The Master of the Strange Realm

Chapter 2204: People who walk with their heads down

"Life is like an adventure. Although it seems peaceful, there is a new story every day."

Jenkins felt blessed and whispered. The middle-aged sailor agreed with this view:

"Although I don't know who you are, I must have a lot of experience in life, right? You are right. Life is like an adventure, like an adventure on a calm sea. Although it seems calm, you will often meet in the next moment. To danger. No one can tell what will happen in the future, just like no one can know in advance what is ahead of an unknown route. Oh, this is definitely something that a poet can say. "

He praised, and Jenkins already had inspiration:

"Sir, although you have given up taking risks on the sea, when facing the unknown life, shouldn't you still maintain the same adventurous spirit when facing the sea? Even if you don't want to face the risks of the sea, you are honing your skills on the sea. After decades, it will eventually accumulate into courage and strength. Although life is difficult, for you, the adventure of life is just a new starting point, a new dock. We have to look forward. If you are afraid of life, how will you live in the future? Everything will be fine. As long as you face life bravely, I believe everything will be fine. "

The middle-aged sailor also had a smile on his face:

"Yes, everything will be fine. Although there will be some problems at the club, I think there will always be a way to solve them. I don't plan to go to sea again in my life, but my adventures will never stop because of this. Just As you said, the adventure of life has just begun. Getting married, having children, and all the major and minor events in life will be very strange and challenging for me, but I don’t think I will be afraid of them after all. What could be more terrifying than an adventure at sea?”

Jenkins wanted to remind him that sometimes the pranks of fate can make life more terrifying than facing a sea monster, but in order to prevent his words from being wasted, he carefully chose to shut up.

"I can't lose this courage."

The sailor stretched out his hand to hold his heart:

"Whenever I recall fighting against nature in a storm, or the desperate fight against pirates, my heart still beats violently. For the sake of my life, I will not go to sea, but that kind of excitement, the excitement and fearlessness of facing adventure. Fear, I will not throw it away. This is the most precious treasure in my life, a treasure accumulated over the past thirty years of my life. Yes, it will always get better, although life on the shore may be terrible. There will be some difficult tasks assigned to me there, but I won’t be afraid. After all, I have to survive, for myself, to survive..."

His voice dropped to a whisper that only he could hear. The heart-shaped Silmaril emerged from the sailor's heart and was held by Jenkins with one hand.

The reason why it is one-handed is because the size of this diamond is not large, or it is very small. After all, no matter what Jenkins said, the sailor also lost his fearless sense of adventure and gave up his life as a sailor. Even though he was inspired to have a passion for life and the courage to face the difficulties in life, he could not hide the fact that he was afraid of the ocean.

Therefore, the emergence of this diamond is an incredible thing. Jenkins doesn't ask for too much. "Passing" is enough in the strange world. "Excellence" is just to get more rewards, and this time he just wants to pass.

"How about it?"

Jenkins threw away the Silmaril in his hand, turned around and said to the Gear Man. The latter did not speak, but led Jenkins to the bow of the ship facing the dock and the city, and together he admired the workers passing by in the midsummer rain. and the bustling pier.

In order to facilitate the work of the dock, the degree of steamization here is actually not lower than that in the urban area. Not to mention, the density of street lights installed to facilitate nighttime work is also higher than in most ordinary neighborhoods.

"The sailor's story can't remind you of the shortcomings of human society, right? His story could happen in any era. As long as people still have hearts, they will be afraid."

Jenkins said.

"I don't want to discuss the sailor's affairs with you. I want you to see the scene before you."

If the scene of workers working on the dock in the rain at this moment were painted, it would definitely be the best picture to record the epitome of this era.

"Willamt the Savior, do you think this is fair? These people work in the rain and get nothing more than..."

"I think we've already discussed this topic. Can we say something new?"

Jenkins interrupted it rudely.

"Okay, let's change the topic. In an era when civilization reaches a new peak, everyone will play a different role, and careerists will push upward, hoping to achieve their own class changes through wisdom, strategy and hard work. There will always be some people who walk with their heads down and don’t realize what the era they live in is like, just like these people in front of us.”

The gear man pointed to the dock below:

"Of course, it is not correct to say that they can't see it, because they don't mean not to see it, someone makes them unable to see it. No matter how big the cake is, there are always people who want to get the biggest part, so it must be Let more people not see the cake, or even understand that they have the right to share the cake. Look at this group of people, they were born with their heads lowered and died with their heads lowered, never knowing to look up and see everything in front of them. , William the Savior, the cornerstone of civilization is these people, the cornerstone of civilization is dirty and despicable.”

"I thought you were still discussing some new truth, but I didn't expect to come back to this topic again. I still insist on my opinion that everything has the opportunity to change, and change it in human's own way, rather than transforming everything into Mechanical gear structure. If you don’t have new ideas, please stop selling this to me. It’s really boring.”

He waved.

"If you really think so, then I'm sorry too. But there are only two goals left, Willamt, are you ready?"

After saying that, the gear man jumped off the bow of the ship. Jenkins caught the cat in his arms, followed it and jumped off the bow, and then landed safely in Dad's antique shop.

