Satellite Warning

Gawain focused intently on the image only he could see. In the end, he confirmed that it indeed displayed the terrain within roughly a hundred kilometers of the current Cecil settlement, centered on the settlement itself. Moreover, the controls he had once been familiar with for adjusting the viewing distance had stopped working.

The image was confined to this area. It could neither be moved nor zoomed.

And the once high-definition satellite view had become this blurry mess covered in strange patches of color.

What did those colors mean? Thermal imaging? Or some other kind of sensor imaging?

Or was it... simply malfunctioning?

Gawain clearly remembered the voice he had heard when leaving the high-altitude viewing state. He had distinctly caught phrases such as energy failure, mainframe reboot failure, and escape procedure, so the possibility of a malfunction was extremely high. Combined with his current inability to adjust the viewing distance, his suspicions only deepened.

And his thoughts began to extend further: his soul—or rather, his spiritual body—had probably undergone some kind of mutation. Although he had come to the ground and acquired a human body, his spirit had clearly retained the ability to establish a connection with some "thing" in the sky. For the past few months, he had remained offline, but the crystal he had acquired by chance had strengthened him and reestablished that connection. As for that Ancient Device in the sky—whether it was a satellite or a space station—it was still malfunctioning. Yet he had no idea whether it was the Energy System's final flicker or a successful mainframe reboot, but it had somehow lingered on and was still operating even now. Though the monitoring image had become an indescribable mess, that at least proved it still existed.

And within this line of thought, Gawain had to worry about something else: if the connection between his spirit and that "satellite" in the sky was closer than he imagined, perhaps even a bond where they lived and died together... then if that thing in the sky truly failed completely, wouldn't that be terribly fatal?

He knew that possibility was unlikely. After all, he had already completed his rebirth based on Gawain Cecil's body, and he had clearly heard the words "escape procedure" back then, so his spirit should have already become independent. But when it came to matters of life and death, he could not overlook even the slightest hidden danger!

But that thing in the sky was very likely hanging in synchronous orbit around this planet, while he himself was trapped in an ignorant and backward medieval kingdom. Forget repairing that "satellite"—he could not even see it now!

As these thoughts churned endlessly, Gawain continued observing every detail of the overhead view. He noticed that the image was not static. In fact, the hazy patches of color were constantly changing faintly. Some areas brightened slightly while others slowly darkened, cycling back and forth with what seemed like a pattern. Yet even as they changed, their overall distribution and contours remained roughly the same.

And just as Gawain attempted to summarize the patterns behind those changes, something else changed.

He suddenly saw a box resembling a floating window appear at the top of the image. A line of text flickered within it, as though distorted by interference. The characters were completely unfamiliar to him—neither Chinese nor the writing of any kingdom or race on the Loren Continent.

Yet as he stared at the line in shock and concentration, its meaning translated itself directly and surfaced in his mind:

"New data. Gas giant activity increased. Alert level raised to four."

The image began to shake, layer upon layer of interference patterns appearing over the colored patches. Gawain jolted awake, his attention swiftly shifting back to the outside world. The first time he made such a switch in perspective, the scene before his eyes swayed before stabilizing. Then, ignoring the lingering dizziness in his mind, he sprang up from beside the desk and rushed toward the tent entrance.

Amber, who had been watching invisibly from the side for quite some time, was startled and suddenly leaped out of her shadow form. "Whoa!"

Gawain had already rushed outside the tent. The two militiamen standing guard at the entrance turned to look at him in astonishment, but he had no time to care. He merely raised his head and looked toward the sun hanging high in the center of the sky.

That enormous sun moved slowly and majestically across the heavens. A mist-like halo rippled around its disk, which was not blinding to look at. Everything seemed normal, but soon, streaks of red gradually emerged across the sun's surface like bloodshot veins in an eyeball.

The image in Gawain's mind continued. In the overhead view that resembled thermal imaging, the patches of color surged, nearly every color rapidly deepening before gradually entering a new stable state. Meanwhile, things resembling numerical values appeared at the edges of the image from time to time, though he could not understand them at all.

A realization struck him instantly: those colors were probably not a malfunction, but some special monitoring mode.

Perhaps a monitoring mode far more useful than a direct overhead view!

More and more crimson lines appeared on the sun, and some had already turned into spots. At last, they drew the attention of the people working in the camp. They raised their heads and gestured as they discussed the changes in the sun, until the overseers shouted at them to return to work.

