Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2111: Chapter 2112: Privacy

What is this pale green bubble about?

As Angel was pondering, a brownish-yellow bubble popped up: It seems another lost child has accidentally wandered in.

Soon after, a pinkish-green bubble also spoke: I went over to take a look, and there was also someone who intruded on the forum, adding a strange reply under the article ”Prospect of Deep Layers Network.”

Brownish-yellow bubble: Well, nothing can be done, after all, this is their home ground. They come and go as they please.

Upon seeing this sentence, Angel roughly understood what was going on. In the mother tree network, the only ones referred to as owning the ”home ground” are the Dream Plant Fairy tribe.

He conveyed the situation in the tree group to Jon, and Jon’s response confirmed his guess.

”Those two newly appeared bubbles must be Dream Plant Fairies attracted by the surface network,” Jon confidently said, ”That special pattern is the written language of the Dream Plant Fairies; seeing this writing confirms their identity.”

According to Jon, for the Dream Plant Fairies indulged in the deep network, the surface network is like the lighthouse of the Eternal Darkness Land, the light wall of the dark world, very dazzling.

From time to time, curious Dream Plant Fairies come for a visit.

However, the current function of the surface network has little attraction for the Dream Plant Fairies; they usually take a quick look and then leave.

Sure enough, not long after Jon finished talking, Angel saw the two light spots representing the Dream Plant Fairies moving out from the interfaces of the tree group and the mother tree forum, then dissolving and disappearing.

”Although the surface network currently holds little attraction for the Dream Plant Fairies, these little guys seem to regard coming to the surface network as an adventure game. Those two light spots you mentioned, once they return to the deep network, will turn this exploration into a topic of discussion, seeking out other companions to share, and then...” Jon sighed, ”there will be more Dream Plant Fairies, hearing about the surface network, coming specifically to continue this exploration.”

Watching Jon with his furrowed brow and worried face, Angel couldn’t help but recall his childhood. Whenever the Air Wood Nuts were in harvest, a rogue squirrel would bring its whole family to stealthily steal the nuts from Jon’s stilted hut, causing headaches for Jon and Angel for quite a while at the time, with Jon’s brow furrowing just like this.

Although it felt very infuriating at the time, now thinking back, the rogue squirrel appeared somewhat cute in its cheeky manner.

”What are you thinking, why are you smiling?” Jon looked at Angel in confusion, as he sighed, Angel could actually still smile.

Angel reined in his smile: ”Do you find these Dream Plant Fairies quite troublesome?”

Jon shook his head: ”Troublesome is not the word, I actually quite like their simple nature, and I welcome their willingness to communicate. What’s troubling me now is the lack of privacy; they can wander in anytime, and many topics become hard to discuss.”

”Although there’s no impact right now, if in the future the surface network begins to be promoted and users cannot get privacy protection, it will become a nightmare.”

Sanders nodded subconsciously upon hearing this. Their purpose in coming this time, actually proposed by Angel, was so that if the two of them enter the Wilderness of Dreams at different times, they could leave messages for each other through the tree group.

However, if these exchanged messages cannot be kept private, many important topics cannot be discussed.

Of course, there’s definitely no such problem at the moment, but it’s hard to say in the future.

For the surface network to develop, privacy protection must be put on the agenda.

Angel also agreed: ”I’ll think of a way, perhaps trying to modify it from the Civilization’s Tree Authority.”

To achieve privacy protection, either isolate the surface network from the mother tree network, or make the entry of the deep network into the surface network more difficult.

Which method is more appropriate still needs long-term adjustment.

Although Angel could make a decision, real adaptation still requires time. He can’t oversee it constantly; if someone could assume the Authority of the Tree Civilization, it would be ideal.

Back to the old issue, unfortunately, still hard to resolve.

Angel handed the black stone disc back to Jon without saying much, instead looking at Sanders next to him: ”What does the Mentor think, about using this to leave messages?”

After pondering for a moment, Sanders nodded: ”It’s feasible.”

Before this, Sanders never found the mother tree network to be significant. When Angel placed great importance on it initially, he didn’t quite understand; but today, truly experiencing it first-hand changed his perspective.