He fiddled with the diamond in his hand a few times and then threw it on the counter. The Gear Man, who had returned behind the counter, grabbed the spinning Silmarillion and placed it into the secret compartment on his chest for the fifth time.

"What about the various passionate emotions of mankind?"

Jenkins asked.

"I do not know what you're talking about."

Cog Man replied.

"lie."

Then it was easily exposed.

Now there are only the last two targets left. Since Jenkins decided to put the target of Nolan Clock Tower as the last one, the sixth target must be the woman in the textile factory in the east of the city.

The brass-colored statue shows a woman sitting at a loom, bent over at work. This is undoubtedly the most common female worker in textile factories, and there is nothing unusual about her occupation.

"Why don't you tell me what you want to ask for this time before we reach the target?"

Jenkins pointed at the red dot and suggested, the gear man nodded:

“This time it’s the heart of hard work.”

"Textile girl? Hard work? Oh, you do have a dark sense of humor."

Jenkins half-truthfully praised that in terms of labor intensity, there is not much difference between ordinary workers in textile factories and porters on the dock. Although it is not to the level of "Indentured Work" that Jenkin has read, it is still a matter of burning one's life to work, and the remuneration is not at all comparable to the time and labor put in.

That's why Jenkins said that the other person had a dark sense of humor.

"Savior William, although the next target is also very ordinary, there is no outstanding feature compared with the previous ones. But the textile industry is the beginning industry of your human steam revolution, so this lady has a certain representativeness . Before we leave this store and head off into our new adventure, could you answer a little question of mine.”

"You can ask, but I may not answer."

Jenkins touched the chocolate and said. The cat was completely impatient with waiting. It just wanted the Difference Engine to suddenly lose its mind and attack Jenkins directly against the rules. When Jenkins has no choice but to run for his life, Chocolate will transform into a savior and defeat the terrible opponent to gain Jenkins' trust again.

The cat has thought about this scene countless times in his head. Every time he thinks of the difference engine being smashed to pieces with his paw, and then Jenkins hugging it and happily shouting "Chocolate is the most trustworthy person", the cat will be excited. trembling.

Although its heart was excited because of its imagination, its expression looked at the gear man who was still talking with a somewhat melancholy expression. It didn't understand what it was doing by wasting so long talking about meaningless things.

"When you wear clothes made by these factories, have you ever thought about how much money the female textile workers can make from you? Of course most of your clothes are handicrafts, but some of these factories must have been used The cloth produced.”

Cog Man asked.

"It's probably not much. I haven't calculated it specifically."

Jenkins replied that he guessed what the other person wanted to ask.

"You see, after going through the first five goals, and now coming to the sixth one, these six people represent different microcosms of your era, and you actually don't understand them all. William the Savior, when you stand at the top of society and look towards When you look down, there will definitely be blind spots that you cannot see, and there will definitely be things that you can't do anything about even if you see it, you can completely change everything with just the seat of a false god. Of course you can’t. Gods are also restricted by each other, and you can’t directly affect the material world.”

"What...what do you want to say?"

Chapter 2205 A Woman’s Story

"I know you have dreams, dreams to conquer and change by yourself. William, we are all standing at a corner of this great era, and we all have our own ambitions, but the path of becoming a god cannot help you realize all your dreams. and ambition, you will be subject to greater constraints after becoming a god. Have you ever thought that if you want to realize your ideas, can you really succeed just by saving the world? I have seen a longer history than you. , There were actually many successful saviors in the past, but few were able to change the world. All they could do was stand high in the sky and overlook the earth. "

"You're not a god, how do you know I can't do it?"

Jenkins asked the gear man, who looked at Jenkins:

"Because it is obvious that God means sublimation, and what is sublimated is oneself."

"That's good too. What I want is to sublimate myself."

"What about ideals and ambitions?"

"This is a secondary goal."

Jenkins answered honestly. His original goal was to become a god, and this has never changed. If the difference engine thought that he could give up when he was almost at the end with just a few simple words, it would be a bit too ridiculous.

"Okay, stop talking nonsense, let's go, let me see what story this textile worker has."

After saying that, he jumped into the map first with the cat in his arms. Seeing Jenkins leave, the gear man did not stay for long, and immediately jumped up and was sucked into the map.

The two had just disappeared, and in the still antique shop, the old man suddenly put down the newspaper.

The blood immediately faded from his normal face. He groaned in pain, then covered his heart for a long time before standing up from the rocking chair:

"Bevanna didn't say that this ritual was so painful...but fortunately, I finally got in. It was a crazy idea, but I didn't expect it to be successful."

The old man staggered to the counter, holding the counter with his right hand, exposing his thick knuckles. The old man looked a little weak. In Jenkins' eyes, he had always been the kind of old man who was not strong but full of energy, but now he was like an ordinary old man.

This may also be because of the loss of the evolution key.

First, he checked the map and confirmed that he could not enter those places like Jenkins, so he looked at the backpack left by Jenkins on the counter. After thinking about it, he did not move Jenkins' backpack, but turned and left the antique shop and disappeared in the rain.

