Gawain has been paying attention to the No. 1 sandbox for a long time, and has long been quite curious about where its entrance is - according to the information investigated before, although the No. 1 sandbox is an independent thinking network, it still has an entrance and exit to connect to the backbone network, but Gawain and Daniel have scanned the entire psychic network, and they have not found where its entrance and exit are.

And now, he finally knew why no one knew about this mysterious entrance-

After deciding to act, the archbishops of the Golden Council Hall left their seats one after another, and Gawain stood up with him, although he didn't know why, and then he saw everyone take a step back, and the surface of the golden round table depicted with many mysterious runes suddenly rippled with circles of light between virtual and real.

The ever-shrinking starlight aggregate of Megael III slowly descended from mid-air, touching the center of the round table like some kind of viscous liquid, and in the next second, the rippling virtual and real light suddenly dyed with layers of starlight, and then quickly expanded to the entire surface of the round table like a halo—

A whirlpool of holes was formed in the starlight, and floating clouds and dust were faintly visible in the whirlpool, as well as hazy mountains and rivers.

At the same time that the entrance opened, the table sank to the level of the ground: it literally became a portal embedded in the ground.

The round table in this golden chamber is the entrance to Sandbox No. 1, and Megael III is the "key" to open the entrance!

“…… This is a bit of a surprise to me," Gawain said with a smile as he stood by the swirling entrance, looking down at the hazy clouds and dust inside, "So, there's Sandbox No. 1 down here?" Just walk in and go? ”

"It's easy to get into Sandbox One, but we're not sure what will happen once we get inside, and the last time the expedition team entered, there were already a lot of strange changes in it, proving that Sandbox One has been evolving itself without surveillance," Megael III said in a voice that was a little weaker than before, floating back into the air, "Extraterritorial Wanderer...... While my instructions may seem redundant to you, remember – be careful. ”

"I'll remember."

Gawain nodded, and beside him, Selena Gelmin had already stepped forward, stepping into the entrance of the mist-shrouded vortex.

Gawain, Yuri, and Magnum followed closely behind.

The four figures quickly disappeared into the depths of the vortex, and when the entwined clouds closed again, the circles of starlight around the entrance wriggled and returned to their original state, and the round table embedded in the ground returned to its original appearance.

There was silence in the hall for two seconds before the voice of Megael III broke the silence: "Everyone, here we go—do what we have to do."

"Concentrate all the remaining computing power on the No. 1 sandbox and security system, shut down all non-essential functions of the backbone, and shut down the ...... City of Dreams. ”

The archbishops responded in unison: "Yes! Your Majesty! ”

One by one, figures disappeared into the golden hall, and with each figure, the light in the golden hall seemed to dim a little.

And outside of the Golden Hall, the entire Dream City also changed-

The clear and bright sky suddenly faded in color, and the gray-white boundless chaos enveloped the whole world, those golden palaces, elegant towers, rare and fantastic plants, all of them were reduced to nothingness in a small point of light, and the black and white grid lines covered the city land, and then even the black and white grid lines were swallowed up by endless mist......

The city of dreams, once beautiful and created by the exhaustion of human imagination, was reduced to the most chaotic initial dream in a few breaths, and in this boundless darkness illuminated only by the light of fog and chaos, only the "Golden Council Chamber", which had shrunk to only one hall, still stood on the ground.

In the already dimly lit hall, the wriggling starlight aggregate quieted down, floating silently in the air, as if thinking, as if reminiscing......

……

In the underground palace of the Eternal Sleeper in the real world, priests in black or white robes returned to the real world, maintaining the most basic connection to the psychic network and providing their surplus computing power while running around the palace.

"Dream control begins! Dream Control Begins! ”

There are priests shouting orders, priests checking the prohibitions in every part of the palace, and priests setting off to the surface to carry out dream monitoring of the entire "Orlandelle" region.

Even the lowest floor of the underground palace could hear the noisy movement in the palace, and Wendy, who was located in the containment area on the ground floor but had already lowered the containment level due to the alleviation of pollution symptoms, noticed the change in the atmosphere in the corridor outside, and couldn't help but raise her head, came to the iron door depicting complex runes, and asked gently, "Mr. Guard, what is happening outside?" ”

"Dream control, Archbishop Wendy," the guard's muffled voice came from outside, as if he was wearing a thick helmet, "please wait in peace, don't fall asleep." ”

“…… I wish I could help. ”

"Please stay awake tonight, that's the greatest help to everyone."

"You're right, Mr. Guard."

Wendy whispered, retreating to her bed, where she sat down quietly.

On the wall opposite her, a gleaming crystal dust paint depicted an intricate set of symbols, made up of many curved lines and circles, like the symbol of some deep-sea animal, with a deep and mysterious connotation.

Looking at those symbols, Wendy's mind quickly became sober and rational, and most of the previous nervous and depressed mood dissipated.

It's just a little greedy and wants to dig up big squid......

……

Gawain felt that he was walking on a ramp that continued to extend downward, deep into the depths of endless yellow sand and clouds, and he didn't know how long he walked, he suddenly felt that the strange atmosphere around him that was difficult to distinguish between reality and reality suddenly swept away, the clouds and mist dissipated, and his eyes suddenly opened up.

A city standing in the yellow sand appeared before him, Selena and the others.

The city has an earthy yellow façade, high walls and walls, and the arrow tower and lookout tower look extraordinary under the blue sky, but there are no guards to be seen on the city walls or in front of the city gates.

And at the same time as seeing this desert city, a strange smell of decay also wafted into Gawain's nostrils.

