Overturned Tower

Page 278

With his hands behind his back, Russell looked at the mirror in the bathroom: "Trust me, you won't suffer."

While he was watching, the container of God who had turned into a godfather was standing behind him, showing a bright smile, and stretching out his thumb to him.

"……it is good."

After a long silence, the monkey-faced eagle still gave in.

Chapter 56 My Proudest Son

Let's have a good talk, he said.

Such wild words, but got the promise of the existence in the brain.

But if it's just a program, a split, it's too impolite to use it for dialogue.

The monkey-faced eagle gave Russell a rather specific address - presumably if Russell informs the executive department, it should be difficult for them to evacuate.

This can be said to have given a kind of sincerity in advance.

But on the other hand... If Russell is willing to go alone, it can also be said to be more sincerity.As a response to this second level of sincerity, the monkey-faced eagle readily agreed that Russell could take Ringo, the "bodyguard", with him.

In other words, after Russell offered to "meet and talk", the monkey-faced eagle took two steps back instead.

It was at this time that Russell realized that he had indeed become a big shot... just to allow him to do some dangerous things, others had to pay a greater risk in advance as a "deposit" or "bait".

After contacting the monkey-faced eagle, the corpse of "Dust Gap" lost its value.

Russell, who was still enthusiastically analyzing the bullet holes, immediately threw it away and left the room in the dust gap.

Before leaving, Russell thought for a while and took a pen from the desk in Dust Gap.

He uncapped the pen and looked. There was no sign of dried ink on the nib.Obviously the owner loves this pen very much and uses it often.

Then Russell drew a straight line on the table.

It draws extremely straight lines without any breaks in between.Seeing this, Russell opened the ink sac of the pen again, and checked the amount and solidification of the ink inside.

——There is still about half of the amount, and there is no trace of solidification.

He raised his eyebrows, then put the pen in his pocket, ready to take it away with him.

"……what?"

Seeing this, Lingo froze for a moment.

She gently tugged at the hem of Russell's clothes, and whispered, "Isn't it good for us to take away the things from the scene of the crime?"

"probably."

When Russell heard this, he chuckled softly, "But I'm not the first one."

"Eh?"

Needless to say, fountain pens are quite expensive things.

Because in this era when "paper" is very precious, very difficult to buy, and can even be said to be controlled, the pen used to write on paper is a kind of "luxury applied to luxury goods".

Paper is not valuable because of the scarcity of natural trees—although ancient papermaking technology required the use of bark, modern times have long since needed that kind of thing.The technology that can artificially synthesize food will only make it easier to synthesize paper.

The preciousness and rarity of paper is the result of the deliberate control of each sky island.

On the surface, it is because electronic documents can be easily transferred to each other and carried with you. In order to reduce office costs and protect the environment, the use of paper materials is not advocated.Those important files don't even need to be stored in the chip...just save them in the network disk.Even if it is doodling, you can breathe out a piece of virtual paper in front of your eyes at any time to complete it.

Because unless they accidentally walked into the black area, they were always connected to the internal network of each sky island.Internet speeds are basically instant transfers, and they don't cost anything.In theory, this technology has indeed completely eliminated the classical and traditional "paper".

However, paper also has its unique meaning of existence.

Just like the "suspected demon report" of Happy Island, which is printed directly using only paper - as long as this information is stored in any way, or even "stored" in a network disk, it is always possible to be stolen and rewritten ,delete.In the network, no corner is absolutely safe.

Also like Huazhi's case... the psychiatrist's treatment is stored in paper documents.Including some technology companies, in order to prevent the opponent from finding a psychic hacker to steal or maliciously rewrite the data, they will also encrypt the data and record the key on paper, or even directly record the most critical data in paper materials.

On the other hand, as long as the output and sales of paper can be controlled, people will have to put all their materials and documents on the Internet.

The network security departments of each sky island can find out what they want to know from these materials.

By analyzing these files with artificial intelligence, more detailed and accurate advertisements can be pushed; and after everyone's information is linked together, more precious intelligence data can be obtained from data analysis.For those cyber detectives and psychic hackers, the data stored in the cloud is a huge treasure trove.

It is also because of this that even paper books have become rare—that is to prevent people from buying books as paper. As a result, books, which are extremely cheap, have instead become luxury goods that symbolize status.