Heti, who was not far away helping reinforce the foundation with the Mud-to-Stone Technique, also noticed the changes. She glanced up at the sun, then turned her gaze toward the tent at the center of the camp—and sure enough, she saw Gawain staring solemnly at the sun.

She hurried over to him. "Ancestor, it seems to be Sunspots again."

Gawain waved a hand, signaling Heti not to speak yet. His eyes were fixed on the sun, but his attention was focused on the image within his consciousness.

After continuing for some time, the crimson areas on the sun's surface finally stopped expanding. The text above the "monitoring image" in his mind changed first, and a new prompt appeared: "New data. Gas giant has returned to calm. Alert lifted."

The crimson patterns on the sun's surface rapidly faded afterward, while the shifting colors in the monitoring image gradually calmed and returned to their original state.

But although the monitoring image had lifted its alert, the alertness in Gawain's heart was difficult to dispel.

A great many new discoveries had become new clues, and when so many clues emerged at once, they piled together into new questions.

Countless guesses and deductions arose in his mind, some so bold they bordered on madness. Yet he forcibly suppressed them, calming himself first before seeking the explanation most likely to approach the truth.

"Ancestor... are you all right?" Heti looked at Gawain worriedly. "Your complexion is terrible..."

Amber had already slipped out of the tent, but Gawain's oppressive presence had kept even this noisy, restless Half-elf from daring to say a word. Now that Heti had broken the silence, Amber finally dared to chime in. "He rushed out before the Sunspots appeared. He scared me half to death..."

"Heti, can you sense any change in magic?" Gawain suddenly turned his head and looked at Heti gravely.

"There was a Magic Surge just now. Casting became much easier," Heti said with a nod. Magic Surges were a normal occurrence when Sunspots appeared—indeed, Sunspots themselves were normal. But their frequency had undeniably increased recently. Combined with the disaster in the Cecil Territory and Gawain's earlier warning still fresh in her mind, she could not help growing tense. "Could it be happening again...?"

Heti's face gradually turned pale.

"No, it hasn't reached the point where monsters will appear," Gawain said, shaking his head to calm her. He made this judgment partly because he could see no trace of Magic Tide contamination in the overhead view, and partly because of Gawain Cecil's experience. The Elemental Power in the air remained stable, so there would be no problem. "It's only an ordinary level of Sunspots and Magic Surge..."

"Magic Surges and Sunspots are normal phenomena, but usually they only happen once every three to five years," Heti said anxiously. "Yet this is already the second time in just a few months..."

In truth, the worry and tension in Gawain's heart were no weaker than Heti's.

If anything, he was even more tense, because he also had to worry about his connection to that "monitoring satellite" high in the sky.

But he also knew perfectly well that he had become the pillar of the entire Cecil Territory. Especially in front of Heti and Rebecca, he could not show any weakness or wavering.

Besides, weakness and wavering would not solve anything.

"Don't worry. There won't be any monsters. And even if the Magic Tide truly comes, I have experience dealing with it," Gawain said, comforting his descendant. "Have everyone focus on their work—only by building a strong and stable home can we gain the means to resist nature."

Seeing the confidence in Gawain's eyes, Heti could not help but feel reassured. She gave a slight bow and returned to her work.

As he watched Heti use magical power to aid the construction, Gawain nodded slightly as well.

Perhaps Heti and Rebecca could not transcend the era and class into which they had been born in many of their ideas and perspectives, but they possessed one foundation that other nobles of this age did not.

They did not believe that their status and position separated them from the people of their territory.

Otherwise, a proper noble lady like Heti would never have come to a construction site to use magic to assist with building.

And as he watched the earth rapidly harden into a foundation under the effects of magic, Gawain admired the convenience of magic while realizing something else: once the hardware needed for minting coins was in place, hiring some down-and-out Wild Mages to help build the camp might be a good idea.

But before that, there were more important matters that needed careful consideration.

Gawain turned back into the tent, returned to the desk, and quickly wrote three questions on a blank sheet of paper:

What was the relationship between that "sun" in the sky and the Magic Tide on the ground?

What might the "monitoring satellite" do, and what was its current condition?

Why had Gawain Cecil from seven hundred years ago left behind a crystal capable of helping him reestablish contact with the satellite?