The Antipodes Islands of the South Pacific (i.e. Australia and New Zealand) remind us of our childhood wonders and questions about the world. Just a few days ago, I was still hoping that this illusory fortress floating in the sea would become a fixed point on our voyage home. However, now I realize that just like every place where our imagination stops, It is really just a shadow - something that those who move forward can never catch.
——Darwin "The Voyage of the Beagle"
Qi Meng woke up from his nightmare.
A ray of sunlight shone through the west window and shone on his face. He subconsciously stretched out his hand to block it, but the sunlight flowed through his fingers like a stream and flowed to the floor. The hut is quiet and warm. The teapot on the stove is still steaming. Longjing or cornflower is boiling in the pot. The faint fragrance of tea fills the surroundings.
He glanced at the sofa next to him. The old man was fast asleep. The TV was still showing the scene of the Liu siblings killing each other. A giant sky-swallowing python sprayed flames at the chaotic crowd, and a taciturn gun-thrower—— Let's call him the undead knight - he is hiding in the dark and preparing to sneak attack on the big snake that has killed countless people.
"Boring as hell."
He muttered and yawned, "How long have I slept?"
At least three hours of sleep.
The movie hasn't finished yet.
No wonder, "The Great Emperor", co-produced by many directors from the empire, took a total of five years to complete and cost up to 560 million imperial yuan. It can be called the most expensive film in the history of world cinema. Has a pivotal position.
It is said that the filming of this film received strong assistance from the military. In the history of world cinema, this film became one of the films with the largest number of extras (more than 400,000 people). This ten-and-a-half-hour majestic production is known for its grandeur. The scenes and epic lens language perfectly presented the forty-year long reign of Emperor Guangde, and painted a vast historical picture of the Qi State in the first half of the seventeenth century. Precisely because it reproduced that period of history extremely faithfully, in Ten years after its release, it was completely banned by the Council of Elders at that time.
"Boring as hell."
Qi Meng repeated, waved his hand to turn off the movie, stood up and took out a blanket from the house, covered the old man with it, poured himself a cup of tea, and leaned against the window to look into the distance.
The old man hasn't woken up yet.
He put down the tea cup, took out the weapons and equipment from his backpack, first added a small energy block to the submachine gun to recharge the weapon, then put on the power armor, and after making sure that everything was ready, he gently opened the door.
The cold wind blows in the face and hits the person in the face. Fortunately, the power armor has good heat insulation performance and is good at keeping warm.
He walked out of the hut and looked around. Everything was as before, silent and desolate.
There were not many people on the street, but occasionally a dog (?) was seen limping along the sewer looking for food. When the dog got closer, Qi Meng realized that it was not a dog at all, but a robot with a not very clear mind. , a ring of wires was exposed at the joints of the limbs, and he lost the ability to walk, so he had to return to his ancestors and start crawling on all fours.
"Don't even project advertisements here. There are very few people alive in this village."
Qi Meng cursed.
The village in front of me is one of countless abandoned villages in Daqi, and even scavengers refuse to come. However, it was such a little-known small village. The villagers living here had participated in the construction of Tianxin City and the war that determined the fate of the empire.
Over the long years, one or several important figures may have walked here. This village has witnessed the rise of Daqi and is also experiencing the decline of the empire.
Everything is irreversibly declining.
The village that once had a population of tens of thousands now has only a few hundred people left. In addition to the old aboriginal people hiding in the shadows, the only people left in the village were the first-generation robots that were about to be scrapped.
The first-generation robot was manufactured at the beginning of the last century and had serious flaws. It was said that it had killed more than a dozen owners one after another due to programming problems, so much so that the media exclaimed that that year was regarded as the first year of the official awakening of artificial intelligence.
The awakening of artificial intelligence is of course nonsense. It is more appropriate to call it artificial retardation.
Finally, millions of robots were recalled on a large scale by Vine Company. Later, some of it went into the black market, and the prices are said to be ridiculously low.
"I don't want to stay here any longer."
Qi Meng murmured to himself, looked around, and after confirming that there was no danger, he turned and returned to the hut. At this time, smoke and dust rose up from the mountains behind.
Qi Meng raised his mouth slightly and stared intently at the barren mountains a few miles away.
"The bounty hunter is here again?"
He stopped looking and turned around and walked into the hut.
"There are quite a lot of them this time." When Qi Meng said to himself, noisy voices and the sound of drone propellers suddenly sounded all around. In addition, Qi Meng could also hear the click of guns being loaded.
The deserted village that was desolate just now was now crowded with hundreds of Kunpeng aircraft. The cabin door of the Kunpeng in front opened, and a soldier in black combat uniform raised his gun and aimed it while shouting loudly:
"Put down your weapons and surrender immediately!"
Qi Meng didn't look at it and fired two shots in the direction of the conversation, but unfortunately neither hit.
He turned and hid in the cabin, panting.
"Young man, your kidneys are not very good." The old lady woke up and sat on a small chair next to the sofa.
"You're in trouble. Looking at this movement, I'm afraid all the police detectives in Chudi are here."
Qi Meng said disapprovingly: "I didn't bring them here, I was just passing by..."
A man who looked like an officer came out from among the soldiers. He looked Qi Meng up and down. After a while, he said:
"I heard that there was a criminal who killed many bounty hunters on the road, and now he has arrived in our territory. Is it you?"
There was a loud knock on the wooden door of the hut, and a police officer who claimed to be from Nandu shouted to the house in both Qi and Oceanic languages.
"Open the door quickly! You have no way to escape. Don't resist in vain. Surrender! I am Sheriff Guo from Chudi assigned by the Elder Council. I am here to save you."
Qi Meng jumped up from the sofa, reached for the backpack placed next to him, and while loading bullets into the submachine gun in an orderly manner, he muttered:
"Did you come to your door so soon? I thought it would have to wait until noon tomorrow at least."
The old lady got up and was about to open the door. At some point, she saw a small pistol in her hand behind her back.
"Young people, they have always been very efficient in arresting people."
Qi Meng sneered: "One country, one voice, there is no doubt that authoritarianism is very efficient."
Qi Meng was worried that the window position had been locked by a sniper, so he asked the old man to take a few steps back and stay away from the door lock.
