Chapter 1468: The “Origin” of Amber

The study fell into a quiet stillness. Amber was momentarily silent—she had fully grasped Gawain’s deductions and had to admit that this was probably the only plausible explanation.

But as someone caught in the heart of this maelstrom, she needed a little time to calm her emotions.

After a few minutes, she suddenly looked up and met Gawain’s eyes. “When did you start thinking about all this?”

“Actually… I had a vague feeling ever since Nicholas and the others discovered that Shadow Hall,” Gawain said thoughtfully, speaking frankly. “At first, I associated the shadowy power lingering in that hall with you. But the idea that you could be the ‘Star Chart Keeper’ was almost impossible—especially since you yourself can’t recall your ‘life experiences’ before being turned into a construct by the Men of Gondor.

“After that, my suspicion shifted to Lady Night—the ancient deity mysteriously connected to you. She’s survived since the Age of the Pathfinders, hidden deep within the world, wielding dominion over shadows, and has long been locked in conflict with the Tides of Reversal… All these clues raised doubts. Plus, the strange reaction you had when Nicholas explored the Shadow Hall made me suspect… Lady Night might be the key to everything.”

Amber instinctively said, “You thought of that back then? So why—”

“Because there was a crucial missing piece,” Gawain interrupted, shaking his head. “That missing explanation made my theory contradict everything we’ve ‘known’ so far. The Pathfinders nearly wiped out the ancient gods. Their records even mention dispatching fleets to hunt Lady Night. The Dragon records confirm this. All evidence points to an eternal enmity between the Pathfinders and the ancient gods. Without overturning this premise, how could anyone believe that Lady Night—the very deity hunted to the brink by the Pathfinders—would become the Star Chart Keeper of the Sky Station, wielding considerable authority?”

Amber’s eyes widened as she suddenly understood. “So the ‘key explanation’ I saw at the bottom of the vortex just now…”

“Yes. If the ‘war’ between the Pathfinders and the ancient gods was actually a transaction, if the ancient gods themselves summoned the Pathfinder fleet, and there was no real hatred between them… then everything makes sense.”

Gawain nodded, then sighed inwardly. The Dragon records were accurate, and the battlefield logs he had were too. The godslaying war 1.8 million years ago was truly a fight to the death. Although the ancient gods had summoned the Pathfinders, by the time the fleet arrived, the gods had already descended into madness during the waiting period. In that uncontrolled state, they fought the very fleet they had called forth.

The Pathfinders were simply fulfilling the terms of the deal.

This was still Gawain’s best deduction based on current intelligence, but it resolved all the major contradictions. Every clue connected, every piece of evidence corroborated. Even if it was speculation, it was likely very close to the truth.

What remained was a small lingering question: Lady Night, the shadow goddess, was clearly mad and out of control in the final stages of the godslaying war. She fled the battlefield, forcing the Pathfinders to send fleets to hunt her down. Yet in the end, this mad deity became the Sky Station’s Star Chart Keeper. What happened in the gap between her escape, the Pathfinder hunt, and her assuming that role? Was she never truly mad? Did the Pathfinders have a way to restore a deranged god? Could the so-called “Anchor Generator” not only sustain a god’s existence but also stabilize their mind?

There were too many possibilities. Probably only the “parties involved” knew what really happened.

But compared to Lady Night’s past and current state, Gawain’s focus—what he was capable of focusing on now—was Amber’s situation.

Amber: Construct No. 36 of the Gondor Empire, her soul from the shadow realm’s “shadow dwellers,” inexplicably linked to Lady Night, able to partially borrow Lady Night’s authority, reacting to changes in the Anchor Generator, and after seeing the patterns recorded on it, falling into what seemed like a vortex of “ancient god memories”…

Outwardly, she was still the noisy, timid, jumpy little shadow assault goose. But in Gawain’s eyes, she was no longer just a simple shadow operative—she was a shadow operative caught up in something far bigger.

“Any unusual physical reactions now?” Gawain asked cautiously, watching her closely, sensing subtle changes in her aura.

“No,” Amber answered honestly. “Except for feeling a bit dizzy when I came out of the vortex, I don’t think it affected me much… Honestly, you don’t need to worry too much. Even though I’ve encountered a lot of strange things lately, none of these anomalies seem to have harmed me. I have a feeling Lady Night’s power isn’t hostile toward me.”

“Not hostile doesn’t mean no danger. No harm now doesn’t guarantee safety in the future,” Gawain said sternly, frowning deeply. “We have no way to locate Lady Night right now. The council’s expert team tried using shadow dust and shadow rifts to indirectly find her divine realm, but that failed. We need new approaches. Even if we can’t find Lady Night, we have to at least protect you.”

Amber blinked, surprised. “New approaches? What do you have in mind?”

“For starters, we could build two anti-divinity barriers around the Royal and Administrative districts,” Gawain said thoughtfully. “That might help reduce your exposure to those indescribable, uncontrollable forces.”

Amber stared wide-eyed. “Isn’t that a bit over the top?”

“…Okay, maybe it’s a little much. And you do go out sometimes,” Gawain admitted, shaking his head. “A more practical plan is to carry protective measures with you.”

“Carry protective measures?” Amber sounded puzzled. “You mean like lugging around a full anti-divinity barrier suit? Like those heavily armored White Knights?”

