The god is dead.
Gawain stared at the words carved on the stone for a long time. He seemed calm because he didn’t know how to react for a moment. Behind him, Yuri and the other three people also came over. Those distortions The dark red marks caught everyone's eyes.
"...all the ancestors of my family..." Magnum's eyes widened, "What does this mean?"
Gawain finally got over his shock from the beginning. After realizing it, even though he was stunned for a moment when he saw such a blasphemy at the door of the temple, he still kept in mind the rules of not trusting anything in Sandbox No. 1 and not making any conclusions easily. At this time, the third Immediately, he asked Selina for more information: "Didn't the last group of explorers see this sentence in this city?"
"No, I'm sure," Celine Na immediately said, "Although the last exploration team didn't have time to explore the inside of the buildings in the city, they have already searched the entrance to this temple. If they really saw this sentence, there is no way they would not report it."
"The gods are dead..." Yuri murmured to himself, "This sandbox world was already empty when we last explored it. Who left these words?"
"Think of Phantom Town," Magnum muttered, "empty... maybe we just can't see them."
"We should search for this god Temple, what do you think?" Selina said, turning to Gawain - although she and the other two archbishops are "professionals" in Sandbox No. 1, their specific actions must listen to Gawain. After all, they may be facing gods, and in this regard, "outside wanderers" are the real experts.
Gawain knows what the Eternal Sleepers think of him. In fact, he does not think that he is a professional who fights against gods. After all, this field is too high-end, and he really can’t think of any kind of person who can fight against the gods. God-killing gave guidance, but after all, he had come into contact with many gods and secrets, and had also participated in the siege and cooking operations against the God of Nature (folk high-imitation version). At least in terms of self-confidence, he was more than ordinary. People are much stronger.
Of course, if coupled with the theoretical knowledge gained from daily exchanges with Veronica and Kamel, as well as the experience he accumulated after studying ancient classics and the Holy Light Sect’s collection, he will He is indeed an expert in the fields of theology and anti-god.
"Search for temples," he nodded. "Religious places are 'channels' through which gods influence the world, and they can often in turn reveal the nature and status of the corresponding gods.
"But remember to be vigilant and speak up immediately if you see an unusual sight or hear a suspicious sound. Don't trust your own mind too much here. ”
The three archbishops nodded, and then took steps with Gawain towards the interior of the temple building with a rich desert style.
The temple was unknown. It has been abandoned for a long time, and it looks old and full of traces of time.
In a short period of time.After the corridor is the hall used for religious activities. The lights originally used to illuminate the hall have long been extinguished. The huge columns and curtains hanging from the air interweave layers of shadows in the hall. From the narrow high windows, The sunlight that falls down shines into the room, cutting out bright "roads" between the shadows. It is the afternoon in the sandbox world, and these slanted sunlight does not appear to be very strong, adding more and more color to the entire indoor space. It has a mysterious and ancient charm.
Gawain turned his head and glanced casually, and saw the sun on the horizon through the narrow high window. It was also a giant sun, with wood grain-like lines faintly appearing on the glorious corona. It looks like the "sun" in the real world.
Living on satellites orbiting gas giant planets, the Eternal Sleepers cannot imagine what the suns of other planets look like. In this sandbox, they also set up a cycle with reality. The world is no different than the sun.
"This place has been abandoned for at least a few decades... maybe a century, but not longer." Yuri bent down next to a collapsed stone platform, rubbing his fingers on the stone platform. A piece of cloth that had been severely weathered fell. "Otherwise these things would not have been preserved."
"But the words on the door seem to have been carved not long ago." Magnum frowned and muttered.
Gawain looked at Yuri's movements and asked casually: "Will things in the sandbox world weather and decay like the real world?"
"Yes." Yuri stood up, "And the weathering form and speed are similar to those in the real world. We directly refer to these detailed parameters from reality. After all, rewriting the entire set of details is an almost impossible task for mortals."
“Alas,” Gawain couldn’t help but shook his head and sighed, “gods can be born in the real world. How could such a world that is highly similar to the real world not give birth to similar religious phenomena?”
Selena, who was walking next to her, shook her head: "Before this, who knew that gods were 'born' rather than 'self-existing'?"
The three archbishops They were all speechless and could only continue to check the clues in the temple in silence.
Magnum walked to the front of the hall, where there was a special round high window. The light from the high window shone on a platform that looked like a pulpit. The slight dust particles reflected the light. Flying in the air, the original trajectory was disturbed by the uninvited guests who visited this place.
Yuri came to Magnum and asked casually: "Are you sure you have removed the psychic storm from your subconscious?"
"Damn it, you How many times do you have to confirm - of course I removed it!" Magnan stared, "Have I accidentally hurt you many times with my mind storm?"
"...I I even developed special resistance to psychic storms, what do you think?”
“…I’m sure it’s removed! Absolutely, removed!” Magnan said one word after another. I emphasized it again while still typing.Taking stock of this pulpit-like platform, his glance suddenly stopped and fell on a corner of the ground, "...there's one here too."
Yuri followed the other person's line of sight. When I went there, I saw only a line of rough carvings deeply imprinted on the stone slab, which were exactly the same as the words on the temple door - The god is dead.
