Chapter 539 — Into the Network

He maintained his proud bearing as he walked through the hall's long corridor, and this proud bearing aroused no suspicion among the other clerics—because he had always been this way, and was entitled to be.

At a certain moment, Daniel's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

He stood there for a moment, then tilted his head slightly toward the grimoire that kept emitting sounds, and said, "Let's leave the report there for now. I'm going over there myself."

"Yes, Bishop."

The grimoire slowly dissolved into the air, and Daniel, betraying nothing in his manner, went to a crystal at the end of the corridor and laid his hand upon it.

In the next instant, his figure was transported from the corridor into a vast chamber.

It was less a "chamber" than a peculiar space: though it had a white floor and a pale gold ceiling, its surrounds had no walls, only a layer of dense fog that never dispersed. From that fog, great numbers of pale blue and light purple crystal prisms leaned outward at angles, forming around the space a neat, orderly array of crystals, and there a host of Long Dream cultists in pale gold or white robes busied themselves about those crystals, monitoring the immense flow of data through the entire Mind Network.

This doorless, windowless space was a rather special place within the world of the Mind Network; it required a special teleportation code and identification code to enter, and it was also something of which Daniel was rather proud—

This was the "cybersecurity and data center" he had built for the Dreamers.

Built at his master's behest.

Most of the cultists in the space did not leave their posts at Daniel's arrival; they merely turned to bow in respect and then returned to their work. Only a few came before Daniel, and one of them lowered his head: "Bishop."

Daniel raised a hand: "Carry on with your work. I'll inspect the security records of the recent period myself. Do not disturb me."

"Yes."

The idlers withdrew. Daniel strolled to one of the crystal prisms growing out of the fog and placed his hand on its upper end; the crystal promptly brightened and projected a mass of intricate tables and runes.

Here, no one would question any action taken by "Bishop Daniel." These were his most loyal Dreamer subordinates—yet even these most loyal of followers were not entitled to touch upon the undertakings of the Vagrant of the Beyond.

Daniel quietly scanned the data, monitoring every secure channel, and amid those seething, leaping runes and markers, a footnote that only he could notice suddenly sprang forth.

The entire system gave no reaction whatsoever to this unregistered message.

Daniel's expression did not change in the slightest, while a strange voice came from behind him: "Oh-ho, not bad at all... they really did build all of this..."

Daniel turned and saw behind him a stranger in a brown robe, his face creased with wrinkles, his body hunched, his hair and beard a tangled mess. The stranger regarded his surroundings with a mocking expression, standing there brazenly, and yet the Long Dream cultists coming and going through the space seemed not to see this "intruder" at all, and went on about their business.

The data camouflage for this area had already been activated.

Daniel left the crystal console and came to stand before Pi Yun—yet in the eyes of the other Dreamers, he was still standing in place, browsing that vast sea of record data, showing not the slightest abnormality.

So this was another of the Lord's subordinates?

So this was another envoy of the Vagrant of the Beyond?

Pi Yun and Daniel looked at each other, and the same thought could not help but flash through both their minds.

Then both old foxes laughed.

Pi Yun's wrinkles smoothed out: "For safety's sake, let's exchange passphrases."

Daniel gave a slight nod: "A hymn of loyalty."

"A hymn of loyalty."

Two hands clasped tightly together, and two voices spoke as one: "For the great cause."