Gawain glanced at the small, slender half-elf before him and thought there was no way her tiny frame could fit into White Knight gear, even after eighteen surgeries. He waved his hand. “I mean simpler things—deep-sea talismans, divine-sense protective charms. They’re simple but effective. Go see Tyr and have her make you a deep-sea talisman. Keep it on you at all times.”

“Though I still think you’re a bit too anxious… but fine, some protection would make me feel better,” Amber sighed resignedly. “I’ll go find Tyr now—hopefully she’s awake.”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but peek at Gawain’s desk—the paper flipped face down there seemed to hold some mysterious attraction for her. Even though she knew the patterns on it were strange, she kept wanting to look again, as if something important was hidden inside.

But Gawain quickly put the paper away. “You shouldn’t touch that. Until Nicholas and the others make more progress studying the Shadow Hall and Anchor Generator, you should keep your distance from those things.”

Amber reluctantly gave up and turned to slip back into the shadow rift. Next, she had to find Tyr and get a custom deep-sea talisman made—if Tyr was still lucid, that is.

In theory, as long as the materials, process, and rune precision met standards, factory-made or handcrafted talismans should be equally effective. But in practice, those personally crafted by the sea witch were slightly better at resisting divine corruption and stabilizing the soul. Gawain explained this difference by saying, “The deep-sea harmonizing god is still a god—so it’s normal for handcrafted items to have special effects.” Amber preferred the more popular explanation:

Handmade things have a soul.

After Amber left, the study grew quiet again. Gawain sat at his desk, pondering for a long time before pulling out the paper he had just put away. He unfolded it and stared at the dense, intricate patterns.

In one corner, there was a subtle blank space—he was missing just one final stroke. Once added, the totem-like relief pattern on the Anchor Generator’s surface would be complete.

He gazed at the design for a long time but couldn’t sense any special power from it, unlike Amber. Still, he had a faint feeling that finishing this last stroke might trigger some change.

He picked up his pen, hovering the tip just millimeters above the paper. He thought of the visions Amber had seen in the vortex, the clues linking the Star Chart Keeper and Lady Night, and finally, the mysterious connection between Amber and Lady Night.

In truth… he already had a vague suspicion.

Current intelligence suggested Lady Night was very likely the Star Chart Keeper left behind by the Pathfinders. Amber could “borrow” Lady Night’s authority, “steal” shadow dust from the divine realm, and through the totem patterns on the Anchor Generator, even glimpse what were probably Lady Night’s “observation records.” This was more than just a vague connection.

Gawain also clearly remembered a line from the Anchor Generator’s logs:

If the Anchor Generator loses focus or enters a secondary state, the Star Chart Keeper’s data will experience erroneous duplication and overflow.

One major cause of the Anchor Generator losing focus was data contact between the Sentinel system and the Star Chart Keeper.

The Sentinel system operated deep underwater and normally wouldn’t communicate with the Sky Station in the material world. But something had likely bridged the two—years ago, the Tides of Reversal’s corruption.

It first tried to infect the Sky Station, then, after being blocked in the Shadow Hall, attempted to corrupt the Sentinel. During this process, the data isolation between the Sentinel and the Star Chart Keeper was probably “breached” by the corruption.

In other words, the “data duplication and overflow” mentioned in the Anchor Generator’s logs had likely already occurred. And could this… be Amber’s “origin”?

A soul wandering the shadow realm, an “erroneous copy” split from the Star Chart Keeper’s original data, without memory or power, accidentally captured by Gondor’s mages and implanted into a construct’s body… This scenario seemed plausible.

Years ago, the Gondor Empire created dozens of artificial humans inside the Shadow Fortress—though considering the entire project’s scope and the possibility of other facilities, the actual number was probably even higher. Yet, in the end, only Amber survived. That could be chalked up to luck, but more likely… the soul inside “Artificial Human No. 36” was something special. From the very beginning, she was never an ordinary shadow dweller.

Gawain exhaled softly, feeling like he’d finally grasped the true ins and outs of the matter—something he’d already suspected earlier but hadn’t dared say aloud in front of Amber.

For the Shadow Assault Goose, the recent flood of unsettling truths had been more than enough. It was better to let her take a breather—big revelations delivered gradually can strengthen the nerves, but dumping everything all at once risks making someone just “snap” and pass out.

Besides, Gawain didn’t really need to spell it out for her. Amber would figure it out on her own in time. Though she often seemed carefree and unreliable, Gawain knew she was actually sharp as a tack.

The thought flickered through his mind in an instant. His pen steadily traced the final curve of the intricate pattern before him.

All the lines finally connected into a complete whole, revealing the full design on the surface of the anchor generator—yet nothing unusual happened.

Frowning, Gawain stared at the arcane pattern he’d just finished. It felt too plain, too ordinary. He studied it for a long while, hoping to detect some supernatural trace—some warped light, a whisper in his ear—but there was nothing. His gut feeling had been wrong. On the other hand, the lack of any strange phenomena was a relief.

He just felt a little disappointed.

After a few seconds of daze at the desk, Gawain stood up. He hesitated briefly, then went to close the study door. Returning to the desk, he glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then bent down and poked at the pattern on the paper. “…Anyone here? Lady Night?”

No sooner had he spoken than Amber’s voice came from nearby: “Old Dumpling, what’re you up to?”

Gawain looked up to see Amber squatting on the windowsill, one leg stretched inside.

Her eyes were wide with shock as she looked his way.

“I couldn’t find Tyr earlier, so I wanted to ask if you knew where she’d gone… Or maybe you’re busy, so never mind?”

(End of chapter)