The two archbishops were silent for a moment before Magnum suddenly spoke: "Yuri, to be honest, do you believe what is said here?"
"In the sandbox" There is only one god. If this sentence is true and the god is really dead, then we can go back and celebrate," Yuri said with a wry smile. "It's a pity that the people who were polluted are still polluted, out of control. There is no sign of recovery in the sandbox. Seeing this god dead here and now, I can only feel doubly weird and terrifying."
Magnan nodded in agreement: "Yes, no matter who it is. He left these terrible words here, and his mind seems to be abnormal..."
On the other side, Gawain and Selina were checking several rooms connected to the hall.
In a display room located behind the pulpit that seemed to be dedicated to collecting important items, they saw many things offered by believers, which were placed in square holes in the wall. , being properly kept.
Selena frowned slightly and looked at the exquisite gold and silver vessels and jewelry: "The upper-level narrator is devoutly believed by the locals... These offerings are probably only a small part."
"It's a pity that these mundane things are of little significance to a god." Gawain said casually, and then his eyes were attracted by a gorgeous and exquisite one-handed sword placed alone - that single-handed sword The hand sword was not placed in the wall hole like an ordinary offering, but was placed on a platform at the end of the room, and was protected by talismans. There seemed to be text on the platform, which made it particularly unique.
Gawain came to the platform and saw a line of text on it:
The most holy and great king Balmoral dedicated to my lord, on the hot summer day of the year of chamomile.
"It seems to be dedicated to the upper storyteller by a king..." Gawain looked at the line of text and said casually.
"King Balmoral..." Selina also saw that line of text, with a trace of thought on her face, "I seem to have some impression."
"Oh?" Gawain raised his eyebrows. He originally thought it was an insignificant name, but he felt something strange from Selena's expression, "What did this King Balmoral do?"
"According to the log The data output by the system is a virtual personality automatically generated by the sandbox," Selena said while thinking. "When it was born, it was a slave in the city-state of Nim Drow. Later, it relied on slaves according to the system settings. Jia Du was freed and became one of the guards of the city-state, and was slowly promoted to the captain of the guard..."
"A guard who was born as a slave?" Gawain couldn't help but be surprised.Come on, "Then how did he become a king?"
"Let me think about it...According to the time in the sandbox, it should be about two hundred years before the loss of control, when the city-state of Nim Drow was The insect plague enveloped us, the water sources were polluted, and the grain harvest failed. Locusts and black beetles ate up most of the stored grain. The nobles of the city-state fled, and the king also took refuge with his cronies and treasures in nearby countries. In the critical situation, The people still alive in the city-state decided to elect a new king - the one who can find a way to fight the insect plague, find a source of food and a new water source, is the new king.
"Just as you thought, this one. The 'sandbox resident' named Balmoral did these things - he found out the source of the insect outbreak, led the people in the city-state to find a new water source, and led his soldiers to catch up with some of the fleeing nobles and recapture Part of the food taken away by them...are all amazing feats, even beyond our preset 'script'. No 'virtual resident' has ever been able to do these major things that promote the process of history. Similar things are often It was done with outside input into the script...so that left an impression on me. "
"Then what happened to this great king in the end? "Gawain couldn't help but asked curiously.
Selena seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying softly: "...Deleted. "
"Deleted? "
"The script deviated too much. The sandbox believed that the system was at risk of imbalance, so it automatically corrected it. Balmorra died suddenly in his prime and was actually deleted - of course, he was No. 1 sandbox has left its own reputation in the history, and at least this part of the reputation has not been reset. ”
Gawain didn’t speak for a while, just looking at the sword placed on the platform quietly, as if he was looking at a virtual personality born in the dream world and created by the system. He changed from a slave to a soldier, from a soldier to a general, from a general to a king, to a hero, and finally... was deleted.
Suddenly, he became obsessed with those who were sinking in the sandbox world. The sentient beings felt something strange.
His attention quickly returned to this temple belonging to the "upper narrator".
"So, according to this. The clue here is that the king of Balmorra dedicated his sword to the gods," he said to Selina beside him. "That is to say, in the era when Balmorra was active, the upper-class narrator's beliefs had already was born, and has even become the core belief of this Nim Sandro city-state. "
Selena obviously thought of the same thing, her expression was thoughtful: "It looks like... that's it. "
"The sandbox system was not out of control at that time - you external monitors knew nothing about the emergence and existence of this temple. ”
“Indeed. "
Gawain raised his eyelids: "Why do you think this is? ”
Selena thought about it and said slowly: “Either... the upper-level narrator distorted time and history after the sandbox lost control.The sandbox world is woven into a world process that does not exist. Either the sandbox system is out of control earlier than we imagined, and even the monitoring system has been deceiving us. ”
Gawain fell silent.
No matter which possibility, it is not good news.
If it is the first possibility, it means that the upper class The narrator's erosion and control of the sandbox system is more serious than expected. He even has the ability to control time and history in the sandbox world, which goes beyond simple mental pollution;
If It is the second possibility, which means that His pollution was leaked earlier than everyone expected, which means that He is very likely to have left unnoticed hidden dangers in the real world that may break out at any time...< /p>
To be fair, Gawain would rather encounter the first situation