Sword of Daybreaker

Before coming here, Gawain had never really and completely understood the "Princess Ophelia" who had been in the wasteland center for seven hundred years.

Although he had a lot of dealings with Veronica, Veronica was only a “vehicle” that Ophelia used briefly in these long seven centuries. He also knew about the history of rebellious plans. History does not represent the entirety of the individual "Ophelia"-what has Ophelia experienced during this long seven hundred years? What did she do to survive? What kind of personality did she have? What is her real posture?

These Gaowens are not clear, no one knows.

But Griffina’s story made Gawain suddenly realize that this always gives people a sense of machinery, as if always transcendence, clear and calm "Princess Former Princess"...actually, she is also living a kind of belonging to her alone. For her unique "life", she may also have the emotions and sorrows under the mask, and some embarrassing memories that are not worthy of outsiders.

"Actually, I've always been very curious," Kohaku said suddenly, "Veronica...that's the identity you are using outside, what does it mean to you? I mean...that identity possessed by Veronica Relatives and friends of'her', the blood of Moen in'her' body, her position in interpersonal and social relations, these are to you..."

Kohaku stretched out her hand and gestured. It seemed that she didn't know how to accurately describe her problem, but Ophelia clearly understood what she meant. After a short silence, the sound device in the corner of the lift made a voice: "Veronica is me— From the beginning, until the demise of this'carrier', this was the only answer. There has never been a'original','real' Veronica, since a baby girl named Veronica The first cry from the Silver Castle, it was me in her hazy and chaotic mind.

"So, the answer is actually very simple-I have a kind father, his name is Francis Moen, I respect him, and I feel sorry for him, I have a reliable brother, he is the last of Anzu King, although he always thought I was a weird kid since I was a kid, our relationship has always been good, and we still write letters to each other until now, and Edmund...I feel sorry for his ending, I remember at a very young age He always leaves me with the best desserts, but he also secretly stuffs leaves in my hair... Yes, I have a life, this life is called Veronica Moen, yes A child who has been special since birth..."

The vibration came from underfoot, and the elevator reached the bottom of the shaft. Gawain and Amber came to the deepest part of the ancient fortress. They saw the fence door open in front of them, and the outside was a brightly lit section with narrow top and bottom width. The structure’s trapezoidal corridor, in which there are automatic maintenance machinery running lightly and silently along the slide rails along the edge, a low buzzing sound comes from the interior of the nearby walls and roof, and there is a slight light flow along it. The gap between the walls quickly flowed into the distance.

At the end of the corridor, a seemingly heavy alloy gate opened—then a gate further away, gate after gate opened in front of Gawain and Amber, and the sound of heavy mechanical operation gradually spread to the distance.

Even if it has reached the deepest part of the base, there is still layer after layer of armor protection on the way to the core control area. This shaft that directly leads from the "Crystal Peak" to the core of the fortress cannot send visitors directly. In front of the controller-no road in this base can directly lead to the core area. This is a reasonable and effective defense policy.

The two iron soldiers walked forward with Gawain and Amber. For the first time in hundreds of years, a living person stepped into the underground space guarded by a machine—footsteps sounded in the empty corridor, and at the same time, Gao Wen also heard a slight "sizzle" sound from some small devices on the nearby roof. Veronica's voice rang in the corridor and passed through the sound units, moving forward with them. NS.

"...I have a lot of life like this, the princess Veronica of Anzu, the mercenary Griffina of Typhon, and the poetess Mordine of the Highmountain Kingdom... Many times I will be in history Leave the name, but sometimes, I'm just an anonymous passerby..."

Gao Wen and Amber passed through one gate after another. As they approached the core area, they obviously noticed that the surrounding security forces were increasing, and some iron soldiers appeared in front of the gates who were obviously specialized in combat. You can also see the automatic warning arc device and arcane missile launcher on the corridor wall of the place-these weapons will immediately droop and shrink into the base when Gawain approaches.

"...Sometimes, I will only stay in the'carrier' for a few days in a hurry. This usually happens on the body that is occupied by me after an accidental death. I cannot accurately judge the life of the carrier every time. Perform remote repair, and sometimes... the original consciousness in the repaired carrier has not completely disappeared. These consciousnesses will gradually wake up after the body's "resurrection", and then I will leave.

"This is my'life', composed of periods of experience and memories. I travel in these'lives', know many people, and then say goodbye to many people-I can be many people, it can be Veroni Card, it can be Griffina, it can be poetess and adventurer, but only...I am not sure if I can really be Ophelia..."

In the voice of continuing to move forward with them, Gawain and Amber came to the last door. Ophelia’s last words made Gawain a little confused for a moment, but before he asked, the silver-white fan The alloy door opened, and the scene behind the door made him forget all he wanted to say for a moment.

It was a wide hall. As an underground facility, it was even wider than the conference hall in Cecil City. The bright lights illuminate the place almost completely wrapped in alloy shell, and there is a deep buzzing. The sound echoed softly throughout the space. One after another silver-white square pillars were neatly arranged in Gawain’s field of vision. The surfaces of these pillars were shining with faint lights. The countless lights were like the eyes of scrutiny. The cold, hard and ancient surface of the installation watched the visitors entering here.

Ophelia’s voice rang and echoed throughout the hall: "Welcome to the Ophelia Matrix... As you can see, this is the'I', a computing node, storage array, energy matrix, and mental core. An artificial mental network. I’m sorry, but this is probably not the same as you imagined to meet each other."

"This..." Kohaku's eyes widened. Although she has always claimed to have a rich imagination and strong nerves, she was a little dazed at this time. She imagined the "Ophelia" who has survived from ancient times. "What would it look like? She imagined that the other party would be a ghost wandering in an underground cave, a mage who imprisoned himself in a special magic device to keep alive, or even a completely alienated, similar god. Such a "composite", but she never thought that Ophelia would be...a machine.

