The aircraft was extremely fast, gliding across the sky silently, passing through oceans, jungles, deserts, fields, snow-capped mountains, glaciers, grasslands, canyons and the desolate Gobi, under clear skies, heavy snow, or strong winds and showers. When he was drowsy, Li Liang often wondered where he was, whether he was on the moon 400,000 kilometers away from the earth, on a civil aviation flight a thousand years ago, or in a bizarre dream.
It wasn't until he flew into a steel jungle that he finally woke up. Only cold mechanical creations were left in his field of vision.
In the past, people often compared cities to "steel jungles." Now, the metaphor has become a reality.
This is a city made entirely of metal, with an aesthetic that is completely different from humans. The buildings rising from the ground are more like giant metal pillars, reflecting a clear silver-gray luster.
Platforms of different heights extend around the building, interconnected but of different shapes, forming layers of visual gaps, with tracks running through them, outlining dazzling lines.
Further down, criss-crossing passages divide the ground into a regular checkerboard shape, and within the grid are large and small metal fortresses.
As far as the eye can see, the entire mechanical city is devoid of any extra color or light and shadow, only cold metal. Countless robots and drones were densely packed like ants, flowing in an orderly manner. The androids forming the array walked in uniform steps, with identical stiff smiles on their faces.
In Li Liang's opinion, there should be at least "streets", "business districts" and "residential areas" where people gather. However, five minutes later, they had gone tens of kilometers deep, but they still saw no shops or signs. Or what can be called streets, there are only unchanging metal buildings and mechanical fortresses.
At this moment, the aircraft was passing between the two-story platform extending from a certain building. Dr. Xisen looked at the busy robots on the platform below with the same surprised expression: "This should be the first city built by robots. "
Li Liang asked: "Where is the church?"
Sudden.
K shouted loudly: "Fuck, what is that?"
In the distance, between the sharp-edged buildings, a completely different building appeared, with soft lines that looked like four columns.
After a few minutes, the aircraft flew out of the platform.
In an instant, the four people in the cabin raised their heads at the same time, deeply shocked by the sight in front of them.
It turns out that those are not four pillars, but four legs.
Two humanoid sculptures stand proudly, standing back to back. One is wearing a linen robe, raising his head slightly and spreading his hands high, as if welcoming the light. The other is naked with his upper body, his right hand holding the hilt of the sword at his waist, and his left hand. Raise your hands flat, with your palms raised, making a "rejection" gesture.
The silver-gray metal building hundreds of meters high only reaches their waists.
Dr. Xisen murmured: "Twin Gods."
The height of the aircraft is at the same level as the sculpture's knees. From this angle, Li Liang cannot see the sculpture's face clearly and can only feel their huge pressure.
At this time.
The aircraft began to tilt downward and landed quickly.
When Li Liang came to his senses, he discovered that the "church" was located at the foot of the "Twin Gods" sculpture. To be precise, the circular building was the base of the statue, and there was a wide square in front of the main entrance.
The aircraft parking place is still a few hundred meters away from the "church" and is located on the edge of the square. There are more than a dozen spaceships of different shapes parked around it, and even a few cars.
Li Liang huddled behind the sofa and looked over.
The square was extremely empty, without any obstructions. At first glance, there were not many people at all.
"Doctor, there's no one here," K frowned, "It's very conspicuous when we go out like this."
Dr. Sisen lowered his head and glanced at his watch: "Five-thirty...the 'resonance' is not over yet."
"What resonance?"
"It's just...it's very troublesome to explain, so just think of it as a prayer," Dr. Sisson looked around, "How about we find a temporary place to stay and get the retinal projector."
Li Liang squatted and took two steps, looked in the other direction, and said softly: "There is an alley over there. Let's leave from there first."
moment.
The cabin door opened, K led the way, Li Liang carried Cain on his back, and Dr. Xisen pulled the child Li. The group got off the aircraft, walked low through the spacecraft and cars, and hurried into the alley behind.
Called an alley, it was more like a gap between two metal fortresses, only two or three meters wide.
K took the lead and rushed to the front with his gun raised.
Li Liang followed closely behind.
