The Master of the Strange Realm

"Then just wait and see. I think the second mission should be over now that it's here."

Jenkins, Cat and Gear Man didn't wait too long. The newspaper boy, who was bowing his head in thought, heard someone calling his name again:

"Father?"

The boy walked into the rain to meet the cheerful middle-aged bearded man. He also didn't hold an umbrella and didn't seem to care about the drizzle.

"Why haven't you gone home yet?"

the man asked, hugging the boy.

"The newspapers haven't been sold out yet, there are still a dozen copies left."

The boy replied frustratedly, and the middle-aged man patted the boy's head with his broad palm:

"In this damn weather, it's normal not to be able to sell. Come home with me, your mother must have prepared a hot meal waiting for us to go back. Come on, let's go home together."

"Okay, Father!"

The boy immediately jumped behind his father and walked with him along the edge of the street. Even when he passed by Jenkins, he didn't say hello to him again.

Jenkins, Cat and Gear Man looked at the backs of the two men.

"Father......"

The boy seemed to have remembered something and shouted cautiously.

"What's wrong?"

The middle-aged man turned his head and lowered his head to ask his eldest son. The latter was a little confused, but still asked the question:

"Would you mind if I wanted to learn to drive a few months later?"

The flawless heart-shaped Silmaril condensed in the boy's heart, and then flew to Jenkins automatically.

Jenkins reached out and took it, still holding it with both hands. This clear gemstone is slightly warm, not only warming the palm of your hand, but also warming your heart.

"It's really good."

The gear man praised, and Jenkins replied with a little complacency:

"Look, I just said the second mission is fine."

He paused and then said suspiciously:

"This strange situation corresponds to the final [unknown road ahead]. What exactly do you want to express?"

"Nothing, I just want to see this glorious era with you."

The gear man said that it was not very emotional, but one could hear emotion in the next sentence:

"After the final showdown, between you and me, there will always be one person who will sleep completely. For me, I have gone through countless hours and planned a lot, and I haven't had a chance to see your world yet; for you, if you If you die, then this is your last chance to see this era. Walk with me through your time, depict the context of the times from the eyes of these inconspicuous little people, and feel the rainy scenes. Civilized temperature, isn’t that nice?”

"What's so good about this? You and I are not close friends, and you are not a lady whose appearance and figure match my aesthetic standards. Why should I watch this with you?"

"Because I want you to understand a truth. Human civilization may seem brilliant, but it has all rotted away internally. What is the difference between the boy just now and those boys of the same age who were born in noble families? It's just that their origins are different, which leads to completely different lives. direction, there is not even a chance to compete between talent and perseverance.

William the Savior, you have noble blood, but you should know better than me. Except for a very small number of inheritors of ancient blood like you, most people in this world, nobles and commoners, nobles and despicables, There is actually no difference between them. Everyone is born with two eyes, one nose and one mouth, but why does the newsboy have to drive the carriage? It is the artificial division of classes that differentiates them and creates inequality in life.

Willamt, do you really think this kind of civilization is correct? Do you really think this doesn't need to change? "

If it weren't for the fact that there weren't those books in the world, Jenkins even doubted whether the other party had read some knowledge.

Chapter 2197 Black Humor (Additional Update 2/2)

"This era needs change, I agree."

Jenkins nodded, and the Gear Man walked to the door of the silver shop, easily pulled off the chain at the door, then pushed the door open and walked in. Jenkins followed, returning to the stationary Dad's Antique Shop with the Gear Man.

"Since you agree with the change, why don't you agree with me? Everything in the world will be turned into metal, and order will be re-established, efficient and orderly, absolutely correct order. After the land of steel comes, I will even worry about the transformed The issue of emotions and interests in metal life forms is also a manifestation of my support for the rich emotional role of human beings after possessing a soul. Why don’t you agree with me and help me?”

The Gear Man asked as he returned behind the counter, and when he turned to face Jenkins again:

"Or do you just want to be in charge of such an order instead of establishing it with me?"