From the convenience of the entity to the later surface network, everything Sanders experienced today was both comfortable and convenient.

Especially the surface network, which greatly opened his eyes.

The delay-enabled communication of the tree group seemed useful to Sanders, but not too surprising; what really amazed him was the mother tree forum. In the forum, he saw multi-faceted benefits such as academic topic publication, scholarly exchange, academic education, and topic collating and categorizing.

Although these can be replaced by other means, integrating them together proved to be more intuitive and convenient.

Moreover, now only Jon publishes content, but what about in the future? If transcendent topics of various great wizard organizations are collated together in the future, what a magnificent clash of thoughts it would be.

However, by then, privacy issues will also surface. Moreover, the privacy concerns won’t merely be about the Dream Plant Fairies but also the avoidance or trust of other wizard organizations toward the Barbarian Cave.

But any problem has a solution eventually; besides, even without opening up the mother tree forum to the outside, engaging in academic exchanges within the Barbarian Cave alone could also achieve a good result.

Precisely because of seeing such prospects, Sanders’ former view of the mother tree network as useless was altered.

But whether it will reach the level of his conjecture depends on future developments. Nonetheless, Sanders now acknowledges that the mother tree network holds considerable potential.

”What does the Mentor think, how should the mother tree network develop in the future?” Angel noticed Sanders’ attitude towards the mother tree network had changed, and instead of asking about Sanders’ mindset, he inquired about the future.

Faced with this question, Sanders merely shook his head silently.

Though he had endless thoughts internally, Sanders didn’t intend to express them. His expressions might not necessarily be correct, after all, he hadn’t previously foreseen the potential of the mother tree network, so it would be better to let Angel and Jon continue to develop it freely.

Sanders also believes that since Angel places such heavy importance on the mother tree network, he must see its potential.

He also wanted to see whether, under Angel’s leadership, the mother tree network would unleash its full potential or be like a small stone sinking into the sea, failing to stir any waves.

...

After confirming that the tree group could leave messages for each other, their purpose of the visit was achieved.

Now, the task is to create a medium for Sanders that can also carry him into the Mother Tree Network.

According to Jon, the disc made of black stone is too simplistic, but it does require a certain amount of time for the stonemason to polish it, estimated around half a day.

However, the black stone disc is just a vessel for carrying, not a necessity, and it can be replaced with a different form.

Thus, Angel first returned to reality and casually refined a large box of transparent thin plates the size of a single palm using discarded colored glaze. The transparent thin plates have space inside to contain the powder of the Mother Tree’s branches. Angel then transported them to the Wilderness of Dreams using the Dream Conch.

After adjustments, the transparent thin plates can be used to enter the surface network.

Sanders even sent a text message to Angel within the tree group to confirm the usability of the transparent thin plates.

Then Sanders left with the transparent thin plate.

In reality, Sanders also bid farewell to Angel, first preparing to return to the Mirror World and then immediately search for the whereabouts of Sumishe.

Although Sanders had left, Angel could still perceive Sanders’ frequent logins to the surface network through the Authority of the ”Tree Civilization” in the subsequent hours. Initially, Sanders didn’t speak a word, seemingly observing in secret.

Much later, Sanders left a comment under a post titled ”Tabletop Development Content” on the Mother Tree Forum, inquiring about some details not mentioned in the article.

Jon happened to see Sanders’ comment and started a back-and-forth exchange with him on the forum.

Kudodo and Babaya also noticed their intellectual exchange on the forum but only dared to be onlookers, silently keeping quiet... Especially after knowing that the black bubble represented Sanders, they estimated that for a long time in the future, they would only read forum posts and never dare to comment, fearing to provoke Sanders due to exposing their ignorance.

After all, cases of ignorant remarks angering Official Wizards are everywhere in the Wizards’ Realm... some outcomes are too tragic to behold.

However, Angel didn’t pay attention to the forum exchanges, as after discussing the surface network with Jon for a short while, he left the library.

Angel didn’t choose to return to reality but instead used the Authority of the ”Gate of Dreams” to investigate the positions of the wizards.

