Chapter 868 — Setting Out Anew

The emergence of Undying technology was indeed stirring and of great significance, but its possible effects had to be considered in advance as well—though the people of this world were no strangers to the idea that "mysterious magical power can work miracles of life, and powerful transcendents have the chance to gain longer lifespans," and most people would probably accept that a high-ranking figure of the Empire had undergone a "secret ritual" to transform his form of life, Gaoyang had to guard against this news being twisted in the course of its spread.

After all, although this world possessed several kinds of transcendent power that could prolong life, before the Evernighters' network-mind technology took shape, the other kinds had all been either extremely demanding in their conditions or enormously negative in their effects. They either involved the taboos of the undead, or they utterly annihilated the original human nature in the course of transformation. On top of that, the "transformation" Norris had undergone was not true resurrection or immortality either—in the real world he was indeed dead, merely preserved in the data network in the form of a "network mind," and it was still uncertain whether this "preserved mind" would truly never decay. And this form, so close to a "soul," could very likely be misunderstood as some kind of "necromantic art for the dead," and one misstep in publicizing it could easily leave enormous hidden dangers for the future.

He also had to consider the question of public opinion—he did not wish "Undying" to become a privileged commodity paired with status and position, but in the foreseeable future that tendency was certain to arise, since the relevant technology had already appeared and stood on the verge of maturity. So in the future, even if one could only "survive" within the network as a stretch of data, there would certainly be many who made an issue of it, and the struggle against that "tendency" would be one of Gaoyang's and the Administrative Council's long-term tasks in the years to come.

Therefore, as the starting point of this long-term work, all the various tasks surrounding the Empire's first "Undying" had to be carried out in such a way as to leave as few hidden dangers as possible.

In a brief silence of a few seconds, Gaoyang pondered a great many things, and only then did he let out a soft breath.

Arcanotechnology had broken down the barrier between transcendent and mortal, and had also dragged many things that would never have become chips for desire into the vortex of human nature—technology had brought ordinary people into contact with more things they had once had no right to touch, yet the pace of technological development decreed that all of this was bound to take time.

This "imbalance" of development was destined to become an ever-greater part of his daily considerations—after all, the transcendent barrier had been broken, and the operating rules of the Cecil Empire decreed that this barrier could not be rebuilt.

It even prompted some random associations in him—as humanity journeyed ever farther along the road of civilization and the complexity of thought and desire grew day by day, those gods born of humanity's collective currents of thought... had they too once faced the same perplexities?

Everyone noticed Gaoyang's reaction, which was close to a sigh. At such a moment for celebration, they could not help feeling somewhat puzzled, yet none dared ask of their own accord. Only Rebecca was the first to leap forward (in fact Amber had meant to leap forward too, but her speed was plainly no match for Rebecca, who had grown up on conditioned reflexes). "Zuyanren? Why are you sighing?"

"Nothing," Gaoche said after a moment of silence, then suddenly shook his head with a look of relief. "I was thinking about some unrelated things. Well then, the follow-up matters here are in Margarita's hands. See to Norris's... remains properly. He has died in the real world after all, and our former Minister of Agriculture still needs a... funeral befitting his station."

As he said this, Gaoyang's tone paused noticeably, and his expression as he looked at the old man on the soft couch could not help but turn somewhat strange. Hearing his instructions, those present—Margarita, Amber, and even Rebecca—likewise took on subtle expressions; it was truly a complicated and hard-to-describe situation, and Margarita believed that even if the respected old Master Wald Perich, whom she admired so, were here, he would surely have no experience in handling such a matter...

As it happened, the expressions of Youri, Semler, and the other Yaoxu cultists present were calm and bland, and they even exchanged a knowing glance—they had experience...

An obnoxious, loud voice rang out beside Youri's ear, arriving at just the right moment. "Ah... I know this scene."

With these words, Magnum's figure emerged from the air.

"Shut up," nearly all the Evernighters of the Yaoyi cult present said in unison.

Gaoyang watched this scene without a word, merely shaking his head with a smile as he turned and left the little room.

He came to a quiet patch of open ground near the little room and let his thoughts gradually settle along with his surroundings.

Here lay a small field of flowers, where nameless blossoms coaxed into being by the Great Tree of Thorin bloomed across the open ground. When the wind swept through, it raised a rustling whisper among the tree's crown, and left a thread of fragrance lingering in that secluded corner.

Gaoyang lifted his head, watching the layered immensity of those leaves take on a hallucinatory sheen under the glow of the magic-crystal lamps, and let out a soft breath. "Beiyila."

"I am here." The sound of writhing flower vines came at once from nearby, and Beiyila's figure emerged from amid the blossoms. She came to Gaoyang's side and gave a slight bow. "Brother Gaoyang."

After a brief silence, Gaoyang shook his head. "...When no one else is around, there is no need to force yourself to call me that."

"You do, after all, possess almost all of his memories... and I, too, must remain ever mindful of my own words and conduct," Beiyila said, her face expressionless. "I do not wish a single misjudged form of address or manner to bring unnecessary trouble."

Gaoyang murmured his assent and gave a slight nod. "That much is yours to decide. But let us set that aside for now and speak of what you mentioned in your earlier report—you detected a regular, unfamiliar signal within the crystal array at the crown of the Great Tree of Thorin?"