Chapter 869: Chapter 868: Mysterious Signal

Hearing Gawain’s question, Beltira nodded. "Yes, just as I wrote in the report—and I still haven’t figured out the source of those patterned signals."

Gawain frowned slightly.

What he and Beltira were discussing was something that had happened not long ago—about a week earlier, the Magic Web in the Sorin Region had completed regional networking. Several major cities on the Eastern Plains, which had previously relied on chains of relay towers for "linear links," had successfully realized grid-based distribution of energy and information. Sorinburg, as the regional hub, had its largest Magic Obelisk complete a mode conversion that very day, becoming the master hub of the whole area. The process itself went very smoothly, but afterward some puzzling "phenomena" occurred.

On the third day after the network was completed, Beltira began to intermittently detect some patterned signals—unrelated to the Magic Web itself and of unknown origin—from the Crystal Array located at the top of the Sorin Tree.

Because the Magic Obelisk in the Sorin Region was built right at the top of the canopy of the Sorin Giant Tree, and many of its auxiliary facilities were constructed relying on the giant tree’s own structure, Beltira herself was effectively a living Magic Web Nexus. Once this dawned on them, Gawain’s technical staff and Beltira entered into cooperation; she began learning and getting used to operating those ancient magical devices, and monitoring the Magic Obelisk’s signal modules for anomalies became one of her routine tasks.

—Incidentally, the Sorin Hub is currently the only Magic Web Nexus in the Empire that can maintain itself. Gawain very much wants to build a few more, but for now Beltira’s cutting-and-transplanting techniques are a long way from any breakthrough, so such ideas can only remain ideas...

After a brief moment of thought, Gawain looked up. "The technicians still have no way to interpret the content of those signals?"

"No progress at all in cracking them; they’re signals we’ve never encountered before," Beltira shook her head. "They’re composed of a series of very short tremors and meaningless echoes, completely different from the two modes we currently use—’simulated neural pulses’ and ’mental transmission streams.’ But there is one thing that seems fairly certain..."

Gawain raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"

"They’re not natural interference—definitely not," Beltira said with considerable certainty. "At first we suspected they were related to disturbances in the ubiquitous magical power field of the natural world, but later the technicians collected readings from all the Magic Monitoring Towers around the Sorin Region, and none of those readings matched the signals I picked up. What’s more, we sent the signal samples to Master Kamel in the imperial capital; he believes that part of the ’tremors’ display complex combinations, very much like the result of artificial intervention."

"...In other words, the technicians think those signals received by the Sorin Hub are artificial," Gawain said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "But... who would be sending those signals? Our Magic Web Communication is something new—there isn’t a second nation on this continent that has mastered it..."

"If they really are artificial, then sending similar signals would necessarily require a complete technological system. Right now it’s indeed unlikely for any of the human nations to have that, but..." Beltira spoke slowly as she pondered, the vine behind her covered in blooming flowers writhing gently and making a soft, calm rustling sound. "I still remember something you once said—this world holds more than one powerful civilization, and humanity today does not necessarily have the upper hand compared to them.

"Sea demons, dragons, even the elves in the southern part of the continent—their technology is far from primitive. Perhaps we just happened to intercept their broadcast signals?"

"We can rule out the elves. We currently have technological exchange with the Silver Empire; the two countries have established a signal-relay-and-translation system via the sentinel towers. Kamel’s side has their signal samples; there’s no way we’d run into a ’cannot recognize’ situation," Gawain said in a low voice. "As for dragons and sea demons... those indeed remain possible.

"It’s just that our contact with these two races is still quite limited, especially with the Dragonkin—that’s close to a stranger’s relationship. Confirming signal samples rashly could get rather troublesome.

"The sea demons, though... we can try asking. The Cecil Empire and the sea demons can at least be said to have some level of technological cooperation."

Beltira lowered her head. "Everything is up to your decision."

Gawain nodded, but silently sighed in his heart.

In this world... there are simply too many unknowns, and behind those unknowns danger often lurks. Even now, the technical departments are still working hard to decipher the secrets buried deep within Magic Power, and with the gradual development of the Magic Web, some new ’unidentifiable patterned signals’ have appeared. It’s hard not to feel a creeping unease.

Who is sending these signals? Sea demons? Dragons? Or some ancient civilization hidden beyond human sight? Or even from deep within the Gondor wasteland, or from gods whose status remains unknown... every chilling hypothesis is, disturbingly, plausible.

Gawain shook his head, then suddenly remembered something. "Come to think of it, the northern parts of the Dark Mountain Range also sent a report earlier. During the test run of the Magic Web near Bitter Winter Castle, the technicians once picked up an extremely bizarre ’howl’ echoing through the entire magic web system... I wonder if that and this incident might be related."

"I’ve heard about that as well," Beltira nodded. "The various hub stations share information. I’ve heard about what happened in the northern parts of the Dark Mountain Range. I won’t rule out the possibility that they’re related, but the differences between the two incidents are also quite obvious—what they picked up near Bitter Winter Castle was a brief, chaotic howl. According to the records afterward, it was extremely disordered, to the point it could hardly be called a ’signal,’ whereas what Sorinburg picked up here is much clearer and more distinct, even showing traces of artificial tuning. So although the two cases invite association, I still recommend treating them as separate, isolated incidents—for now at least, don’t lump them together rashly."

