Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 771 - 770: Gawain’s Train of Thought

In the Supreme Administration Office of the Cecil Empire, Gawain quietly sat on a high-backed chair, contemplating the new information sent by Daniel in the bright sunlight of the morning.

After the last exploration of Illusion Town ended, the higher-ups of the Eternal Sleepers became increasingly anxious about the potential changes lurking within Sandbox One. They not only convened a new archbishop meeting but also carried out a series of fortifications and "purifications" on the network. According to Daniel’s assessment, the cult is likely exerting greater effort to control the changes within Sandbox One in the real world.

Illusion Town has been listed as a key surveillance target. Due to the possibility that it contains critical information about Sandbox One, the Eternal Sleepers have not reset it but used technical measures to seal and isolate it, preparing for further exploration.

Investigations into the Supreme Narrator Church have already begun, and it seems that traces of budding faith have been found in past sandbox monitoring records, though the traces are minimal. It’s been basically confirmed that Sandbox One collapsed first, followed by the formal shaping of the Supreme Narrator Church. This gave Gawain some new speculations about the formation process of that "suspected divinity."

Currently, the "suspected divinity" within Sandbox One has not yet shown the ability to extend its power beyond the sandbox, and thus it is not possible to determine whether a "god in a dream" counts as a true god. However, Daniel vaguely sensed something from the attitude of Eternal Sleepers’ Pontiff Megal III: the pontiff is highly vigilant, treating the "suspected divinity" within Sandbox One as a true god.

Gawain tapped the edge of the table lightly with his fingers, his thoughts slightly dispersing.

Eternal Sleepers’ Pontiff is Megal III... The pope of the Church of Dreams from seven hundred years ago, the one who donned a magic version of the spacesuit and set off towards the kingdom of gods was also called Megal III.

There is a good chance they are the same person, looking at it this way... That pope has also lived for seven hundred years.

And according to the intelligence provided by Beltira, the Grand Archbishop of the Oblivion Association, Frankenstein, is precisely the same Holy Spirit School Archbishop from seven hundred years ago.

The leaders of the three Great Dark Sects have lived for seven hundred years? The pope of the Sons of the Storm was also the pope who faced the gods seven hundred years ago?

If so... They are truly a group of "old friends."

And apart from this information, the Eternal Sleepers seemed to have no solutions for resolving the Sandbox One crisis for the time being.

Gathering his slightly scattered thoughts, Gawain halted his tapping on the edge of the table. He lifted his head to see Amber standing nearby, somewhat distracted.

But soon, this loafing half-elf noticed Gawain’s gaze and turned her head: "Hey, what’s Daniel saying from over there? Have the Eternal Sleepers come up with a solution yet?"

Gawain shook his head: "Apart from maintaining the situation, they don’t have more advanced methods for now—perhaps after the second exploration of Illusion Town, the Eternal Sleepers’ technicians can formulate some more proactive ’repair plans’ based on the specifics of Sandbox One."

Amber immediately grimaced: "Ugh... Evil cultists are really a profession skilled in their self-destruction... Each crisis they provoke is scarier than the last!"

"It’s a good thing this isn’t a crisis that will erupt quickly," Gawain was rather calm, "As long as the situation can be maintained, it’s not all that bad."

The "suspected divinity" created by the Eternal Sleepers within Sandbox One is indeed a terrifying hidden threat. In terms of destructive power, its upper limit is no less than that of the body of the fake god from before, perhaps even higher. But in another aspect, the Eternal Sleepers detected the crisis’s formation and froze its development before it burst out from the "laboratory," which is far more fortunate than the body of the fake god incident caused by the Oblivion Association.

Hence, according to Gawain’s judgment, this is a dangerous but not urgent event—he still has some time to prepare.

Of course, as the time within Sandbox One continues to flow, this event will eventually become urgent. But before that, life must go on, and Gawain certainly won’t allow himself to live in perpetual panic.

Amber, however, did not quite understand Gawain’s relaxed mindset. Given her naturally cautious nature, she had been worried for several days since knowing a "suspected evil god" akin to the body of the fake god was slowly being nurtured. At this moment, she voiced her concern: "Aren’t you even a bit worried? That could potentially birth a new god!!"

Gawain glanced at the half-elf with a serene tone: "Does our world lack gods?"

Amber was taken aback. She saw Gawain slowly rise, walking towards the window casually while continuing, "Holy Light, War God, Blood God, the three goddesses of fertility, Goddess of Magic... Our world is full of gods. As for the Supreme Narrator? One more or less doesn’t make a difference; even if the Eternal Sleepers truly lost control of Sandbox One, it might... merely be the emergence of a revamped Church of Dreams within the world — it might even be termed a renaissance.

"If my speculation about the birth of gods is correct, the ’Supreme Narrator’ within Sandbox One should differ from the body of the fake god. There is a high probability that it is rational."

Amber couldn’t help but furrow her brow: "Could it be... You’ve given up on resolving this crisis and are preparing to watch the ’Supreme Narrator’ take form?"

"Of course not. If there’s a chance, I’ll surely find a way to stop its arrival," Gawain shook his head, "I just want you to relax a bit; you’ve been too tense these past couple of days."

Amber scratched her head, muttering, "I can’t match your composure, you’re someone who comes alive from the grave..."

Gawain chuckled, not paying much mind to Amber’s mumbling, his gaze passing through the glass window to the streets outside.

The vision of a Transcendent allowed him to clearly see the scenes on the distant streets; he could see large posters promoting Magic Shadow Drama plastered on walls, hanging on streetlamps, and even holographic projections showing clips of Magic Shadow Drama floating in alleyways.

