Chapter 785 — Mind Storm
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 4
The church's spire bathed in the glorious sunlight, its outer walls gleaming under the giant sun; before the wall painting that symbolized the Upper Narrator, townsfolk kept pausing to pay their respects and worship.
An elderly cleric in plain gray robes stood before the church's open doors, gazing with a smile at the bustling plaza. Residents paused beside him to listen as the old cleric expounded the truth about the Upper Narrator; everything looked so harmonious and beautiful.
It was almost enough to make one forget that this was an eerie projection located in the "Imaginary Number Zone," forget that this was a phantom town steeped in twisted and dangerous power, forget that one was part of an exploration squad bearing a mission…
Yuri was jolted from his trance in an instant. He saw a lantern sway past before his eyes, and Selina Gale's voice sounded at his ear: "Don't let your mind relax. Remember, this place is only a projection—everything here is false."
Gao Yang glanced in confusion at the few Sleepers before him, somewhat puzzled inwardly—what had just happened? Had some power been trying to erode them again? Why hadn't he felt anything?
Not far away, the elderly cleric at the church doors lifted his head and smiled at the Sleepers, who stood fully on guard as if facing a great enemy, and then spoke in a gentle tone: "Why resist? Is this not a beautiful world?"
As the cleric's voice fell, in the nearby streets and alleys, on the plaza before the church, those busy town residents going about their lives—those projections who had previously ignored Daniel and the others—suddenly all stopped in their tracks, frozen like puppets in an instant.
The next second, they all slowly turned their heads in unison, their gazes settling on the few uninvited guests standing in the square.
Every resident of the town fixed them with a silent stare, and in that moment even Gao Yang felt his hair stand on end.
The Sleepers were, of course, all the more on their guard; only Selina Pingxi met the old priest's gaze, and after several seconds slowly spoke: "As I thought... you have a soul close to the real thing. Are you a projection formed by the master mind of this town?"
The old priest's expression was placid, and he slowly shook his head. "I do not know what you are talking about. I only feel that you ought to try staying here a while longer—blessed is the land sheltered by the Upper Narrator, so why return to that perilous void?"
Gao Yang's brow furrowed slightly—perilous void? What did that mean?
Did he mean the "imaginary-number zone" outside this town? Or... some current state within Sandbox One?
Yuri's gaze, meanwhile, fell on the church behind the old priest, its doors thrown wide open; after carefully sensing the information structure of the area, he lowered his voice and said, "That church is the exit—inside, it should connect to the phantom town on the surface layer, to the trunk layer of the mind network."
Magnum snorted. "I'm guessing that fellow has no intention of letting us stroll in unopposed."
Selina slowly raised the soul lantern in her hand and stepped toward the church, one pace at a time. "I'm curious—can your Upper Narrator truly bless your soul here?"
"The Upper Narrator is everywhere..." The old priest slowly spread his hands. "Where the Lord's people stand, there stands the Lord..."
Halo upon halo surfaced behind the old man, and a vast, oppressive force descended all at once; over the whole church square rang an ethereal, holy, overwhelmingly majestic sound of sacred music—
Apart from Gao Yang, who could not be observed, everyone present felt their own mind being drawn away to some greater or lesser degree, their will to resist crumbling.
Here in this projected town, deep in the imaginary-number zone beyond Sandbox One, an Upper Narrator priest—a mere phantom at best—had, with nothing but the backing of some kind of "faith," worked a divine art with genuine power!