Chapter 760: The Truth Behind Project Zero

Dusk gently draped the land in a warm embrace. The magical crystal lamp in the study flickered softly as High Lord Gawain casually signed his name on a document and passed it across the desk to Heddy, who was waiting on the other side.

“You must personally oversee the economic revitalization and industrial development in the Eastern Territories,” he instructed. “Especially the economic pilot program on the Suram Plateau. Be vigilant against local merchants colluding with the old nobility to manipulate grain prices or destabilize the new currency. If anything like that happens, enforce the maximum legal penalties and make an example of it across the entire Eastern Territories.”

Heddy accepted the document with a serious expression. “Rest assured, I understand how crucial the pilot program is.”

Gawain nodded, then glanced at her with concern. “How have you been resting lately? Take care of your health.”

Heddy lowered her gaze, a hint of shame in her voice. “I’m sorry to trouble you with such concerns, my lord… The government affairs office hasn’t been too busy recently. With winter approaching, many seasonal projects have slowed or paused. The internal affairs department is mainly focused on year-end summaries and planning for next year. Plus, the interns we brought in last year are finally proving useful.”

“That’s good,” Gawain said, nodding. “How are the magical network projects in the Northern and Western Territories progressing?”

“I’ve been coordinating closely with the two Grand Regents overseeing those regions,” Heddy replied. “The main and secondary cities in both territories have basic magical network infrastructure in place. That’s largely because these cities have resident mages, mage towers, and mature systems for processing arcane materials, which speeds up the groundwork. But as for smaller towns and villages, there’s been little progress.”

She shook her head. “Also, with winter setting in, construction outside the cities has become nearly impossible. The magical networks between cities in the North and West remain unconnected. Communication relies on relay devices, which are few and underpowered, causing frequent interruptions. In short, the network isn’t yet practical.”

Gawain wasn’t surprised. “Understandable. Large-scale machinery and vehicles are still scarce. The Southern Territories barely have enough for themselves. Many areas in the North and West still rely on manual labor. Winter is a tough barrier.”

A magical network only becomes truly valuable when it forms a complete “net.”

A nationwide communication system, a powerful energy grid, the foundation of industry, the backbone of society—all depend on a fully connected magical network. From the Empire’s perspective, Gawain needed to bind every region into a tighter whole, preventing old powers in distant lands from rising again, and stopping provinces from slipping back into the fragmented, isolated states of the kingdom era.

But achieving this was no easy feat.

Building basic magical network infrastructure within a city was relatively straightforward. But establishing enough magical nodes across sparsely populated wilderness was exponentially harder. Many projects faced extreme environments—towering mountains, raging rivers and swamps, frozen tundra in the North, marshlands in the West. Even with magic, these challenges were daunting.

Small relay devices could only operate at minimal power, linking two network points weakly. To transmit energy and information at full capacity, large hub towers or stations were necessary. When constructing the Southern Territories’ network, Gawain had leveraged the momentum of the Unification War—mass population relocations, city mergers, military governance of borderlands—to complete the network quickly. But now, with the Empire fully unified and at peace, and the territory far larger, those methods were no longer viable. Even if they were, they would require significant adjustments.

So, he had to proceed step by step, waiting for this colossal project to slowly come together.

“Right now, aside from the Southern Territories’ main hub, only the Eastern Holy Spirit Plains’ main hub has been successfully activated,” Heddy reported. “The Great Sylvan Tree helped us bring the Eastern Plains hub online ahead of schedule. The others—the Western Holy Spirit Plains, Western Territories, Northern Territories, and Saint Sunir hubs—have all halted due to winter.”

“…That’s actually for the best,” Gawain said, half to comfort himself, half sincerely. “Staggering the projects lets us uncover hidden issues without risking the entire national network. Focus on the updates from the Great Sylvan Tree. The experience gained there should greatly aid construction when spring arrives.”

Heddy bowed her head. “Yes, my lord.”

She quickly glanced at Gawain to confirm all documents and reports had been handed over, then stepped back. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll return to my office. Several reports await my review.”

Gawain was about to delve into thought but nodded when he saw no objections. The moment he nodded, Heddy swiftly left the room.

For a moment, Gawain thought he saw a faint afterimage trailing behind her as she exited.

“Looks like the pressure’s been heavy lately,” he murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “I really should find someone to help share her burden…”

Before he could say more, a faint amber glow shimmered in the air beside him.

“You really don’t know why she’s been avoiding you lately, do you?” the half-elf teased.

Gawain shot her a sideways glance. “Isn’t this the only fun you old folks have left?”

As they spoke, a ripple stirred deep within Gawain’s mind—a special signal calling to him.

“Daniel’s trying to reach me. Seems urgent,” he said, looking at Amber. “Stay here.”

Amber blinked, then waved dismissively. “I’m familiar with this…”

Before she finished, Gawain had already settled into the large armchair and entered a mental connection.

Watching Gawain close his eyes, Amber frowned slightly. After a brief silence, she muttered with a sigh, “Sigh… at this rate, you’re going to wear yourself out and die of exhaustion… Is ‘dying from overwork’ really unavoidable for you?”

