The first snow after winter has finally arrived.
The fluttering snowflakes fell from the lead-gray sky, gently covering every inch of Cecil City. All the bell towers, roofs, city walls, and watchtowers were all covered in a short time. The inner cover is covered with a layer of pure white. In this boundless and gentle snow, the boundaries between heaven and earth, the boundaries between city and wilderness, the boundaries between houses and streets, all boundaries become blurred.
Tear carefully wriggled to the porch. She stretched her long tail out of the porch, and quickly poked the not-too-thick layer of snow under the porch with the tip of her tail, and then a burst of Visible shaking spread all over her body along the tip of her tail - Miss Siren shivered hard, then pulled her tail back into a ball: "It's freezing! I won't go out in this damn weather!"
However, Rebecca stood in the middle of the courtyard, turning around and waving to Tire: "It's rare that I have a day off today, so come and try it! Snowball fights are fun! Snow has been my favorite since I was a kid! ”
In Cecil, people work eight days a week, and have days off every Saturday and Sunday. However, due to the progress of a large number of recent research projects, Rebecca has been away from work for a long time. There is no more vacation. This belated first snow finally gave her a reason to take a vacation. It also reminded her of the happy time when she was playing in the snow as a child. Although she has grown up and the world has been turned upside down, it still snows. It's just snowing, as always, a joy.
Tear, who was born in the deep sea, cannot understand the source of Rebecca's happiness. This is the second winter she has spent on land. This kind of snow, ice, and extremely water element The inactive season is no fun for her: "Isn't it just throwing snowballs at each other? You humans like to throw all kinds of things around since you threw stones. I can't understand it. This kind of love name... And if you want to have a snowball fight, at least wait until the snow stops. The little snow is enough now..."
As Miss Siren said, she worked harder to wrap up her tail. She stood up and tried to retract her upper body into the ball formed by her tail: "I'm sleepy, I want to go back to sleep..."
However, before she could finish her words, a small cold snowball suddenly flew into the air. Come and hit her hard on the head.
"Wow!!" The balance that Tier managed to maintain was instantly broken, and the coiled tail ball almost rolled backwards, "I even said I won't play anymore!"
"It's not me!" Rebecca also saw the snowball on Tier's face, and quickly waved her hands, "The snowball came from another direction..."
Before she finished speaking, another sudden A ball of snow flew out of thin air from the corner of the courtyard, and this time it hit her head firmly.
"...Amber!!"
Tear finally screamed, and her scream also reminded Rebecca, who was still confused, and the two of them raised their heads together. , looking towards the direction where the snowball flew - there, a handful of snowballs were condensing out of thin air, and there were sneaky footprints printed on the snow...
In the still falling snow, a small scuffle broke out in the courtyard of the Lord's Mansion.
"It's so good to be young..."
Behind the floor-to-ceiling windows of the study, Gawain retracted his gaze to the courtyard below and sighed softly.
Pittman sat on a chair beside the desk. He took a sip of hot tea and raised his eyelids to look at Gawain: "Your body is only thirty-seven years old - still quite "Young."
"Thirty-seven is no longer the right age to have snowball fights with the younger generations in the yard." Gawain returned to the desk, sat down on his large chair, and held a cup of wine in his hand. Picking up the teacup in front of him, "It's nice to drink tea in the study."
Pittman chuckled: "It's a pity that a sloppy old man is sitting across from you."
Gao Wen did not answer, but slowly took a sip of hot tea, and then looked at Pittman's face that seemed to be able to maintain a playful smile under any circumstances. After looking at it for two seconds, he said: "I heard that you It solved the technical problem that Kamel encountered - that thing is called artificial nerve cord, right?"
"Yes, it is a product of the combination of druid technology and alchemical engineering. Most people can't think of that kind of thing. "
"Ordinary druids can't think of that kind of thing," Gawain said calmly, "That is the technology of the Eternal Sleeper. Strictly speaking, it is the fallen druid of the Death Society of All Things. The neural connection technology was created by us and then passed on to the Eversleepers, and then improved by the Eversleepers' biochemical engineers."
Pittman's expression finally showed a hint of astonishment, and then he shook his head. He shook his head, with a helpless smile on his face: "I thought you didn't know this - since you know, why don't you tell Kamel? Just to make me say it?"
" No, I don’t like to test or investigate my subordinates in this way. The current situation is just an accident to me,” Gawain said calmly, “The reason why I didn’t tell Kamel was because of this technology. It is not humane, and it has huge hidden dangers: implanting artificial nerve cords will greatly change the personality of the recipient, and even risk mental collapse."
"...Indeed, artificial nerve cords are very dangerous. Uncontrollable things," Pitman nodded. "It seems that you do know a lot of secrets about the Eternal Sleepers and the death of all things... I'm curious, what do you think of them after coming into contact with their knowledge? ?”
“They have extremely advanced technology in specific fields, and they seem to have a sense of mission. I even suspect that they think they are saving the world-this is due to some of their big plans. It can be seen. But this can neither change the fact that their methods are evil, nor can it prove that their goals are correct." Gawain put the teacup on the table and said slowly, "If the direction is wrong, the more knowledge there is. The more reactionary, if the method is wrong, the more effort there is, the more sinful it will be."
