Toba began to move. It decided it was best not to waste its time. Now the pursuers of the House of Ethics have entered the computing center. There is no benefit in staying here. Kimo was dead, and there was no one out there for him to keep an eye on. Ji Xun was not an idiot. If he finally came out alive and the slicer did not stop running, he would certainly know where to find it. He must have had a lie prepared in advance to tell Wei so that he could continue to play the good guy.
"Hey," the immortal cat said, following it, "that's not the way to go. Are you sure you want to go in?"
Toba ignored it. He knew this weird cat earlier than Ji Xun or Zhu Er. That doesn't mean it knows the details of the banquet host. This cat is so weird and suspicious that nothing he says can be trusted. As a shadow of the past, it shouldn't know about the infinite city at the end.
It stood on the threshold of the computing center, peering cautiously inside. The passage inside has not changed much structurally from the last time it came. The heavily molted walls turned into white with gray stripes, like palm-sized scales, which made people feel that the front was the belly of some kind of linear worm. Some moldy areas appear green, like vines adhering to the wall. Squashed stars of filth. However, it only learned about the concept of stars after coming to this city. Before that, it only had vague written knowledge.
The monster had disappeared deep into the corridor. Logically speaking, it was impossible to come back from that chaos. But it's hard to say. It has seen two exceptions. Ji Xun went in personally once, and it was he who made a preliminary inspection of the internal situation. What's strange is that the state of the slicer is indeed quite similar to the description given by Weiss. Ji Xun successfully entered the depths, but returned in embarrassment. "Return in embarrassment" means: he came back with almost only one head. They had to give him a new body, one that was younger than the original one. It seemed to be to avoid arousing certain memories, Ji Xun did not explain clearly. But he never went in a second time. The machine for converting fantasies is broken.
There is a second person who has ever crossed a taboo. The unlucky guy who was deceived, Tuoba only knew that he was called "Xuanhong Jade" or "Xuanhong". He might have had another name, it never asked. They barely spoke, but actually got along fine. The imp's apparent age seemed real, it had no actual evidence, just an impression created by behavior. Xuan Hongzhi Jade is obviously not as mentally mature as the person who tricked him, but he can go in and out of the computing center - to be honest, he feels a little guilty, this job is definitely not pleasant. It was trying to show some concern for the brat, not the sadistic kind. But that has no real meaning, it will stop the slicer anyway.
By the time Toba realized it, he had already taken the first step. Cross forbidden doors. The price is not paid at the outset, and the temptation to explore can seem very safe at first. It already knew it. In fact, it doesn't matter if you walk a few steps into the computing center's door. There is a process for approaching infinite matters.
It took a step, then another, expecting to see something different deep down. Give it some traces and hints to tell it whether that thing, which the immortal cat calls "the executor", has conflicted with Ji Xun. It's emotionally hopeful, yet intellectually aware it's impossible. The executor came very late and left slowly. Ji Xun must have penetrated deeply into the terrifying infinite scene. And if he acted quickly enough, and hopefully he acted quickly enough, and shut down the slicer before the Executor found them, the House of Ethics and its pawns would disappear.
Hope everything goes well. It wishes everything goes well.
It had to stop when the slightest change in color occurred on the wall. What follows is very clear. The wonderful technology used by Ji Xun can only work within a small range inside the computing center. Basically, it is close to their skin, so the first signs of change can still be observed. After Ji Xun changed into a new body, he also used the room to recreate the situation for Toba. So Toba was able to understand the first signs of danger: maybe the wallpaper just got a little richer. The concept of light and energy changes, or its own interpretation of light changes.
There must be no further progress. The gray fish scale pattern on the wall has become blurred, showing a granular and colorful picture, like highly squeezed slices of colored gravel. Any further steps it takes may lead to disaster. Xuanhong Jade is a special case among special cases. For anyone who does not have the technical equipment of Ji Xun, once the static colors on the wall start to move, it means that things and laws begin to separate, and they will never be able to return to the city where day and night rotate. The concept of passage will be cancelled. This is a road of no return.
Tuoba stood there, staring at the corridor extending infinitely forward. It has no intention of spending its life to thank its only theater audience, perhaps the person who best understands its artistic talent in the world. It just felt a little strange: where were the three guys who ran into the computing center just before the executor jumped out? Are they all shattered into endless transformations? That is of course a reasonable inference, but it seems a bit puzzling. The leading anniversary animal, perhaps a city dweller with unique tastes, rushed into the computing center with a loud roar. Strange things. Tuoba suddenly realized that the animal was shouting in the language outside, the language Ji Xun taught him. "The lingua franca of the alliance" was created from the native language of a founding civilization as the initial carrier. After several adaptations, the grammar was rectified, the vocabulary was supplemented, and the pronunciation was expanded, so that it can be mastered by as many species with different structures as possible, and as language abilities improve The height can be adjusted freely.
A very interesting fact is that in the infinite city of the end, a similar language is also in circulation, is very widely used, and is easy for young children to master. The language in the city is not exactly the same as the foreign language used by Ji Xun, the symbols are not exactly the same, and the pronunciation is even more different, but the grammar and logic are the same, so it is not difficult to learn both. Is that a coincidence? Maybe there's another reason for it. Things are always related, just sometimes too oddly connected.
Behind it, someone coughed deliberately.
"I hope you remember I'm still here," said the Immortal Cat. It also followed Toba in and looked around a little behind.
"How interesting," it said.
"Where?" Toba asked coldly. It made one eye roll to the back of the head.
"Such a colorful wall! How nostalgic. I haven't seen such a scene in many years. Since the queen cleared everything, of course all these fancy mechanical gadgets have become ineffective. Alas, it's a pity. . But there is no other way. Do you still want to go in and take a look? I see you have no intention of leaving. I guess you and No. 2 are very close, right? He took away your troubled mother, really It’s interesting, not many friends can do such a thing.”
"What do you want to do?" Toba asked. He stayed firmly planted in place, lest the cat push him forward or do anything else disturbing. But the immortal cat didn't do that. Instead, he walked around him and walked forward. Toba stared closely at its feet. step. Two steps. Three steps. Nothing happened. Four steps. Five steps. Six steps. Boots beat lightly on the ground. The immortal cat twirled his hat happily.
"Aha!" it said, "this machine is nothing more than that! Comet wins again! So now I have to go and have a look. Don't worry, Black Rod, if your friend dies, I will come out. I’ll give you a message.”
