As the sun rises, a story spanning fifteen hundred and twenty-three years cos to an end. At the end of the story, the gods did not descend upon the real world; fragile and small human beings once again survived the disaster—many people’s stories continued to unfold.
Semyer gripped his combat staff tightly, standing in the center of the hall for a long ti, surrounded by countless priests and knights holding their breath, faces full of fatigue. The intelligence from the surface had just been delivered to this Archbishop, but he still dared not confirm the final result due to the strange phenonon that seed to confuse dreams and reality. He and everyone else held a tense and uneasy mood, waiting quietly.
In this brief mont of dawn spreading across the Orlandeau region, the priests seed to have waited for a century.
Then, scattered starlight finally appeared in everyone’s vision, floating above the hall.
Semyer heard an old and weary voice enter his mind: "It’s all over... Fellow citizens, we are safe."
It was the voice of gal III.
After a brief silence, delayed cheers suddenly resounded throughout the hall!
"We did it!! We stopped a god!" "The Wanderer from Outer Realm and Archbishop Selena succeeded!" "We survived, we survived!!"
Amidst the tide of cheers, Wendy, who was tending to the wounded, slowly straightened up, feeling the pollution in her spirit fading away. She felt her soul finally truly restored to freedom. She raised her head and saw Yuri looking at her from not far away.
"We succeeded..." Wendy slowly lifted the corners of her mouth, saying with heartfelt laughter.
Yuri showed a complex smile, gently taking a breath, murmuring as if speaking to himself: "...At last, we didn’t destroy this world."
A stream of light suddenly appeared in the center of the hall. As the light gathered, a lantern materialized within everyone’s sight, followed by the appearance of a female figure holding the lantern.
"Archbishop Selena," Semyer imdiately approached this figure, "You saved the entire church again..."
The halo around Selena gradually dissipated. Of course, she was only a projection reflected in the awareness of those around her here. Confronted with Archbishop Semyer, the Saintess of the Lantern gently shook her head: "This ti, I wasn’t the one who saved the church."
"Ah, the Wanderer from Outer Realm..." Semyer reacted imdiately, "Where is he now?"
"The Wanderer has temporarily returned. He rely descended a projection into our ntal network. He will contact us again soon," Selena said softly, her gaze slowly sweeping across the entire hall, encompassing the cheering priests, the tired yet excited knights, and the attendants who survived calamity. Finally, she lowered her eyelids, "Thanks to your efforts in the real world, we could achieve this final success."
Semyer looked at Selena curiously, noticing the complex expression on the Archbishop’s face. Her emotions seed not as relaxed and excited as everyone else, puzzling him greatly. "Archbishop Selena, you seem to be... preoccupied?"
Selena thought of that figure chasing starlight under the night, rembered the hardest question she ever answered in her life. She was silent for a long ti before finally shaking her head: "I’m fine, just suddenly feeling a bit puzzled."
"Puzzled?"
"Archbishop Semyer, what do you think is the greatest instinct of a civilization?"
"Instinct?" Semyer faced this sowhat odd question, contemplating before speaking with uncertainty, "Is it to continue its existence?"
"And beyond continuing its existence?" Selena asked again, "Beyond surviving..."
"I...don’t know," Semyer shook his head, "In my view, just continuing our existence in this world is already challenging enough."
"Indeed," Selena paused for a second, then suddenly smiled and shook her head with relief, "Besides, that’s not your area of expertise."
Semyer inferred from Selena’s response that this "Saintess" must have experienced sothing during her confrontation with the Supre Narrator, which suddenly revealed her sentintal state. But now was clearly not the ti to pursue these details. Amidst the surrounding atmosphere of vibrant celebration, he had already cald down first and opened his mouth to ask: "Archbishop Selena, now that the threat of ’God descent’ has been quelled, should we consider the church’s future?"
"Absolutely," Selena nodded, also containing her emotions, "Although the situation is invigorating, I’m afraid the ti left for celebration is not much.
"I just saw the ssages transferred from the surface. The Supre Narrator’s influence has already spread to the real world; the disturbances at the Throat of Orlandeau have too many witnesses. This news will soon reach Rosetta’s ears—this headquarters is no longer safe.
"Following the draft plan pre-established by His Holiness the Pope, we must imdiately comnce the relocation of the headquarters. All mbers must leave, abandon this palace, take away all research materials and supplies that can be carried, destroy whatever cannot be taken on the spot, blow up the central support, elental shell, and the upper do, leaving no traces.
"All bases set within the Empire’s borders must also relocate. Amidst the chaos, inforrs and traitors will soon erge, if necessary, we must be prepared to abandon all bases.
"All fellow citizens will go into dormancy, cease any church activities, and await unified instructions. As per the previous plan, move in batches towards Cecil—this work can be entrusted to Yuri."
Selena listed things one by one, and Semyer listened with a serious expression, nodding slightly, speaking in a deep voice: "Things have finally reached this point... It’s just a pity that seven hundred years of endeavor returned to square one overnight."
"Better than total annihilation," Selena shook her head, "And at least we have the knowledge accumulated over seven hundred years and a new force willing to accept us, so it doesn’t count as returning entirely to square one."
"What about the mind network over there?" Semyr asked again.
