Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 860 - 859: Hello, World

After Gawain finished speaking, he fell silent, leaving time for Nariteer and Duvalt to think.

As he himself said, he didn’t want to force the ”god” who had already shed its divinity to become a component of the Narrator Neural Network. Although he could certainly control the other party to do so, and could even use his special powers to dismantle the other’s personality, reset it to become the ”Narrator Core,” this would go against his principles.

He defeated a god, not to become the next ”god” himself.

Of course, he still earnestly hoped Nariteer and Duvalt would agree to his terms. This wasn’t just because he needed them to further research the secrets of the gods, but also because in his plan, the Narrator Neural Network needed a super core like the ”Supreme Narrator” to achieve higher goals.

Nariteer and Duvalt fell silent simultaneously, seemingly communicating in a way others couldn’t perceive. The two factors Gawain presented seemed to have indeed touched these two former gods linked as one; their silence was a manifestation of wavering.

A truly hopeless heart would not waver like this.

Finally, the giant white spider gently swayed its long front legs, with a hint of hesitation and reluctance. The spider’s front half slowly lowered in height, and in a flow of light, a girl wearing a white long dress with white hair cascading to the ground formed and slowly walked down, along the spider’s forelimbs, to stand before Gawain.

”I want to see... the information you mentioned.”

Gawain showed a slight smile: ”Of course.”

...

In a persnapshotual world formed by thousands of network nodes, the newly born sun of less than ten days shines on a seven-day-old prairie, with grass born four days and wildflowers born one day swaying gently in the sunlight and breeze. The Supreme Narrator, reborn twenty-six minutes ago, lies quietly beside a small hill, surrounded by a brilliant curtain of light by the giant spider’s body, as the communication of knowledge and information takes place gradually.

Gawain stands on a nearby highland, with Aunt Heidi, Kamel, Veronica Moen, and Yuri beside him.

”Your Majesty,” Semyr softly breaks the silence, ”Are you sure this is safe?”

”The Supreme Narrator is no longer a god; Nariteer and Duvalt are now merely two powerful network minds, and they are under surveillance by the entire Narrator Network,” Gawain knew everyone who had contact with the Supreme Narrator had concerns similar to Semyr’s, so he responded with patience and understanding, ”I know what you’re worried about, but it’s necessary and safe to proceed like this.”

Yuri couldn’t help but frown: ”Will they one day regain their divinity and power?”

”This is precisely what forms the foundation of our research and the focal point in the new defied plan to combat the gods,” Gawain said, glancing at Veronica Moen and Kamel standing next to him, ”Many of us here have lived through the event. We should all know how the Supreme Narrator came into being.”

Magnan immediately responded: ”It was due to the devout faith of millions of virtual minds in Sandbox One that led to the birth and awakening of the Supreme Narrator...”

”That’s correct. The Supreme Narrator is the spiritual projection of millions of virtual minds—however, these millions of virtual minds are no longer present. If our theoretical model is correct, then without the interference of these spiritual projections, the current Supreme Narrator cannot become a god anymore. If Nariteer and Duvalt operate as ’Network Administrators’ within the Narrator Neural Network, becoming individuals who are public, without mystery, and do not require worship, then there will not be any beliefs directed at them. Even if small groups of ’followers’ occasionally form, they won’t reach the scale and ’purity’ needed to form a god... Moreover, we must monitor and verify this process.”

Gawain spoke slowly, then paused for a few seconds before continuing, ”Additionally, we’ve speculated that the chaos of human collective ideology leads to gods going mad, so we must also simultaneously verify whether a god placed in a ’quiet environment’ still shows symptoms of mental instability without any ideological infection.

”We must determine whether gods are truly driven insane by mortal ideologies.

”Testing with a genuine god or a contaminated divine sample is too hazardous; Nariteer and Duvalt are the safest ’test subjects’ at this stage.

”Though they’ve lost many divine qualities, one thing hasn’t changed—they are an aggregation of numerous ideologies, catalyzed by the fusion of mortal minds and spirits, and this ’aggregate’ trait is our primary research focus at this stage.