"This is the first city you can see when you enter Sandbox One, the city-state of Nim Sandro, and it is also the starting point of civilization in the sandbox world," Selena whispered, "This desert was originally a grassland, at least in the early days of the sandbox, but later with the evolution of history and climate change, it was eroded by the desert, but it is still a transportation artery and commerce is prosperous. ”

"It's an empty city now," Yuri continued, "and the last time the expedition team entered reported that the city and the surrounding villages were empty. In addition, they were attacked while they were spending the night in the city, so we need to be careful about this. ”

"There's a stench here," Magnum muttered, frowning, "as if something had rotted." ”

"This strange phenomenon has also been reported by the exploration team before," Selena nodded, "This strange stench of decay permeates Nim Sandror and the surrounding towns and villages, and although it is not very strong, it is very widespread. The team was unable to find the source of the scents, but the scents themselves did not seem to be harmful. ”

Gawain sniffled and said casually, "Could it be that those vanished sandbox dwellers are in a place we can't see, or are slowly rotting in a state we can't see?" ”

Yuri's face couldn't help but tremble when he heard Gawain's words, and Magnum next to him subconsciously looked around at the vast and empty desert, his brows furrowed tightly: "This is really ...... Are extraterritorial wanderers as scaring as you are? ”

"Just call me Gawain, it might help relax," Gawain glanced at Magnum with a smile, and then walked towards the entrance of the city-state without waiting for an answer, "Don't waste time, we only have 'ten days'." ”

Magnum and the others immediately followed, while Gawain quietly activated the settings in the depths of his consciousness as he walked, trying to communicate with the perceptual runes set in the real world and beside him.

He vaguely felt the runes, and with the help of them, he sensed the presence of Amber and Tyr.

But it was a very, very strange feeling, with a strange feeling of hard and sluggishness, as if looking at a world that was extremely slow down through a severe delay.

Is this the effect of "time iteration"......

Gawain thought thoughtfully.

Ten times the time iteration, it has allowed itself to only vaguely perceive reality, and can hardly communicate with the real world, so under the previous time iteration of thousands of times or even higher, the residents in the No. 1 sandbox are obviously unable to connect with the real world at all.

Even if there is an occasional exchange of information, they can only receive very weird, distorted and blurred information about reality.

This sandbox is an isolated island......

With this feeling in mind, Gawain and his three temporary companions stepped into the city-state surrounded by yellow sand.

Yellow-coloured or off-white buildings line the streets, mostly with flat roofs and curved window frames, and brightly coloured red or yellow curtains are hung between the taller houses, spanning the street and dancing in the dry wind.

"It's a completely different style from the Phantom Town we've seen before......" Magnum couldn't help but say.

Selena spoke, and at the same time explained to Gawain: "The number one sandbox is very large, in addition to the city-state of Nim Sandra in the desert region, there is also the city of Glove in the forest region, and there is the city of Maple Creek located on the edge of the swampy wetlands, and there are different city-states and kingdoms...... It has developed over the millennia in an accelerated period of time, with millions of virtual personalities thriving in it, and the Sandbox is set in the Iron Age as the starting point of civilization, which is enough for the inhabitants to expand their 'world' to a large extent. ”

Gawain raised his eyebrows: "The starting point of civilization here is set in the Iron Age?" ”

"Yes," Selena nodded, "If it is directly set in the primitive era, it will take a long time for the sandbox to develop a real civilization, and there will be too many uncertainties in the middle, even if it is accelerated by time iteration, the whole experimental process will be very long, so we have set a set of basic data for each sandbox, which contains a complete history from the primitive era to the Iron Age, as well as archaeological discoveries that can be corroborated, which can allow the virtual and physical residents in the sandbox to enter the civilization deduction stage faster." ”

“…… That's a big job. ”

Selena seemed to hear some deep meaning from Gawain's tone, and couldn't help but be curious: "Is there a problem?" ”

"No...... I can't think of anything wrong for a while," Gawain shook his head, "I just admire your patience and perseverance in writing this set." ”

Selena wasn't sure if it was a compliment or sarcasm, but just as she was about to say something more, a building appeared in her sight that interrupted her next words in advance.

A noticeably taller and more imposing building than its surroundings, guarded by dozens of pale gold sculptural columns and stone statues, appeared at the end of the sand-strewn street.

"Is that a temple?" Gawain looked into the distance and asked casually.

"Consistent with the outline of the building reported by the exploration team," Yuri nodded, "it should be the city-state temple of Nim Sandro." ”

Gawain thought thoughtfully: "It's a completely different style from the church in Phantom Town. ”

"But it's the same 'gods' that are enshrined inside."

Selena said softly.

Believe in the same gods...... However, due to the differences in regional cultures, temples of different styles were built.

This once again made Gawain realize the power of this sandbox in terms of "simulogeneity", and realized how the civilization in the sandbox developed step by step.

And in the midst of their thoughts, they had come to the vicinity of the temple.

At the entrance to the temple, directly facing the street, Gawain saw the familiar relief, carved into a huge stone, standing in the square in front of the temple:

A huge palm, covered over the symbolic earth – the hallmark of the upper narrator.

Gawain's gaze swept over the relief, which symbolized the upper narrator, and strode over the boulder, ready to enter the temple.

But at the entrance of the temple, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

His eyes were fixed on a stone pillar at the entrance to the temple.

On the surface of the stone pillar, a line of words was deeply engraved, the lines of the words were profound, but the handwriting was messy and distorted, and the depths of each line of strokes seemed to be soaked in blood, and it seemed to convey infinite despair and madness, and it only had one sentence—

The gods are dead.

(Oh yes!!) ）