Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 808 - 807: Visiting Sandbox No. 1

Gawain had been intrigued by Sandbox One for a long time, curious about where its entrance might be. According to intelligence gathered earlier, Sandbox One, though an independently operating neural network, still has an access point connecting to the main network. Yet, Gawain and Daniel had scanned the entire mental network and found no sign of its entrance.

And now, he finally understood why this mysterious entrance went unnoticed—

After deciding to take action, the Archbishops of the Golden Council Hall left their seats one after another. Though Gawain was puzzled, he followed suit and stood up, subsequently noticing everyone stepping back. Suddenly, the surface of the golden round table, which was inscribed with numerous mystical magic symbols, started undulating with intermingled light.

As Megal III’s ever-expanding starlight polymer slowly descended from mid-air, it touched the center of the round table like some viscous liquid. In the next moment, the rippling light suddenly layered with star brilliance and swiftly expanded across the surface of the round table like a halo—

A vortex-like opening formed amid the starlight, within which clouds, dust, and blurry landscapes of mountains and rivers were faintly visible.

At the same time as this entrance opened, the round table sank entirely to be level with the floor: it truly became a portal embedded in the ground.

Thus, the round table of the Golden Council Hall is the entrance to Sandbox One, and Megal III is the "key" to unlock this entrance!

"...This is quite unexpected," Gawain said with a smile as he stood beside the vortex-like entrance, looking down at the swirling clouds and dust within, "So, this below is Sandbox One? Can I just walk in directly?"

"Entering Sandbox One is easy, but we can’t be certain what will happen once inside. During the previous exploration team’s entry, many bizarre phenomena occurred within, proving that Sandbox One has been continually evolving autonomously without supervision," Megal III said, floating back into the air with a slightly weaker voice than before. "Wanderers from Outer Realm... Though my advice may seem redundant to you, please remember—exercise caution in everything."

"I will remember that."

Gawain nodded, and with him, Selena Gerfen stepped forward, entering the vortex engulfed in cloud mist.

Gawain, Yuri, and Magnan followed suit, stepping inside.

The four figures quickly vanished into the vortex’s depths. Once the swirling clouds closed again, the rippling starlight around the entrance squirmed, reverting to its original state, and the round table embedded in the floor returned to how it was at the beginning.

For two silent seconds, the room was quiet until Megal III’s voice disrupted the silence: "Ladies and gentlemen, let’s begin—let’s do what we must.

"Concentrate all remaining computing power into Sandbox One and the safety system; shut down all non-essential functions of the main network; shut down... the dream city."

The archbishops responded in unison: "Yes, Your Holiness!"

One by one, figures disappeared from the Golden Council Hall, and as each figure disappeared, the light inside seemed to dim slightly.

Outside the golden hall, the entire dream city underwent transformations—

The clear, bright sky suddenly lost color, and endless gray chaos enveloped the entire world. The resplendent palaces, graceful towering sentinel towers, exotic dreamy plants all dissolved into nothingness amid a swirl of light particles. Black and white grid lines overlay the city grounds, and even these grid lines were soon swallowed by relentless mist...

The once magnificent dream city, created by the boundless human imagination, reverted to its most chaotic primal dream within breaths, leaving only the "Golden Council Hall," which had shrunk to just a single room, standing on the earth in the midst of endless darkness illuminated only by the fog and chaotic light.

In the darkened hall, the writhing starlight polymer quieted down, silently floating in mid-air, seemingly pondering, possibly reminiscing...

...

In the underground palace of Eternal Sleepers in the real world, priests cloaked in black or white robes returned to reality, maintaining the most fundamental connections with the neural network, offering their surplus computing power, while bustling about the palace.

"Dream control initiated! Dream control initiated!"

Some priests loudly conveyed orders, others inspected each prohibition within the palace, and some embarked for the surface to monitor dreams across the entire "Orlandeau" region.

Even down to the lowest levels of the underground palace, the commotion was audible within, where "Spirit Singer" Wendy, located in the containment zone but downgraded in containment level due to alleviated contamination symptoms, sensed the changed atmosphere in the outside corridors. She couldn’t help but raise her head, arriving behind the iron door engraved with intricate symbols, and gently inquired, "Guardian, may I ask what’s happening outside?"

"Dream control, Archbishop Wendy," the muffled voice of the guardian came from outside, seemingly under a heavy helmet, "Please rest assured and do not enter dreams."

"...I wish I could help."

"Please stay wakeful tonight; this is the greatest help to everyone."

"You’re right, Guardian."

Wendy softly said, retreating to her bedside, quietly sitting down.

On the wall opposite her, the shimmering purple-crystal dust paint depicted a set of intricate symbols. These symbols comprised many curved lines and circles, resembling the emblem of a deep-sea creature, exuding a profound mystique.

Gazing at these symbols, Wendy’s mind quickly cleared, becoming rational, and the previously tense, oppressive mood dissipated substantially.

She was just a bit tempted, eager for some Big squid...

...

Gawain felt himself walking down a path that continuously extended downward into the depths of endless yellow sand and cloud fog. He wasn’t certain how long he had been walking before suddenly sensing the enigmatic atmosphere of reality and illusion abruptly vanished, clouds dispersed, revealing a clear view ahead.

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

The city possessed external walls of earth-yellow hue, with clearly defined towering fortifications; archer towers and watchtowers under the azure sky appeared formidable. Yet, neither the city walls nor the gates showed any signs of guardians.