While running, he noticed that the metal walls on both sides seemed to be cast in one piece, without any gaps or joints, and had brushed rough textures on the surface.
The ground is also made of metal and makes a dull sound when stepped on.
The gap was not long. Ten minutes later, K had arrived at the other end. He looked around, looking a little confused.
After Li Liang ran closer, he put Cain down and took a look.
It turns out that there is a horizontal "street" outside, and the cubic metal fortresses on both sides of the street look like independent shops. Unlike the emptiness in front of the church, living people can still be seen walking in twos and threes on this street.
It is easy to distinguish between humans and androids when they are mixed together. The androids swing their arms and have a fixed step length when walking, while humans sway, sometimes faster and sometimes slower.
Li Liang quickly saw what confused K. The large and small fortresses had no windows or signs, only small doors of the same size that could only be passed by one person.
At first glance, it looked lifeless, just a cold silvery gray.
Only then did Dr. Xisen catch up and asked breathlessly: "You, what are you doing?"
Li Liang frowned and said, "Doctor, is this a street?"
Dr. Xisen walked straight out of the alley, stood with his hands on his hips, nodded and said, "Yes, it's a pedestrian street."
"you sure?"
Li Liang couldn't believe it.
Can a place like a workshop also be called a pedestrian street?
"Huh? Over there, the interaction point," Dr. Xisen took Child Li and walked a few steps. When he looked back and saw that no one was following him, he said helplessly, "I told you, there is no surveillance, why are you hiding there?"
"..."
Li Liang shook his head helplessly, and had no choice but to carry Cain on his back and walk out cautiously.
Perhaps he was deeply wary of ubiquitous surveillance, so he was always a little uneasy walking outdoors like this. He glanced at K beside him. It was obvious that K was the same way. His right hand was always in his pocket, holding the handle of the gun, with a solemn look on his face. .
What's even more troublesome is that every android he meets will stop and greet them with a very loud voice. Coupled with the scary smile on his face, Li Liang can't walk more than thirty meters. Sweating all over.
It wasn't until he followed Dr. Sisen into a metal fortress that he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This square metal "box" is very small, with an interior area of only more than ten square meters. There is a square white pillar in the center, and there is nothing else.
Li Liang put Cain down and when he got closer, he discovered that the middle of the pillar was actually broken, with a gap as wide as a palm.
Dr. Sisson walked to the pillar and said softly: "We need three retinal projectors."
Before he finished speaking, the gap in the middle of the pillar flickered.
Dr. Sisson reached out and took out a metal sheet from the gap. There were three drop-shaped metal vials placed side by side on the sheet.
"This is the retinal projector," Dr. Sisson picked up a metal vial, "unscrew the cap and drop it into your eyes, both eyes."
K wondered: "Is it that simple?"
"Yes, it's that simple," Dr. Sisson shrugged.
Li Liang picked up a small metal bottle and looked at it. It was only five centimeters long and started to warm it.
Out of trust in the doctor, he gently unscrewed one end and dropped a drop into the left and right corners of his eyes like eye drops. Then he blinked and felt that the world in front of him was no different.
"Wait a few seconds," Dr. Sisson smiled.
Li Liang nodded.
Sudden.
He discovered that at some point, colorful text appeared on the square white pillar. The moment he looked at it, a massive amount of images, text, and dynamic information filled his field of vision at an explosive speed.
The violent impact of colors made him dizzy and he immediately looked away.
The world immediately becomes clear.
"Go out and take a look," Dr. Sisson pointed outside.
Li Liang took a few deep breaths, but was stunned when he turned around.
The stiff and cold metal walls turned into bright floor-to-ceiling windows when you entered. The mottled tree shadows filtered in through the glass. Outside the window, an old man was sitting under an umbrella reading a newspaper. On the other side of the street, a couple was cuddling in front of a fruit stall. While picking fruits, the girl was playing with the boy with a banana.
Li Liang walked to the door in a daze, opened the door and walked out.
next moment.
He saw a city of light and shadow that was countless times more prosperous than Zhongjing. At this moment, all the imagination he had for the future when he was young came into view.