Only groups or individuals directly under the head office can buy a quota of white paper.Used to record something that is not convenient to put on the network.

Just like people who have been typing for a long time, they may have to think about writing their own names.It's the same in this era...

"For ordinary people who have no access and no access to paper, they basically can't write or have never written. Because the skill of calligraphy requires a lot of practice, and the pen must be used all the time, otherwise the nib will be damaged. Ink is easy to dry. For those who only occasionally use paper, they prefer to use a gel pen. The lithium ester at the end can ensure that the ink is not easy to evaporate and dry, and can always follow up to press the ink down to ensure writing Completely fluent.

"So they don't know the difference between a fountain pen and a gel pen, or maybe even what a fountain pen is. So they don't realize what it means to be able to write with a pen."

Russell took Ringo into the car.

The driver sent by Tartarus drove the floating car, while Russell crouched in the corner of the back seat with his head tilted, eyes closed and explained lazily: "Obviously, there is no one on the desk or in the drawer. Paper. Ke Chenchi’s pen is still here.”

"……what does that mean?"

"It means that if Dust Gap is really alive, the person who took away those research records would definitely not be Dust Gap."

Russell said softly: "He took the paper, but he didn't take the pen. And this pen has sucked half a tube of ink, and it can still write... It means that it is used almost every day, and it was not long ago. Still in use."

"...Maybe I forgot it? After all, Mr. Chen Chi will not be short of this pen. If it is not convenient to carry it, just buy another one at that time."

"No, that's impossible."

Russell said firmly.

As he spoke, he took out the pen from his pocket and opened the cap.

He handed the pen to Ringo, and the sharp point made Ringo shrink his head.

She looked intently, and saw the words engraved on the golden pen covered with the cap, like a dragon.

【Let the world know of your existence, my proudest son】

"Although I don't know whether it was left to him by his father or his mother, no matter which side it is...it is already their relic."

Russell said decisively: "In any case, it is impossible for Dust Gap to forget to take it away. For Dust Gap, its value is higher than those documents.

"Therefore, there is only one possibility left—those who took away Chen Gap's documents were the 'professional killer' who came second. That is, the person who was originally invited to kill Chen Gap. He was giving Chen Gap After filling the gap with two shots, he took away all the paper documents in the room.

"So, I think... Dust Gap probably wasn't assassinated because of us. It might just be a coincidence that he happened to die this morning.

"The reason for his assassination...maybe his research itself."

If nothing else, Chen Chi, the underrated "gift scientist", may have actually researched something.

Chapter 57 Clutter in the Mind

Under the guidance of the monkey-faced eagle, Russell and Ringo arrived at their destination without flying for too long.

It was an ordinary-looking residential area, not too far from here.

In terms of the distance on the map alone, it is less than four kilometers.

The difference is that the place where Chen Gap originally lived was on the top floor of a high-rise building, with a small single-family villa full of sunlight.

But the location given by Monkey Face Eagle is closer to the ground—specifically, the second floor.

Russell got off the floating car, and subconsciously raised his head to look at the sky.

Although it was close to noon, the sun was hardly visible.The pitch-black high-rises rose from the ground, like giant swords, straight to the ground, giving people an undeniable chilling air.Those shimmering lights that emerged from the gaps are more like wounds cut from the night sky, oozing out the blood of light that should not appear in the dark night.

It was clearly daytime, but there were lights all around.

Not just the first floor of the ground floor, but every floor and every household.

In a dark corner like the bottom of an abyss, it is noisy and crowded, like a busy city.

It is said to be a residential area, but it is more like a large shopping mall.The respective shops are all open to the outside, occupying a small area, and there are no tasteful signs.Instead, it highlights a flickering signboards with different flickering frequencies, which are fixed at the entrances of these shops.

Because of the lack of space, some signboards are even inserted directly in the middle of the two storefronts.The signboard is divided into two horizontally, with a "sour soup meatball ↑" written on it, and "foot massage →" written below.

And those with closed doors interspersed among the shops are houses for civilians.

In fact, those shops are usually divided into two.This side is a store, and the cash register or the kitchen curtain is lowered.On the other side of the curtain is the space for living, from the shop to the living room or even the bedroom.

