The flourishing of human nature often stems from the decline of divinity.

In the vast and boundless shadow courtyard, the two former gods fell into silence and contemplation at the same time, only the magic net terminal on the side was still projecting light, shadow and sound from the mortal world, and this silence lasted for a long time, and Mirmina suddenly broke the silence: "It seems that it is right to find you to kill time...... If it were me, I'm afraid it would take a long time to see a change in myself. ”

Amone's gaze fell silently on Mirmina, "So that's why you've been bothering me?" ”

"No, the main reason is that you have internet here."

“…… Well, at least honesty is a good character," Ammon seemed to sigh, but finally got to the point, "so tell me about your 'humanity' - do you have a clue why your humanity has improved so quickly?" ”

"What do I have to do?" Mirmina shook her head, the confusion in her tone genuine, "After all, everything I've done so far has been an adventure, an experiment, there are no examples to refer to, there is not much exact data in the process, and my understanding of the changes in my divinity and humanity is only an approximate estimate based on my feelings. Maybe that's the normal situation now? Anyway...... It is always a good thing that human nature is flourishing and divinity is declining. ”

"Divinity means madness, and the more we lean toward it, the further we move away from reason, but on the other hand, divinity also means the connection between us and mortal thoughts, mortals don't suddenly collectively forget something, so this connection can't disappear out of thin air......" Amon's gaze was crystal clear, and his voice echoed softly in the courtyard, "As far as we know, the mortal world has not undergone a large-scale population decline in recent times, nor is it possible for a worldwide shift in thought to occur in a few months, And the rate at which your divinity is now declining is clearly far faster than mortals can forget you...... This is a huge anomaly, and I think it's best not to just say 'it's all a good thing.'" ”

“…… Well, I also think that in just these few months, mortals will not have forgotten about me," Mirmina was silent for a moment, and had to restrain her nonchalant look, and began to take Amone's question seriously, "but speaking of my 'humanity'...... Old deer, you seem to have undergone some changes recently, haven't you noticed it yourself? ”

"I don't like the nickname you gave me?" Ammon immediately said? Then his gaze shrank slightly, a sign that he was lost in thought? "You say I've changed lately?"

"Yes? And it's a big change," Milmina said very directly? "The biggest change is that you're talking a lot more now, and more and more 'initiative' is appearing in your personality - I remember how lazy and sluggish you were when I first met you? Now you're still sluggish? But it's not lazy at all. ”

Amon fell into deep thought, and in thought he said slowly, "So...... The divinity of you and me is declining, and as a result of this, we are becoming more 'human', and this change has happened recently...... And the mortal world hasn't changed dramatically lately – so what do you think is the most likely explanation? ”

"Something is interfering with the connection between us and the 'Current'?" Mirmina's train of thought was running fast? Immediately said what he thought, "Or maybe we're filtering out the influence of the institution on us!" ”

"What could that be?" Amon's voice sounded cautious, even nervous, even though he was once the supreme god of the elves, but now he was trapped here? With little control over how anything goes, he's extra sensitive to the unknown? "Who would interfere with our connection with mortal thought for what purpose? And who would have such an ability? ”

"I don't know, I'm as unsentimental as you are......" Mirmina shook her head? But in the next second, her gaze suddenly fell on the shattered earth in front of Ammon - this fragmented ground connected the atrium of the Courtyard of Disobedience and the portal of the Fortress of Disobedience in the distance? Was it once empty and barren? But now there are a whole bunch of "things" from the mortal world? From the shimmering web matrix, to the crystal devices floating in mid-air, to many new things that even Mirmina could not recognize, and which seemed to have been invented by human experts after she had left the physical world, these large and small magic machines were scattered around Amone, running quietly and unsupervised, and looking orderly.

To the gigantic gods, they are as inconspicuous as many small glowing stones scattered around, but they are a little more pretty and cute.

Mirmina had a thoughtful expression on her face: "Did they tell you about the name and function of each of these machines when they were helping you set up these things?" ”

Amon sighed, "As I said, it was the mortal named Kamel who came here to install the equipment, and he came and went in a hurry and didn't explain much to me. What, there is a problem with these machines? ”

"I doubt you just didn't remember or understand what the mortal said, but I don't have any proof," Mirmina said, her arcane eyes narrowing slightly, "I don't see the problem, but I've seen how this 'magic web communication' system invented by mortals works, I didn't pay attention to the machines around you before, but now think about it...... If you want to maintain the communication between the Courtyard of Disobedience and the material world, you won't need so many machines, especially these floating crystal ......"

"What are these floating crystals for?" Amone couldn't help but ask curiously.

"In most cases, they are used to spread magic network signals or stabilize the magic environment - although the Rebellion Courtyard is large, in fact, it only takes one crystal to cover such a large courtyard, even if you count backups, you only need two or three such devices, but there are more than a dozen crystals lined up around you, large and small, as well as these matching matrices, and that king-sized ...... I can't even see what it's for. ”

As she spoke, Mirmina finally stood up, her figure rising from the ground like a tower, and she walked between the large and small devices, her gaze swept over the entire area around the giant deer, and finally came to her senses: "...... Probably only a small part of these things are actually used to maintain the communication function of your magic network terminal, and the rest ...... It's about creating some kind of 'environment' around you. ”

Amonen finally reacted a little, his eyes clear and bright: "So, this is an experiment—some kind of experiment in the name of helping to set up the magic network communication. ”

Mirmina turned her head and looked at the former god of nature with a smile: "What? Feel like they've cheated on you? Not happy with their hidden motives? ”

"No, they're helping me." After a few seconds of silence, Amone broke the silence softly, his voice as gentle as ever, "I've been lying here for three thousand years, but my ability to think hasn't deteriorated. ”

"They're helping us," Mirmina, looking at Amun for a moment, then slowly walked back to her position and sat down again, "I don't know exactly what they've done, but they're clearly trying to sever the remaining chains on you and me...... As it turns out, it's not just us so-called 'gods' who are trying to break free. ”

This time, Amone didn't even refute the word "we" from the other party, he just thought quietly, and after a long time said, "So, they still stand with us......"