Upon seeing this desert city, a peculiar scent of decay drifted into Gawain’s nostrils.

"This is the first city you see entering Sandbox One, Nim Sandro City-State, which is also the starting point of civilization in Sandbox World," Selena murmured. "This desert was initially a grassland, at least set this way during Sandbox’s early operation. Yet, as history evolved and climate changed, the area succumbed to desert encroachment but remains a key traffic junction, thriving in commerce."

"It’s already an empty city now," Yuri commented. "The previous exploration team reported nobody in the city or surrounding villages. Additionally, they were attacked while spending the night in this city; we must remain vigilant."

"There’s a strange odor here," Magnan mumbled with a frown, "as if something has rotted."

"The exploration team previously reported this peculiar phenomenon as well," Selena nodded, "This eerie scent of decay permeates throughout the Nim Sandro and its surrounding villages and towns. Although not particularly strong, it is widespread. The exploration team couldn’t find the source of the smell, but it doesn’t seem to be harmful."

Gawain sniffed the air slightly and casually remarked, "Could it be that the residents of the vanished Sandbox are rotting slowly in places or states we can’t perceive?"

Upon hearing Gawain’s words, Yuri’s face twitched slightly, while Magnan instinctively glanced around the vast and empty desert, his brow furrowing tightly: "This is... Are all Wanderers from the Outer Realm as good at scaring people as you?"

"Just call me Gawain, it might help to ease the tension," Gawain smiled at Magnan, and without waiting for a response, he stepped towards the entrance of the city-state, "Let’s not waste time, we only have ’ten days’."

Magnan and the others immediately followed, while Gawain, as he walked, quietly activated the settings deep in his consciousness, attempting to communicate with the perception magic symbols set in the real world around him.

He vaguely sensed those symbols and sensed the presence of Amber and Tiel through them.

But the feeling was extremely peculiar, a strange sense of sluggishness and delay, as if observing a world terribly slowed down behind a severe lag.

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

Gawain mused.

Ten times the time iteration led to only vague perception of reality, with almost no ability to communicate with the real world. Under past iterations of thousands or even more, residents of Sandbox One obviously couldn’t connect with the real world at all.

Even if occasional information exchanges occurred, they would receive very strange, distorted, and blurred reality information.

This Sandbox is an isolated island...

With such thoughts, Gawain and his three temporary companions stepped into the city-state surrounded by yellow sand.

Buildings of earthen yellow or grayish-white stood on either side of the streets, mostly with flat roofs and arched window frames. Brightly colored red or yellow drapes were hung between taller houses, spanning across the streets, fluttering constantly in the dry wind.

"This style is completely different from the Illusion Town we saw earlier..." Magnan couldn’t help but say.

Selena spoke, also explaining to Gawain: "Sandbox One is vast, besides this Nim Sandro city-state located in the desert area, there are also Silent Valley City in the forest area, and Maple Creek City at the edge of the marsh wetlands, featuring different city-states and kingdoms... Here, civilization has developed for over a thousand years under accelerated time, with millions of virtual personalities thriving, the civilization’s starting point set at the Iron Age, which allows residents to expand their ’world’ significantly."

Gawain raised an eyebrow: "The civilization’s starting point here is set in the Iron Age?"

"Yes," Selena nodded, "Setting it directly in the primitive age would require a long period to develop true civilization, introducing too much uncertainty in between. Even with time acceleration, the entire experimental process would be elongated greatly, so we pre-set a foundation for each Sandbox, including a complete history from the primitive to the Iron Age, alongside archaeological findings for verification, allowing virtual and real residents inside to more quickly enter civilization development stages."

"...This is truly a massive project."

Selena discerned a hint of deeper meaning in Gawain’s tone, feeling curious: "Any issues?"

"No... can’t think of any for now," Gawain shook his head, "Just admiring the patience and perseverance in writing this setup."

Selena wasn’t sure if this was genuine praise or sarcasm, but before she could speak further, a building appearing in her line of sight preemptively interrupted her words.

An edifice, clearly grander and more magnificent than surrounding buildings, appeared at the sandy street’s end, flanked by numerous pale-golden sculpted columns and statues.

"Is that a temple?" Gawain asked casually, gazing into the distance.

"It matches the outline reported by the exploration team," Yuri nodded, "It should be the city-state temple of Nim Sandro."

Gawain pondered: "A completely different style from the chapel in Illusion Town."

"Yet inside, they worship the same ’gods’."

Selena said softly.

Worshipping the same gods... yet building temples of different styles due to regional cultural differences.

This once again made Gawain realize the impressive realism of Sandbox One, understanding how, step by step, civilization developed within the Sandbox.

Amidst the thought, they arrived near the temple.

At the temple entrance facing the street, Gawain saw a familiar relief, carved on a huge stone, standing in the square before the temple:

A giant hand, covering the symbolic earth — the mark of the Supreme Narrator.

Gawain’s gaze swept across the relief symbolizing the Supreme Narrator, stepping over the boulder, preparing to enter the temple.

But at the temple entrance, he suddenly halted his steps.

His eyes fixed on a stone column at the temple entrance.

On the column surface, deeply engraved, stood a line of text, with deep, chaotic, and twisted strokes, every line seemingly soaked in blood-red desperation, transmitting despair and madness, in just one phrase—

God is dead.

(Oh my God!!)