Chapter 768 — The Birth of a God
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
The Arcane Technology Research Institute, second underground level, classified conference room.
Gao Yang stepped into the room in his dark blue coat. In this heavily guarded conference chamber that had never been opened to outsiders, he found that everyone attending the meeting was already waiting.
Wright and Virodai were conversing in low voices; Pi Yun was somewhat absently twirling his beard; Kamael floated beside the conference table, the arcane glow around his body calm and azure. As soon as Hedy spotted Gao Yang, she was the first to rise and bow. "Progenitor."
The others likewise set aside what they were doing and rose one after another to pay their respects.
Gao Yang swept his gaze across the room, pausing briefly on a certain empty seat by the long table. "No need to stay hidden at a time like this."
Amber's figure promptly materialized. "Force of habit, force of habit..."
Gao Yang shook his head and made his way to the head of the table. As he sat down, he spoke: "It's an internal meeting, no need for formalities. Today is mainly to exchange some intelligence, and... I need a few professionals here present to offer some suggestions."
Virodai lifted his head, glanced at those present, and already understood. "It has to do with the knowledge of gods?"
"Correct," Gao Yang nodded. "Regarding the recent anomaly in the minds of the Dreaming Ones—Amber should have briefed you before the meeting, yes?"
"Just half an hour ago," Wright replied. "I hadn't known until now that our infiltration of the Dreaming Ones' cult had already reached such a level."
"This matter has always been kept highly confidential, and it doesn't intersect with the church's operations, so it's only natural you wouldn't know," Gao Yang said, his expression growing grave. "But now things have changed somewhat. Certain intelligence has to be made public."
"In short, according to intelligence I've just received, a covert plan the Dreaming Ones have been executing within the mind has very likely inadvertently touched upon the realm of gods, and... they may have come into contact with the secret of how gods are born."
Gao Yang came straight to the point. The conference room fell instantly silent. Everyone's breathing seemed half a beat slower, and even Kamael, who did not need to breathe, dimmed for an instant. Several seconds passed before Pi Yun's mouth twitched, breaking the silence. "I said a meeting this urgent and this classified had to mean something major, but this... this is a bit too exciting."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and looked with no small distress at the several hairs he had just accidentally plucked from his beard. After hesitating for a long while, he rubbed them back onto his chin and carefully reattached them with a spell.
Gao Yang paid no mind to Pi Yun's muttering. Seeing that his bombshell had successfully roused everyone to attention, he then recounted in detail his earlier experiences within the mind, his exploration of that "phantom town."
Everyone present listened intently. Even Amber, who dozed off or let her mind wander at every meeting, pricked up her ears this time and listened with exceptional focus.
"...That is the whole account," Gao Yang said only after nearly twenty minutes of narration, exhaling and summarizing. "By my guess, the worship of the 'Upper Narrator' is likely the main cause of the sandbox's loss of control. And what precisely this 'Upper Narrator Church' has been brewing within the dream—whether this 'thing' is merely a conceptual product belonging to the dream world—will be the crux of the matter."
No sooner had he finished than Virodai, seated second on the left, broke the silence. "You suspect... that the acts of faith toward this so-called 'Upper Narrator' have in fact created a god within Sandbox One of the mind?"