Chapter 1228 — The Deep Blue Netway Surveillance Plan

Beranthia seemed unconcerned with Gao Song's assessment. She simply tilted her head back and gazed at the star-strewn night sky, and at the glows that drifted near the edges of the clouds—those were the lights of the earth piercing through the veil of night, cast upward in the form of afterglow. The sheer multitude of man-made lights kept most districts of Xuanque City as lively as day even after nightfall, and that surplus of illumination had even dimmed the starlight in the sky considerably.

In the Silver Empress's memory, she had not seen such splendid lights in the human world for several hundred years.

"I leave in two days," she said suddenly to Gao Dai after a moment of silence. "It's already settled."

"The schedule's been moved up?" Gao Yang raised an eyebrow. "I remember the original plan had you staying here quite a while longer—there's a great deal you haven't seen yet with Project 115 and the 'Gate' plan."

"I know, but I've been away from the Silver Empire far too long," Beranthia said with a smile. "The matter of Sage Azmoor and the other druid sages is settled, but those cultists won't simply vanish on their own—every day I remain away from the royal court is another excuse for the restless elements to crawl out, and by now they've crawled out more or less completely. I must go back and put a final period to this three-thousand-year account of rot."

Gao Yang glanced at the elf empress beside him. Her features in the starlight were as serene and placid as ever, yet deep within those eyes was hidden a resolve like the cold wind of the northern lands—a resolve that was very much necessary for the Silver Empire as it stood, yet Gao Yang could not help but offer a reminder: "Do you remember what you promised Sage Azmoor?"

"...Of course I remember," Beranthia said with a soft sigh. "Those who truly follow the ancient druidic path... well, let's generously call them the moderates within the cult... Sage Azmoor has indeed handed me a difficult problem, but since I have agreed, I will of course honor my promise—especially since that promise was, in a sense, sworn before the gods.

"The reason I'm going back early this time is precisely because of that promise—I've been away too long. Every day I'm gone, more people can no longer contain themselves, and those 'moderates' will eventually have their moments of leaping out as well. If they too leap out like the cultists... then I'll have a hard time finding grounds to let them go."

"Since you've thought it through so clearly, I won't offer much more advice," Gao Cen said as he rose from the bench, extending a hand to Beranthia. "I wish you a smooth journey in advance—and I wish you every success in what you have to do."

"Few things I've done over the past centuries have gone truly smoothly, but in the end everything has succeeded," Beranthia said with a laugh, grasping Gao Song's hand. As she rose, she added offhandedly, "Of course, I thank you nonetheless for your blessing, Uncle Gao Yang."

Gao Yan nodded, then as if suddenly recalling something, spoke up in reminder: "By the way, don't forget that matter I mentioned to you—the Deep Blue Netway. Enya has already provided the means to locate and monitor the netway's rifts; the Star Sorcerers' Association should be capable of handling it. I hope that once you're back, you'll organize a team as soon as possible to find the Deep Blue Netway rifts within the Silver Empire. We need more monitoring data now."

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten," Beranthia nodded with a smile. "I already sent the relevant materials to Master Verania yesterday, and she said there's no problem. If all goes smoothly, she should have the entire monitoring project team organized before I even return to the Silver Empire."

With that, she nodded to Gao Yan, turned, and walked toward the two high-ranking handmaidens who had long stood waiting in the distance. Before departing she waved once more toward this side, and only then did her figure vanish behind the hedge wall at the end of the garden path.

Only after Beranthia's figure had disappeared did Gao Yang look down at a clump of shrubs beside the bench. In the dim yellow glow of the nearby streetlamps, he could clearly see a small section of tail tip, bearing rather handsome patterns, poking out from the bushes, and from behind the shrubs came a faint, rhythmic snoring from time to time...

Gao Yang stepped forward and nudged that tail tip with his foot, calling out as he did: "Hey, hey, time to wake up—how long have you been sleeping here? About time you woke... If you don't wake up I'm going to sprinkle some Yugson spiced wine on you!"

Before his voice had even faded, Tier's panicked voice came from behind the shrubs. The abyssal caterpillar sat bolt upright from behind the bushes with a flop, waving her hands as she babbled: "No no no, I'm awake, I'm awake, I was just dozing... Don't mention that spiced wine, you might as well pour boiling water on me..."

Gao Yang paid no mind to this deep-sea salted-fish's rambling. He simply looked the fellow up and down several times with a rather odd expression, and at last could not resist asking: "I'm a little curious—don't you normally not need to breathe? How is it that you snore when you sleep?"

At that, Tier straightened her back at once, her expression quite serious: "Didn't some clever person among you humans say, 'Even a false life demands a serious attitude'? This is my serious attitude. I've turned into the likeness of a land creature, so of course I have to simulate it completely. Of course, the more important reason is your head maid..."

"Betty?" Gao Yang looked at Tier in surprise. "How does Betty come into this?"

"Every time she sees me not breathing she thinks I'm dead again, and she'll poke my belly with a mop to check," Tier said, waving her hand with a look of unbearable recollection. "Sometimes when she has nothing to do she'll even squat on the ground and patiently poke me for half an hour, not stopping until I wake..."

Gao Yang's mind involuntarily conjured up the image, and his expression turned peculiar as well. He gave Tier a strange look, muttering under his breath: "That's mainly because she's seen you die so many times..."

Tier heard Gao Song's muttering, but merely waved her hand indifferently and remarked casually: "So the elf empress has already left? I thought you two would talk for a long while..."

"Look at how long you've been sleeping," Gao Yang said with a helpless sigh, his expression gradually turning serious. "Let's set that aside. It's rare to see you in a relatively clear-headed state today—there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Discuss with me?" Tier wiggled her tail tip, her head swaying left and right—she seemed to be using this method to keep herself awake. "If it's about shipbuilding technology, I've already handed that over to Cassandra. She and her technical team are handling everything quite well over at North Port..."

Gao Yang shook his head with a solemn expression: "No, it's about monitoring the Deep Blue Netway... or rather, the problem of detecting it."

"Deep Blue... oh, that thing you've all been talking about lately? The one behind the Well of Deep Blue?" Tier caught on quickly. Although she spent more than half of every day asleep, recently—whether it was Gao Yang or Enya, or even Rebecca and Amber—everyone had been discussing the Deep Blue Netway. This deep-sea salted-fish spirit heard word of it every time she opened her eyes twice a day, so she was not particularly confused now; she was merely puzzled. "Aren't you already organizing manpower and resources to monitor the thing? Why would this matter need discussing with me?"