Chapter 417: Immersion Once More

Deep within the secret underground palace of the Typhon Empire.

In a circular hall illuminated by the bright glow of magical crystal stones, archbishops clad in black and white robes had taken their seats in order around an ancient stone round table, its surface inlaid with countless arcane runes. The oppressive silence in the hall was only occasionally broken by faint twitches of the artificial nerve cords snaking along the walls, producing the slightest of sounds.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, it was finally broken.

Specks of deep purple light shimmered above the round table, gradually coalescing into an indescribable shape. From the starry mist emerged the low, resonant voice of the Ever-Sleeping Pope: “Brothers, let us begin.”

“Yes, Your Eminence,” a white-robed archbishop nodded and stood. “We have completed the brainwave analysis of Bishop Lemont and replicated it within the Brain Servant Array. Based on previous trial runs, this forged brainwave can bypass the filtering of the God of Holy Light. Soon, we may be able to use it for a second observation.”

“Good progress,” came the praise from the starry cloud, though it was almost devoid of emotion. “Remember the safety protocols: even archbishops must not peer into the divine realm twice within ten days. Should anyone be found murmuring to themselves, dazed, lethargic, or praying to any deity after such an observation, their brain must be immediately sealed and their memories wiped.”

The white-robed archbishop bowed his head. “Your orders will be followed.”

A black-robed archbishop beside him then rose. “Your Eminence, the ‘Outsider Wanderer’ has destroyed the old noble factions in southern Ansu. It has displayed… power and dominion beyond our expectations.”

The starry cloud seemed to pause, then shimmered anew. “What is it doing now?”

“It has issued numerous decrees and begun attempting to bring the entire southern region under its rule, following the methods it used to govern the Cecil area,” the black-robed archbishop reported. “It exhibits traits akin to a ‘Great Monarch.’ Though its decrees and actions are difficult to comprehend, it appears genuinely intent on establishing a stable, long-term rule and building a mortal kingdom…”

The starry cloud fell silent. Another archbishop couldn’t help but ask, “Could it truly intend to become a monarch?”

“The Outsider Wanderer’s every word and deed defy normal logic,” the black-robed archbishop replied. “But from the intelligence we have, it usually assumes a single role upon arriving in a world. Judging by its actions since arrival, we might conclude that this time, it aims to be a monarch.”

“Or perhaps it plans to build a strong mortal kingdom only to destroy it later,” a sharp female voice spoke from across the table. The speaker was a black-robed female archbishop. “After all, it is akin to a dark god. We have seen it build realms only to utterly raze them.”

“Even dark gods have purpose. Only the Deep Realm’s chaos is truly aimless,” the starry cloud interrupted, halting the debate. “At least for now, we have not come into direct conflict with the Outsider Wanderer. That is fortunate.”

The white-robed archbishop who first spoke looked up curiously. “Your Eminence, do you mean…”

“As long as our world endures, we are willing to do whatever it takes,” the starry cloud said calmly. “Of course, we must continue to observe it—until we are certain the Outsider Wanderer harbors no explicit hostility toward this world, only then can we proceed with the next steps.”

All the archbishops bowed their heads. “Yes, Your Eminence. We will obey your orders.”

“Then, onto the next topic: Project Zero…”

…

A brief wave of dizziness receded like a tide, and before Gawain’s eyes appeared the magnificent palace walls and halls of the Dream City, where the Ever-Sleeping “citizens” strolled leisurely along the broad avenues.

He felt it had been a long time since he last entered this dream world—though in truth, he had come just a few days ago to check on Daniel’s progress.

With so many affairs in the real world, and the newly conquered southern region still needing to be built up, Gawain had almost no spare time to focus on matters beyond his domain. Even when he logged in to the network, it was always a quick visit.

Fortunately, today was a bit more relaxed, allowing him to spend some time in the dream world.

The scenery in the Dream City was much the same as always—eternally grand and splendid, eternally peaceful and serene. It was hard to imagine the staggering data streams flowing beneath this city, or that its builders were a notorious cult. But for Gawain, those details were unimportant for now—until the southern region was stabilized, he had little time to worry about what these cultists were up to.

