At the top of the highest mountain in Tallund, the resplendent sanctuary is bathed in the stars that will last for the next six months.

As if the eternal starlight was shining from the sky, casting a faint glow on the pale golden façade and dome of the sanctuary, and the smoke-like clouds flowed slowly at the foot of the sanctuary, and the flourishing lights of Tallund in the night could be faintly seen under the clouds—the lights illuminated the kingdom of dragons, and the vast network of intercity pipes and air traffic guidance lights crisscrossed the city, weaving a web-like pattern between the highly developed and old cities, and in the middle of which there were extraordinarily large facilities standing in the depths of the lights. These are huge factory facilities or large-scale environmental maintenance installations.

Backed by the mountains, the whole of Tallund seems to be divided into two distinct levels, with the plains and the foot of the mountains densely populated with cities and factories, and the upper floors of the peaks are the temples, parliaments, senates, and the headquarters of various mega-corporations.

All of this, like the stars in the sky, has not changed for so many years.

A blonde figure stood at the end of the terrace of the Great Sanctuary, bathed in starlight, overlooking the continent of Talrond.

But his gaze did not actually stop on the land of the dragon, but continued to extend towards the edge of the continent, as if crossing the endless ocean, over the eternal storm, and all the way to the continent occupied by humans.

"My lord," the dragon priest Helagore lowered his head, "the observer has sent news that the 'magic net' of the Human Empire Cecil has been connected to the grid today, but it seems that there are some twists and turns in the middle, and we are still investigating......"

"There's no need to investigate," Ryujin said in a nonchalant tone, "there's nothing to be paid attention to. ”

It's just that a reckless and lucky god managed to break free, but the whole process is neither referential nor repeatable.

“…… Yes, my lord. Hagere bowed his head and replied respectfully.

After a few oppressive seconds of silence, he finally heard the god speak again, "Tomorrow, let the young dragon named Melita come to me." ”

"Yes, my lord."

……

Although Naretir was unable to leave the suspected goddess of magic behind, the hunt paid off - Naritir collected the "embers" stripped from the goddess of magic Mirmina in the border area, which was a vital sample of the gods for the participants in the Disobedience Project.

Inside the Great Pyramid of the Imperial Capital, Gawain saw the black fragments that Naret had collected—they looked weightless, fragile and loosely stacked like flaky ashes from some kind of burned paper, but each piece was actually much stronger than it looked, with high physical strength (in the network) and even resistance to Magnum's psychic storms.

"Actually, I'm curious," Gawain looked at the samples and couldn't help but say to Yuri and the others beside him, "these fragments that fell off Mirmina's body...... Are they a piece of data in a neural network, or do they produce some kind of ...... in the real world Entity. The gods are flesh and blood, but their 'entities'...... It doesn't seem to be quite what we understand it to be. ”

"To the gods, perhaps fiction and reality are themselves a false proposition," said Selena, who was standing not far from Gawain, while subconsciously glancing at Naretir, who was quietly guarding the pile of ashes (the latter seemed to be seriously protecting his loot), "You should remember how the upper narrator almost made it from a dream to the real world. ”

"So...... With the right approach, theoretically, these remnants could also be brought to the real world and used as samples for analysis in the laboratory," Gawain said thoughtfully, "as long as some kind of ...... is found The 'interface' that connects neural networks to reality – not immersion pods or artificial neural cables, but something more abstract and advanced. ”

Selena's expression was a little strange for a moment: "This sounds a bit challenging to common sense, but Naretil and Duvalt may have ideas, but do you really plan to bring these things to the real world?" ”

“…… No, forget it, there are too many uncontrollable factors, and the potential risks are too great," Gawain shook his head, "I even suspect that these embers were deliberately left behind by the Goddess of Magic, and she may be waiting for us to bring these things to the real world?" ”

"There are some conspiracy theories, but in the realm of the gods, conspiracy theories don't hurt at all," Magnum said with a bit of a grin, "You're right, it's safest to keep these 'ashes' in the virtual laboratory of the neural network, at least with Naretir and Duvalt guarding them, and we have those 'deep-sea forces' for protection." ”

"Deep Sea Power ......" Gawain repeated in a low voice, first of all, Tyr's unawake face came to mind, then to Tyr's ecstatic tentacles in the form of a sea demon, and finally to finally correctly appear the kraken's deep sea rune, "Kamal is preparing to introduce kraken runes into the neural network, but how to make those runes work best is something that needs to be carefully studied. The most straightforward idea is to have those lines cover the visualization area of the entire network and project them to various places in the real world through the network-connected magic network terminals, but this idea is ...... Not very realistic. ”

"It sounds horrible," Semler imagined for a moment, and sighed heartfeltly, "it's horrible......

"It is said that Kamel and Jenny have further ideas in mind, and I'll check with them when I get back," Gawain said casually, and then he took one last look at the ash samples left behind by the goddess of magic, "dispose of these samples properly, and submit me a full plan report before conducting a series of tests." ”

Yuri, Selena and others at the scene immediately bowed down to receive the order, and Gawain nodded, took half a step back, and his figure gradually faded.

……

Returning to the real world, Gawain didn't waste time, and after making a little arrangement, he set off for the Dark Mountains, entering the deepest part of the Fortress of Disobedience.

He was going to talk to the god of fake death again.

