Chapter 914 — Something to Do with the Gods

One sentence from this "goddess of old" who now lived in symbiosis with the network, and Gao Yang's eyes lit up — a satellite spirit who had crossed over from Earth, and even he had not thought of it!

Of course, the main reason his eyes lit up was not the sudden revelation — it was that Kamael really did glow for a moment.

"That is an excellent idea! The magic web connects every terminal, and the mind-shielding system's real effect is precisely those runes. If we could broadcast a specific rune-set across the whole realm, then even if we cannot stop a god from intruding directly, we could spare the priests and believers — the ones most vulnerable — from mental contamination," Kamael's voice carried a note of excitement, the delight of a researcher who has found a new use for a technology. "If the 'mad god' really does appear, then so long as we keep our reason through the first wave of attack, the worst of the crisis will be behind us!"

"But this idea only works on the premise that the whole empire is on the network," Hedy, who had not spoken all this while, put in, cooling everyone down. "Right now the neural network is still confined to the Southern Region. Until the main hubs elsewhere come online, each region has only a single line connecting it, and that line cannot bear the strain of a realm-wide broadcast."

"...Then we can only hope that what has happened in Typhon is no more than an early omen... and that our realm-wide network is finished sooner rather than later," Virodai lowered her eyelids slightly and spoke slowly, in a soft and reassuring tone. "Relax. We are only making the worst-case contingency, and we do have a great many effective means."

At this Amber could not help sighing. "Ah... at a time like this, what worries me most is actually the Typhonites... I admit that Royan Augustus is a talent, but how much preparation he can possibly have made is a complete unknown... The Typhonites have no neural network and no mind-shielding technology. If things blow up over there, we will likely feel some of the shock here too..."

"But whether we warn Typhon or offer them help, we would first have to explain where our intelligence comes from..." Hedy shook her head helplessly. "Who would have thought we would ever have cause to worry about them."

"This is what I said long ago: before certain disasters, mortals know no borders. A natural calamity does not ask your nationality or race, nor does it care about your ideals and faith. Before the tide, all mortals are one community," Gao Yang glanced at Hedy as he spoke, then went on as if thinking aloud. "We still have to find a way to give them some warning... only it will have to be a little more roundabout..."

...

The bitter cold wind swept across the frequency shield above Talrond, yet beneath that wind the dragon realm remained as warm as spring.

In Agondor, the city on the mountain summit, at the headquarters of the Talrond Council, inside the medical center, the dragon-form Mezen Pernia slowly opened her eyes.

She lay on a circular mechanical platform, bright light pouring down from above so that the place was lit as if at noon. Around the platform a host of mechanical arms and observation probes were still busily at work, finishing the last of their tasks; and as the dragon receiving treatment at the platform's center opened her eyes, those busy machines completed their duties one by one and began to withdraw noiselessly.

A figure in white robes emerged from the shadows not far from the platform, walked slowly up to Mezen, and, tilting her head up, remarked casually: "You are awake? We have cured you of that 'blow three hearts just going out on a field assignment' ailment of yours..."

"Do not make such cruel jokes in front of a heartbroken dragon," Mezen grumbled feebly, her voice rumbling. "Ah — hiss — my head aches, and I am cold all over..."

Noretta shrugged. "Aftereffects of an overdose of the 'Great Wave' booster. But rest easy — I have already injected you with a relieving 'Ash' booster. It should take effect in a few minutes."

"Ugh... booster overdose, treated with booster, then the booster treatment overdosed, treated with booster to treat the booster overdose..." Metzen couldn't help but start muttering. "I feel like there's barely any blood left in my veins—nothing but symbiote oil and booster..."

"About right. When you were brought in, your blood system was severely contaminated—one of those three burst hearts underwent a pressure-coupling reaction and leaked a massive amount of toxic material. We had to replace your entire blood supply, and for safety's sake, when we transfused the new blood back we only filled you to just a little above the safety line, to keep your three new hearts from being overstressed and failing..."

Metzen listened in a daze to her friend's words, then suddenly flopped her head down onto the platform and wailed in utter dejection, "I might as well just die..."

"Stop complaining—do you have any idea how much work it took to fix up all your parts?" Noretta shot Metzen a glare at once. "The cost of the replacement parts alone would eat up your entire year's salary!!"

Without question, those words dealt the blue dragon lady—already at the bottom of her spirits—a blow far more terrible than a bursting heart. The moment the word "salary" reached her ears, Metzen felt her freshly replaced hearts once again teetering on the edge of explosion, and her voice began to tremble: "C... can I ask one thing... this replacement—exactly how much is going to be deducted from me..."

Noretta lifted her eyelids and glanced at her friend, deliberately saying nothing for several seconds, as though savoring Metzen's anguished, panicked expression—until the other looked ready to breathe a blast of dragonfire down on her at any moment, and only then did she speak, slow and unhurried: "Put your heart back where it belongs—you don't have to pay out of pocket. And not only that, you should be getting a small subsidy too. Not much, but enough to restock the booster you burned through on this mission, with a little left over."

For an instant, Metzen could scarcely believe her ears: "...Huh?! You're not pulling my leg? All... all of it reimbursed? And even an extra subsidy? Why?"

"The higher-ups on the Review Council deemed the losses from your mission to be a special case—first, it qualifies as force majeure, and second, it brought Tarronde certain... benefits," Noretta explained. "Put simply, your conversation with Gao Yang Cecil brought us certain things we had long been waiting for. So the Review Council decided to grant you an additional subsidy.

"Moreover, this subsidy isn't a one-time thing. If you suffer losses on similar missions in the future, you'll still get full reimbursement and an extra subsidy..."

For a moment Metzen felt as though she were living in a dream. She tried to resist the temptation of money, yet the very next second she showed her true dragon colors and bowed her head to life; with a mixture of anticipation and unavoidable conflict, she asked, "Then what's the subsidy called? Which category do I look under to find this income of mine?"

Noretta thought it over, then said offhandedly, "Seeing as these expenses came about after your conversation with Gao Yang Cecil, Speaker Anqian added a new claim item just for you—phone bill."