"Old Ao, do you remember the book at the end of the bookshelf against the wall? It has no cover and no logo?" Looking back, Munch said while walking towards the hall.
"Oh, that's just a paper sample, with no actual content. It's been there for a long time, why do you suddenly think of asking this?" Ovid picked up the coin from the table and played with it in his palm.
"Forget it, it's nothing." Munch looked back at the book that had strange associations. He was very sure that the changes that had just occurred were definitely not hallucinations. All the details are so real, as if a familiar dream has come again.
Calvin sat in his seat, his palms folded together, and his two thumbs kept making circles at the tiger's mouth, a little bored.
"Old O, I will leave Bain to you for the next few days. It's getting late, and there are still a few hours of driving on the road. Let's pack up and prepare to set off." At this time, Bain was leaning against Ovid. At his feet, he was soundly asleep.
Hearing that they were about to set off, Calvin's eyes lit up, his fingers stopped moving, he left the long table and leaned towards the two of them.
"Don't worry, I happen to have a lot of company. Besides, I have a lot of space here, and Bain has always liked it." Ovid handed the coin in his hand to Monk, "When you arrive in Dante City, help I'll give this to an old friend and he will help you."
Munch took the coin in his hand again and looked at it carefully.
On the front of the coin, there is a vertical dividing line engraved in the middle. On the left is half the face of a devil, and on the right is half the face of an angel. The two faces are strangely fused together, and a circle of unknown plants is wrapped around the head. . Exactly the same as the plants on the ceiling.
Flip the coin over, and the image on the back is basically the same as the image on the front, except that the left and right positions of the devil and angel have been swapped. In addition, the plant on the back has vines full of small flowers, the corolla is in the shape of a human face, and triangular vine leaves surround the central stamen in circles. Munch felt something familiar, but he couldn't remember it.
"What's the name of this plant?" Munch's fingers slid over the embossed pattern on the coin.
"Let me see, maybe I know." Calvin stood aside. He was unable to interrupt for a long time and felt very uncomfortable. He finally found the opportunity and eagerly snatched the coin from Munch's hand. After watching it for a long time, I still couldn't hold back a fart.
"Don't think about it, this kind of plant does not exist in the upper realm."
"It doesn't exist?" The two young people made surprised sounds at the same time.
"Because I made it up myself." Ovid looked at the expressions of the two people and couldn't help laughing.
"Okay. That's okay." While Monk wasn't paying attention, Calvin put the coin on his thumb, pointed it at his head, flicked it, and the coin flipped in the air, drew an arc, and landed. On Munch's forehead, due to sweat stains, the coin stuck tightly to Munch's face. The scene was a bit funny.
"Let's go, the drip cart has arrived at the door." Munch took the coin off his forehead, wrote down the address of Ovid's friend, and then got on the cart with Calvin. Ovid held Bain in his arms and stood by the car window, watching the vehicle disappear from sight.
Also watching the vehicle leave were the statues of demons and angels on both sides of the stone wall on the Arc de Triomphe.
…
"So what is the purpose of our trip? Do you think I will naively believe what you said on the volcanic rock? Tell me quickly, as the basis for our first joint effort." Calvin was ready to start chatting as soon as he got in the car. mode for long hours on the road.
"You're already on the bus, does the real reason matter?" Munch lay on the seat and tilted his head to the side of the window. "Take the time to rest. No matter what the reason is, judging from the current situation, Dante's trip will not be easy. This is for you."
Munch took out a pair of Dreamland headphones from his bag and threw them to him. Calvin had prepared a lot of topics. Seeing Munch gradually falling asleep, he had no choice but to close his mouth, connected the earphones to the implant, and selected the "Forest" option in the floating scene selection bar.
The implant continued to emit brainwaves from the forest scene to Calvin's brain. Calvin closed his eyes and the scene around him turned into a lush forest. Hypnotic music came from the air, allowing his body and mind to completely relax. Gradually Finally, he also fell asleep.
5 hours and 50 minutes later.
Night has fallen, and the prompt program in the waterdrop car is activated, waking up the two sleeping people.
"It is expected to enter the city limits of Dent City in ten minutes. I would like to remind you again that your destination is not within the service range of Shuidi Truck. After reaching the service boundary, you need to get off the bus and choose other means of transportation. Thank you for your cooperation."
"What's the use of not cooperating? Keep pushing the cart forward?" Calvin came back from a "walk" in the forest. He was awakened by such a sound, which cast a layer of dust on his already washed and purified soul.
Munch said nothing and kept staring out the window, immersed in his own thoughts. What gradually gets closer to the water drop car is the increasingly clear city boundary outlined by red lights.
If the city of Tozcana is a model of scientific planning, then the city of Dante is a representative of barbaric growth.
Because of the lack of government management role, Dent City is like a cancerous cell spreading wildly, occupying every piece of land that can be eroded. Crowded skylines, poor street planning, mixed architectural styles, every imaginable and unimaginable element are strangely mixed together to form the unique chaotic aesthetics of Dante City.
