Daniel expected.
Before Daniel's voice died away, and before Yuri and Magnum could answer, a voice suddenly came from the nearby street. It was Selena Geerfen's voice.
"There's no need to confirm, Archbishop Daniel. If they were contaminated by the Narrator, they would have become residents of this town."
Daniel's expression almost changed, but in the end, he remained calm and turned in the direction of the voice. Yuri and Magnum also turned their heads curiously and saw a lantern appear at the mouth of the alley not far away.
Selena Geerfen was not affected by the strange environment here?!
With a sudden question in his mind, Gwen also turned his gaze with a little surprise and saw a figure holding a lantern walking out of the alley.
He saw Patty.
She was the daughter of Countess Glen, the child who ran in the City of Dreams, and the one who called Gwen "Uncle Sersi" in the Dream World.
Just as Gwen remembered, she was wearing a pure white dress with light brown hair draped behind her back. Her eyes were big, and she had healthy limbs in the Dream World. But she had a completely different expression from Gwen's memory. Her expression was calm, tranquil, with a steadiness that did not match her age, and there was a trace of maturity in the depths of her eyes.
She was holding Selena Geerfen's lantern in her hand, and behind her were four high-ranking priests wearing owl masks. She was walking towards them unhurriedly.
Gwen blinked, calmed down from the shock of the explosion, and realized one thing.
What he saw was not Patty, but Selena Geerfen, who was wearing Patty's face.
In this "Town After the Bell," everyone's virtual disguise in the mental network was removed, and they showed their true appearance in the real world. Then why did Selena Geerfen, who had lost her body in the real world and lived in the network with ideology, show the appearance of Patty Glen?
Was Patty Glen Selena Geerfen in disguise? Or …
In a short moment, Gwen thought of countless clues. A large amount of fragmented information emerged like an explosion and was finally connected into a whole. He thought of Patty Glen's crown, the scene where Selena Geerfen took Patty Glen to stroll and play on the avenue in the City of Dreams, and even the lantern that appeared inexplicably in the Kant area. He thought of the traces of the Eternal Sleepers around Cecil before the Southern Unification War …
Finally, he thought of the matter he was recently investigating. It was a paragraph he saw in Selena Geerfen's information last time:
Selena Geerfen, Archbishop (dead), female, soul.
Current location: Ansu/Amended/Cecil Empire – Southern Territory.
So that's how it is.
Gwen breathed a sigh of relief. Many thoughts slowly settled in his mind. He was not in a hurry to make any conclusions about Selena Geerfen or Patty's state, but he already had a few more reliable guesses in his mind. And while he was thinking, Selena … Selena, who had the appearance of Patty, also came to Daniel and the others.
Gwen's concealment effect was still in effect. Except for Daniel, none of the Eternal Sleepers at the scene knew that there was a spectator standing quietly beside them.
Daniel and the other two saw Selena holding a lantern. They did not hide their surprise. Obviously, it was not only the first time Daniel saw Selena, but also the first time Yuri and Magnum, the two archbishops, saw the "Saintess of Dreams" like this. Magnum was the first to speak. "Archbishop Selena, you are …"
"Haven't you also restored your true form?" Selena did not wait for Magnum to finish and responded indifferently.
Her attitude was very calm and steady, and her voice was also that of an adult. However, all of this seemed particularly strange when placed on a thirteen or fourteen year old girl.
In fact, Patty in the real world should be almost 15 years old this year. But due to the effects of injury, she was always much thinner than her peers. This also affected her image in the mental network, and indirectly reflected in Selena Geerfen's "true form."
"True form …" Daniel subconsciously muttered, and it took a lot of effort for him to not look too strange.
"… My situation is very complicated. You don't have to delve into it." Selena shook her head, then looked up, and her eyes fell on Yuri and Archbishop Magnum. "You are very lucky. You only came into contact with the erosion of the upper narrators, but not contaminated."
"You don't seem to be affected either?" Yuri looked at Selena and the few owl priests behind Selena in confusion. "How did you do it?"
Selena glanced at Yuri and looked down at her young body at the moment. There was a sudden self-deprecating look in her eyes. "The contamination of the upper narrators will erode the deep consciousness. As a patchwork soul, a mind operating in the network, I do not have a deep consciousness.
"It is also because of this particularity that I not only resisted the erosion of the town, but also had the opportunity to have the opportunity to protect other infected compatriots."
As Selena spoke, she looked back at the four masked high-ranking priests behind her, sighed, and shook her head.
"Unfortunately, I was one step too late. The deep consciousness of two people has been contaminated, and they have become believers of the upper narrators. They have become part of this town. With my ability, I can no longer find them."
The strangeness and danger of the phantom town gave Daniel and others a chill.
While Selina was speaking, Gawain carefully observed her and the few Owl High Priests behind her, especially the latter. During his careful observation, he didn't find any dissonance from them being replaced by the higher-ups. While he felt slightly relieved, he didn't dare to completely relax.
He couldn't help but sigh. The "anomaly" brewing in Sandbox No. 1 was really strange and dangerous, especially when it directly threatened one's mind. It was impossible to guard against it, and he would never dare to let his guard down. Even though he seemed to be unaffected, he didn't dare to let his guard down at all when facing the higher-ups and their related influences!
"Archbishop Selena, we are now trapped in this' town after the bell ', and we can't contact the monitoring team behind us," Yuri did not show the slightest sign of relief after confirming that the Archbishop Selena in front of him was indeed her. Instead, he reported the current terrible situation. "And we can't perceive the boundary of reality, so we can't directly leave the network. The situation is not optimistic."
"I don't need to perceive the boundary of reality, but I can feel that there is a distorted barrier between this town and the normal network. It should be the barrier that is preventing us from leaving," Selena said in a low voice. Although this calm voice sounded a little out of place for a little girl to pretend to be an adult, no one on the scene cared about this. "I guess the key to this distorted barrier is in the center of the town, where the church stands …"
"It makes sense," Daniel showed a look of realization. "In the first exploration, the church appeared after the bell, and this is the town after the bell! We didn't find the church 'outside,' but it may be here! "
"Let's go," Selena sighed softly. "The church is not far away, but we have wasted a lot of time."
As her voice trailed off, she had already turned around, held the lantern in her hand, and walked in the direction of the town square.
The Eternal Sleepers, who had lost two members, stepped forward to follow her. Gwen followed behind silently and quietly glanced at Selena.
… Her short legs are moving pretty fast, he could not help but think.
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