“This is somewhat less than human.”
Lucanus stared intently at the Caged Girl before him.
“It’s hard to imagine you would find others less than human.”
Seraphiel from the Lantern Dream reached out to stroke the Caged Girl, seemingly trying to comfort her.
Besides the two of them, there were many researchers around the Caged Girl, a complete expert consultation.
It could be said that if An Zhu were to cast a powerful magic on the position of the Caged Girl, it could directly set back Lucanus’s research progress concerning the Sea of Consciousness.
“Different. To recreate the glory of the Empire and the pain it suffered is immeasurable joy for me.”
Lucanus sighed heavily.
“But she is different; she is simply enduring torment.”
Accessing the Sea of Consciousness is not something to be enjoyed, for even the people from the Tower cannot delve deeply into the depths of the Sea; an individual’s consciousness can only forcibly connect to the outermost layer of the Sea of Consciousness, enduring the waves of consciousness like a constant battering.
No one understands this feeling better than Lucanus. At first, it may not seem special, but the huge influx of information from the Sea of Consciousness continuously washes over your soul.
If a person lacks faith, lacking an anchor point for belief, they will be submerged by the vast Sea of Consciousness. Over time, you might feel that you are no longer yourself.
“In the past Empire, this technology was only permitted for use by the army.”
Sensing Lind’s curious gaze behind him, Lucanus began to introduce.
“My lord, you must know that even the surface of the Sea of Consciousness is far more dangerous than the shared dreams we currently produce.”
“Moreover, back then, the control over the Sea of Consciousness was not as mature as it is now. In retrospect, the consciousness frequency bands of the Empire were nearly full of loopholes. Even the concepts of dividing ‘regional networks’ and establishing ‘firewalls’ were non-existent. If I were to return now, I could probably cause all my colleagues back then to crash.”
“The Empire was aware of this to some extent, but without a solution like you found, and without a shared dream place for us to practice, this technology was never widely promoted due to fears of misuse by malicious individuals.”
“I just didn’t expect my colleague to be so eager now.”
Lucanus’s gaze returned to the Caged Girl.
“Of course, he has made some progress; I’ve found that he has already segmented frequency bands and can control consciousness safety through manual means. It actually took me quite a while to connect to his consciousness through the surface layer of the Sea of Consciousness, which is why he dared to sell things that even the old Empire wouldn’t have dared to sell. Of course, compared to your great vision, these are nothing more than mere fledglings, hardly worth mentioning.”
Having received a compliment, Lind understood that Cassius had indeed developed methods to protect his own network, allowing him to engage in commercial activities that were unfeasible in the old Empire and to promote this technology.
The so-called genetic technology of the old Empire mainly aimed at transforming humans into differently functional biological brain machines, connecting through the surface of the Sea of Consciousness.
This technology tree… seems overly skewed, Lind truly couldn’t imagine what the technological development would be like now if the old Empire hadn’t collapsed.
Just as Lucanus finished a brief introduction of the old Empire’s technology, Bernice, who held the lantern while entering the dream for inspection, also woke up.
“My lord, this girl has almost no dreams; it’s hard to say if she still possesses self-awareness.”
“She should still have some. Cassius used various methods to quickly wash over this girl’s personality with the Sea of Consciousness, but it seems she was touched by something, allowing her to find her anchor point… A person’s consciousness is very fragile; a gentle wash can turn it into a blank slate, yet it can also be very strong. As long as there’s an anchor point, it will stubbornly persist.”
Uncertain if it was due to reflecting on herself, Lucanus unusually became sentimental.
“Herbert.”
Lind called over the spy who had narrowly escaped from An Zhu, asking, “Did the girl you communicated about say she saw the Divine Kingdom, is that true?”
Herbert immediately stepped forward and said, “Yes, my lord, she did indeed say that.”
Afterward, Herbert came before the girl, took her hand, and asked, “Sara, did you really say you saw the War God’s Divine Kingdom?”
“Yes…”
Sara’s weak voice rang in everyone’s ears.
“I saw… the Lord War God bound by black ropes.”
“The Lord War God was covered in black mud.”
“Some people were trying to help the Lord War God, but it wasn’t enough.”
Just then, Deborah, who had been watching from the Tower, could no longer sit still and stood up to ask, “Was there an elf among those helping, with slightly curly hair, wearing a white robe, looking as though they hadn’t slept?”
Deborah flailed her hands in a hurry, simultaneously describing the characteristics of other Tower members.
“There… but some were consumed by the black mud.”
Hearing this brief reply, the members of the Tower around them turned pale, with some crouching down on the ground in disappointment.
Deborah was stunned in place, her expression heavy. It seemed that Lady Anastasia was still alive, but others… no, without permission, descending into the Sea of Consciousness was always a one-way trip. At least Lady Anastasia was still fighting.
However, Deborah quickly recovered from this state and told everyone, “Since even such a little girl can see the scenes from the depths of the Sea of Consciousness, along with what the Elf Queen mentioned earlier, I’m afraid this isn’t coincidental; the barrier between the depths of the Sea of Consciousness and reality is gradually thinning.”
Deborah wanted to ask something else, but Lucanus clapped his hands and said:
“That’s enough, let’s stop here.”
“We can’t let this child recall the scenes from deep within the Sea of Consciousness anymore. I can feel that the more she revisits those memories, the more she will endure the baptism of the Sea of Consciousness. If we want this child to return to a normal state, we must not inquire so frequently.”
Seraphiel appeared somewhat surprised: “I didn’t expect you to be quite humane.”
Lucanus responded, “Because the reason this child can enter the deeper layers of the Sea of Consciousness is probably that her original humanity has been washed clean, causing her soul to sink into the Sea of Consciousness; it is suddenly grasping an anchor point that allowed her soul to return, enabling her to see some scenes from the Sea of Consciousness.”
Lind nodded as well and said, “We have enough information now. Herbert, take care of this child and cooperate as much as possible with the Lantern Dream’s treatment.”
Seraphiel also gently nodded at Herbert.
“I understand, Lord Governor.”
Can this girl truly be saved? Herbert didn’t know, but if she could, he wanted to take her to school and let her experience the life that children her age should have, to show her what a normal world is like.
After everyone had retreated, Lind looked out the window and suddenly asked in his consciousness, “550C, do I have the authority to enter the Sea of Consciousness?”
