Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 1162: Chapter 1161: A Gift

In this brief moment of contact, Amon read the fluctuations hidden deep within the normal stream of thought data—those dim and scarred information records that mirrored bodies in the real world.

Perhaps he didn’t understand the principles of neural networks, nor could he grasp how magical power drove those artificial nerve cords and connectors to achieve the interoperability of thought and data. However, as a former God, he at least possessed unique authority in his own domain—this fact remained unchanged even after being deposed from his godhood, having waned for three thousand years.

The God of Nature had grown old—but Old Deer still had a trick or two up his sleeve.

Patty stopped, confusedly looking at the old gentleman before her. The seriousness in his eyes even made her a bit nervous, "Mr. Highspeed Stag... what’s wrong with you?"

"Is your physical condition very bad?" Amon furrowed his brows. The instant he touched Patty’s fingers, he had established a mental connection with this mortal girl before him. At this moment, in his vision, there was another "figure" overlaying the girl in the white dress with a bright smile. That figure was scarred, weak, and frail, with many traces of treatment, yet still retained numerous unhealable wounds. "Did you suffer a severe injury many years ago?"

"Mr. Highspeed Stag?" Patty finally showed a startled expression, "How did you know..."

"I..." Amon opened his mouth but suddenly realized he had no explanation. He couldn’t casually reveal his identity, yet how could an ordinary user wandering in the neural network possibly "see" Patty’s problems so clearly?

However, Patty did not delve deeper into the matter. She noticed that the old gentleman in front of her seemed to have some reasons he couldn’t express. As one of the earliest users and now a guide in the neural network, the once naive and ignorant girl was now aware of many things. She knew that those who once accompanied her were actually Eternal Sleepers and that many she worked with in the network were already dead in the real world. Having experienced so many unimaginable events, she would only smile slightly when facing an old man with unspeakable secrets.

"It’s okay, sir; everyone has some secrets that are not easy to disclose," she said with a mischievous shake of her head, "But you’re right; my health is indeed not good, and I still need care now—but compared to a few years ago, I’m much better! According to Grandpa Pittman, besides mobility issues, there’s nothing in my body anymore that would threaten my life or continue to deteriorate..."

Amon was relieved that the girl did not pursue further questions, while also knowing that what she said was true—based on his observations, though the lingering injuries on her body were still serious, there were signs of treatment everywhere. In terms of mortal healing technology, this recovery effect was already close to the limit.

It had drawn a girl who might not have survived to adulthood from the fate of death, allowing her to live safely and healthily for a very long time. From a mortal’s perspective, this was miraculous.

But from the perspective of a God, things could improve further, though it required him to take a step toward a certain dangerous border...

"Mr. Highspeed Stag?" Noticing the old gentleman falling silent again, Patty furrowed her delicate eyebrows. She stood on tiptoes and waved her hand in front of Amon’s eyes, "Did you think of something else?"

Amon snapped out of his contemplation, lowering his gaze to stare at the girl before him with an abyssal deep look. He gazed for a long time until Patty started feeling a tad uneasy when he suddenly said, "Little Patty, have we not known each other for nearly a month?"

"Actually, it’s more than twenty days short..." Patty scratched the hair behind her ear, calculating as she spoke, "Why ask? Why bring this up suddenly?"

"I would like to give you a small gift," Amon gradually formed a smile, even stretching out the wrinkles on his aged yet kind face. While speaking, he slightly bent down, shaking his wrist in front of the girl, magically producing a small white flower from thin air, "Look, it’s something I created myself—never before seen in this world."

"Wow!" Patty gleefully reached out for the flower that appeared before her eyes, "Have you learned how to create things with thought in this dream city? It’s beautiful! Thank you, Mr. Highspee..."

She took the little flower, but before she finished her sentence, the old gentleman vanished suddenly. In her view, as a guide, special information frame displayed the interacting user had logged off the network.

...

White flashes instantly filled the entire field of vision, the transient vertigo caused by the forced redirection of the neural link dissipating instantly as well. Amon felt a bit dazed. When he got a clear view of his surroundings again, he discovered himself in a space filled with endless thin mist, gray prairies, and boundless sky light. The shallow fog seemed to obscure all details of this space, only seeing a small hill looming afar, and a giant silhouette quietly lurked deep within the fog.

He lowered his head and saw a circle of prominent red letters surrounding him: You have been temporarily suspended by the Administrator.

The large silhouette hidden in the mist afar moved, appearing vast and heavy, yet making no sound as it moved closer. Amon instinctively prepared to take a defensive action but soon realized who this shadow was, thus staying quiet and patiently waiting for it to come near him.

The long limb-bones swept through the mist, with the divine White Spider emerging from the mist. Its aimless head lowered towards Amon, and the next moment, a petite figure appeared amidst the spider’s fine hair, lightly leaping down from the height.

White hair trailing to her ankles expanded like wings in the air, then retracted as Nariteer descended to the ground. This "Supreme Narrator" overseeing the entire neural network stepped before Amon, raising her head to look at the "former God" standing in the shape of an elder elf here, her gaze filled with a business-like attitude.

Amon preemptively spread his hands before the girl could speak, "I know, I know, dangerous operation, right? I’ve heard from the Goddess of Magic that violations would summon the Administrator..."

"Ordinary violations only trigger automatic system warnings or send ordinary patrol officers from the network management center, kicking you out merely returns you to the real world," Nariteer stated sternly, "Only the highest level and most special violations will summon the Supreme Narrator and take you to this ’layer’."

"Is that so?" Amon froze for a moment, apparently there was a tiny deviation in his understanding, "I’ve heard from the Goddess of Magic that she often got chased around by you, regularly brought to this place to be lectured... I thought you’d personally handle all the violations..."

