Sandora and I stayed in Tawil's office for most of the afternoon. By the time we understood the progress of the major projects, it was already evening. Anthus and Halland saw that there was nothing else for them to do, so they excused themselves. I only noticed that it was almost lunchtime when Sandora complained that she was hungry, so I excused myself and left as well.
When we walked out of Tawil's office, we were greeted by Tawil's mass projections, mass projections, and even more mass projections. Each of these mass projections led a research team or a project office. They wandered around all the floors of the research center, and they could almost be seen as part of the scenery in the research center. As Sandora and I walked out, we kept bumping into Tawil wearing all kinds of tags. We kept greeting the same face. Sometimes, we would greet the same person twice, and the other person would even give us a warm reminder. As expected, no matter how long we got used to it, it still felt very strange. In fact, Tawil wasn't the only one who used mass projections to multitask. All the senior researchers had this ability. However, the only one who used mass projections on such an insane scale was the bespectacled lady. After I greeted seventeen or eighteen Tawil in the corridor, I couldn't help it anymore. I grabbed one of them and suggested, "Tawil, I've been walking for a few minutes since I left your office, and I'm still in your line of sight. Don't you want to say something?"
Tawil didn't know how many times I grabbed him. He looked puzzled and asked, "Your Majesty, what do you mean?"
"You should learn to relax occasionally," I advised him patiently. "Even Halland goes to Sylvia's shop when she has time, and Sandora has started watching TV series. You should also develop your own personal hobbies. Look at the number of clones you have. How many personal jobs have you taken on?"
"Personal hobbies?" Tawil thought for a moment. "Oh, yes, I have recently developed a personal hobby, and I often go there to relax. It's just that I'm good at multi-threading thinking, so most of the time when I'm having fun, my projection is also working."
I had only mentioned it casually, wanting to use this topic to persuade Tarver to take care of his body. I didn't expect this rigid-looking bespectacled girl to really say that she had a 'personal hobby'. Both Shadora and I were curious. "What's your hobby?"
"The sports of the Earthlings." The bespectacled lady smiled warmly. "I noticed not long ago that many of the confrontational sports invented by the Earthlings are very interesting to me... Your Majesty, would you like to have a look? A part of my mass projection is relaxing in the open space behind the research institute. "
Originally, I wanted to accompany Sandora to the food street and then go home. However, I couldn't suppress my curiosity anymore. Even Sandora, who was beside me, seemed to be very interested. The two of us nodded and said, "Bring us there."
Tawil immediately brought us through the central corridor of the research institute. We arrived at an open hall where we could see the open space behind the research institute. Sandora and I looked at the open space behind the research institute and were stunned speechless.
The open space was surrounded by floating fences. Over twenty Tawil in red and white sportswear were playing football in the open space …
A huge holographic image floated above the open space. There were a few simple numbers displayed on it. It was the current score of the game. The score was shocking: 1896 to 1897. In the blink of an eye, the score had changed to 1897 to 1897.
"Your Majesty, you have reminded me to pay attention to rest and divert my attention," Tawil (mass projection) said happily behind us. "I have only recently experienced Your Majesty's good intentions. By releasing a part of my thread to deal with some low-intensity data, it has indeed increased the overall efficiency of the clones. Moreover, the error rate has decreased by around 1%. 'Changing your mood' is really a magical thing."
Sandora and I were speechless.
"Erm, I feel like you have misunderstood something." The corner of my mouth twitched as I looked at Tawil. There were thousands of questions in my mind, but in the end, I could only force out one sentence. "Do you know the rules of this football game?"
"Not really." Tawil shrugged indifferently. "I only know that you have to kick the ball into the opponent's goal. However, this is too easy for the Shiring Apostles, so I added some restrictions myself. For example, I can't use gravity control, force field blockade, or teleportation. This game is quite interesting if you just rely on your body's coordination."
"How long have you been playing?" Sandora asked with a frown.
Tawil thought for a moment. "Two days. We were studying basketball before. After the score broke five digits, we started to study football."
I felt that I couldn't continue this topic at all. I quickly took Shadora's hand and left the research institute. When we left, the score on the field had just broken the 1900 – 1900 mark. I felt that I would never be able to look at football in this life.
"Actually, this is not bad." Sandora sighed. "It's fine as long as Tawil thinks it's interesting. Anyway, it's just for her to switch threads. It's fine even if she organizes two hundred clones to put together building blocks. It's better than Bubble spending all day in the game."
I thought about how two hundred Tawil put together a pile of building blocks and finally recreated the grand scene of Neuschwanstein Castle 1: 1. I suddenly felt my brain tremble. I didn't dare to think about it anymore.
The days are short and the nights are long in winter. The Shadow City and the Surface World's time is synchronized. Recently, they also used a winter themed bag. Thus, when I brought Sandora to the food street to look for food, the sky was almost completely dark. We walked hand in hand on the bustling streets of the Shadow City. I was carrying a bag of snacks that I was going to distribute to the little girls when we returned. Sandora was carrying … oh, she was carrying nothing now. Her eating speed was as fast as usual. I couldn't even describe it.