"Philem’s Magic Shadow Drama is about to premiere; with illusion magic and various auxiliary spells involved, their production cycle is much shorter than I expected," Gawain suddenly said, "How about watching this ’new-style drama’ and relaxing a bit?"

Even someone as open-minded as Amber couldn’t immediately follow Gawain’s jumpy thought process and stared wide-eyed: "One second, you’re discussing the birth of gods, the next you’re thinking about watching a drama? Are you kidding..."

"Of course, I’m not kidding. I just suddenly thought of an interesting thing..." Gawain smiled slightly and withdrew his gaze from the window, "If large groups of humans long-time, same ’frequency’ thought process leads to the birth of gods, then... what influence would something like the Magic Shadow Drama, which can quickly alter group moods, have on gods?"

Amber processed this for a moment, gradually widening her eyes.

Gawain maintained a smile, and the previously vague idea seemed to have become slightly clearer.

The Magic Shadow Drama... if operated properly, perhaps it could be used for more than just internal propaganda and external export.

Who knows, it might even be used to "poison" the gods.

Of course, this is currently just a fanciful whim. Whether this idea is feasible or not still depends on the exploration progress of the Eternal Sleepers and how much knowledge the already out-of-control and mutated Sandbox One can provide about the birth and nature of gods.

...

Information about the new style drama is spreading rapidly throughout Cecil Castle and several nearby towns.

This is yet another new creation from the "Magic Era," but compared to the endless stream of machinery, this new creation seems much more abstract.

It is said to be a drama "produced" using Magic Guide Technology, while others say its form has long since departed from the concept of "drama."

For "drama," people are certainly not unfamiliar. Whether they were once upper-class nobles or lower-class commoners, they at least know what drama is. It is precisely because they know this that they find it hard to imagine what "magic guide" elements an already long-existing stage performance could have—is it a mechanically controlled stage? Or are all the performers magic-controlled magic artificial intelligence?

For most people, it’s really unimaginable.

And those segments shown on the Magic Web broadcast are even more bewildering—because just from the visuals, it still looks like a play performed by humans.

Although the plot of those segments seems somewhat different from past dramas, a "play" is still a "play."

The confusion has brought about extra curiosity and attention.

Within a few days of the promotional cycle, citizens of Cecil Castle and surrounding towns had already begun discussing in various venues what that mysterious "Magic Shadow Drama" really was, and today, this new form of drama called "Magic Shadow Drama" finally premiered.

The screening venues for the Magic Shadow Drama are two large buildings in Cecil Castle (originally warehouses that were temporarily converted into theaters), as well as several theaters in the surrounding Tanzan, Kant, and Mining Town.

——In fact, according to Gawain’s initial idea, the best channel for introducing Magic Shadow Drama to the public in the early stages would naturally be the lowest cost and widest audience "open-air screening," after all, various important cities and towns on the southern borders have already set up varying numbers of public Magic Web Terminals, and squares everywhere could become screening sites for Magic Shadow Drama, allowing as many people as possible to come into contact with this new thing for the first time. However, this idea was never realized in the end.

The reason is simple: After going around to inspect the open-air screening sites, Amber returned with a runny nose to remind Gawain that it’s xxx (Cecil profanity) winter now...

Therefore, the first Magic Shadow Drama was decided on an indoor screening plan.

Southwest of Cecil Castle, wearing relatively low-key clothes, Duke Victoria Wilder was walking down the street with several entourage members, listening to a report from one of her attendants:

"Your Grace, Marquis Fendil is not at home. His servants say the marquis has been very busy recently and is usually not at his residence during the day."

Earl Balin, who was following beside Victoria, couldn’t help but smile upon hearing this: "It seems Marquis Fendil is very diligent, Your Highness Victoria, you don’t have to worry that he is neglecting his studies in this bustling and lively city—your ’sudden inspection’ today seems to be in vain."

According to custom, a "duke" can be addressed as "Your Highness," but it is not mandatory. Earl Balin is someone who values aristocratic etiquette, so in this relatively public setting, he habitually uses "Your Highness" to address Duke Victoria Wilder.

Upon hearing Earl Balin’s words, Victoria maintained a cold demeanor and casually said, "I just came to check on the situation, it’s not really a sudden inspection."

"Of course, of course," Earl Balin nodded repeatedly, and then curiously looked at the people coming and going by the roadside, "That aside, the people here seem to be talking about similar topics... frequently mentioning something called ’Magic Shadow Drama.’ Can any of you find out about it?"

A servant dressed in local attire volunteered to step forward, and after receiving permission, ran to the roadside to inquire from passersby about the Magic Shadow Drama.

The servant quickly returned, reporting the findings: "Your Grace, it seems to be a new style drama that many people are talking about because it’s premiering today."

"A drama?" Victoria frowned slightly upon hearing this, and her expression and tone showed little interest, "What’s so worth discussing about a drama?"

As an aristocrat with little personal hobbies apart from governing her territory and researching the mysteries of magic, Victoria had no great enthusiasm for drama, and upon learning that the public’s fervent discussion was merely about some trivial stage stories, she lost interest.

She planned to return to the Autumn Palace, to relieve some of the fatigue from long-distance traveling and to refresh herself for meeting His Majesty Gawain tomorrow, and she had little time to waste.

But the servant who had gathered the information added another sentence: "It’s said that the drama was made using Magic Guide Technology..."

Victoria slightly narrowed her eyes.

If it’s related to Magic Guide Technology... then she might have some interest.