This time he only brought Veronica with him - it doesn't matter how many people he brings when talking to the giant deer Ammon, from a security point of view, the only people in the entire imperial capital who can really get close to Amon and not be affected in any way are him and Tyr, plus Veronica and Kamel, who can protect themselves in a short period of time by using technical means, among which Tyr is a guy with only a little biscuits, at this time, since he knows that Ammon is a fake death, he naturally can't bring Tyr over - she didn't eat and was in a low mood, she ate the scene hunting, It's better not to bring it without. As for Kamel, he was responsible for the finishing touches after the magic net was connected to the network, as well as researching the introduction of Kraken runes into the magic net.

So this time with Gawain entered the fortress of disobedience, only Veronica, who was an ancient rebel - in fact, if it weren't for the fact that there was someone to take care of him in case of an unexpected situation, Gawain even felt that it was okay for him to come alone, but it was clear that Hetty would never agree to such a risky plan, and Gawain himself ...... In his position, he has long lost the qualifications to act willfully and recklessly.

Standing in front of the last safety barrier of the fortress of disobedience, Veronica looked at the god who was quietly dormant like a hill from afar, and nodded to Gawain beside her: "This time I will go with you." ”

The last time Gawain spoke to Amon, she was standing at the barrier with the others, and didn't come forward herself.

"There may be some risks," Gawain guessed that Veronica would ask for this, but reminded him anyway, "I don't doubt your protection, but it's a real 'close encounter' after all." ”

"My consciousness used to confront the god of light at a closer distance," Veronica only smiled faintly, "In fact, my protective techniques may be more effective than you think." ”

Gawain raised an eyebrow.

"In that case, I won't stand in the way," he said, "but you have to keep an eye on your state at all times—I don't think it would be difficult for a seasoned disobedient." ”

Veronica didn't speak, just nodded slightly, then raised the platinum scepter in her hand and opened a small opening in the ancient security barrier.

The two of them stepped over the barrier and stepped onto the shattered courtyard directly exposed to the environment of the Shadow Realm, facing the visual pressure of the "god of nature" (despite being out of the godhood), and crossed the broken road and the ancient bridge to the giant deer Ammon, who was closing his eyes tightly.

The other party had obviously been sensing the changes around him, and as soon as Gawain and Veronica approached him, the giant deer as huge as a hill slowly opened its eyes, and its crystal-like eyes quietly stared at the uninvited guests who came to him, and a low and pleasant voice sounded directly in the minds of the two: "Welcome-one more guest has come to my courtyard today." ”

"The last time I was standing farther away," Veronica said in a nonchalant tone, "and you should have known me a little earlier—I was something else back then." ”

"Then you have to tell me who you were at that time," said Amone, "and unlike many believers preach, the gods are neither omniscient nor omnipotent, and no amount of strong faith can really give us the ability to break these two rules......

Veronica smiled, "My name was Ophelia, Ophelia Norton. ”

“…… Ah, I do have some impressions," Ammon said abruptly after a brief recollection, "and the mortal scholars who were busy making holes or building scaffolds in me had mentioned the name, in their idle conversation...... They also mentioned Herman Norton and Simmons Norton. ”

Veronica nodded, "That's my father and brother. ”

"It's something to be missed—it's a long time ago for you mortals. So how did you, who are supposed to be a human being, survive to where you are today? Look...... Your body is just a human being. ”

"It's my secret - since you don't know all and don't know everything, let some of the secrets remain secret," Veronica shook her head, "We're not here to catch up with a god today, we're here to ask you some questions." ”

"Ah, I guessed, and I even guessed what you want to ask......" There seemed to be a hint of a smile in Amone's tone, and then he paused before he said unhurriedly, "There is a hurried 'god' passing by the Shadow Realm, and I happened to see her, she must have run far away by now. ”

Gawain was sorting out the language and thinking about how to start the topic, but he suddenly heard the information directly thrown by Ammon, and immediately swallowed all the words back, leaving only his face full of surprise and stunned, and even Veronica next to him was stunned for a moment.

"Looks like you really want to ask this," Ammon's tone remained calm and indifferent, "Why, you're looking for her?" ”

"Did you see it with your own eyes?" Gawain couldn't help but confirm, "She actually passed by you?!" ”

"I saw it with my own eyes, and if I'm not mistaken, it's the goddess of magic...... Mirmina, I remember the name. Her form has a very obvious occult symbolic element, and the aura released from her body also points to the system of spells created by mortals. It's just that she looks a little weak, and even ...... I seem to be a little weaker than I was when I first came here," Ammon said unhurriedly, and finally asked, "So, what happened?" ”

“…… She may be your imitator," Gawain hesitated for a few seconds, then finally sighed, "I don't know if I should tell you the details, but one thing you can know right now - there should be no goddess of magic in the world, at least not for the time being." Mirmina has left her place, and I suspect she's in much the same state as yours now. ”

Amone was silent for a while, and he couldn't tell his mood at the moment from his appearance, but Gawain felt that he had caught a trace of shock in the other party's eyes - the change in the goddess of magic obviously shocked this ancient "god of nature"!

After a few seconds of silence, Ammon's voice rang out again: "Is there really such a day...... It turned out to be ......"

Then, without waiting for Gawain and Veronica to speak, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and said in a tone that seemed to be a little self-deprecating: "You said that her current state is not much different from mine, and I don't agree with this - she is running past me at a rapid pace, do you think my current state can do this?" ”

Veronica subconsciously glanced at Amon's body, and was greeted by countless metal wreckage, fixing bolts, and restraint locks, which made it impossible for Ammon to even move his limbs, let alone run all the way from the neural network to the shadow realm like a free goddess of magic......

Gawain somehow thought of Naretir in his mind, and thought of the upper narrator's obsession with "legs", and he glanced at Amon, and his heart was full of trouble—

You eight-legged four-legged ones can't even run without legs......