Chapter 259: The Sky’s Nest
Ion Iolkaf was bewildered by the events unfolding before him.
Ion’s hometown, Kamairu, was still known for its silk production, a regional specialty. While the world changed drastically every five or ten years, Kamairu had yet to see a single skyscraper. Therefore, Ion left the task of feeding mulberry leaves to silkworms and moved to the city of Orazen, seeking new opportunities.
Sericulture was still a profitable business, as the fashion industry's boom had kept silk a luxury product, despite the advent of polyester and factory-made fabrics. Ion’s parents had hoped Ion would continue the family business, but they didn't object when Ion expressed his desire to study. They even supported Ion.
"It's a joy that you're interested in a noble field like astronomy. Although in the past, the Starcatcher..."
Of course, Ion, being a secularist, wasn't entirely pleased with such a form of support. Ion wanted to study science to prove that the world didn't need gods, especially not ancient powers like magic. Ion believed that although the Pantheon and Night Sky had significantly influenced science and technology, the pious and romanticized portrayals of gods did not help the revelation of clear scientific truths.
Upon arriving in the self-reflecting city of Orazen, Ion was amazed. Orazen, a fusion of the capital of Black Scale and the ancient region known as Automation, had become a vast metropolis. Automation, an ancient ruin and a key player during the Rasdasil Ruins battle, was as valuable as the fallen and now restored Sky Castle of the former Union Kingdom.
A unique feature of Automation was the automatons. The lords of Automation had always possessed the ability to command these automatons, which were initially just mud dolls capable of basic tasks, primarily restoring the earthen Automation.
However, archaeologists and Wizards discovered that Automation harbored a far greater power. It was programmable, and the mud dolls and earthen materials were nothing but basic input values. The lords, realizing the potential, began using more valuable materials to enhance Automations's growth. After mud came wood, then stone, and eventually cement, and when Automation was being called Automation because of its self-evolving nature, modern materials like steel and concrete, which were still the best resources for architecture till present day, were used.
With the active support of the capital, Orazen, the mixed-material dolls began building architectures with steel and concrete, transforming Orazen into a city of skyscrapers that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the world.
In such a metropolis, species from all over the world had come and settled down, and there wasn’t a day when the city wasn’t bustling with activities. Fashion trends spread from one end of the city to the other and disappeared within days, celebrities captivated everyone's hearts before vanishing, organized crime thrived in the back alleys, and various old nobles and new entrepreneurs competed for power. Wizards plotted in the shadows, and apostles appeared to resolve incidents and then disappeared, making the city seem like a living organism.
Ion, who enrolled in the Central Observatory College of Orazen, was astounded by all sorts of events he could never have imagined back in the countryside. Each day was filled with fascinating gossip, as well as plenty of amusements and things to do.
With money sent from their parents in his hometown, Ion roamed clubs with new friends, indulged in drinking, got into disputes, woke up in police stations, and rushed to classes the next day. Ion got deeply involved in video games for months, received academic warnings, experienced intense love affairs and breakups, and eventually set off on a walking journey to the southern continent. After his vibrant youth, Ion graduated without achieving notable grades or writing a proper thesis like he had dreamed of. Central Observatory College of Orazen was never a trivial place, so Ion's level at the time of his graduation was not enough even to dream about penning a paper.
Ion came to his senses right after graduation. Ion was unable to find a job or engage in serious academic pursuits. Not wanting to return to his hometown, Ion lived day by day, earning just enough for daily expenses. Ion knew that returning home meant he could take over the family business, so he wouldn’t be leading a bad life per se, but Ion believed there was still a chance to achieve something. Ion then developed a genuine passion for astronomy belatedly.
The autobiographical work of Simo, known as the mother of electricity, helped Ion reaffirm his resolve. Simo, a great Xolotl inventor and engineer of the eastern continent, became famous for spreading electricity across the continent, starting out as a street inventor until she overcame numerous challenges and attracted investment.
The war over the electric patent rights in Polivia seemed to favor the Union Kingdom, but with its defeat, the Itimo family, Simo's patrons, took control. Electricity became the property of the Empire and the Pantheon, and Simo became known as a great inventor following in the footsteps of Madman Toolbo.
Though in a different field, Simo's story inspired Ion into action. During the day, Ion worked as a temporary delivery food worker riding a motorcycle, and at night, he refined his theories by reading papers on topics that interested himself. Of course, Ion also spent time on the World Dictionary Forum, but this was a better use of his time compared to before. Ion believed his encounter with a renowned scholar like Lide Oboren was a result of such efforts.
‘But was that not the case…?’
It was a dangerous situation, but as Ion’s life was saved for now, Ion fell into thought. Ion couldn't understand what was happening; what he knew was that he felt a sense of betrayal that his efforts were meaningless.
"What are you doing? Get down!"
Ramin quickly turned around and kicked Ion's leg with lightning speed. Ion fell backward and thought, ‘You told me to get down but immediately kicked me down!’