At most, he would occasionally check in on the Dream City to ensure the Ever-Sleeping weren’t stirring up trouble in the south.

Gawain made his way to the city center, found the crystal node connecting to the deep network data, and began casually browsing the Ever-Sleeping network. After scanning a small portion, a faint smile appeared on his face.

He noticed the information flow was far more orderly than before, and a crude “search engine” of sorts was running. When he searched for recent updates on the psychic network’s construction, he repeatedly saw the name “Nightmare Archbishop Daniel” at the end of many documents.

That “student” seemed to be doing well.

Amused, Gawain began searching for what he needed in this more user-friendly psychic network. First on his list was intelligence on Project Zero—but unsurprisingly, he found nothing.

Even with special “back-end privileges” to access the deepest database layers, Project Zero’s information was completely inaccessible.

It seemed this project held immense significance within the Ever-Sleeping cult. Even Daniel, now a Nightmare Archbishop, had no access.

Gawain wasn’t disappointed. His interest in Project Zero was mostly routine and a bit of personal curiosity. Finding no progress, he moved on to search for information related to himself.

Typing keywords like “Southern Ansu,” “Gawain Cecil,” and “Outsider Wanderer,” a flood of intelligence appeared almost instantly—

“Southern Ansu engulfed in war; terrifying Outsider Wanderer clashes head-on with southern nobles.”

“Ten thousand slaughtered in a day at Shattered Stone Ridge; coalition of over forty nobles routed instantly.”

“Outsider Wanderer’s forces destroy Count Peibo’s fleet on the Whitewater River…”

“Powerful Outsider Wanderer relentlessly pursues fleeing noble soldiers.”

“A new monarch rises in the south…”

“What on earth is this…” Gawain stared in disbelief. “Can’t these cultists focus on some proper world-subverting conspiracies? The moment there’s a network, they just can’t resist gossip?”

Though he knew much of this was casual chatter posted by random Ever-Sleeping members, Gawain couldn’t help twitching at some familiar phrasing. In his past life as a keyboard warrior, he had been a near-terminal-level meme lover—never imagining he’d become part of the joke himself!

Still, as a satellite observer with eons of experience, he quickly recovered from his shock and chuckled wryly, continuing to browse.

He first checked the Ever-Sleeping’s overall activity in the south and found their operations were waning. Their leadership had explicitly ordered low-profile conduct in the southern region—likely out of fear of clashing with the “Outsider Wanderer.”

Gawain found this both amusing and somewhat reassuring, so he kept reading.

He then saw that the Ever-Sleeping were monitoring the civil war in Ansu but had not yet intervened.

Unexpectedly, he also came across some scattered news about the Stormborn:

“The Stormborn grow increasingly obsessed with the deep sea, seemingly intent on abandoning the human world altogether.”

“Many Stormborn have vanished into the ocean, possibly embroiled in a new war with the sea witches…”

“Their actions are gradually deviating from the norm; perhaps the Stormborn have ultimately been corrupted by the storm…”

These fragments appeared to be personal posts by Ever-Sleeping cultists connected to the Stormborn, lacking any official or decisive announcements. Reading this, Gawain couldn’t help but wonder—

Those reckless Stormborn who charged into the far seas… why were they fighting those deep-sea fishy creatures again?

Hadn’t Tyr said the sea witches were currently digesting their food on the ocean floor, too busy to fight “land dwellers”? Had the deep-sea fish finished their digestion early?

Puzzled, Gawain finished reviewing the information. He wanted to search for more on the Stormborn or sea witches, but that was all the data available.

After a long session in the Ever-Sleeping database, Gawain felt mentally fatigued and ended his connection with the crystal node.

The illusions faded, and the scene of the node plaza stabilized before his eyes.

An Ever-Sleeping cultist approached, seemingly wanting to connect to the crystal. Gawain stepped back a few paces, yielding the spot.

He then left the plaza, walking along a path toward the garden district.

Along the way, he activated the “tracking” line he had instructed Daniel to set up and began searching for a familiar brainwave nearby.

Ten minutes later, on a tree-lined path in the garden district, he found the person he was looking for.

Little Patty sat alone on a swing beside a flowerbed.

(End of chapter)