Chapter 795 — The Unscheduled Seat

Low murmurs of discussion rose in the hall. The Radiant Pole hierarchs swiftly exchanged views, and even Gao Yang, listening in from concealment, could not help but fall into thought, piecing together possible countermeasures from the flood of intelligence he had just heard.

In any case, he did not want such a useful psychic network to be declared finished so soon—and besides, that upper-layer Narrator sounded eerie and dangerous, and if possible he was unwilling to let the thing truly enter the real world.

Selena Geren watched the Dark Pole hierarchs in silence as they debated; only after several minutes did she abruptly speak and break the silence.

"My brothers and sisters, hear me—

"What I am about to say may strike you as hard to believe, but the gravity of the situation is plain for all to see, and I hope all of us will seriously consider further possibilities.

"In light of the present situation, His Holiness Megor III and I have conferred, and we have a bold plan—"

Gao Yang looked up instinctively, and together with the other mystics of the Somber Nexus, turned his eyes toward Selina Gerhard.

"Perhaps we should seek cooperation with the Outsider Wanderer," Selina said calmly.

The hall fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Gao Yang: "...?"

Daniel: "...?"

The next moment, a buzz of discussion erupted all at once, the whole hall seeming to turn in an instant into a cauldron of thick, boiling soup. When a name that the Long Night Order regarded as a "large wild neutral boss" appeared in this particular assembly, even the dark cultists of the Somber Nexus could not help but sink into shock and bewilderment.

Just then, Selina's voice rose again, quickly quieting the room: "Quiet, everyone, please hear me out—this is no wild fancy, but a serious proposal.

"Through our ongoing observation and analysis of the Outsider Wanderer, we ought by now to have gained some understanding of this unnameable being. Every characteristic indicates that, though It displays extreme danger and all manner of uncanny methods as It wanders through the various worlds, over any given stretch of Its journey It follows relatively definite rules of conduct—according to the 'Outsider Wanderer Analysis Group's' summary of those memory fragments and their observations of the Cecil region, each time the Outsider Wanderer descends into the mortal world, It has a specific goal, and all of Its actions revolve around that goal. And in our world, Its goal is... to build a new order.

"And judging from the various new policies of the Cecil Empire, from the details of the religious reforms He has pushed through, we can be certain that He must stand in some kind of opposition to the gods—at the very least, the two are not of the same camp.

"On this basis, when it comes to matters involving the upper-level narrators, cooperation between us and the Outsider Wanderer is not impossible."

As Selina's words fell, the Radiant Pole mystics fell back into discussion. Someone could not help rising to say: "But can we really distill a set of 'rules of conduct' for an unnameable being from these fragmentary bits of intelligence we currently hold? Its methods and goals very likely exceed human comprehension—how can we be sure what we've pieced together is accurate?"

Selina looked toward the source of the voice: "We cannot be sure it is accurate. We can only say that, within a particular period and a particular scope, Its goals do not conflict with ours, and cooperation with It is possible."

Another rose to his feet: "High Priestess Selina, I think this is unwise—the Outsider Wanderer may not belong to the camp of the gods, but It is plainly not on our side either. Within Cecil's borders they are exerting every effort to annihilate the dark cults; the Order of All Things Ending has already been torn out by the roots, and our brethren inside Cecil are being constantly arrested and reconditioned by the local peacekeeping forces and the superhuman correction centers. It clearly does not like us..."

"The order He is imposing does not permit the existence of a group as uncontrollable and extreme as the dark cults, but that does not mean we cannot engage in 'partial cooperation,'" Selina said again. "The Order's main strength lies within Typhon's borders. We can refrain from operating in Cecil, and so avoid standing in direct opposition to the Outsider Wanderer. On that premise, He and we may perhaps reach a tacit understanding on matters concerning 'the gods.'"

The Radiant Pole mystics looked at one another, plainly still caught in astonishment and wavering. Yuri Charvin, seated to Gao Yang's left, could not help turning his gaze rightward, exchanging thoughts with another Radiant Pole mystic a seat away, while Gao Yang, wedged in between, leaned back in his chair—listening to this pack of Never-Sleepers discuss him, his mind drifting somewhat blankly, wandering far away...

A voice of exceptional volume rang out. Magnum's words jolted Gao Yang awake with a start, and that short, short-tempered mystic of the Somber Nexus rose to his feet: "The Outsider Wanderer may be able to deal with the thing in Sandbox One—It possesses the corresponding tier—but will It really help? Or rather, if It does help, will we not simply find ourselves facing a still greater threat? We cannot contend with the upper-level narrators—but we cannot contend with It either!"

This was plainly the shared worry of everyone present, and it immediately drew a chorus of assent. Yuri, seated to Gao Yang's left, stood up and looked across the table at Daniel: "Daniel, Radiant Pole mystic, what are your thoughts on this?"

Daniel: "?"