"... Without the support of facilities here, the operation of the mind network will be greatly affected, but fortunately, its foundation is built upon our brains. As long as enough priests survive, it can still maintain a minimal operation," Selena, having evidently considered this aspect, answered imdiately. "After the transition begins, the mind network will maintain a basic mode. The dream city will no longer be opened until we establish a new headquarters with the Cecil Clan. The Pope’s Holiness has suffered significant loss in maintaining the sandbox, and for the ti being, he will spend most of his ti resting and recovering. Matters regarding the network will be overseen by Archbishop Daniel and —mainly by . Archbishop Daniel is currently in Aldernon, and considering safety concerns, he will only provide technical support."
"Hmm, I understand," Semyr nodded, saying, "This way, as long as the mind network is still in place, overall coordination will be much more convenient."
Then, Selena looked towards the other side of the hall, towards the computational node hall where the brain servants were located, her gaze landing on those observation windows and the gate that was in an open state.
Semyr noticed her gaze and, without waiting for her to speak, said with a hint of sentint, "Archbishop Magnan... Rest assured, we will bring him along."
But Selena shook her head, softly saying, "No, bring everyone."
"Everyone..." Semyr was montarily stunned, then furrowed his brow, "You an all brain servants? That would probably... No, that will certainly consu more manpower and resources, and affect certain transition progress..."
"I know, but I’ve already calculated everything needed. Our ti is indeed limited, but as long as we do our best, we still have enough leeway to transfer all brain servants to standby safe points," Selena looked into Semyr’s eyes. This might be the least rational mont for her in centuries, but she wouldn’t let overwhelming emotions affect the big picture. The arrangents she was making now were the result of careful consideration, "Transfer in batches to Orlandeau South County, Du Song County, Enqihok County, and Talenkins Region. The Cecil Railway Investnt Company will help arrange trains or secret compartnts. Relevant routes will be cleared soon, and everything will be sorted out."
"... But there might only be partial transfer," Semyr furrowed his brow, "The key is that not only brain servants are here. In more remote points, aside from nodes used by the Cecil Clan to maintain other sandboxes along rail lines, there are several more—transferring immobile brain servants is far more difficult than transferring regular personnel."
"Transfer as many as we can," Selena said, "For those we can’t, maintain them on site as much as possible."
"Maintain them on site? What’s the point in that?" Semyr furrowed his brow again, "The mind network itself doesn’t need brain servants, they are just for maintaining the Sandbox System. Now that Project Zero has ended, it will unlikely be used again, these brain servants..."
He looked at Selena with confusion but only saw deep, calm eyes in which her specific thoughts and emotions were untraceable.
Selena closed her eyes, seemingly contemplating.
This is a form of repaynt, redemption for traveling down a wrong path; it’s a self-liberation, a first step for the Eternal Sleepers Sect returning to the right path; and a aningful redy, as the Oblivion Association has biotechnological techniques guarded by Cecil Clan, and not all brain servants there are beyond recovery...
But in the present, she had a more important reason, one that was far more convincing to everyone.
"It’s a ticket," she opened her eyes, looking at Archbishop Semyr, "A ticket for Cecil Clan, for Wanderers from Outer Realm to accept us—Cecil Clan has its own order and rules. If we want to return to the light, we must willingly embrace these rules from now. Archbishop Semyr, please let everyone understand— For every additional brain servant we save, so among us will serve less ti sent to the mines and factories in the future."
She then added, "Also, remind everyone not to harbor any illusions, not to think of having the ability to avoid being incorporated and transford by the Wanderers from Outer Realm. Rember, this ti, it rely projected consciousness within the sandbox yet devoured the already divine ’Supre Narrator,’ and even before this, it had already infiltrated and controlled the entire mind network."
A sense of awe gradually rose within Semyr, his expression particularly solemn, nodding slowly: "I understand."
Only then did Selena breathe a sigh of relief, her face suddenly revealing a slightly odd expression: "Now... shall we discuss a bit about Archbishop Magnan."
Upon hearing this na, not only Semyr but also Wendy and Yuri, who had just arrived nearby, simultaneously sank their facial expressions, showing a complex look.
"Archbishop Magnan made a noble sacrifice this ti," Wendy said in a deep voice, "Perhaps, we should canonize him as a saint..."
"No, that’s not what I’m talking about," Selena raised her right hand, holding up the dream lantern, "I an—"
The dream lantern emitted layers of gentle light, and suddenly, from within the light ca a voice familiar to everyone, a loud voice: "Hey, hey? Hey! Anyone hear ? Can anyone hear ? What the hell is this place, can anyone hear?
"Hey! I’m trapped! This doesn’t look like Sandbox One! Can soone tell what’s happening outside? Anybody? Anybody!"
Selena waved her hand above the lantern, releasing the soul contained within, and the glowing brilliance abruptly contracted into a human figure in front of everyone. Red short hair, short stature, Magnan stood in the hall, his entire person appearing semi-transparent, staring around with wide eyes.
Silence fell instantly.
"I collected his fragnts at the ’border,’ just like how the Pope’s Holiness collected mine back in the day," Selena’s voice broke the temporary silence and awkwardness, "But it seems it has caused him so distress."
Magnan, hearing Selena’s voice beside him, looked at the familiar hall before him, then instinctively scratched his hair: "What’s going on... I rember I had already..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw Yuri Charvin standing in front of him.
Embarrassnt quickly flooded his confused expression, his mouth twitching, barely forming a smile, hesitantly greeting: "Ah, Archbishop Yuri, it appears... we succeeded?"
Yuri stared at Magnan in front of him, silent for several seconds, then slowly raised his right hand—
Slowly and firmly extending his middle finger.
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