Chapter 1105 — After the Meeting

"...The Silver Empire's records accumulated over millennia?" Luo Yan's eyes couldn't help but shift, and it was clear that even with his temperament, hearing this news made it difficult for him to remain calm. "This is truly... a fortune beyond imagination."

"Indeed. Were it not for the founding of the Alliance and the Theocratic Council, who would dare imagine we would have the chance to see the complete sacred heritage of the oldest empire on the Loren Continent?" Gao Yang laughed. "When I first learned this news, I was as excited as you are."

Luo Yan quickly composed himself. His gaze swept across the dragon banner fluttering in the distance, and his expression shifted slightly. "Then what about Tarrond? As the oldest civilization in this world, their side..."

"Tarrond is now also a member of the Theocratic Council, so they too have promised to share their theological mysteries," Gao Yang nodded, but then immediately shifted his tone. "However, they will only provide a portion, and they will provide it rather late."

Luo Yan frowned instinctively. "Why?"

"They need to sort through those distant records amid a wasteland. All of Tarrond's archives and data storage facilities are now buried in ruins. Even if some can be excavated, there's no telling how long the digging will take. Currently, the only ones who can help in this regard are a few primordial dragons who personally lived through the ancient era. But organizing memories itself takes time, and those primordial dragons are still Tarrond's leaders—their energy is limited," Gao Yang relayed the intelligence provided by Metzin's side. "Of course, the more important reason is that some materials cannot be publicly disclosed at will. This is not a lack of sincerity on the dragons' part, but rather those materials..."

"Are dangerous?" Luo Yan understood immediately. As someone who had dealt with the Eye of God for decades, he knew well that things related to the gods carried many taboos. "The 'origins' of certain knowledge are unsafe?"

"Mm," Gao Yang nodded, his voice lowering slightly. "You know, the dragons have existed far longer than our civilization's records. Over those vast ages, they and their gods maintained a long-term symbiosis—after falling into a peculiar locked state, they received many 'gifts' from their gods. These gifts are harmless to them, but what consequences they might have for other races is very difficult to determine. They need to slowly sift through their own knowledge, searching for the parts that can be safely shared... Do understand—they truly need time right now."

"...To be honest, when I first learned the dragons would join the Pact Alliance, I never imagined they would be in such a state," Luo Yan sighed. "Now I can only hope they recover some strength as quickly as possible. We need some more powerful allies."

Gao Yang nodded slightly but did not respond. He simply pondered quietly for a moment, then steered the topic elsewhere: "Regarding the establishment of an efficient communications network across the known civilized territories—what are your thoughts?"

Luo Yan considered briefly, then nodded. "I understand the significance of this matter. If there had been a more efficient, more transparent communication line between Typhon and Cecil back then, allowing us more effective real-time communication, then on the matter of the 'War God,' both sides would not have had to pay so many additional costs..."

"Not only that. If we want the Theocratic Council to function, we must also establish a communications network covering all nations," Gao Yang said. "One of the technologies Cecil is currently researching to counter divine corruption is built upon a 'neural network' foundation. You have even seen a partial application of this technology—at the decisive battle at Winterhold."

Luo Yan gazed quietly into Gao Yang's eyes. It was difficult to read the depths of his emotions from his face. Only after nearly ten seconds did he withdraw his gaze and sigh softly. "...It seems I have no choice but to consider Cecil's Magic Web communication technology. But you should also understand—even for domestic Magic Web transformation, Typhon will not permit any outsider to interfere."

Gao Yang wore his unchanging smile. "Of course. I understand perfectly."

Luo Yan and Matilda departed. Gao Yang let out a light breath and raised his head to search for Rebecca, who had disappeared somewhere since earlier. After looking around, he finally spotted the girl pestering several elven mages with endless questions, and a helpless smile rose unbidden to his face. He spoke casually to the air beside him: "Bring Rebecca over—tell her to stop making a nuisance of herself. The mages are very busy right now."

A flicker of amber scent passed through the air, and immediately Rebecca, who had been so cheerful in the distance, froze with a startled expression. The girl nervously craned her neck to look around, and the next second her eyes met Gao Yang's. She immediately ducked her head and came trotting over.

"Patriarch..." Rebecca stood before Gao Yang, her face tense. "I didn't cause any trouble... I was just asking them how the Sentinel Tower operates."

"...Save that kind of question for a proper occasion later. Who goes around grabbing technicians in the middle of the road to interrogate them?" Gao Yang tapped Rebecca on the head, then shifted his tone. "On to serious matters—you went with the elves earlier to observe the communication system in the Messenger Hall. How was it? Do you think the communication technology the elves use can be compatible with the neural network?"

Rebecca rubbed the spot where Gao Yang had just tapped her, confirming there was no bump before nodding. "I studied it carefully and compared it with several rune sets the Silver Empire provided during our earlier technical exchanges. Overall, it should be feasible. Actually, to put it plainly, the communication technologies we use are fundamentally homologous—all variants of the Message Spell. It's like a roadbed. Afterward, we modulate it into Magic Web signals, into neural pulses compatible with the Neural Thorns. These are all just laying different surfaces on top, but a road is still a road..."

Finally on the subject of the technical field she excelled in, Rebecca's usual simple-minded silliness vanished in an instant. Her eyes lit up, and her mouth began rattling on without pause. In truth, much of it she didn't need to explain in such detail—Gao Yang could understand perfectly well. But Gao Yang listened patiently nonetheless, neither interrupting nor speaking, a faint smile on his face—he liked watching Rebecca in this excited, animated state.

At last, the girl's enthusiastic account came to a pause, and Gao Yang finally had a chance to speak: "Overall feasible, then. So what are the difficulties in the details?"

"Still the problem of transcoding and forwarding," Rebecca scratched her hair. "Like our current communication line with the Silver Empire—it needs something in the middle to convert, in order to connect our Magic Web communications with the elves' Sentinel data link. But right now our communications with the Silver Empire are limited to high-level exchanges, so a small rune conversion device is enough. However, if you want to build a public network that even civilians can use for high-speed interconnection, and that will keep expanding in the future, then we'll need to build some larger... larger..."

"Need large servers, do we..." While Rebecca was still searching for the right word, Gao Yang had already begun murmuring softly to himself. "In the future, interconnecting with Typhon's network will probably require something similar..."

"Serve what?" Rebecca blinked, asking with a curious expression.