"Look, what is that? An aggregation of garbage?" Calvin used this description as he looked at the approaching building complex in front of him. The chaotic lighting design made him feel dizzy. In fact, for the first time, Munch felt that Calvin's description was extremely accurate.
There was a loud "bang", and the seat belts on both sides of the seat firmly controlled Monk and Calvin, who were about to fly forward, in their seats. The water droplet car stopped immediately, and the on-board program broadcast a report: "The vehicle has made an unexpected impact. Passengers in the car are asked to get out of the car immediately to ensure their own safety!"
The car door opened automatically, the seat belt was retracted, Munch put on his bag, and got out of the car with Calvin.
The street lights on both sides of the road were not bright enough, and everything around them was cast in a hazy yellow. Monk walked to the water drop car and found that the front of the car was deeply dented and thick smoke was emitting from the engine. The rear of the vehicle in front was also seriously damaged and parked diagonally on the side of the road, knocking down a street light.
The probability of water-drip truck accidents is extremely low. The figures confirmed by official statistics every year are only in single digits, and they are only minor accidents. Of course, the statistical data has removed the city of Dent and the 50 kilometers surrounding the city. Otherwise, the data curve will rise sharply.
The chaotic signal emission source in Dent City is often the direct cause of accidents, which is why Shuidi Operation Company added it to the blacklist.
Munch approached the water-drop truck leaning on the roadside in front, wanting to check the injuries of the other passenger. The car door opened, but before anyone appeared, a black umbrella stretched out from the car. Then, under the dim light, a beautiful woman stood in front of Munch.
"Beautiful reporter!" Munch shouted excitedly. His mind was so excited that he forgot the other person's name and blurted out what he was thinking. Munch seemed to feel that such a title was inappropriate, and his face turned red.
"Monk! I didn't expect such a coincidence! I met you in this way!" Apu Andy, a frontline reporter from the Tozcana News Channel, raised the umbrella in his hand and looked back at the two smoking cars. car.
"You're not hurt, are you?" Munch lowered his head, his eyes bypassing the black umbrella, and happened to meet Apu's eyes under the umbrella.
"It's okay. Fortunately, the safety of the water-drop truck is excellent enough..."
Before Apu finished speaking, Calvin came up from the side.
"Hello, my name is Calvin. As a good friend of Munch, I'm so happy to hear that you are not injured." After saying that, he stretched his hand under the umbrella, and Apu also shook it politely.
"By the way, you are also going to Dante City? Why are you going?" Apu's bright big eyes showed sincerity that people could not refuse.
"Let's go find Yao..."
"We were just passing through the city of Dent, picking up something for a friend." Before Calvin could finish speaking, Monk quickly thought of a reason, fooled him, and then glared at Calvin fiercely, telling him to control himself. Mouth.
"What about you? Apu." Munch finally remembered her name and threw the question back to divert her attention. "Collecting news materials?"
"You're right. Because the super-species evolution project launched by Arif has been very popular recently, and it has triggered a series of conjectures and rumors about the real purpose behind it. Our program conducted a folk survey and listed several possibilities. , the one with the highest vote rate, what do you think it is?”
The two people opposite shook their heads at the same time.
"I'll give you another hint, related to the underground industry in Dante City."
Monk looked at Calvin. As a police officer, he should have enough information channels and professional accumulation of information about the underground industry. Unexpectedly, Calvin looked confused and shook his head again.
"Illegal biomodification! There are rumors that Adam's laboratory is conducting biomodification. After extracting the genes of mutated organisms, they are injected into the human body to synthesize a new superhuman species. This is the true meaning of the name superspecies evolution."
"Of course, this was more of an after-dinner conversation. Taking advantage of the popularity, the program team wanted me to do a special report on illegal biomodification. So, I came and bumped into it."
After Apu finished speaking, he smiled at Munch. "So, are you satisfied with this answer?"
While talking, the drone brought the wrecker robot to the scene of the car accident. The drone connected to the core processor of the water droplet truck and read the driving data at the time of the accident. After confirming that the cause of the accident had nothing to do with the passengers, it broadcast a report to several people:
"Dear passengers, I would like to express my sincere apologies on behalf of Lauterlane (the operating company of the water drop truck) for what happened to you today."
The sound stopped suddenly, and under the command of the drone, the tow truck began to work.
"It's over? No compensation? What's the use of just a verbal apology? I'm going to call the police! This is too much!" Calvin was so angry that he almost jumped up when he saw the tow truck dragging the damaged carcass and disappearing into the night. "Just bully me and I'm suspended now, otherwise I would really..."
"Do you know about the biological duel competition in Dent City? My informant told me that the finals will be tomorrow night. Are you interested?" Apu automatically filtered out Calvin's complaints and turned his face to Monk beside him.
"It still doesn't work, maybe next time."
"I heard that the first place prize is an obsidian fragment. Are you interested? I think that the little fat gentleman just now didn't finish talking about it, right?"
These words were like a bolt of lightning that struck Munch's heart, forcing him to re-examine the woman standing in front of him under the dim light, holding an umbrella.