”As for the data deviation between divinity-losing gods and fully-formed gods, that’s a domain we’re currently unable to engage with and can only set aside temporarily.”

”Using weak manpower to challenge great power, using finite knowledge to explore the unknown, using relative truths to continuously approach absolute truth,” after Gawain finished speaking, Veronica Moen abruptly broke the silence, gazing at Gawain intensely, ”This indeed is the researcher’s mindset.”

”But the plan itself certainly carries some risk,” Kamel buzzed in response, ”Although, for now, every step seems to have safety assurances, the Supreme Narrator is still a ’god’ that has lost control once. If placed in our newly constructed network, serving as an important node, should—I mean, if, in the event of a loss of control or contamination, what measures will we take?”

”The first layer of insurance: Nariteer and Duvalt’s minds cannot freely transfer across the network. They can only transfer part of their perception and interaction interface, and the Imperial Computing Center is the container of their ’main body,’ which can be physically disconnected at any time;

”The second layer of insurance: All immersion capsule devices are set with a physical fuse insurance upon manufacture, unlike the unrestricted brain connection used previously by the Eternal Sleepers, the mental wave tolerance of the immersion capsule is limited, cutting off once exceeded, and divine-level mental contamination far exceeds this threshold in intensity;

”The third layer of insurance is the Empire’s comprehensive resident management system and the security regulations of various computing centers, in addition to the nationwide magic detection devices. Abnormal personnel and unauthorized magic waves will be detected immediately. Most of the archbishops here are familiar with this—evil cult followers within Cecil’s territory were captured this way;

”The fourth layer of insurance is myself.”

Gawain pointed at his own head as he spoke.

”I haven’t fully ’released’ Nariteer and Duvalt; this serves as the ultimate layer of insurance. Of course, this insurance has a time limit. If I am ’not around’ anymore, then this measure will also become invalid. Thus, the primary preventive measures remain the other three layers.”

”I believe that’s sufficient,” Kamel said seriously, ”Risks cannot be eliminated, only minimized, and your measures have at least reduced the risk to the minimum under current technological conditions.”

The people at the scene slowly nodded in thought, seeming to accept Gawain and Kamel’s explanation, but Veronica Moen suddenly broke the silence: ”I have one more question,”

Gawain looked at the former princess (and the princess from the dynasty before): ”Speak.”

”Not considering the insurance measures, our experimental content... Does Nariteer and Duvalt know?”

”Understood,” Gawain said without hesitation, ”the experiment contents are also included in the information given to them. This is a transparent contract, everything is on the table.”

The people at the scene, such as Yuri, were initially taken aback, then showed expressions of surprise and unexpectedness. They clearly didn’t expect Gawain to directly disclose the ”experiment contents” that seemed so provocative to the ”Supreme Narrator.” However, Veronica, holding the platinum scepter and maintaining a calm expression, looked at Gawain silently for a few seconds and then suddenly smiled faintly.

”Then I’m relieved.”

”Many uncontrolled, even catastrophic experimental disasters initially stem from a little concealment in the contract,” Gawain smiled as well, ”the more things are concealed, the greater the backlash when exposed. Historical experience tells us that anything that is feared to be exposed will definitely be exposed—this is especially fatal in a long-term experiment with dangerous test subjects.

”So it’s better to put out the contents that could lead to backlash. Either don’t sign or sign with peace of mind.”

Just as Gawain finished speaking, the wind on the plain suddenly shifted slightly.

Everyone instinctively stopped talking, and many gazes were cast toward the distance simultaneously.

The brilliant light curtain finally closed in.

A giant white spider, carrying Nariteer and Duvalt, slowly approached Gawain on the hill.

The Eternal Sleepers watched this scene with a mix of nervous and expectant emotions; even Aunt Heidi couldn’t help but take a gentle breath. Only Gawain and Veronica remained consistently calm, with faint smiles, quietly awaiting Nariteer and Duvalt’s reply.