Pitman's eyes changed at that moment, and Gawain couldn't explain the specific reason for the change.What was the content? But at this moment, he definitely felt that Pittman's disguised playful smile and cynicism faded briefly, and a heavy and lonely temperament actually appeared on the little old man - but only for so short a time. Just a short moment.
"You are right, the direction and means..." Pittman smiled, his smile full of self-deprecation, "Talent does exist, and some people are born with the ability to easily do what others do. Something unexpected - you pointed out the key point so simply, but I struggled for most of my life to understand the meaning of these two sentences."
"These words. It was not created by me, it is the wisdom of previous generations, I just borrowed and transformed it," Gawain said with a serious expression on his face, "Pittman, it's time to be honest."
Pitt. Man faced Gawain's gaze, and after a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke in a low voice: "I am the withered priest of the death of all things, and I was."
As expected.
Gawain breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. It was not once or twice that he had doubts in this regard. However, Pitman did not take the initiative to ask, so he did not take the initiative to ask. Today, with the help of "Artificial Nerve" Taking the opportunity of "Exploring Technology", his suspicions were finally confirmed.
However, before he spoke, Pittman actually had something else to say: "At the same time, I am also the Nightmare Tutor of the Eternal Sleeper - I used to be."
As a believer in the Society of the Death of All Things , and a member of the Eternal Sleepers? !
This was completely beyond Gawain's expectation. He looked at the wrinkled old man in front of him in shock: "You joined two sects at the same time?!"
" "All things die first." Pitman shook his head. "That was when I was very young - to be honest, I really wanted to be an orthodox druid at first, and I was really a master of the woods. The heart school, but fate is so unreasonable... There was a famine in the town, which was caused by the erosion of magic power. Conventional druid spells had no effect at all. Even my mentor ran away later, and everyone was gone. There was no way until a foreign druid solved the problem, so I followed the new druid and became his apprentice - I later learned that he was the shepherd of all things that eventually perished."
"Then you joined the Society for the Death of All Things?" Gawain looked into Pitman's eyes, unable to hide his curiosity, "Then how did you join the Eternal Sleeper?"
" I originally thought that the technology of the Society for the Death of All Things could heal the land, solve famines, and allow me to learn real knowledge. But then I found out that they were just a bunch of lunatics, so I took advantage of an exchange opportunity to join the Eternal Sleepers. ——The memory think tank of the Eternal Sleepers contains the richest knowledge in the world. Although I am not good at dream spells, I am very interested in their other knowledge..."
" Then you find out they are another group of lunatics," Gao Wen knew that Pitman's experience when he was young could never be that simple, but it was obvious that the other party was not willing to saywas so detailed, so he ignored the topic, "You escaped from the Eternal Sleeper? Then what?"
Pitman spread his hands: "Then? Then I met a crappy little thief. , he adopted a chirping half-elf with no respect for his elders."
Gawain was speechless, and then smiled: "I thought you wanted to join the Sons of the Storm, after all, you have three sects. Two of them have joined."
Son of the Storm...
Pitman's face showed a look of reminiscence for a moment, and then he shook his head with a wry smile: "I really do. I tried looking for them, but I couldn’t learn how to swim, and I got seasick. More importantly, I couldn’t eat sashimi, so I didn’t go.”
Gao Wen: “…”
This old Druid, who seemed to be dishonest, cheating, skinny, and disrespectful, once had a magnificent life.
Although Gawain was indeed somewhat interested in Pitman’s unknown and magnificent life, looking at him, it was obvious that the little old man was trying his best to avoid that period of life, so he just nodded: "You have been separated from them now."
"You have been separated for many years," Pitman said calmly. "To be honest, I almost forgot that I was once a member of them. The one who was at the dock The cyborgs who got caught in the explosion startled me, and I thought they were finally here - but it turns out that you, a historical figure who came out of a legend, are more likely to attract their attention than a little person like me who defected midway. "
"I'm curious about one thing. Are you really just a third-level low-level Druid?" Gawain looked at Pitman up and down, "Your reality..."
Pittman smiled calmly: "You have to pay a price for defecting twice - now I am indeed just a third-level low-level druid."
"...I see. "Gawain accepted the other party's statement, and outside the floor-to-ceiling window behind him, the increasingly lively laughter in the courtyard could be heard.
He asked: "Does Amber know your past?"
"She doesn't know, and I don't want her to know," Pittman shook his head, "Joined the darkness twice The sect is not a glorious experience. Although I think I have done nothing evil, I still want to isolate this part of my past from Amber's life - her life should have nothing to do with these darkness, and she should be free from worries. Be carefree, have no worries, don’t live in fear, and get good training and education..."
"Let’s put it this way, she takes sliding doors and picking locks as a routine, and she also sneaks into others The coffin board was pried from the family's ancestor's grave. I think you and her adoptive father may not have given her a good education..."
Pitman thought for a while: "...What you said makes sense."