Gawain nodded slightly.

Despite having once fallen into a dark sect, Beltira was, at the end of the day, still a technical professional. When discussing related topics, her thinking was precise and clear, making communication much easier.

After a brief pause once she finished speaking, Beltira added, "However... if these two incidents are truly connected, I do have a hypothesis."

Gawain glanced at her. "Go ahead."

"If—and I stress, if—the signals detected at Bitter Winter Castle and Sorinburg share the same source, then the earlier signal in the northern parts of the Dark Mountain Range was very likely an unsuccessful attempt—it hadn’t finished tuning, it hadn’t adapted to the Magic Web, so it turned into a bizarre howl. Only when the Sorinburg Hub came online was that signal finally tuned into clarity..."

"We can’t rule that out either..." Gawain said as he thought aloud. "In any case, I’ll order all the Node Towers in the nation to keep a close watch for these mysterious signals. Perhaps we can capture more of them. Additional samples might help us uncover the secrets behind these signals. As for your side... the Sorin Giant Tree is the first hub to catch a clear signal. We still can’t be sure whether this is connected to the Sorin Region’s environment or to some peculiarity of the Sorin Hub itself, so you need to be especially vigilant. I’ll have the Administrative Office send you a few more specialists in Magic Web Communication."

"That would be best."

After finishing these serious matters, the two of them fell into a brief silence. It was Gawain who eventually broke it. "It’s already been half a year—have you gotten used to your new identity and your new life?"

"Better than I imagined," Beltira seemed to smile slightly. "I originally thought that becoming a plant would be incredibly boring, but all those endless new things you’ve brought really have given me a lot to do. Watching this land gradually recover is something that gives a great sense of achievement... and there are Magic Web broadcasts and Magic Shadow Dramas to watch as well."

"As long as you’re willing to go on being a law‑abiding imperial citizen like this, there’ll only be more and more unbelievable things in the future. This is an age that changes with each passing day."

"I’ll keep looking forward to it," Beltira nodded and said, then suddenly lifted her head and looked into the distance. "Ah, our guest is here."

Gawain turned to look, just in time to see Selena Gerfen’s figure abruptly appear in midair.

He nodded to this Church of Dreams Maiden. "You’ve finished everything on your side?"

"Yuri and Semyr can handle matters in the real world. In the network, Nariteer and Duvalt are dealing with the follow‑up," Selena said unhurriedly. "As for me... I just want to keep a bit of distance from that idiot Magnan."

"What’s he done now?"

"He had a very pleasant chat with Norris, then got some wild idea to rope me in and form a club made up of ’networked consciousnesses’—which is truly an unbelievably stupid notion."

Gawain couldn’t help but laugh. "But I actually think it’s a decent idea—after all, you, Magnan, and Norris are in similar states now, and in the future we’ll be adding more ’networked citizens’. Magnan’s suggestion might be one way for these ’networked citizens’ to rebuild social organizations under their new identities. I think you could even bring Bishop Megal along..."

"He wanted to name the club ’Lifelike in Memory’," Selena said blandly. "After I looked up what that phrase actually implies, I decided to keep my distance from him."

Gawain’s heart gave a sudden lurch.

He realized that the "Holy Gibberish of Emperor Gawain Cecil" that Amber had been secretly compiling had already begun to spread—and his previous several rounds of searches and confiscations had clearly failed to work.

"...That name does leave something to be desired," Gawain’s expression turned as wooden as Beltira’s. "What about Norris? What does he think?"

"He’s not interested—that is a man worthy of respect. All he worries about are the grain‑producing regions of the Plains of the Holy Spirits and when he’ll be able to return to work," Selena shook her head. "So I really can’t figure out how someone that respectable could have a common topic with Magnan..."

"...Perhaps it was just politeness," Gawain said in a low voice, then fell silent for a moment. "My apologies, ladies, I’ll excuse myself for a bit—I have some matters I’d like to discuss with my Minister of Intelligence."

Beltira inclined herself slightly in salute. "As you please."

Gawain left, and in the quiet flower fields beneath the Sorin Giant Tree, only Beltira, surrounded by blossoms and vines, and Selena, holding her portable lamp, remained standing there in silence.

After a brief silence, Beltira looked at the former Archbishop of the Eternal Sleepers. "I didn’t expect we’d meet again under circumstances like these."

"I’ve heard about your ’new condition’. To be frank, the reality is even more unbelievable than I imagined," Selena said. "I warned you all back then—your biotechnology had some major risks..."

Beltira smiled faintly. "And what about your path of the soul?"

"...Touché."

The two fell silent again.

They stood quietly under the tree, as if letting seven hundred years of time slowly settle between them, until a few minutes later Selena finally broke the silence in a soft voice: "It’s already been seven hundred years..."

"Back then we were both still human beings," Beltira said calmly. "And then we became less and less like human beings."

"...You’ve already taken root in this land for some time; tell me what you think—’Is He’ trustworthy?"

From the crown of the Sorin Giant Tree came a rustling sound, like the surge of waves.

"That body houses a non‑human soul, but from what I can see, that non‑human soul is making everyone on this land live more like a person. Maybe we can’t be sure what a being like ’Him’—an otherworldly visitor—truly thinks, but at least his actions up to now... are better than anything we ever did."

"Yes... he’ll even issue citizenship to a plant."

"And to a ’ghost’ like you."

"..."