Ironclad Granny was in a newly opened flower tea shop, sipping tea and looking at the newly grown flowers outside the shop, seemingly contemplating something.

Wallace was near Pat Manor, not having discovered that Pat Manor was Angel’s residence, but simply because it belonged to the center of a high magic area, studying virtual Magic Power with shining eyes.

Lianna and the Tree Spirit had left the high magic area to go outside the city. However, they didn’t travel together, and their directions were not the same.

Angel hovered in mid-air for a while, riding an unprovoked gust of wind towards the outskirts of the city.

Not long after, Angel arrived at a small valley approximately ten miles from Originheart City.

The surroundings of the valley were covered with lush green grass and sprinkled with small flowers, and at the top of the valley, a solitary large tree stood alone.

Under the tree sat a man nearly devoid of clothing, listening to the wind while pretending to nap.

This was the Tree Spirit, who had parted ways with Lianna outside the city.

Angel’s arrival carried a gust created by the Celestial Alternation, so even though the Tree Spirit’s Perception had become extremely weak, it detected the oncoming strong wind.

He opened his eyes and saw Angel suspended amidst the wind.

”Oh, Angel, what brings you here?”

Looking at the lazy-faced Tree Spirit opposite, Angel slowly descended: ”Nothing much, just came to see you, Tree Spirit Lord.”

Though he said this, Angel’s gaze was fixed on the Tree Spirit, and the Ability Tree in his Mind Space quivered slightly, seemingly performing some sort of work.

The Tree Spirit mistakenly assumed Angel wanted to know why he and Lianna had parted ways, and with a smile, he explained: ”Lianna and I took a stroll around Originheart City, and she complained that the construction of the city was too rough, with various styles mixed together and lacking a rational city plan. She didn’t like it. She definitely wouldn’t hold the tea party in Originheart City, so she planned to look outside for a suitable place...”

Angel: ”...” So criticizing city planning has become a daily consensus, huh.

Tree Spirit: ”Speaking of which, I’m also a bit curious about who the builder of Originheart City is, with such... imaginative design.”

Why add insult to injury?

Angel: ”Who knows...” Although acting indifferent, Angel internally decided to push for rapid progress on the New City construction immediately upon returning. Once the New City is constructed, everyone newly arriving will all be directed to the New City, and then there would be no criticisms but a feeling of amazement!

The Tree Spirit seemed to notice something, smiled without continuing the sorrowful topic: ”However, personally I think since you’ve decided to establish a branch of the tea party in the Wilderness of Dreams, you must have already evaluated the location, no need to run outside the city.”

”However, Lianna didn’t listen and insisted on looking around outside herself.”

Angel nodded knowingly, estimating that this was why the Tree Spirit and Lianna would part ways.

But Angel was a bit confused, as the Tree Spirit, having such foresight, knew he would have selected a suitable location for the tea party in advance, so why leave Originheart City too?

It’s known that many areas outside Originheart City aren’t high magic areas, with low virtual Magic Power concentration, possibly unable to cast even second-level Tricks. Otherwise, the Tree Spirit wouldn’t have taken a long day to get just ten miles away from Originheart City.

”I left Originheart City because I discovered something interesting,” the Tree Spirit slowly stood up and looked back at the solitary tree on the hill.

”From the moment I entered this land, I’ve noticed something about every grass and tree here that gives me a very peculiar feeling.”

The Tree Spirit slowly paced towards the big tree, lightly touching his forehead to the tree trunk, as if listening to its heartbeat.

This seemingly mundane action, in Angel’s eyes, carried an unusual feeling. Especially when the Tree Spirit pressed his forehead against the trunk, Angel almost saw that towering giant tree in a distant land stretching its old branches comfortably, swaying gently with the wind.

Angel: ”Tree Spirit Lord, what is the feeling you are talking about?”

The Tree Spirit shrugged: ”It’s hard to describe, but I can clearly feel a consciousness in a certain direction that makes me feel close. It seems to want to convey something to me, so I plan to go and see.”

At this point, how could Angel not understand? It’s the Civilization’s Mother Tree resonating with the Tree Spirit, the central core that revitalizes the Wilderness of Dreams—

Civilization’s Mother Tree.