Gaowen has been paying attention to Sandbox No. 1 for a long time, and has long been quite curious about where its entrance is. According to the information previously investigated, although Sandbox No. 1 is an independent thinking network, it still has The entrance and exit connecting the main network, but Gawain and Daniel had scanned the entire psychic network and could not find where its entrance or exit was.
And now, he finally knows why no one knows about this mysterious entrance and exit——
After deciding to take action, the archbishops in the Golden Council Hall left their seats one after another, Gawain Although he didn't know why, he also stood up. Then he saw everyone take a step back, and the surface of the golden round table with many mysterious runes suddenly rippled with circles of virtual and real light.
The expanding and contracting starlight aggregate of Megal III slowly descended from the mid-air, and touched the center of the round table like some kind of viscous liquid. The next second, the rippling virtual reality The light was suddenly dyed with layers of starlight, and then quickly expanded to the entire surface of the round table like a halo -
A vortex-like hole was formed in the starlight, and floating clouds and mist could be vaguely seen in the vortex. Sand and dust, as well as hazy mountains, rivers and other things.
At the same time as the entrance opened, the round table sank to the same height as the ground: it truly became a portal embedded in the ground.
The round table in this golden meeting hall is the entrance to Sandbox No. 1, and Megall III is the "key" to open the entrance!
"...This is a bit unexpected," Gawain stood beside the whirlpool-like entrance, looking down at the hazy clouds and sand inside, and said with a smile, "Then, Is this the No. 1 sandbox? Just walk in? "
"It is easy to enter the No. 1 sandbox, but we are not sure what will happen after entering. The last time the exploration team entered By that time, many strange changes had taken place inside it, proving that Sandbox No. 1 had been constantly evolving without monitoring." Megall III re-floated into the air and used a slightly weaker weapon than before. The voice said, "Outlander... Although my instructions may seem redundant to you, please remember - be careful in everything."
"I will remember it."
Gawain nodded, and Selina Gerfen beside him had already taken a step forward and stepped into the entrance of the vortex wrapped in clouds and mist.
Gawain, Yuri, and Magnum followed closely and walked into it.
The four figures quickly disappeared into the depths of the vortex. When the entangled clouds and mist closed again, the rippling starlight around the entrance immediately returned to its original state, and the round table embedded in the ground also returned to its original state. Restored to the way it was at the beginning.
There was silence in the hall for two seconds before the voice of Megall III broke the silence: "Everyone, let's begin - do what we should do.
" Put all the remaining The computing power is concentrated in the No. 1 sandbox and security system, and all non-essential tasks on the main network are closed.Function, close...City of Dreams. "
The archbishops responded in unison: "Yes! Your Majesty the Pope! ”
One figure after another disappeared in the golden meeting hall, and with the disappearance of each figure, the light in the golden hall seemed to dim.
And Outside the golden hall, the entire dream city also changed immediately -
The clear and bright sky suddenly faded away, and gray-white boundless chaos enveloped the whole world. Those magnificent palaces, elegant and towering Towers, rare and dreamy plants, all disappeared into nothingness in the scattered light spots. Black and white grid lines covered the city, and then even this black and white grid lines were swallowed up by the endless fog...
The once beautiful city of dreams, created by exhausting human imagination, has been restored to the most chaotic initial dream in a few breaths, and here only the light of fog and chaos shines. In the boundless darkness, only the "Golden Chamber", which had shrunk to only one hall, still stood on the ground.
In the dimmed hall, the squirming starlight aggregate became quiet and quiet. The ground is floating in the air, as if thinking, as if remembering...
...
In the underground palace of the Eternal Sleeper in the real world, priests wearing black robes or white robes They returned to the real world, running around the palace while maintaining the most basic connection with the spiritual network and providing their own abundant computing power.
"Dream control begins! Dream control begins! ”
Some priests are shouting orders, some are checking the restrictions in every place in the palace, and some priests set out to the surface to perform dream monitoring of the entire "Olandale" area.
Even the lowest level of the underground palace can hear the noisy movements in the palace. Wendy "Song of the Soul", who is in the containment area on the ground floor but has had her containment level downgraded due to the relief of pollution symptoms, noticed the atmosphere in the corridor outside. Changed, he couldn't help but raise his head, came behind the iron door painted with complex runes, and asked gently: "Mr. Guard, what happened outside? "
"Dream control, Archbishop Wendy," the guard's muffled voice came from outside, seemingly wearing a thick helmet, "Please wait peacefully and don't fall asleep. "
"...I really hope I can help. "
"Please stay awake tonight. This is the greatest help to everyone. "
"You are right, Mr. Guard. ”
Wendy said softly, retreated to her bed, and sat down quietly on it.
On the wall opposite her, sparkling crystal dust paint painted A complex set of symbols, which were composed of many curved lines and circles, seemed to be the symbol of some kind of deep-sea animal, with a profound and mysterious meaning.
Wendy's mind raced as she looked at those symbols. I have become sober and rational, and most of my previous nervous and depressed mood has dissipated.
I am just a little greedy and want to dig more.Squid...
...
Gawain felt like he was walking on a slope that continued to extend downward, deep into the endless yellow sand and clouds. He didn't know how long he had walked. , he suddenly felt that the weird atmosphere around him that was difficult to distinguish between reality and reality was suddenly swept away, the clouds and fog dispersed, and his eyes suddenly became clear.
A city standing in the yellow sand appeared in front of him, Selina and others.
The city has an earth-yellow outer wall, and the towering city walls are clearly fortified. The arrow towers and observation towers look extraordinary under the blue sky, but they cannot be seen on the city walls or in front of the city gates. There was no sign of any guards.
While seeing this desert city, a strange rotten smell also drifted into Gawain's nostrils.