"You calculated that this is the only way to solve the problems of human civilization?"

Jenkins asked rhetorically.

"Of course not. There are many ways, but I think this is the most efficient way."

"You see, this is why I don't agree with you."

Jenkins handed the other party the Silmaril, which represented the "Majestic Heart of Vigor," and the Gear Man also stored it in the space on his chest. However, when he opened the space, the first "Heart of Selfless Dedication" had disappeared.

"I also see the problems you mentioned, but the solution in my opinion is definitely not to add something on top of humans to control everything."

The Difference Engine shook his head and did not continue the debate with Jenkins:

"Then continue to choose. We still have five targets. You will understand that what I say is correct."

"I don't think so."

Jenkins continued to look at the map while speaking. The cat on his shoulder yawned uncontrollably, still wondering why the fight hadn't started yet. If they didn't fight, they would miss dinner time when they left the strange land.

Thinking of dinner, he remembered the sin coins that Jenkins fed him on the boat. Chocolate subconsciously shrank his head and decided to endure for a while. Before Jenkins showed his attitude towards him, he had to be obedient and well-behaved.

"Since we just went around the city, let's go outside the city to have a look..."

There are still many points that do not belong to the city. Jenkins finally pointed to the right side of the map, which is the east in real terms:

"Let's go to the mine."

The brass statue next to the red dot near the eastern mine is a skinny man without a shirt and a standard squatting posture. He was wearing a miner's hat, with no clothes on his upper body, which showed his thin figure. His trousers only reached below his knees, and there were traces of wear and tear on the trouser legs. As for his feet, he was wearing a pair of cloth shoes, and the one on the right had exposed his toes.

His right hand was supporting the ground, and his left hand was holding the statue of a pickaxe standing on the map, and he looked like he was struggling to stand up.

Combined with the location of the mine, there was no need to think too much about the occupation and identity of the person he needed to face this time.

"Are you sure you want to choose this place?"

The gear man confirmed.

"Yes, let's go."

So, the two of them jumped into the map one after the other. This time Jenkins was holding chocolate. Although the naughty cat was very interested in this kind of high-altitude falling flight, Jenkins still felt that it was better to be safe.

The two people and the cat did not reach the inside of the mine directly. When they slowly fell from the sky and stepped on the ground, they were at the entrance of a mine. They stood on one side of the railroad track, and the ground was full of coal slag, which was constantly hit by rain.

One end of the track is connected to a dark mine, where carloads of coal are transported out. After further processing, they can enter the local market and even be sold all over the world through steam trains and ships at the docks.

Of course, these mine cars are stagnant now, because time is still not flowing at this moment.

"This way."

The gear man led the way, and Jenkins followed it into the mine, and time began to flow as they walked. This was the first time Jenkins entered a mine that was still in use. It was not as dark as he imagined. Steam pipes and gas pipes were laid along the main road of the mine, so there were actually simple gas lamps on the inner wall of the mine.

Mining is not about hollowing out the inside of the mountain and digging down in a huge space. The more traditional mine tunnel structure is still used here, but this is probably a rich mine, so the main mine tunnel is dug quite well, and the support to prevent the mine tunnel from collapsing is also quite stable.

But after a few steps, they left the main road with railroad tracks. After entering the branch road and walking down dozens of steps, the gas pipeline did not continue to extend, and there was only a kerosene lamp with a faint light in front of them. After walking dozens of steps, they finally saw the end of the mine.

At this time, the passage was very narrow, and Jenkins had to pay attention to lowering his head.

The upper-body naked man, who was exactly the same as the statue on the map, was leaning on the side wall of the mine to rest. Because Jenkins did not interact with him, even if Jenkins and the gear man did not cover up their footsteps, the man did not look up at them at all.

In this posture, if you smoke a low-quality hand-rolled cigarette, it will be more in line with the atmosphere. But you can't smoke in the mine. Not to mention the ventilation problem, the most important thing is gas leakage. No one wants to die from a cigarette.

"So what is the goal this time?"