I had already informed my family that I wouldn't be going back for dinner tonight. Thus, I could walk around the city with Sandora for a while longer. Actually, the latter wasn't that interested in shopping. 'Looking for food on the streets' could be said to be the only attraction for Her Majesty the Queen. However, I could tell that Sandora wasn't enjoying shopping. Instead, she was enjoying the leisurely time with me. Recently, work had been stressful, so it was time for the two of us to relax.
Counting from the day our familiar daily life completely collapsed, five years had passed unknowingly. Everything in the Shadow City seemed to have been turned upside down. The cold and eerie city that made people think of horror movies had now become the most flourishing 'Capital of God' and 'Holy Land' in the void. There were only two things that hadn't changed. The first was that Pandora's casual recruitment advertisements were still everywhere in the city. The second was that the strange Bubble design still hung in the sky. Furthermore, no matter what the theme was, there would always be a clock hanging on it. If you really wanted to give the Shadow City a cultural theme, then these two things should be it.
Unknowingly, Sandora and I had left the downtown area and arrived at a quieter area around the water system. The two banks of the moat were one of the quietest areas in the Shadow City at night. Strictly speaking, this place belonged to the Merfolk's residential area. Swimming in the moat would be treated as trespassing. Naturally, it was quieter here. It was already early evening. The wide and gentle slope of the two banks of the moat was also enveloped in a gentle light. The street lamps here were all specially made. Photon generators and magnetic barriers ensured that the light would only shine on one side of the road and not the river. This was also strongly requested by the Merfolk who lived in the water. The Freshwater Merfolk submitted a serious report to complain about the vile behavior of someone shining a bright light on their windows in the middle of the night. Thus, the street lamps on the two banks of the moat were changed to these high-grade ones.
There weren't many people on the banks of the moat. Half of the passersby in twos and threes were couples or young couples out to relax. Just as I was about to lead Sandora to the next place to look for food, a slow and soft voice suddenly sounded from behind, "Ah — — It's Chen, and Sandora — —"
I turned my head to look. As expected, it was Sylvia. The silver-haired mole was out for a stroll for once today. Furthermore, there was another person beside her. I didn't recognize her but she had short pink hair. There was a small silver metal tag hanging on her chest … Needless to say, Schilling.
This girl would change her face every time we met. Now, I finally realized how wise Shallow Shallow was to hang the tag on her neck.
"Oh." I went forward to greet Sylvia. "That's rare. You actually go out after eight at night."
Then, I let Sylvia react by the side while I turned to chat with Schilling. I hadn't seen this "Race Consciousness" for quite some time. I wasn't sure if her work and life were on the right track. This strange girl, who was slightly detached from the real world, was the highest administrator of the Empire's Data Network. Now, Bubble had delegated many data processing tasks that suited her to the other party. However, Schilling's main body was the network, and her work was entirely carried out in the cyberspace. That was why we could often see her wandering around outside, giving off the impression that she had nothing to do. Now, Schilling was still living with Tawil. It wasn't easy for the bespectacled girl to encounter such a once-in-a-lifetime research subject. Naturally, she wouldn't want to let go of him for even a moment. Furthermore, Schilling seemed to like Tawil. She didn't feel like she was being 'researched'. Instead, she felt that Tawil was a good senior who took good care of her. Sometimes, I thought that if the two of them were together for a longer period of time, there might be a yuri group in the Empire that was second only to the Asida sisters …
After I chatted with Schilling for a long time, Sylvia finally reacted. She smiled gently and said to me and Sandora, "Good evening. Actually, I was sleeping in the shop at first. It was Belavilla who suddenly woke up. Then, she fell asleep halfway through her walk. When I woke up, I found myself near the moat. So, I continued my walk. Then, I met Schilling …"
I almost fell asleep after hearing her say such a long sentence. Did you know that?
"Your symbiotic state with Belavilla is really …" Sandora couldn't help but complain. "So, when you wake up, you often find yourself in a strange place?"
"Not really." Sylvia shook her head slowly. "Belavilla will share her memories with me. But, I rarely come out. So, no matter where I go, I feel like I'm in a strange place …"
I sighed. It was too tiring to communicate with Sylvia. The interval between her two sentences was enough for the male lead of a Japanese manga to flirt with a girl.
While Sylvia was slowly telling us about her and Belavilla's symbiotic state, Schilling wandered around out of boredom. Soon, she found something that interested her. In the decorative shrubs by the road, there were a few short plants that didn't seem to fit in with the surrounding shrubs. They looked like weeds. She went forward and touched them. Then, she raised her head and called out to us, "Look, what is this?"
I went over to take a look. The plant looked very familiar. Its leaves were very unique. There were two neat rows of small leaves on both sides of the main leaf stalk. After searching through my pitiful botanical knowledge, I finally remembered what it was. I introduced it confidently, "This is a mimosa. It's a plant from Earth. As long as you touch its leaves, this grass will close …"
Schilling shook the plant's leaf stalk and muttered, "But why isn't it moving?"
