The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

To be honest, hearing his familiar hometown dialect in another world, even though it was a synthesized voice, still felt incredibly comforting to Linde.

But now is not the time to dwell on the past. There are still many questions to be asked. Linde focused his mind and asked, "550C, why do I have this authority? What level of authority do I have?"

Sharpening your axe won't delay your work; Linde's top priority is to figure out the extent to which it is using this artificial intelligence.

"Your consciousness has been flagged as 'citizen'. According to the permission inheritance rules, if the administrator and the superior permission holder are both disconnected, the 'citizen' can inherit some of the superior permissions."

The AI, which claimed to be 550C, spoke without any fluctuation, but the meaning it conveyed was very clear: Linde's own authority was probably only at the level of an ordinary person, but because the administrator and superior authority were now disconnected, Linde had gained some superior authority.

But is this consciousness the same as the soul?

Linde focused his attention again and asked the questions.

"It is not exactly the same as the soul in the traditional sense, but you can understand it this way: you are using the power of the soul to establish a connection with us."

Although the 550C's voice still lacks variation, it's clear that the 550C isn't a rigid AI; it can even engage in conversation with Linde in a way that's closer to human thinking.

In other words, although some of the definitions are not quite the same as those of the soul that Linde was familiar with, they are still very similar. While it is amazing that humans in the Golden Age had already studied it to this extent, it is worth considering that the study of the soul and similar concepts already existed in the Old Empire period.

Well, maybe it was the research of the Golden Age that led the old empire astray in its technological development?

Immediately afterward, Lind asked himself the most crucial question: "Where did all the administrators and those with higher-level authority go? What exactly happened to the civilization that created you?"

"Danger detected. Your current state of accessing the archives will result in consequences such as consciousness contamination, memory impairment, nervous system disorder, and decreased physical function. In order to protect you, the system cannot respond to your request."

Linde then tried several other methods. Although he learned some information about the Golden Age, his requests were rejected by 550C whenever the topic of why the Golden Age suddenly disappeared came up. The past was like taboo knowledge, and even just touching upon it would have irreversible consequences.

Despite being a sci-fi-style artificial intelligence, it uttered this fantastical warning.

The information provided by 550C is not much more than what was mentioned in the Lantern Dream, which explains why only the early texts of the Goddess Cult record that the Golden Age truly existed, while making no mention of its disappearance.

"If you want to see this information, you can go to the Tiangong Command Center and view it using protective measures."

Finally, 550C offered Linde a suggestion.

"Does the Tiangong Command Center refer to the space station?"

Linde had a bad feeling as soon as he heard the name, especially after learning that the divine kingdom referred to by the Goddess Cult was actually a space station left over from the Golden Age.

"Yes, some permissions require you to come to the command center in person to use them."

Lin De was speechless. With the current level of technology, how could he even think about going to space?

Not to mention, this world seems to be subject to some kind of restriction. The farther away you are from the ground, the less magic there is and the more chaotic it becomes. As a result, although there are many professionals in this world, flying is still a very difficult thing, and the high sky is the exclusive territory of the dragons.

Do I look like I could get to the space station right now?

Linde casually made a sarcastic remark.

However, 550C also stated in a serious tone: "We are currently testing your physical condition. The test result is unqualified. You cannot directly withstand the weight of the elevator and require a lot of equipment for assistance."

"An elevator? It's not a space elevator, is it?"

According to the information provided by 550C, it wouldn't be surprising if there really was a space elevator in the Golden Age. However, even if there was, it would probably have been lost to history long ago. Nothing on this continent should have survived, otherwise it would be impossible to find any trace of the Golden Age, leaving only a lonely place floating in space. The AI, known as the Goddess, confirms that that era really existed.

"Attempting to connect to the space elevator, connection failed, space elevator - Tower of Babel is unresponsive."

Sure enough, even if a space elevator really existed, it wouldn't have survived.

But then 550C's voice continued, "The database contains the repair methods for the Tower of Babel. You can try to reach the location of the Tower of Babel to carry out the repairs."

Upon hearing this, Lind couldn't help but ask: Me, building a space elevator? Really?

Even if I were to unify the entire continent, I probably wouldn't be able to build a space elevator in my lifetime.

Frustrated, Linde immediately gave up trying to inquire about the history of the Golden Age and instead took out his notebook, intending to continue asking 550C questions one by one according to the plan in his previous notes.

But just as Lin Degang opened his notebook, he felt that the numbers in front of him were a little blurry. Had he been too indulgent with Lena lately?

But Linde quickly realized something was wrong. He had been in a meditative state while talking to 550C, so he didn't realize that his body had become quite weak, and even opening the notebook had become difficult.

Then, 550C's voice sounded in his mind again: "Warning, each access to this system will consume a large amount of your mental and conscious energy, that is, your soul power. If the access time is too long, continuing to access will affect the health of the connectant. For your safety, please end this access."

"Why didn't you say so sooner! End the visit!"

Linde couldn't help but curse inwardly, finally emerging from his hazy meditative state.

This AI doesn't seem very intelligent. Even though I didn't ask, shouldn't these things be explained clearly from the beginning?

Lind was panting heavily, feeling his heart pounding wildly.

At that moment, Linde noticed that Tia was looking at him with a worried expression on her face.

"Are you OK?"

Linde nodded and said, "It's nothing, I just felt a little tired after receiving a response from the goddess."

"Is it really just a little bit? You looked so scary just now, I could see smoke coming out of you."

"Did the goddess catch you trying to take advantage of her and punish you?"

Upon hearing Tia's words, Linde realized that he was covered in sweat and felt as if he had just overclocked, with aches and pains all over his body. Fortunately, the discomfort quickly disappeared and there was nothing seriously wrong. It seemed that the 550C's warning was timely.

"I haven't asked yet, but the goddess shouldn't be so petty."

Since 550C didn't mention it, it probably isn't anything important. Well, not necessarily. Even something as important as accessing the system causing physical overload was only mentioned at the last minute, wasn't it?

Linde got up to take a shower and clear his head.

After resting for a while, Lind continued to try to pray and asked, "550C, how am I feeling now?"

"All indicators are normal, but accessing the site consumes more mental energy, so we do not recommend that you access it frequently."

"You should tell me about such important things first in the future."

"Usage preferences have been changed, but the file is too large and your current physical condition cannot withstand a large amount of data transfer."

Just as Linde was about to continue complaining that the 550C wasn't very smart, the 550C continued, "We suggest you use shortcut phrases, which allow you to use some permissions without accessing the system."

Bernice had been waiting at the train station for a long time. When she saw Seraphim, who had already woken up, she bowed and said, "Welcome to Gray Collar, Your Grace."

"Here, you don't need to call me Saintess anymore, just call me Seraphim."

Although her face was mostly covered by a hood, Seraphim still looked as holy and dignified as the true saint from hundreds of years ago.

Seraphim turned to the group from the Lantern Dream behind him and said, "We have come here to learn the language of the gods from the remnants of the Golden Age. Even if we do not learn the language of the gods, we must learn the art of the Holy Word from this remnant of the past."

"This is not only for our sect, but also for the Goddess and for the survival of humanity. Therefore, we must abide by their laws on their land."

Everyone nodded and, led by Bernice, discreetly headed towards the Lind mansion.

The Divine Word is a legendary divine art that allows one to briefly use the goddess's authority using only a short incantation and the power of faith. It is a divine art that only the goddess's true saints can use.