Jenkins asked while holding the cat. The mine was very dangerous. In order to prevent Chocolate from running around, Jenkins decided to temporarily deprive Chocolate of the right to move freely before leaving the mine. Chocolate welcomed this.

"The goal this time is the 'Heart of Never Tiredness'."

"Never Tired?"

Jenkins was surprised:

"I think you don't have the ability to joke yet, right?"

"Of course this is not a joke. These miners support the foundation of this era. They earn a meager income, take huge risks and reduce their lifespans, and dig in the mines day and night. I can't explain this behavior except 'never tired'."

The wisdom of the difference engine will not say such stupid words. The other party is just avoiding Jenkins's question and is unwilling to tell him the key to the third task.

But since the question has been raised, then the "Heart of Never Tiredness" must exist. This is the basic rule of the strange world.

"I always feel that this third task is full of black humor."

"I don't understand what black humor is."

The gear man said, and then signaled Jenkins to start.

Chapter 2198 About Destiny

Although there are still a few hours before he officially comes to this world for a year, Jenkins has never had an in-depth conversation with the miners except for the first strange world magma lake not long ago.

So unlike the teacher and the newsboy, he didn't know where to start the conversation this time, not to mention that he didn't understand the miners' "never tired heart" at all.

"Well, ahem, hello."

So it was just a monotonous opening speech. The miner who was curled up there to rest, as if he had just noticed Jenkins, replied:

"Hello."

His common language was not very standard, and his accent was very heavy. It was unknown where he came from. But the miner was not surprised at all by the stranger who suddenly appeared in the mine, dressed properly and even holding a cat. He just wanted to have a good rest now.

"How is the work?"

Jenkins asked again, and he could feel the awkwardness of the conversation.

"Same as usual."

So the conversation was dead. Jenkins wanted to ask "How is it usual", but didn't want to continue such a dry chat.

"Look, you claim to understand this world, but in fact you don't even understand the life of an ordinary person."

The gear man standing next to him laughed, but Jenkins ignored it.

"Speaking of which, can you still dig something at such a shallow level?"

The distance from the mine entrance to here is very close, and the main road obviously extends to a deeper position, so Jenkins expressed doubts about this.

The miner shook his head and didn't want to talk. Jenkins noticed that besides the pickaxe, there was also a metal bottle that might be filled with water and a half-open iron lunch box with one-third of its contents left. There seemed to be some bread crumbs inside. The miner had probably been underground for several hours.

"I noticed that there seemed to be an open-pit mine nearby?"

This was what he saw when he landed just now.

"Yes, that's a real rich mine. There's something almost as long as you dig towards the ground."

"Then is it possible for you to go there? Although they are all mining, the ground is always safer and less labor-saving than underground, right?"

Jenkins said again.

"There's more money to be made underground, and less money to be made above ground."

He did not deny Jenkins' conclusion, but he also had his own ideas.

"Yes, underground is more tiring and more dangerous, so there's naturally more money... So, is the money you earn enough to support yourself?"

"Not bad."

The miner returned to his taciturn state.

"Do you feel tired?"

Jenkins himself felt that this was nonsense, and the miner was of course too lazy to talk, just glanced at him.

This is a stupid question.

Jenkins understood and could imagine the life of the noble girl's tutor and the newspaper boy, so he could talk to the first two mission targets smoothly. But he really didn't know about the bottom miners.

This was not a combat-type strange place. Even if Jenkins could fight the ancient fire demon, he was now a little troubled by the dilemma in front of him.

Among the remaining abilities, only [Empathy of Living Beings] might be useful for the current situation, but Jenkins was extremely suspicious of the inner thoughts of the miners who were empathized. They only had feelings like "tired", "hungry", "thirsty", "strangers don't disturb my rest".

Fortunately, although people's joys and sorrows are often incommunicable, at least people's basic needs are the same. Jenkins decided to change direction and not talk about work for the time being:

"Is there anyone else at home?"

"Yes, my wife and son. There was originally a daughter who died in the spring."