Chapter 806 — The Day of Action

The visitors from Typhon received proper and considerate hospitality in Xuanyao City, and the various scheduled tours and negotiations proceeded in orderly fashion.

Gaoyang and Matilda completed the initial contacts and discussions, after which the main affairs were handed over to the Ministry of State Affairs and the other diplomatic personnel of the delegation.

Matilda and her attendants had their own arrangements; as for Gaoyang... he could at last turn his attention for the time being to the more thorny matter at hand.

The day appointed for action by the Long Night Cult had arrived.

In Gaosong's bedchamber, Hedy, Rebecca, Camille, and the others had been granted a special summons, and were making preparations for what was to come.

"The auxiliary runes are ready," Camille said, floating before Gaoyang. On the walls and floor behind him, glittering runes surged as though breathing. "These runes will provide you with a degree of mental protection as well as an additional link to the real world—though you may not necessarily need the former, the latter will ensure you have a keener perception of the real world, guarding against any 'over-immersion.' This is a technological achievement from the second phase of the immersion pod project."

Gaoyang nodded, then looked to Hedy, who stood attending at his side. "This time I may be in action for a long while—though the Dreamers will slightly accelerate the flow of time in Sandbox One once the operation begins, allowing us to act for a longer relative span within it, that acceleration is limited for safety's sake, and I cannot rule out the possibility that I will need to 'sleep' for two or three days in the real world. The Ministry of State Affairs, and the work of liaising with the Typhon delegation—I leave those to you."

"Rest assured," Hedy nodded firmly, "I will not let you down..."

As she spoke, the Empire's eldest princess, who had followed Gaoyang from the very beginning and weathered every trial of the Cecil Empire's rise from nothing, could not help but show a trace of concern: "You must be careful as well. After all, what you are about to face is..."

Hedy opened her mouth several times, but in the end said nothing to dissuade him—reason told her it would be neither mature nor realistic.

But reason could not dispel her worry. Watching the "Ancestor" about to depart for a peculiar battlefield and face challenges beyond imagination alone, the unease in her heart showed no sign of fading.

It was not that she lacked faith in the Ancestor; it was that the enemy this time was truly beyond the ordinary: a monster out of a nightmare. How did the Ancestor plan to deal with it? And if something happened to him... all this, everything waiting to be rebuilt... what would become of it?

Gaoyang understood Hedy's worry and smiled. "Don't fret. I know my limits.

"I know it is somewhat dangerous, but just as you and Rebecca chose to stay in the castle and fight those aberrations, some things... must be done by someone."

As he spoke, he looked past Hedy, toward a certain "intercontinental friend" who was hugging her tail and staring into space.

"Tir."

Tir snapped back from her wandering thoughts. "Ah? Oh, I'm here."

"This time, I cannot be certain where your 'little biscuit' will emerge from," Gaoyang said. "The primary control center of Sandbox One in the real world is fixed, but the Upper Narrator is a product of dreams. When it enters the real world, it will most likely jump along the dreamscape, relocating to any place where humans gather and dream. This could cause you considerable trouble."

"Don't worry, I've already told the Queen about this. My sisters will be prepared," Tir said at once, flicking the tip of her tail. "It just means going from meals served on schedule to having to forage for ourselves. No trouble at all."

Amber, standing nearby, could not help but stare wide-eyed. "Is that how 'forage' is used?"

Meanwhile, on the other side, however grave the potential crisis, Gaoyang could not help but laugh at the garbled remarks of a certain deep-sea slacker's channel: "It's best if you can think of it that way. By the way, this 'Upper Narrator' will likely be very different from the 'little biscuits' you have encountered before. You could call it 'spiritual sustenance'..."

Amber fixed her wide eyes on Gaoyang. "Is that how 'spiritual sustenance' is used?!"

Tir waved a hand, slowly curled up her tail, and settled herself into an elegant coil in the corner of the room, saying lazily, "Whether it is 'spiritual sustenance' or not, the best outcome is really that we sirens are not needed at all. That would mean the situation has not spiraled out of control, that many people will survive. Isn't that so?"

Gaoyang gazed quietly at the siren already coiled in the corner and beginning to doze, then withdrew his gaze and said, as if answering her and as if speaking to himself, "That is precisely my aim."

Then he climbed onto the broad bed and prepared to establish a connection with the mental network.

Hedy and the others stood nearby, a trace of concern on their faces.

Yet a moment later, Gaoyang suddenly opened his eyes again.

Rebecca leaned in curiously. "Ancestor, did you forget something?"

Gaoyang glanced at the people around his bed, his expression slightly odd. "You... step back a little."

Hedy did not react at once. "Ah? Why?"

Gaoyang pointed at himself, then at Hedy and the others. "The last time I did that thing, the scene should look about the same..."

Rebecca's face lit with sudden understanding. "Oh, it looks like a lying-in-state..."

Before she could finish, Hedy grabbed her and clamped a hand over her mouth.

Gaoyang: "...You had better leave. Amber and Tir can stay here to look after things."

Hedy, holding down Rebecca—who was still flailing and struggling with all her might, muffled whimpers escaping her mouth—gave a deep bow. "Yes, Ancestor!"

Gaoyang: "..."

(Mother of heavens!)