But Ramin's judgment was correct. The assailant, knowing he couldn't hit both Ion and Ramin, set his pistol to rapid-fire. Ramin knew that in such situations, it wouldn’t be wise to slice or deflect bullets, but if a pistol's slide retreated repeatedly, it raised the muzzle.
‘I know that model. Firing rapidly, the chance of hitting the target is higher. If the magazine is fully loaded, it's seventeen shots.’
Ramin crouched down and charged at the assailant. She rolled midway, and the assailant aimed the gun, but Ramin was faster.
Crack!
Ramin's blade sliced diagonally across the assailant's hand, severing fingers and palm, which flew into the air along with the gun. The assailant screamed in pain as Ramin's kick landed on his jaw, knocking him unconscious. Ramin then untied a rope from her waist and tied up the assailant's severed hand to stop the bleeding.
Then Ramin said into her walkie-talkie, "Situation over."
Ion, stuttering, asked "Wh…who are you?"
“LiveRightly.”
“Pardon?”
"I thought I was somewhat famous, but you don't know..."
Ion couldn't make the connection between Ramin and the notorious user of the World Dictionary Forum. It wasn't something to boast about despite Ramin calling it fame, so it was natural for Ion not to make the connection.
Realizing this, Ramin reluctantly took out her ID from her uniform pocket.
Ion's jaw dropped in surprise and murmured, "I…intelligence Agency?"
***
At the Pantheon meeting, the issue at hand was acknowledged by Nebula as an unknown and unknowable issue.
"Let's start from the beginning then."
The world had become complex and immensely diverse. Even if all the vassal players released by the Pantheon were mobilized, there were limits to the areas they could cover.
"These are premises. The first is that a player called Jeolyo exists. As long as we don't question the system, this is an unshakeable fact."
While the game and its rules were being shaken by the appearance of a nonexistent player who could be called an evil god, it was hard to say that the system, the foundation of the game, was faltering. If the system was trusted, then the player 癤욧렇?5?, referred to as Jeolyo for simplicity’s sake, certainly existed.
"The second premise is that an evil god always comes with a new species."
In the cases of the Third Continent's Jeol Woo-Bi, the First continent's Bwel, and the southern ocean's Sha-Cha, the evil gods that have appeared so far had always come with a new species. This wasn't an absolute rule, but without this premise, finding Jeolyo would be too difficult. Abandoning this premise meant searching for a new methodology, so for now, this premise had to be maintained.
"The third premise is that despite searching the whole world, we still haven't found Jeolyo’s species."
Investigations into new species continued. Groups of explorers searched areas that hadn't been thoroughly explored yet. However, even decades ago, there were virtually no lands people hadn’t set foot on.
The Pantheon had agreed that finding more such ancient relics, in search of means to release players from their vassals, would be difficult.
To this, Wisdom replied, "Nebula, if we accept all these premises, that Jeolyo exists, Jeolyo's species exists, and they haven't been discovered in all observable lands, then the conclusion is simple.”
"Thanks for the quick response as always.”
After a formal gesture of 'no problem', Wisdom continued, "Jeolyo's species must be one that can hide from our sight."
"Systematically?"
"Possibly."
"Biologically?"
"Possibly."
Wisdom pondered for a moment and then muttered, "They might have surpassed what we think of as a species."
"Imagination is needed here."
The matter was now passed to the hands of the 23 players, excluding Nebula and Wisdom, densely packed in the first conference room. The players each imagined what Jeolyo's species could be. Most ideas were accepted and added to the list of theories.
After much discussion, Sung-Woon said, "Let's find ways to uncover these hidden species. Any good ideas?"
HumanTracker, with the unique occupation of a private detective, drew attention among the players. However, their reticence and preference for solitude meant that revealing their occupation for the first time did not create much of a stir afterward.
HumanTracker began to speak quietly, "There was once a chat app sold that claimed to offer complete security. It couldn't be installed on officially purchased smartphones, only on those sold in the black market by the app's manufacturer. Using the app left no trace on the server, so numerous criminals like drug dealers, human traffickers, and illegal arms dealers paid high fees to use it. The app was sold for about two years, and its manufacturer made a considerable profit. Do you know who made that app?"
As the question was asked in a manner that made it clear an answer wasn’t wanted, or perhaps because HumanTracker thought no one knew, they continued, "The manufacturer was Interpol. The police conducting international cooperative investigations had created and sold this smartphone app, leading to the arrest of many criminals with clear evidence… Do you understand the lesson of this story?"
Sung-Woon laughed, "I like it."
He then projected a screen.
"We don't have smartphones yet, but we do have a space for secretive conversations."
Sung-Woon pointed to a building. In a massive building at the northern edge of the Third Continent was the world's largest data center, designed to maintain Sky Nest, a vast network connecting the world.
Though it maintained neutrality given its global span, it was distinctively religious—which was unfortunate for Ion, as there were still more scientists who were Pantheon followers than secular scientists in the world.
Sung-Woon said, "So, let's see if the Empire’s Intelligence Agency can do what we want."
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