Gwen had been paying attention to Sandbox No.1 for a long time and was curious about where its entrance was. According to the previous investigation, while Sandbox No.1 was an independent mental network, it still had an entrance and exit connected to the main network. However, Gwen and Daniel had scanned the entire mental network and did not find where the entrance and exit was.
Now, he finally knew why no one knew about this mysterious entrance and exit.
After deciding to start the operation, the archbishops in the Golden Council Hall left their seats one after another. Although Gawain did not understand why, he also stood up. Then, he saw that everyone took a step back. On the surface of the golden round table that was painted with many mysterious runes, circles of light suddenly rippled out from between the real and the illusory.
The starlight amalgamation that was constantly expanding and shrinking slowly descended from the sky, coming into contact with the center of the round table like some kind of viscous liquid. In the next second, the rippling illusory radiance was suddenly dyed with layers of starlight, before rapidly expanding to the surface of the round table like a halo.
A vortex-like hole formed in the starlight. Floating clouds and dust, as well as hazy mountains and rivers, were faintly visible in the vortex.
As the entrance opened, the round table sank to the same height as the ground. It had really become a portal embedded in the ground.
The round table in the Golden Council Hall was the entrance to Sandbox No.1, and Meghul III was the "key" to open the entrance.
"… This is a bit unexpected." Gwen stood beside the vortex-like entrance, looking down at the hazy clouds and dust inside, and said with a smile, "So, is Sandbox No.1 below? We can just walk in? "
"It's easy to enter Sandbox No.1, but we are not sure what will happen after we go in. When the expedition team went in last time, many strange changes had happened in it, proving that Sandbox No.1 has been evolving on its own without monitoring." Meghul III floated in the air again and said in a weaker voice. "Extraterrestrial wanderer … Although my instructions may seem redundant to you, please remember — be careful."
"I will keep that in mind."
Gwen nodded, and Selena Geerfen, who was beside him, had already stepped into the vortex entrance.
Gawain, Yuri, and Magnan followed closely behind him and stepped inside.
The four figures quickly disappeared into the depths of the whirlpool. When the swirling clouds closed again, the rippling starlight around the entrance immediately wriggled and returned to its original state. The round table inlaid on the ground also returned to its original state.
The hall was silent for two seconds before Meghul III's voice broke the silence. "Everyone, it's time to do what we have to do.
"Concentrate all the remaining computing power on Sandbox No.1 and the security system. Shut down all unnecessary functions of the network and … close the City of Dreams."
The archbishops responded in unison. "Yes! His Holiness! "
Silhouettes disappeared from the golden meeting hall one after another. Following the disappearance of each silhouette, the light in the golden meeting hall seemed to dim a little.
Outside the Golden Council Hall, the entire City of Dreams was also changing.
The clear and bright sky suddenly lost its color. Gray and white boundless chaos shrouded the entire world. Those splendid palaces, elegant towers, and exotic plants all turned into nothingness in a field of scattered light spots. Black and white grids covered the land of the city. Then, even the black and white grids were swallowed up by the endless fog.
The city of dreams, which had once been splendid and created by human imagination, was reduced to the most chaotic initial dream in only a few seconds. In the boundless darkness that was illuminated only by the mist and the light of chaos, only the "Golden Council Hall", which had been reduced to only one hall, was still standing on the ground.
In the dimmed hall, the wriggling starlight assembly quieted down and floated quietly in the air, as if it was thinking, as if it was recalling …
…
In the underground palace of the Eternal Sleepers in the real world, the clerics in black or white robes had returned to the real world. While maintaining the most basic connection with the mental network and providing their surplus computing power, they were running around the palace.
"Dream control begins! Dream control begins! "
Some clerics were issuing orders loudly, some were checking every restriction in the palace, and some were heading to the surface to carry out the dream monitoring of the entire 'Olandale' area.
Even the lowest level of the underground palace could hear the noise in the palace. 'Spiritsong' Venti, who was at the lowest level of the containment area but had been downgraded due to the easing of the pollution symptoms, sensed the change in the atmosphere in the corridor outside. She could not help but look up and came behind the iron door with complicated runes. She asked gently, "Mr. Guard, what's going on outside?"
"Dream control, Archbishop Venti." The muffled voice of the guard came from outside. It seemed to be covered by a thick helmet. "Please wait patiently. Do not enter the dream."
"… I really hope I can help."
"Please stay awake tonight. This is the greatest help you can give everyone."
"You're right, Mr. Guard."
Venti said softly. She returned to her bed and sat quietly on it.
On the wall opposite her, a set of complicated symbols were painted with glittering crystal dust. The symbols were made up of many curved lines and circles, like the symbol of some kind of deep sea animal, with a deep and mysterious meaning.
Looking at the symbols, Venti's mind quickly became clear and rational. The tension and depression from before dissipated by more than half.
I'm just a little greedy. I want to dig up big squid …
…
Gawain felt that he was walking on a slope that extended downwards into the depths of the endless yellow sand and clouds. After walking for an unknown period of time, he suddenly felt that the strange atmosphere around him, which made it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion, was suddenly swept away. The clouds dispersed, and the view before him suddenly became clear.
A city standing in the yellow sand appeared in front of him, Selena, and the rest.
The city had a khaki-colored outer wall. The towering walls were clearly defined, and the arrow towers and watchtowers looked extraordinary under the blue sky. But no guards could be seen on the walls or in front of the city gate.
At the same time, a strange rotten smell also drifted into Gwen's nostrils.