"This is the first city you can see when entering Sandbox No. 1, the city-state of Nim Sandro. It is also the starting point of civilization in the sandbox world," Selina whispered, "This The desert was originally a grassland, at least that was the setting at the beginning of the sandbox. However, due to historical evolution and climate change, the desert was eroded by the desert, but it is still a transportation thoroughfare and commercial prosperity. ”
< p> "It is an empty city now," Yuri continued. "The last exploration team that entered reported that this city and the surrounding villages and towns were deserted. In addition, they were also attacked while spending the night in this city. Yes, we need to be more careful about this.""There is a smell here," Magnum muttered with a frown, "It seems like something is rotten."
"The exploration team also reported this weird phenomenon before," Selina nodded. "Nim Sandra and the surrounding villages and towns are filled with this weird rotten smell. Although it is not very strong, it has a wide range. Very wide. The exploration team has not found the source of the smell, but the smell itself does not seem to be harmful."
Gawain sniffed and said casually: "Could it be the disappearing sandbox residents. A place that we can’t see, or is it slowly decaying in a state that we can’t see?”
When Yuri heard Gawain’s words, his face couldn’t help but tremble, and Magnum next to him couldn’t help but tremble. Then he subconsciously looked around the vast and empty desert, frowning tightly: "This is really...are all the wanderers from outside the territory as good at scaring people as you are?"
"Just call me Gao Let's write, this may help relax." Gawain glanced at Magnum with a smile, and then walked towards the entrance of the city-state without waiting for the other party's answer, "Don't waste time, we only have 'ten days'."
Magnan and others followed immediately, while Gawain quietly activated the settings deep in his consciousness as he walked, trying to communicate with the perception runes set around him in the real world.
He vaguely felt those runes, and with the help of those runes, he perceived the existence of Amber and Tyr.
But the feeling that came from it was very, very strange, with a strange feeling of difficulty and slowness, as if observing an extremely slowed-down world through a severe delay.
Is this the effect of "time iteration"...
Gowen was thoughtful.
Ten times of time iteration has already made it possible for oneself to only vaguely perceive reality and almost unable to communicate with the real world. So under the previous time iteration of thousands of times or even higher, No. 1 The residents in the sandbox are obviously unable to connect with the real world.
Even if information interaction occurs occasionally, they can only receive very weird, distorted and blurred reality information.
This sandbox is an isolated island...
With this emotion, Gawain took three temporary partners into the city-state surrounded by yellow sand.
Earth-yellow or gray-white buildings stand on both sides of the street. Most of them have flat roofs and curved window frames. Colorful red or yellow curtains are hung on higher floors. Between the houses, across the street, they are constantly dancing in the dry wind.
"This is a completely different style from the phantom town we saw before..." Magnum couldn't help but say.
Selina spoke and explained to Gawain at the same time: "Sandbox No. 1 is very large. In addition to the city-state of Nim Sandro in the desert area, there are also other places in the forest area. Glen City, Maple Creek City on the edge of the swamp, and different city-states and kingdoms... This place has developed for thousands of years with the acceleration of time. Millions of virtual personalities have thrived here, and the sandbox The starting point of civilization is set in the Iron Age, which is enough for the residents to expand their 'world' to a large extent."
Gowen raised his eyebrows: "The civilization here has begun. "The starting point is set in the Iron Age?"
"Yes," Selina nodded, "If it is set directly in the primitive era, it will take a long time for the sandbox to develop a real civilization. Moreover, there will be too much uncertainty in the process. Even if time iteration is used to accelerate, the entire experimental process will be very long. Therefore, we set a set of basic data for each sandbox, which includes the original data. The complete history from the Iron Age to the Iron Age, as well as supporting archaeological discoveries, can allow the virtual residents and physical residents in the sandbox to enter the civilization deduction stage faster."
"...This is really true. It's a big project."
Selina seemed to hear something profound in Gawain's tone and couldn't help but feel curious: "Is there any problem?"
"No... I can't think of any problems at the moment," Gawain shook his head, "I just admire your patience and perseverance in writing this set of things."
Selena wasn't sure whether this was a real compliment or a sarcasm, but she just felt it. When she was about to say something more, a building appeared in her sight, interrupting her next words in advance.
A building that is obviously taller and more majestic than the surrounding buildings, and is guarded by dozens of pale golden sculpture columns and stone statues, appears at the end of the street covered with yellow sand.
"Is that a temple?" GawainLooking into the distance, he asked casually.
"The outline of the building is consistent with the one reported by the exploration team," Yuri nodded. "It should be the city-state temple of Nim Sandro."
Gawain was thoughtful. : "It has a completely different style from the church in Phantom Town."
"But the same 'god' is worshiped inside."
Selena said softly.
They believe in the same gods... but due to differences in regional culture, temples with different styles have been built.
This once again made Gawain realize the power of this sandbox in terms of "simulation" and how the civilization in the sandbox developed step by step.
While thinking, they had come to the vicinity of the temple.
At the entrance of the temple facing the street, Gawain saw the familiar relief, which was carved on a huge stone and stood in the square in front of the temple:
A huge palm covers the symbolic earth - this is the symbol of the upper-level narrator.
Gawain's eyes swept across the relief that symbolized the upper storyteller, and he stepped across the boulder, preparing to enter the temple.
But at the door of the temple, his steps suddenly stopped.
His eyes were fixed on a stone pillar at the entrance of the temple.
On the surface of the stone pillar, there was a line of text deeply engraved. The lines of the text were profound, but the handwriting was messy and twisted. The depth of each line of strokes was filled with dark red as if soaked in blood. It seems to convey infinite despair and madness. It has only one sentence -
The god is dead.
(Oh my god!!)