"Most of these stores are not businessmen who specialize in business. About 64% of the families will choose to open at least one store. Relying on their own craftsmanship, they can earn extra money.

The voice of the monkey-faced eagle sounded in Russell's mind: "Because for them, life is hopeless. They can only rely on this method to save money and save living expenses."

If there is no shop, the living space may be slightly more spacious.

But that spaciousness doesn't mean much either.

When comparing and choosing between "a spacious living environment" and "a very stable income", the former becomes a luxury.

"Different from Happy Island... Happy Island has a special 'correctness' on the surface, that is the 'happiness system'. In order to maintain her power of holy order, Chairman Sai Lun is committed to making the residents Feel 'happiness'. The 'happiness system' was born according to the judgment standard of the power of holy orders, and quantifies the happiness of the whole island in real time.

"And being unemployed is a palpable form of 'unhappiness.'

"Because of this, people will be placed in some meaningless jobs. Unless it is necessary and there are good reasons, the company is not allowed to dismiss any employees at will.

"But in Tongshen Island, this is absolutely impossible preferential treatment - in order to reduce the cost of human resources, it is a fairly routine operation in Tongshen Island to repeatedly fire employees whose internship period is about to expire. The other side of being unemployed at any time , that is, you can 'find a job' at any time. However, the jobs found through this way must be tiring and poorly paid.

"In other words, with the hard work of a large number of top scientists, Tongshen Island does not need a 'middle level'. Because they do not need their own talent training mechanism, the university of Tongshen Island is also the most advanced among the seven empty islands. Poor.

"If you need any talents, you can directly spend a lot of money to poach people from other empty islands to immigrate. The scholars you dig will naturally fill this technology tree from top to bottom and bring new jobs. People born here , If you can't become a top talent, you can only become a 'hard worker' as a consumable.

"This is the reason why Tongshen Island is full of factories and individual shops - those who are unwilling to work, or those who worry that they may be fired at any time, need a stable shop as a source of income.

"For them, maintaining their own shops is more important than serious work."

The synthetic voice of the monkey-faced eagle did not reveal any emotional fluctuations. Instead, it looked like a dull and emotional broadcast host, chanting a press release with no expression on his face.

"Surprised, my lord hero."

"You must have never seen people living together in such a blending manner."

"What you said... those who didn't know thought you were a native resident of Tongshen Island."

Russell just chuckled, and responded in a low voice: "Strictly speaking, you haven't lived here even a single day."

"That's not necessarily true, my lord hero..."

The monkey-faced eagle said calmly.

Russell, on the other hand, passed the meatball shop amidst the whisper of the monkey-faced eagle.

After swiping the prosthetic body on the door, the door was pushed open smoothly.

People coming and going from the second floor did not pay attention to Russell.On the contrary, from the railings on the third, fourth, and fifth floors, the gangsters lying on their stomachs drinking, or laughing and playing, pointed at Russell with contemptuous expressions.

After Russell entered the door, he saw only darkness.

Ringo followed behind Russell, squeezed in, and closed the door smoothly.

Russell doesn't need to turn on the lights in the room.Just from the neon lights leaking in from the window and the light overflowing from the moment the door was opened, one could see a figure sitting in the hall.

She was sitting upright in a wheelchair, wearing a jacket with loose cuffs.

And at this moment, she was holding a gun and aiming at Russell calmly.

The silhouette of the figure looked petite, and the long straight black hair hung down against the cold neon lights.

And the calm eyes of dim yellow are like two bright lights lit up in the night.

The shadows of the day cast on her cheeks.Blocks most expressions.

Russell watched as she opened her mouth slightly, her small and delicate lips parted slightly, and a cold and immature voice came:

"—how can you be sure that I haven't lived a single day here?"

The voice of the monkey-faced eagle in Russell's mind overlapped with the crisp voice of the girl in front of him.

And Russell looked at everything in front of him calmly.

His emerald green pupils have turned into vertical pupils, and the night vision talent from his relatives is working.

Lingo felt a slight crisis, and the pink light in his pupils suddenly lit up.

Unlike Russell, she has no night vision.

"I'm going to turn on the light, Mr. Ultramarine."

She lowered her voice and said softly, "Be careful not to be caught off guard."

Immediately afterwards, she fumbled to turn on the light in the room.