”We agree,” Duvalt said in a calm voice, ”we agree to everything in the contract—as long as you can fulfill all promises in the contract.”

”What moved us was not just your terms, but also the honesty you displayed in the contract,” Nariteer said softly, ”luckily, we can accept all of it.”

Only then did Gawain exhale gently, his lips slowly curling upward.

”Well then, are you ready to give a proper greeting to the real world?”

...

In the vast Imperial Computing Center, the precise and advanced Mind Nexus was operating steadily, and maintenance staff were busy in various places.

In the upper floor server rooms, the doors to numerous Immersion Capsules were tightly closed. Thousands who were in a deep connection state—Eternal Sleepers, technicians, volunteers—lay quietly in these connection devices. One of this era’s greatest creations was gradually being perfected and maturing within the mindscape formed by their united minds.

Wearing a white robe casually over her usual dress, Rebecca stood in the vast Hall of Thought, her eyes gleaming as she gazed at this great technical achievement before the humming Mind Nexus.

Jenni stood beside her, while on the other side floated Saint Nicholas Egg.

”I’ve been busy with the aircraft project lately,” Rebecca suddenly said to Jenni beside her, ”I didn’t expect your research center and the mechanical manufacturing facility to silently complete this set of things...”

”The technology from the Eternal Sleepers was already quite mature; the only thing needed was to optimize and reorganize their original magic symbols and ’connect’ them with the Magic Guide Technology’s symbol system, which is precisely the field that the Rune Research Center excels in,” Jenni said with a slightly shy smile, gently tucking her hair behind her ear, ”but ultimately, credit goes to the Grand Artificer—the components used in the Mind Nexus were nearly at the limit of existing processing technology. Without the Grand Artificer personally working on it, who knows how many defective parts would have to be made in the factory before assembling such a Mind Nexus.”

”Anyway... we finally have the Origin Laboratory to use again,” Rebecca said with a hint of excitement, ”With the Origin Laboratory, I can find a way to test the high-altitude aircraft and high-speed aircraft projects proposed by my ancestor—otherwise, I’m crashing experimental machines in the real world all the time, and now, whenever Aunt Heidi sees me, her eyes seem to light up with bloodlust...”

”High-altitude and high-speed aircraft?” Nicholas was a bit curious, ”The Dragon Cavalry just started mass production not long ago, and you’re already developing the next generation of aircraft?”

He was clearly concerned about this—as for him, a new project often meant new orders, and new orders were the greatest source of his interest.

”Development never stops, but the high-altitude and high-speed aircraft required by my ancestor aren’t for practical mass production at this stage—they’re mainly to verify certain things,” Rebecca said casually, ”We want to see the magic-pervasive environment at higher altitudes, test how aircraft react at extremely high altitudes, and test the limits of current Dragon Language Runes...”

Whenever it comes to technical matters, Rebecca becomes especially talkative, and Jenni and Nicholas were long accustomed to this.

But Rebecca’s ceaseless talking was soon interrupted by a suddenly emerging sound—

In the bright and spacious Hall of Thought, a sound rose from low to high.

Subsequently, the sound transformed into a certain low and pleasant humming, resonating with the humming of the Mind Nexus itself. Suddenly, a large number of rune projections emerged around the Mind Nexus, as if a massive amount of data had connected to the network and was adjusting the Mind Nexus’s operating efficiency.

The three of them—Rebecca, Jenni, and Nicholas (the egg)—watched this scene with curiosity. They watched the sudden burst of numerous holographic images around the Mind Nexus and listened to the increasingly distinct humming sound. Suddenly, a strange feeling surged in their hearts. Rebecca seemed to feel something cautiously and carefully observing the world. She blinked her eyes and focused on the middle of the Mind Nexus.

Amid the intricately refreshing runes and lines, two words suddenly leapt out.

Above each Magic Web Terminal throughout the entire Imperial Computing Center, the same two words were projected.

”Hello, World.”

Cecil Year 2, Revival Month, Day 45.

The Narrator Neural Network was officially born on this day in the Cecil Empire and greeted the world for the first time.