Chapter 539 — Into the Network
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 3
"You?" Gao Yang glanced at the little old man. "And your reason?"
"I built the core components of this thing; no one understands it better than I do," Pi Yun said unhurriedly. "And the other reasons... you should be able to guess them too."
Gao Yi nodded slightly, understanding Pi Yun's meaning.
The man had once been a Sleeper, after all. Though he had lost the power of the Sleepers, at least his knowledge remained.
If something went wrong in the process of network intrusion, with that knowledge he could at least detect danger in advance—at least know how to run.
"Then get ready," Gao Yang exhaled. "I'll have 'that side' get ready too."
...
In Phantom Hub City, within the palace district at the city's center, Daniel, clad in a black robe, walked quietly through a resplendent golden hall.
In this dream world where everyone wore a mask, he was no longer the hunched, aged, ugly mage of twilight, but a tall, robust, elegant, and dignified middle-aged man.
He wore a classical yet magnificent black mage's robe, his face solemn, his steps steady, a thick magical tome floating beside him, from which a respectful voice kept coming: "The second batch of address indexes has been fully imported... the new database test completed smoothly... the cause of the previous sudden interruption in Block 63 has been determined—a nightmare tutor accidentally fell into a trap and died on the spot while exploring ancient ruins; he was performing a block-transfer operation at the time..."
Daniel's steps paused slightly. "...Exploring ancient ruins while performing a major operation in the mind network?"
"That nightmare tutor had always been highly skilled..."
"Such dangerous behavior is forbidden from now on. All operations involving network commands must be carried out in a stable environment," Daniel said sternly. "In addition, from now on all major operations involving database changes or network restructuring must be jointly completed by two or more operators, to prevent similar 'sudden deaths' from causing network failures."
"Yes."
Daniel, now promoted to Nightmare Bishop, nodded slightly and continued walking forward unhurriedly while listening to his subordinate cleric's report.
In order to go to the imperial capital, to complete the tasks his master had assigned—"enter Typhon's research department" and the like—he had had few opportunities to enter the mind network during this period. Occasional connections were only to report his recent situation to the highest levels of the Long Night Cult, lest the upper ranks suspect him or his position in the cult be affected. Now he had finally settled down, had a stable residence in Aldnan, and had built his own secret laboratory. With a relatively safe and stable environment, he finally had the chance to return to the mind network and continue handling affairs within the cult—and completing his master's orders.
Along the way, other high-ranking clerics kept passing through the corridors. Most of them would stop beside Daniel and offer brief greetings:
"May your soul be at peace, Bishop."
"May you enjoy good dreams forever, Bishop."
"My respects to you, Master Daniel."
Daniel responded to these greetings as his mood dictated.
Lower-ranking clerics would respectfully address him as Bishop, while bishops of equal rank sometimes called one another Bishop and sometimes Master—within the Long Night Cult, this meant an enviable and revered status. Daniel, too, had once longed for such status, and for its sake had been addicted to dark magic and striven to climb the ranks.
But now that these positions were in his grasp, he cared little for them.
He was the rising star of the Long Night Cult in recent days, a "pioneer" who had proposed multiple groundbreaking concepts in the field of the mind network, a genius scholar valued by the Mystic Pole Cult and even noticed by His Holiness the Pope—but compared with the identity of "envoy of the Outlander," all of these meant nothing.