I was stunned. After a long moment of awkwardness, I giggled and explained, "… Maybe it's because its skin is thicker."
"You're the thicker one!" A shrill voice suddenly resounded under our feet. The 'mimosa' shook its leaves as though it was protesting. "I'm a forest spirit, not a mimosa. Do you think it's easy for me to find a place to sleep?!"
Schilling thought for a while and suddenly reached out to dig the soil under the plant. "The mimosa is talking!"
While I was still in shock, the plant suddenly shook even more violently. Then, it used its leaves to push Schilling's hand away. It tried to climb out by itself. "Hey, don't move! Don't move! How can you be so careless?! Alright, alright, I'll come out, I'll come out. I know it's wrong to sleep on a public road and occupy a public green space, but your city is too big, okay? From here to the nearest teleportation point, it's at least 500 meters, 500 meters! Do you know what five hundred meters is … Hey, can someone help me? My roots seem to be entangled with the bushes next to me. "
I didn't have the time to be surprised and quickly helped Schilling dig the plant out from the soil. In the end, we were stunned when it … He or she revealed its true appearance. The plant's body wasn't that surprising. Other than the leaves, there were also brown roots that were about half a foot long. Between the leaves and the roots was a swollen, club-shaped stem. But what was surprising was that other than the plant's body, there were also mechanical parts that extended from the roots and stem. They were complicated and exquisite mechanical legs. The style of the legs was similar to the Toberu insect tribe, with rounded curves and bionic joints.
"Is this also a resident of the Shadow City?" I scratched my head in confusion. The plant in front of me was obviously an intelligent creature. Even though it had the appearance of a plant, looking at those mechanical legs, I really didn't know if I should count it as half an animal …
Actually, this wasn't the first time I was surprised by the strange residents of the Shadow City. This was the Capital of All Worlds that connected the entire macro world. There were countless strange creatures that came and went every day. If you were to arrange the names of their races, you wouldn't even be able to circle the earth. So, many residents of the Shadow City were used to this kind of environment. It wasn't strange for them to wake up early and go out to greet the rocks on the roadside. So, when I saw a mimosa (although it/she/he/she/he vehemently denied it) jumping around in front of me, I was only surprised that I hadn't heard of such a race that had recently entered the Shadow City. I didn't feel that there was anything strange about its life form. Although I was shocked at first.
"I came with a caravan!" The mimosa ran around lightly on the ground. When it ran, it/he/she/he would curl up its roots to prevent them from being worn on the ground. At the same time, it relied on its mechanical legs to move its body. I noticed that when the mechanical legs moved, there wasn't any obvious sound of friction. So, it should be a bionic power mechanism with lower output but higher efficiency. A plant … a herbaceous race, how did they come up with such technology? How did their civilization start?
"A caravan." Sandora nodded. "Yeah. Recently, the Void Financial Group has been doing a lot of business. Many merchants from the macro world have been attracted over. Even some reclusive races that were rarely heard of have appeared. Which race are you from? "
"Forest goblins! I told you, forest goblins!" The mimosa bounced on the ground. "Are you from the Town Security? Or the street office? I heard from the guide that these two departments are in charge of the residents' behavior. It shouldn't be a problem for me to occupy green space and destroy the landscape, right? "
"Don't you know who we are?" I spoke to a mimosa in an awkward manner. When I spoke, I didn't even know which part of its body I should be looking at. Which part was its head and which part was its body?
"I don't know." The mimosa that called itself a forest goblin shook its leaves. "I can't see you. My auxiliary light sensor is damaged and it will only grow out tomorrow. Now, I can only rely on my plant's infrared sensor to see my silhouette. I just came here and I'm not familiar with this place. This city is too big, too big, and you don't even have a convenient flower bed for plant races. I've been searching along this road for a long time, and the only thing that I can dig is the soil under the trees beside the road. It's inconvenient, it's really inconvenient … "
I looked at this "intelligent plant" and found it rather interesting. This was the most unique situation in the City of Shadows. Every time a strange new race appeared, there would be a bunch of corresponding "survival laws". After the merfolk moved in, the City of Shadows had a saltwater residential area and a freshwater residential area. After a certain robot race moved in, the convenience terminals at the end of the streets had an additional charging port (this port was under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration). Now, there was a race of plants that needed to take root in the soil to sleep … I was thinking that it was time to open up a portion of the city's public green space.
At this moment, the mimosa was still grumbling, "… Unlucky, so unlucky. Out of so many merchant groups, why are we the only ones in trouble? I thought that I could broaden my horizons by coming to the Capital of Worlds, but I ended up bumping into a ghost ship. My goods are gone, and I even destroyed a component. Now, I'm almost a refugee …"
I suddenly came to my senses. "Wait, you said that you bumped into a ghost ship!?"
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