Chapter 858 — "The Specimen"

Xuanque City, North Bank Development Zone, the Imperial Computing Center.

The majestic pyramid-shaped structure stood quietly on the open high ground of the riverbank. Hazy magical radiance flowed silently through the arcane conduits across its surface; newly transplanted greenery ringed the building, and to either side of the pyramid stood mana-net obelisks and signal amplification arrays dedicated to powering the facility—this brand-new installation gleamed in the sunlight, fully prepared for its official opening today.

A black arcane carriage bearing the imperial crest pulled up steadily before the pyramid. When the door opened, Gao Yang and Heddy stepped out.

The center's senior staff were already waiting at the entrance.

"It looks gorgeous—far more beautiful than I imagined," Heddy could not help tilting her head back to gaze at the upper reaches of that "pyramid," watching arcane brilliance stream ceaselessly across its sloping faces. She did not stint her admiration at all. "Compared with the traditional, stern kind of research facility, it really does win ordinary people over more easily."

"The 'distribution stations' that will later open to the public will follow a similar design philosophy," Gao Yi said with a smile. "After all, they're not just imperial research facilities—they're part of a whole series of livelihood programs to come."

In the span of those few exchanges, the technical team led by Yuri had already come up before Gao Yang—these former priests of the Ever-Sleepers, carrying a trace of awe, saluted him with an attitude more respectful than that of ordinary Cecil folk. Yuri kept his head lowered and spoke with scrupulous care: "Our respects to you, Emperor—we have completed the task you assigned. The Imperial Computing Center is ready."

"Very good," Gao Rong nodded. "You've done well. All of you, raise your heads—Cecil's rules aren't that harsh."

Only then did the former Ever-Sleepers lift their heads one by one. Gao Yang and Heddy glanced over these people who were "making amends through service," and just as they were about to say something more, the next second they both froze.

Gao Yang stared at Yuri with a strange expression—and at the conspicuous dark circles under the eyes of virtually everyone present—and there was no mistaking a note of astonishment in his voice: "Are you... all right?"

At first Yuri did not react; he simply stood there blankly, sporting a pair of enormous dark circles and bloodshot eyes. But he quickly grasped Gao Song's meaning, and though startled that an "Outland Wanderer" would actually concern himself with their health, he hurriedly shook his head: "Please don't worry—for researchers, this is nothing out of the ordinary..."

The assembled former bishops and Yaoji priests all nodded in agreement, and the whole scene took on an air of ethereal transcendence—Gao Yang stared at these people, more or less dumbstruck, then turned and muttered to Heddy under his breath: "I think they're a level above you—this obviously isn't makeup..."

Heddy: "..."

The Xuanmai Sect forbade her from picking up sly talk from Amber—but what was she supposed to do when the Xuanmai Sect itself never stopped with the sly talk?

But before she could respond, Gao Yang had already strode forward: "Then let's not waste time—we'll go in now. Yuri, lead the way."

Gao Yang could not help urging them on—not because he was impatient to inspect the computing center, but mainly because the mental state of these Ever-Sleepers gave him no confidence at all. He genuinely feared these fellows would keel over dead on the spot just to show him. It really was true what they said: of the three great dark cults, they were the only one that went in for network engineering—how long had it been since this lot had slept? Hardly worthy of the name "Ever-Sleepers"...

With a somewhat drifting train of thought, Gao Yang followed Yuri and the others into the computing center building. A spacious, brightly lit hall of thought and a mental hub emitting a faint hum greeted them. Wendy, walking beside Yuri, was filled with excitement and delight, and as she walked on she said: "Your Majesty, all of us have been profoundly drawn in by this incredible technical approach. The deeper we study it, the more we feel its almost boundless potential—we once believed the mind network created by the Order of Long Night was enough to solve every 'computing' problem in the world, but after seeing the materials on the Origin Space, we realized that technological development truly knows no bounds..."

"This thing has kept everyone up all night," Semler said in a low voice. "We'd even like to put ourselves in the immersion pods all day long. These past days the team has been building a new network 'substrate' from scratch—creating the foundational mind space, sorting out the layers of consciousness, constructing the zeroth-layer network... No one wants to rest. No one wants to miss out on an event that forges history."

Yuri nodded and picked up the thread: "In fact, we've already been considering how to let physically stronger transcendents stay connected to the network for longer periods. Rutherford, Yaoji priest—I mean, Researcher Rutherford—wants to improve the 'artificial umbilical cord' with life-support circulation that was previously used on mind servants. Your approach to remodeling the mind network inspired us; the technology related to mind servants can actually be made harmless. Our preliminary idea is to look for directions for improving mind-servant technology in the experiential memories of Researcher Magnum—he is currently the only person who has undergone mind-servant conversion and then 'returned' while still conscious..."

A middle-aged man with thinning hair on the crown of his head—this was the "Researcher Rutherford" Yuri had mentioned—smiled at this, and with a touch of pride said: "The key lies in precisely extracting and analyzing that portion of Researcher Magnum's memories. We've already resolved most of the preliminary problems; the only remaining difficulty is how to get Researcher Magnum to cooperate..."

Wendy could not help sighing: "Ever since he became a network mind, the fists and kicks that used to work have no effect... And the only two who could help, Lady Selina and Lord Megol, don't seem interested in our new ideas."

Gao Yang: "..."

The former Ever-Sleepers had donned researchers' uniforms; having broken free of those dark, heavy schemes, they had thrown themselves wholeheartedly into pure technical endeavor—and the result was that these people seemed to have gotten a bit too high, charging headlong in another extreme direction, high all the way to the grave, so that Gao Heng had to cut in while they were caught up in their fervent discussion: "Stop—all of you, stop. Calm down."

Only then did Yuri and the others suddenly realize that they had grown so excited talking about technology that they had nearly forgotten the majesty of the "Outland Wanderer." They fell nervously silent, and Gao Yang looked them over with a frown: "Don't forget the lessons of the past."

Semler drew a soft breath and bowed his head deeply: "Yes. We will not forget."

Gao Song's expression relaxed slightly: "Cecil's research work has a thorough process for project initiation, evaluation, review, and approval—I imagine you've read the relevant documents. Commit them firmly to memory first; only then can you speak of a future in Cecil."

In fact, he wanted to add a thought of his own—that while an excessively fanatical research impulse was harmful, persecuting Magnum did seem rather pleasing to hear about. It was just that saying so would plainly damage the dignity of the Outland Wanderer, so he had to swallow it back down...

...