In other words, an "array" composed of many machines.

Gawain's gaze swept over the columns neatly arranged in the hall, and in their low buzzing sound, he also took a while to ease his mind, but he was obviously not as surprised as Amber.

This is an unexpected situation, but it has not risen to the level of "unimaginable" for Gawain. After all, his "satellite essence" is essentially an "ancient machine" similar to the Ophelia Matrix. .

Between the pillars, a guiding light flow emerged from the ground. The two iron soldiers leading the way had returned to the outside of the hall. Gawain and Amber walked towards the central area of ​​the Ophelia Matrix under the guidance of the light flow. On the way, Amber finally broke the silence: "So you...you have survived to this day by storing your mind in these machines? Just like our "immortal"?"

"Not so." Ophelia said calmly.

An open area appeared in front of Gawain and Amber. The matrix of silver-white columns left a clear space here. The next second, they heard the sound of machinery running from the ground, and an opening appeared on the floor in front of them. , A platform rose from the hidden space below—on the platform, Gawain saw a device that looked like a dormant cabin, and through the transparent equipment casing, he saw a young woman lying quietly on it.

She has a good-looking appearance and is wearing a Gondor-style dress. Her eyes are closed tightly. It seems that she is just falling into a dream and can wake up in the next second.

It was an unfamiliar face, but by putting it here, Gawain could guess her identity in an instant.

Kohaku pointed to the figure lying quietly in the container, as if falling asleep: "This is..."

"Ophelia Norton, the last heir to the Gondor Empire, she... has died many years ago, and this base is her legacy—including me," in the hall The voice sounded calmly, "I am Ophelia Matrix, a simulated mind modeled on the real Ophelia Norton’s personality data and whole brain scan data. The last command I received was... The mission continues."

There was a slight rubbing sound from the ceiling above the hall, and several sensing devices poked their heads out from above, quietly watching the sleeping princess Gu Gondor on the platform.

"...But she didn't explain the full meaning of this'mission' to me, nor did she tell me whether this mission will end. I spent a long time thinking about what I should do to complete this mission. Vague commands, the only answer I can think of... is to'become' Ophelia Norton and continue her work."

The voice in the hall was temporarily quiet, only Gawain and Amber were left watching the figure kept in the special container quietly.

"This is really..." In the end, Amber's voice broke the silence. "This is really unexpected."

"It was unexpected, and... I finally know why you can control the platinum scepter, and how you successfully'stole' the power of the God of Light," Gao Wen breathed out softly, "I thought You have broken the psychic seal like Wright, but in fact...you were not affected by this from the beginning."

"Yes, this is one of my'research results'," Ophelia said. "Artificial intelligence is not affected by thoughts, controlled by gods, and not polluted by spirits—except for the powerful'powers of gods themselves. 'Besides still causing substantial damage to my vehicle, I am actually a mind that wanders out of the'line of sight' of the gods. This gives me... very convenient research conditions."

Gawain pondered for a moment, and then said thoughtfully: "In short, your current state is indeed a little...beyond my expectations. You can't transfer yourself at all, and you can't transfer your consciousness from these machines, right? ?"

"Yes," Ophelia replied immediately, "My core personality must run between these computing nodes and mental units. Although there are carriers like Veronica, the carrier can only accommodate Part of my mind, so far, I have not found a carrier that can perfectly contain all of my personality data, and..."

She paused here before she continued: "And I never thought about leaving here. I was born here, grew up here, and worked here. This... is not a cage, and I never think of myself. I am imprisoned. And I have a'vehicle' that can move freely outside, which is enough for me."

"I respect your ideas," Gawain nodded, "Then, I will also promote the Alliance decision to ensure... calm in the Deep Blue Well area after the war."

"Thank you for your understanding," Ophelia said in a soft voice as always, "then can I think that the future Deep Blue Well will be a...neutral zone in the alliance?"

"It can only be a neutral zone," Gao Wen raised his head and stared at the sensors hanging from the ceiling. "In my plan, the neutrality of the Deep Blue Well will be to divide the Gondor area after the war. An important benchmark for this, at least nominally, this huge source of magic power cannot be'occupied' by any country."

Ophelia’s voice was silent for less than two seconds, and one of the sensors on the ceiling turned slightly: "...The land of the Deep Blue Well will not belong to any country, but the energy produced by the Deep Blue Well will Benefit the whole world, and the three empires...especially the Cecil Empire will have the main say in the distribution of energy. I think this is what you think."

Gao Wen nodded slightly-it seemed that Veronica/Ophelia still knew his thoughts quite well.

The Deep Blue Well, the "land" rooted in the fissures of the network, occupies only a small part of the entire Gondor region, and it does not produce anything except pure magic, but it is pure magic. …Is the true meaning of Deep Blue Well.

Today’s magic technology is very different from the Gondor era. The energy of the Deep Blue Well is no longer the only choice for mankind, but such a huge "extra energy" still has great value for the alliance-in the process of civilization development There is no doubt as to what position "energy" occupies.

But Gawain did not intend to simply and rudely occupy this place. Although the benefits of doing so are amazing, it is destined to cause great damage to the international order he has created, and even destroy the original solid "alliance between him and Ophelia." "Relationship, but he also does not want this source to fall into the hands of others, which will also pose a great threat to the international order he has created.

The state of Ophelia and the situation of the Ironman... just gave him a solution to this problem.

He does not need to occupy this "sensitive area"-"occupation" is already an outdated method of the last era.

He only needs to fully support the Iron Man Corps, a close ally of the Cecil Empire, and support the neutral position of Ophelia, a small territory on this planet.