"It takes a little bit of tacit understanding." Mirmina then said.

Amon didn't speak, he closed his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking, and it took an unknown amount of time before his voice sounded again in the chaotic and gloomy world: "Don't run far, the power of these devices may only cover my small yard." ”

There was no echo from beside him, and Amun couldn't help but open his eyes, and he looked to the side, only to see the lady as tall as a clock tower had somehow been sitting next to the wreckage of a huge ship engine, her head bowed as if she had fallen asleep—for many days she had consciously distanced herself from the wreckage, for the legacy of the Voyager had always made her divine part uncomfortable, but now she was leaning on it, sleeping unguarded.

Amone looked in that direction silently, but finally didn't say anything to wake him up—it's not easy for a god to get a good night's sleep.

"Good night."

……

In the experimental hall of the Imperial Computing Center, Node Master Yuri gently rubbed his forehead, which was a little sore, from his long concentration, his gaze swept over the data projected above a surveillance device on the side, and then withdrew his gaze, continuing to pay attention to the undulating "tide" behind the mental hub.

The essence of this "tide" is actually the "non-directional trend of thought" from the deepest layer of the neural network, which is the data ripples generated by tens of thousands of human minds in the unconscious dreams of the group.

For the past hundreds of years, the Eternal Sleepers have regarded it as an extremely dangerous "spiritual mire", because it can swallow up almost any ordinary mind that falls into it—in that chaotic and disordered mire of thought, the most broken, illogical, and incomprehensible fragments of human consciousness are surging like a chaotic turbulence in the ocean, and neither reason nor madness has any meaning in the face of this absolute emptiness and chaos, and the mortal mind will instantly dry up and collapse when it strays into it, and no one has ever thought of it. This "quagmire" that can cause any mind to die of derangement turns out to be something useful.

Anti-divine barrier.

A beautiful lady in a white researcher's uniform with her hair pulled up approached Yuri, her voice as melodious as a song: "So far, it seems that the barrier generators we have set up in the courtyard area are all effective, and after placing non-directional institutions as a barrier around the target, the divine pollution leaking from them has been quickly weakened to near safe values. ”

"The extreme of human nature is divinity, and the extreme of divinity is madness, but the premise of the establishment of this chain is that the 'ideology' must point to the gods—if there is no direction to the ideology, then even the strongest chain will break as if it has lost a key link...... Such a simple truth, we have not even figured it out until today. ”

"There are many simple truths in the world, but if we're unlucky, we probably won't think of them until the end of the world," the pleasant voice of the lady smiled, and then the topic changed, "Unfortunately, we can't directly confirm the state of the target itself now, and I don't know ......how the target feels in the process."

"That may be a matter of understanding, Miss Wendy," said Yuri, "but the good news is that we're moving fast, and it may not be long before we can communicate directly with 'over there' and we don't have to work together by feeling." ”

Wendy nodded, and then her gaze fell on Yuri's face—there was a hint of tiredness hidden in the depths of that countenance, and the outside of her eyes seemed to be darker than yesterday, which made her a little worried, "Should you take a break?" You don't seem to have been taking a break lately to test these things. ”

Yuri waved his hand, casually took out a glass vial from his personal pocket, unscrewed the cap of the bottle and drank the alchemical potion inside, and the whole person suddenly regained his vitality - except for the dark circles under his eyes, there was no change: "It's okay, compared to when I was studying neural analog pulses in the Orlandel headquarters, this amount of work is nothing now." ”

Wendy looked at the alchemy potion bottle that Yuri casually threw in the trash can next to her, sighed helplessly, and also took out the same bottle of potion from her arms......

Since when did the former Sleepers lose their sleep one by one?

……

Under the solemn thirty-two quaint stone pillars, the meeting hall was falling into the last silence before the vote.

This was the last vote on the entire agenda, and for the delegates present, it was more important than any previous round of voting, and the decision was more difficult.

As Gawain said, the establishment of a theocratic council is not just a simple cost for countries to pay some human and material resources, it means a lot of changes in society, and even for some countries, it means that their social order will be tested in a round, and not all rulers have the courage to face this challenge.

But for many delegates, there is another level of appeal – for leaders who already want to weaken the authority of the Holy See, and for those who want to strengthen the centralization of power, part of the concept of the Theocratic Council is exactly what they want.

However, the part related to universal education and the promotion of citizens' rights and interests has made some people hesitate.

It's hard to decide on trade-offs.

Gawain stared calmly at the quiet room, and in the silence, Rosetta Augustus's voice finally broke the silence first: "Typhon joins." ”

Not far away, under the boulder pillar, a magical glow appeared on the surface of the banner with red stripes on a black background, and Typhon's seat brightened in the light.

"The Silver Empire joins." Belsetia's voice rang out, followed by the elves' flags.

"Talrond joins." "The Holy Dragon Principality joins."

"The Kaolin Kingdom is willing to join the Theocratic Council."

"The northern city-states agreed together."

"Oguray Tribal State ......"

The difficult weighing was finally over, as if a halo suddenly spread in the hall, and the flags representing the mortal kingdoms were lit one after another, and the clear light rose from all around the conference hall like a round of dawn, enveloping the faces of all the delegates present.

No matter how many of them are still swaying in their hearts - there is no [fo] turning back the arrow.

"Then, I declare the Theocratic Council officially established."