Since the last place is the clock tower, the old man plans to go directly to the clock tower. Although it is not clear whether this strange place is really a complete restoration of Nolan, and whether it can be moved by feet, the old man wants to give it a try after all. If he could really reach the clock tower one step ahead, he could prepare in advance for the final battle.

Although there are large factories in all districts of Nolan City, the most steam factories are located in the eastern part of Nolan, close to the mining area. In addition to the convenience of transporting fuels such as coal, the land price near the mining area is the cheapest, which is convenient for land purchase.

Jenkins held the cat and landed on the street with the gear man. There are large factories nearby, and because the time of this strange environment is only one year apart from the outside world, the gravel-covered streets are full of people at dusk. Even if the factory owner wants the workers to work 25 hours a day, the workers always have to eat.

Although civilians are used to eating only two meals a day, dinner must be stricter for night work. Now is the time to eat after work, so there are so many people.

The rain became lighter, so there were almost no people holding umbrellas on the road. People kept their frozen movements, frozen in a certain moment.

"It's so lively."

The gear man exclaimed, leading Jenkins to the inside of the factory with the sign "Sick and Rousseau Cotton Textile Factory". The two walked against the flow of people. Fortunately, people were not moving, so they walked smoothly:

"Savior William, do you know how many permanent residents there are in Nolan?"

"I don't know the exact number, but it is definitely more than three million. The floating population in the slums is difficult to count, and even the city hall cannot give a truly correct number."

"Then do you know how many people belong to the so-called bottom class among the three million people, and how many upper class people are provided by these bottom class people?"

"I still can't give an accurate number or proportion, but it is probably in the shape of a pyramid."

He gestured with his hands.

"Yes, and the top of the pyramid is very sharp."

The two turned along the aisle between the factory areas. These cotton textile factories are not small in scale, and the target person is in the factory area at the back.

"You have been asking me just now, and now I want to ask you. What should the social structure look like after the advent of your ideal steel land?"

Jenkins took the opportunity to ask.

"It's definitely not as exaggerated as a pyramid. What I hope is a completely flat surface, where everything is in order. I control everything, so there is no need to set up different classes. Under me, everyone is ordinary, and all machines are equal. Big gears and small gears have no different meanings to machines."

"Although it looks idealistic, it's actually just you want to control the world. The actual social structure is even more backward than it is now."

He laughed.

"Do you also think it's backward now?"

"The point of what I said is that your structure is more backward."

The two did not continue to debate because they finally saw the target.

It's time to get off work and eat. The target textile worker is also walking out in the crowd. If you haven't seen her appearance in advance, it's hard to tell what the difference is between this haggard middle-aged woman and others.

Her image fully meets the identity of a "poor textile worker". The clothes she wears are a coarse cloth skirt with a patch on the waist. But the color of the patch is very similar to the dark color of the skirt, so it can't be seen without careful observation.

The static walking posture is subconsciously loose shoulders, making the whole person look even more spiritless. His eyes were frozen in a dull and lifeless state, showing no emotion of joy, anger, sorrow or happiness.

"She seems to be trying to walk out. Do we have to follow her? Is the scale of this strange situation that big?"

Jenkins asked the Gear Man, suspecting that the real scope of the mystery only included Dad's Antique Shop and seven locations.

"Don't worry, the scale of this strange situation includes the entire Nolan and surrounding areas. If it is as small as you think, where can I hide part of my body and core so that you can't find it?"

Gear Man asked rhetorically.

It shows that whenever Jenkins goes to a place, the first thing he does is look around. Even if it doesn't know the secret of the "Eye of Truth", it can still see that Jenkins is trying to search for its ontological core.

"You're overthinking it. I just wanted to know if I could keep up with her."

Jenkins pointed at the woman, and immediately, the still crowd began to flow, and the noisy sound of leaving work made the space where there was only the slight sound of rain almost be broken by the vibrating air.

The textile worker continued to walk forward, as if she was rubbing her head forward. She looked extremely tired and sleepy. The woman's bones are very big, but because she usually doesn't eat enough, when she walks now, to be exaggerated, it's like a skeleton dragging her flesh forward.

Jenkins took two quick steps and squeezed in beside the woman. The woman ignored the handsome young man who suddenly appeared beside her. After all, the interaction had not yet begun.

Although the target acquisition is "Hardworking Heart", Jenkins is not stupid enough to ask "Are you feeling tired" or something like that. He asked:

"Ma'am, where are you going to eat?"

"Go home, the kids are already cooking."

He has a typical Nolan accent. He is a native of Nolan. Maybe his ancestors have lived here for hundreds of years.

As for having kids cook the food, that's no surprise either. Children from poor families know how to cook for themselves at a very young age, because adults often have no time due to tiring work. The memory of the original owner shows that when the Williamte family was still running a small shop at the port terminal, Newman, the eldest brother of the three brothers, was usually responsible for cooking.

"What about your husband?"

Jenkins asked again, wanting to investigate the other person's family situation. But the woman didn't answer immediately. Just when Jenkins thought that the other party's husband had passed away, the woman said:

"A few years ago, I ran away with someone, and I don't know where I went."