"This is the first city you can see when you enter Sandbox No. 1, the city-state of Nim Sanjo. It is also the starting point of civilization in the sandbox world," Selena said in a low voice. "This desert was originally a grassland, at least it was set that way in the early days of the sandbox. But later, with the evolution of history and climate change, this place was eroded by the desert, but it is still a transportation hub and prosperous business."
"Now it's an empty city," Yuri continued. "The exploration team that entered last time reported that this city and the surrounding villages were empty. In addition, they were also attacked when they spent the night in this city. We have to be more careful. "
"There's a stench here," Magnum muttered with a frown. "It seems like something is rotten."
"The exploration team also reported this strange phenomenon before," Selena nodded. "Nim Sanjo and the surrounding villages and towns are full of this strange rotten smell. Although it is not very strong, it is very widespread. The exploration team did not find the source of the smell, but the smell itself does not seem to be harmful. "
Gwen sniffed and said casually, "Could it be that the missing sandbox residents are in a place we can't see, or slowly rotting in a state we can't see?"
When Yuri heard Gwen's words, his face could not help but twitch. Magnum, who was next to him, subconsciously looked around the vast and empty desert and frowned. "This is really … Are all extraterrestrial wanderers as scary as you?"
"Just call me Gwen. It may help to relax," Gwen smiled and glanced at Magnum. Then, without waiting for the latter to answer, he stepped toward the entrance of the city. "Don't waste time. We only have 'ten days'."
Magnum and the others immediately followed, while Gwen quietly activated the settings in the depths of his consciousness as he tried to communicate with the perceptual runes set in the real world around him.
He vaguely felt the runes, and with the help of the runes, he sensed the existence of Amber and Tyre.
But the feeling was very, very strange, with a strange feeling of difficulty and dullness, as if he was observing an extremely slow world through a serious delay.
Is this the effect of 'time iteration'?
Gwen was deep in thought.
Ten times the time iteration had already made it so that he could only vaguely perceive reality, and it was almost impossible for him to communicate with the real world. Under the time iteration of a thousand times or even higher, the residents in Sandbox No. 1 obviously couldn't connect with the real world at all.
Even if there was an occasional exchange of information, they could only receive very strange, distorted and blurry reality information.
This sandbox was like an isolated island …
With this in mind, Gwen stepped into the city surrounded by yellow sand with his three temporary companions.
Buildings of khaki or grayish-white color stood on both sides of the street, most of them with flat roofs and curved window frames. Gaudy curtains of red or yellow hung between the higher buildings and stretched across the street, dancing in the dry wind.
"This is a completely different style from the Phantom Town we saw before …" Magnum could not help but say.
Selena opened her mouth and explained to Gwen, "Sandbox No. 1 is very large. In addition to the city of Nim Sanjo in the desert area, there is also Secluded Valley City in the forest area, Maple Creek City on the edge of the swamp, and different cities and kingdoms … This place has developed for thousands of years under the time acceleration, and millions of virtual personalities have multiplied and lived here. The starting point of the sandbox civilization is set in the Iron Age, which is enough for the residents to expand their 'world' to a large extent."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "The starting point of the civilization is set in the Iron Age?"
"Yes." Selina nodded. "If we set it directly in the primitive era, it will take a long time for the sandbox to develop into a real civilization, and there will be too many uncertainties in the process. Even if we use time iteration to accelerate the process, the entire experiment will take a long time. Therefore, we set a set of basic data for each sandbox, which includes the complete history from the primitive era to the Iron Age, as well as archaeological findings that can be used as evidence. This can allow the virtual and physical residents in the sandbox to enter the civilization deduction phase faster."
"… This is a big project."
Selena seemed to have heard something from Gwen's tone. She could not help but be curious. "Is there a problem?"
"No … I can't think of any problem for the time being." Gwen shook his head. "I just admire your patience and perseverance in writing this thing."
Selena was not sure if it was a compliment or sarcasm, but just as she was about to say something, a building appeared in front of her and interrupted her.
A building that was obviously taller and more majestic than the surrounding buildings, surrounded by dozens of pale golden sculptural columns and stone statues, appeared at the end of the sand-covered street.
"Is that a temple?" Gwen looked into the distance and asked casually.
"It is consistent with the outline of the building reported by the expedition team." Yuri nodded. "It should be the temple of Nim Sanjo."
Gwen said thoughtfully, "It has a completely different style from the church in Phantom Town."
"But the same 'god' is being worshipped inside."
Selena said softly.
They believe in the same god … but due to the differences in regional culture, temples of different styles were built.
This once again made Gwen realize the power of Sandbox No. 1 in terms of "realism" and how the civilization in the sandbox developed step by step.
While they were thinking, they had already arrived near the temple.
At the entrance of the temple facing the street, Gwen saw the familiar relief sculpture. It was carved on a huge stone and stood in the square in front of the temple:
A gigantic palm covered the symbolic sky above the land — this was the symbol of the Narrator of the Upper Realm.
Gwen glanced at the relief sculpture that symbolized the upper narrators, stepped over the boulder, and prepared to enter the temple.
But at the entrance of the temple, his footsteps suddenly stopped.
He stared at a stone pillar at the entrance of the temple.
On the surface of the stone pillar, there was a line of words deeply engraved. The lines of the words were deep, but the handwriting was messy and distorted. The depths of each line of words seemed to be soaked in blood and were suffused with a dark red color. Just looking at it seemed to convey infinite despair and madness. It only had one sentence —
God is dead.
(Oh my god!!)
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