[Link termination complete]
Shen Yuan woke up and pressed the button next to his arm to open the pod. He propped himself up and looked at Gao Lang who affirmed with a nod.
"It's working. General Zhou's brainwave shows signs of improvement." Yang Mei gestured towards the main screen in the room, connected to two other screens with one on each side. "Though according to our data, the vulture isn't completely eradicated yet. General Zhou can only wake up when it does."
"How much of it is left?" Gao Lang inquired.
"According to our calculation…" Yang Mei tapped on her tablet and the numbers appeared on the screen, "…around 93%."
"Not even 10%, huh?" Shen Yuan leaned his elbow on the edge of the pod. "How long was I out?"
"3 days," Gao Lang answered. "Does time feel slower in the neural space?"
"Our agreement doesn't involve me giving you reviews, does it?" Shen Yuan smiled in leisure. "If you want to know, then go ahead and do it yourself."
Gao Lang's eyebrow twitched.
"Stop wasting time. General Zhou's condition is still unstable. It's best we continue as soon as possible." Yang Mei fixed her glasses. "Lieutenant General Gao, now that we know our method works, we can conduct more experiments in the future. For the time being, let's focus on General Zhou."
"I know." Gao Lang pinched his nose bridge, suppressing his irk. "Agent Shen, you can go clean yourself, eat, and stretch before we continue. You have 2 hours."
An hour later, Shen Yuan returned early, all freshened up.
There really was no difference between getting nutrients from the pod and eating those blocks of compressed nutrient bars. More like, the physical food only offered disgusting texture. He rather entered the pod and ate the food inside the simulated world.
Before continuing to his next task, Yang Mei conducted a brief physical test on him to make sure he was fine and noticed something. "Agent Shen, it seems there's an improvement in your neural strength."
"As in?"
"Your NX Value increased by 5%. It's nothing major, but normally, this would've required personalized intensive training." Yang Mei stored the data on her tablet. "Let's see if there is another improvement after this next session. If there is, we might be able to develop a new training program."
"I'm all yours until this ends, Professor." Shen Yuan shrugged.
"I appreciate your lack of enthusiasm."
"I don't use my neural ability much."
After getting the clear from Yang Mei, Shen Yuan returned to his pod and climbed inside. Knowing the procedure, he was more relaxed compared to his first time and calmly waited for the anesthesia to kick in.
***
Shen Yuan opened his eyes to find himself standing in an unknown bedroom. Compared to the previous world, the interior seemed to be from an older civilization.
The floor, the door, the window frame, all the furniture around him, and even the ceiling were made out of wood instead of other more durable materials. There were chips and scratches on their surfaces, beaten from long usage. There wasn't a single piece of electronics around him, only a lone oil lamp on the desk by the window.
He looked down on himself to see he was wearing a set of servant uniform: a plain white collared shirt with string ribbon tie, a black cotton vest and dress pants, and cheap leather shoes. On the lapel of his vest was a crest, most likely belonging to the place he worked at.
Taking a look around, he found an envelope on the desk with the same crest on its wax seal. It was already opened and he took out the piece of paper inside to discover a work notice.
Everlight Kingdom, Celestia Palace.
The name written on it was Sean Evenson, one of the aliases he used for work. He guessed it resulted from his own memory and the link assimilated it to the setting of the world.
He was hired as a general servant and was to report to his supervisor-to-be, a lady named Harper Burrow, for further instruction. It was a little inconvenient, but if his main stage was the palace, then he could still work around it.
With a quick check, he confirmed the pulse came from inside the palace. The link must've placed him as close to the vulture as possible without being too close that it would alarm it.
Then, he should first report to this Harper, and once he was officially acknowledged as a palace servant, he could freely go around.
He left his room, and after asking the fellow servants around him, he found Harper in the kitchen. She was an old lady with greying hair and a stern expression, but contrary to her image, she was generous enough to give him a tour around the palace to make sure he wouldn't get lost on his first day.
Excluding the lower ground area where the servant quarter was, the palace consisted of 5 floors. There were stairways that skipped over floors to reach the higher floors directly, so it was important to memorize which stairway led to where. If he was unsure, he could take the general stairway that had access to all the floors except for the fifth floor.
The king's chamber was on the fifth floor, making it a highly restricted area. Only the royal family and the king's direct subordinates and personal attendants were allowed entrance. Unless he came with one of them or had a special permit, he was not allowed to step foot on that floor. Every entrance to that floor was constantly guarded by the king's personal guards.
The fourth and third floors were where the other royal family members' private chambers were, along with their personal studies and other facilities that weren't to be used by common guests. General servants could regularly access it, but only appointed servants could enter the rooms. Outsiders must have a special permit or be personally escorted by those who have.
The second floor and all its rooms were accessible to all servants and guests. While the guest rooms and facilities were on the east wing, the audience hall and other meeting rooms were on the west wing. It was the busiest floor throughout the palace and many servants were assigned there to assist any needs that arose.
Lastly, the ground floor was where all the large spaces were, including, but not limited to, the library, the banquet hall, and the throne hall. While the king handled royal affairs in the audience hall, the throne hall was used for ceremonial purposes and had 5 times the size to accommodate up to a thousand guests.
They ended the tour at the entrance hall and Harper asked, "What do you specialize in?"
"I'm confident with my strength and stamina," Shen Yuan answered. "I'm also a quick learner, so if there's any task that needs extra hands, I'd be happy to help as long as there's someone who's willing to guide me."
Harper considered for a moment and decided, "Then, you can go to the weapon storage by the training ground. It's been needing some cleaning and reorganizing, but the weapons are too heavy for us regular people. You can find Sir Matthew for the specifics. He should be on the training ground."
"I understand."
"Work hard and you'll find a place to belong here."
"Yes, Miss Harper. Thank you for your guidance. I will be under your care."
Harper nodded in approval and left to return to her own work. Once she was gone, Shen Yuan headed towards the training ground to do his task as well.
Before knowing Zhou Yi's and the vulture's identity it was best to lay low for now. If he couldn't get any clue until the end of the day, he would move at night.
The training ground was on the far west of the palace ground which was the courtyard of the guards and knights' living quarters, encapsulating both their dormitory and office. The closer he got, the more he could hear the sounds of sparing, metal hitting one another, and men exclaiming over each other.
He entered through the front door just as a knight passed by. He stated his business and asked where the person named Matthew was. As Harper guessed, he was at the training ground and the knight showed him the way to the courtyard.
The knight brought him to a honey-skinned man with black windswept hair. Though not as tall as the other knights in the field, his muscles weren't any less developed, carving an attractive silhouette to his figure. He looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties and had a generous smile that dented his cheeks with a charming dimple.
"You're told to clean and reorganize the storage?" Matthew wiped his sweat with his sleeveless shirt. "You can get injured if you're not careful. Are you sure?"
Shen Yuan nodded. "Please, don't worry. I'm rather apt at looking after myself."
Matthew raised his sword, blade down, and offered it to Shen Yuan. Not asking any questions, Shen Yuan grabbed the handle and took it from his hand. He lightly flipped it over in his grip and pointed the blade up.
With a nod of approval, Matthew took his sword back. "Alright. Follow me."