The chaotic flickering of light and shadow spread across Gawain’s vision. Amber’s low chatter faded into the background as his view gradually stabilized.

On an endless, vast expanse of water, massive metal platforms were arrayed in orderly rows. Above, enormous geometric shapes and streams of numerical symbols silently rotated. At the center of sky and water stood Daniel, clad in a black robe, beside a white round table.

“My lord,” the elderly mage bowed deeply upon seeing Gawain. “I have become the Grant Archbishop of the Order of Eternal Slumber.”

“You’ve passed the trials and been promoted?” Gawain immediately sized him up, then smiled warmly. “That’s excellent news. Congratulations.”

“That title no longer holds much meaning for me,” Daniel said sincerely, bowing his head. “The knowledge and health you have granted me are priceless.”

Gawain could feel the sincerity behind the old mage’s words.

At first, this elderly mage from Typhon and the Order of Eternal Slumber had pledged loyalty to the “Outsider” out of fear. Loyalty born of fear rarely endures. But over time, as more events unfolded, that loyalty had quietly transformed.

Knowledge and health—real, tangible improvements in his life—were undeniable.

Before the Outsider, the old mage bowed his head, respect now outweighing fear.

He knew he was hardly a good man—if he ever had been—but at least he remembered gratitude.

He had once fallen into despair over his lack of talent, driven nearly mad by flawed biochemical modifications, his mind ruled by endless whispers and hallucinations. He had lost almost everything, including much of his humanity.

It was the Outsider’s gift that allowed him to reclaim those pieces, one by one.

Perhaps to the Outsider, it was just some obscure knowledge and simple healing methods. But these “small” blessings from a “higher being” were enough to change a mortal’s entire fate.

Such gifts demanded loyalty in return.

“My lord,” Daniel said respectfully, “since becoming Grant Archbishop, I have gained higher authority. I have uncovered the truth behind ‘Project Zero’ and have begun to understand the root of the current crisis in the psychic network.”

Gawain’s expression grew serious. “Project Zero… What exactly is it?”

“They’re attempting to remove the ‘Psychic Seals’!” Daniel answered immediately. “Not just for one or two individuals—they plan to connect every mortal’s dreams and remove all the psychic seals imposed by the gods on humanity!”

Gawain’s breath caught. The composed, dignified image he maintained nearly slipped away.

After a moment, he steadied himself and locked eyes with Daniel. “They know about the ‘Psychic Seals’?”

“Yes, but they call them ‘Shackles’ or ‘God’s Chains,’” Daniel nodded. “I don’t know how they first learned of this phenomenon, but clearly, the Eternal Slumber Order, which specializes in mortal minds and consciousness, understands the Psychic Seals better than the End of All Things sect does…”

“The End of All Things’ research stops at the physical body. The Eternal Slumber Order has clearly ventured into the mind and even the soul…” Gawain nodded thoughtfully. “So what’s their plan? How does Project Zero operate?”

Daniel nodded and began a detailed report.

“First, they construct a massive, independent psychic world they call the ‘Sandbox.’ This sandbox is more complex and advanced than the City of Dreams. Aside from necessary monitoring, it is completely isolated from the outside reality.

“A person’s mind is uploaded into this sandbox after undergoing thorough hypnosis and memory erasure, removing all memories and concepts related to the gods. The sandbox itself contains no information about any deities.

“Once sealed and operational, the sandbox forms a closed system, self-consistent and self-sustaining. Because it exchanges no information with the outside world and has been thoroughly ‘cleansed,’ it should be a completely godless realm. Those ‘living’ inside the sandbox won’t remember the outside world and will believe everything within the sandbox is real.

“Finally, through ‘time iteration,’ the flow of time inside the sandbox is accelerated, completely severing it from the real world. The internal time runs for over a thousand years, allowing the minds inside to undergo dozens or even hundreds of cycles of ‘rebirth and reshaping.’”

“Time iteration?” Gawain immediately seized on the key term. “Accelerating the sandbox’s time flow? That must require enormous computational power.”

Daniel’s expression was grave. “Yes, immense computational power. But not just that—they need human brains permanently connected to the network as the ‘operating substrate.’ The sandbox must be completely isolated—not only from the network but also physically from the real world. Ordinary Eternal Slumber members are floating nodes, constantly changing, which doesn’t meet this requirement…”

The mystery that had long troubled Gawain was finally solved.

“So that’s why they need brain thralls!”

The mind network itself doesn’t rely on any fixed “servers.” According to Gawain’s understanding, its entire operation is actually based on “cloud” technology: as long as a certain number of users stay connected to the network, and a small portion of computing tasks are distributed among them, the whole system can run smoothly. If you insist on hardware, it’s just the terminals used to connect to the network (most of the Sleepless even skip this step using their own extraordinary abilities), plus the equipment needed for debugging and monitoring.

So, the Sleepless have absolutely no need to convert anyone into “brain slaves” just to maintain their network.

But their “sandbox” does.

(End of chapter)