The Righteous Player(s)

Breaking down a huge problem, processing each small part in several machines, and then gathering the results together. Sharing computational resources, balancing computational load… Those were the core principles of “distributed computing”.

Annan didn’t expect similar ideas had already come up in the Elven Age.

They used the worm ritual to make multiple copies of themselves at a certain moment.

Each “self” held an encrypted task. They did not understand the tasks that the rest of the “selves” were responsible for, but ultimately, they all returned their computational results to the main body… They could even bypass returning directly to the main body, allowing newly replicated “selves” to perform further calculations or storage.

—This was the evolution of using itself as the center of the system.

Massive engineering projects could be constructed by multiple selves, or they could be used for the analysis and calculation of certain structures. They could also serve to store transcended knowledge—not only allowing for distributed computing but also enabling distributed storage.

Annan held his breath slightly.

I have to say that the ancient elven sages are really geniuses.

They are able to come up with this idea without having any experience with computers.

If Annan guessed correctly, this should be a technology used in combination with curse energy — if the pollution problem caused by curse energy wasn’t there, then the only limitation on this universal material was the “construction efficiency” of curse energy.

In this perspective, although the curse energy had caused a lot of destruction to the world, the elf scholars managed to conduct scientific research unscrupulously without considering the loss of raw materials. Subsequently, it allowed them to develop many new marvelous technologies.

Even if the use of curse energy was prohibited, and many ancient technologies built on the foundation of curse energy had thus lost their significance, it did not mean that they were worthless in themselves.

It simply required a reevaluation of the limitations of materials, energy, and efficiency.

If it could be modified into a weakened form based on the modern technological system, it might not necessarily be unusable.

For example, the Worm Ritual.

This kind of human-based distributed computing and storage system was undoubtedly a great invention. However, it was used by the people of the Worm Cult at that time as if it were a zombie virus.

It felt too low.

It was like using Nokia as a hidden weapon, rotten eggs as biochemical weapons, and magic sticks as weapons.

Even though there wasn’t any problem with it.

“It’s been taken care of, Your Majesty.” Zorgen said suddenly.

Annan came over in surprise, “That’s pretty quick.”

“Because they haven’t made any progress over the years. It’s just the same techniques.”

Zorgen said quietly. The door was opened from the inside — it was Zorgen’s shadow hand that reached under the door crack and pulled the door handle from the inside.

Zorgen silently stepped aside from the door, allowing Annan to walk past him.

The first thing that caught Annan’s eyes was a broken makeup mirror.

One could tell at a glance that something was amiss—no one would place a mirror at the bedroom door, positioned like a screen, facing outward.

But now, this mirror was not only completely shattered, but it also had a layer of irregular ice formed on it, completely losing its function as a mirror.

“Be careful, Your Majesty. I did not completely destroy the ritual. I merely cut off the initiating end.” Zorgen stared at the ritual area on the ground and murmured softly, “Because I don’t want to alert the enemy.”

In the viscount’s study, a ritual circle was drawn on the floor with the fresh blood of some animal. White candles were lit at various heights, but they seemed to have been dripped with some special liquid, causing each to be a different color.

Orange fire, crimson fire, cyan fire, golden fire, deep purple fire, aqua blue fire, gray fire, pink and purple fire.

Besides that, on the walls, floor, ceiling, cabinets… there were more than a dozen mirrors of various sizes placed around. Now, these mirrors had all been shattered and then sealed with ice.

If not for this, these lights would likely be reflected and bounce off these many mirrors, spreading throughout the room like starlight.

“The ritual of light and mirror…” Annan murmured, looking at the ritual and thinking seriously.

What is the purpose of this?

“—This is a ritual of forced teleportation.” Zoya revealed directly, “The candlelight refracted the mirror image of the firelight in the mirror so that two light sources shined at the same time — this is a ritual representing teleportation.”

“[Eight colors of light] are the key to activating Mr. Ray’s advanced ritual. The teleportation effect of a high-level ritual is compulsory and takes immediate effect… With so many mirrors, it serves as encryption for the true destination. In reality, only one mirror is actually effective.”

Forced teleportation?

Isn’t this a war strategy?

Or are they planning to teleport me directly into their encirclement?

“Wait a minute… Mr. Ray’s advanced ritual?” Annan noticed another detail, “If I remember correctly, Mr. Ray’s ritual should have a strong purifying effect, right?”

“That’s right.” Zoya replied, “Mr. Ray’s advanced ritual can only be initiated by healthy and energetic men. There is no doubt that a corpse parasitized by the Worm Ritual cannot summon Mr. Ray’s power.”

Although Mr. Ray always presented Himself as a bright and warm young man with a radiant smile in front of Annan, it was said that He had a rather violent temper — He was demanding cleanliness and was exceptionally harsh on believers who failed to meet his standards.

It would be fine if it was the original Viscount Ostoff Dolgoruky.

There was a scar on his face that was so deep that it was visible to the bone… This was the mark left on his body after he narrowly escaped death, and it was also proof that he had defeated death. The tenacious warrior’s will was favored by Red Knight, Mr. Ray, and Father Flint.

If the real Viscount Ostoff Dolgoruky performed this ritual, there would probably be no problem.

After he was parasitized by the worm, he was no longer worthy.

If he dared to summon Mr. Ray after being parasitized by the worm, Mr. Ray would burn him to a crisp with a burst of holy light.

These are ordinary candles lit with cursed grease. Judging by the rate of burning, they were lit about half an hour ago. At most, it wouldn’t have been more than an hour.”

“Viscount Dolgoruky wouldn’t be able to perform this ritual, and he has been with us all the time, so…”

“—So, the person who arranged the ritual hasn’t gone far yet.”

Annan concluded.

Zorgen’s strategy was valid. In the absence of certainty about the specific composition of the ritual, destroying the ritual site indeed carried the risk of alerting the ritualist.

Since this ritualist could enter the viscount’s study to arrange this teleportation ritual while they were eating, then there was a high probability that he did not sneak into the viscount’s residence, but was originally hidden there!

Then it was highly likely that he hadn’t gone far, and he might even have still been within the viscount’s residence!

“Zoya—” Annan said softly, “Do it.”

Zoya narrowed her eyes. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝒄𝒐𝓶

She showed a confident smile, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“As long as he doesn’t run far away, he will never be able to hide from me.”

Thank you for supporting our novels. Your comment, interaction, and just by reading the novels are a great support to us! Discover what unfolds next by accessing the chapters before anyone else! Your support means the world to us! Click here to access our support page.