"Please don’t digress, Mr. Amon," Nariteer duly stated, "You and your companions have already added much extra work for both me and Duvalt. Comparatively, Lady Enya is much more disciplined than you all."

Amon immediately coughed twice, "Ahem, ahem, this is my first offense; you can’t average the problems caused by the Goddess of Magic running around and testing the ’rules boundary’ onto me... fine, of course, I don’t mean to evade responsibility; I admit to violating, but... I only wanted to help that girl a little bit."

Towards the end, his expression gradually grew serious, clearly indicating that on this matter, he held a particularly firm attitude—admit wrongdoing, but would dare next time.

"I understand," Nariteer’s expression didn’t change much, only continuing to seriously and earnestly stare at Amon, "So the restriction on you is only temporary—the restriction is temporary, it is to prevent you from taking further dangerous actions."

It sounded like this confinement would soon be lifted, and Amon immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled at the young yet serious God in front of him, and with his mind relaxed, his thoughts became clear and active again, and he asked casually, "How long would the restriction last? When can I return?"

"Wait for the notification," Nariteer said while looking up, then added, "But don’t worry, it won’t take more than a few hours at most."

"That’s good then..." Amon relaxed even more and began to think about what he should do to pass the time in this boring period. Just then, he suddenly sensed something was off, "Wait a minute, I suddenly feel that something is amiss..."

"What seems wrong?"

"... You all should be well aware of the authority I used to have, and know the power I still retain after leaving the divine position," Amon’s expression turned serious as he gazed into Nariteer’s light-colored eyes, "So you should know that as long as I interact with Patty for a few times, I would eventually discover her situation, and considering that the mortal part of me now dominates, and my inherent ’tendency’ has an adventurous aspect, so you should have..."

He stopped halfway, paused briefly, and then continued, "There’s not only Patty as a guide, but among the ones I’ve interacted with these past days, there is only one Patty... Is this someone’s arrangement?"

Nariteer remained silent for a few seconds before slowly saying, "Who knows..."

Amon observed the "Supreme Narrator" for a long time before asking again, "Then behind this matter, is there benevolent assistance or another testing project?"

Nariteer’s tone remained calm: "Both."

Amon looked at the Supreme Narrator, who did not seem inclined to disclose more information, and could only sigh helplessly: "... One last question, does this matter harm Patty?"

"We do not conduct any experimental project harmful to test subjects without informing them—Patty knows nothing and will only receive a gift."

"Alright, given the issues facing the theocracy Authority Council, this should be the most impeccable attitude," Amon nodded, expressing agreement.

Finally, it was Nariteer’s turn to show slight surprise. The young yet also ’retired,’ currently rehired God looked at Amon with some surprise: "Are you really not angry at all?"

Amon looked down at the white-haired girl in front of him and suddenly laughed after a long while, the wrinkles on his face smoothing more than before: "Why would I be angry—I have gone through too many ups and downs, all these are minor things to me, not to mention they are ’quite beneficial minor things’."

"It’s best you think so," Nariteer finally smiled slightly, and the business-like attitude dissipated as she said, "But speaking of which, even so, I cannot lift your confinement ahead of time—the observation group at the rear is still confirming the follow-up impact of ’that flower’, before the process is complete, you must stay here."

Amon nodded thoughtfully, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding thin mist and the faintly visible hills and endless plains within it, speaking to himself: "The deep layers of the neural network have a higher divine defense intensity... this is actually an ’isolation chamber,’ I understand what’s going on. Rest assured, I will wait patiently, for to me, ’patience’ is the one thing I am least lacking..."

In the mist-covered space, it became quiet for a while. After a few minutes, Amon’s voice suddenly broke the silence: "Why don’t you call Duvalt over, the three of us can play some cards..."

Nariteer glanced at Amon sitting on the ground in a daze and shook her head: "Duvalt should be free now, but I don’t want to play cards."

"But the card game Gawain invented requires at least three people..." Amon immediately frowned, "Lady Enya is also not here..."

Nariteer only glanced quietly in this direction and did not respond.

"Bring the Goddess of Magic," Amon finally couldn’t help but say, "Plus Duvalt, and ’people’ will be enough."

Nariteer shook her head immediately: "Administrators have their rules, I can’t bring them here arbitrarily in situations when the users do not violate any rules. Mr. Amon, don’t consider such things..."

"She told me yesterday that there’s a tree with data misalignment over in the ’Triangle Plaza,’ by hopping and rushing there you can pass through ’narrative surface’ and directly link into the city’s secondary encrypted communication layer, and you can see from inside..."

Before he finished speaking, Nariteer’s figure had already disappeared in the mist-covered space, leaving only her voice gradually fading and entering Amon’s ears: "Wait a moment, I’ll go catch her."

Amon watched Nariteer and the direction where the giant White Spider disappeared in the mist, shrugged after a long while, and muttered to himself: "Not my business."

...

Downstream of White River, in the eastern part of Gran City, the towering Riftstone Castle still stood at the end of the cliff, and in a room with the best lighting in the castle, there was a melodious humming sound suddenly coming from an Immersion Capsule placed against the wall, followed by the lid sliding open smoothly, revealing the seat inside, and the teenage figure of Patty, who had gradually matured over the past two years, leaning against the seat.

Affected by the stimulation of sunlight, Patty’s eyelids twitched a few times and she finally woke completely from the "submerge" state. She opened her eyes, glanced around, and immediately followed an instinctive feeling to see that familiar figure:

Selena Gerfen, holding a portable lamp, was standing not far from the fireplace, smiling as she looked at her.