"Please follow me."

As soon as he turned around, Xiao K fell to the ground with a bang. The two necromantic creatures looked at each other: this is flat ground, how did you fall? Then Xiao K got up like no one else and pulled a reluctant smile: "I'm sorry, because of the innate reasons of the design, my model has a little problem when moving." ”

Starum and Fermat: "......"

There is no wall in the steel city, all kinds of land are neatly arranged in a ring and a ring, it is a typical single-core point city layout, the outermost part is the port and some factories that need a lot of sea resources, the second ring is the residence, the core of the island is the steel city in the narrow sense - more than 100 meters high, covering an area of more than 1,000 hectares of large-scale scientific research center. It is actually composed of many independent buildings (or mechanical facilities with doors and windows), but the form of the combination is too strange and very different from the beauty of ordinary people, such as this building is embedded in that building, and that building has to cut its third or fourth floor to adapt to the exhaust pipe of this building, and so on. Chimneys and pipelines are lined with steam and black smoke, and the rusty façade is abruptly erected with brass gears the size of a mill windmill, valve ring handles of various sizes, and gauges whose pointers constantly jump to the red zone...... In the words of adventurers, this is the most thoroughly steampunk style.

Looking at the soot on the vamp, Fermat scratched his head: "I thought the steel city would use more advanced energy sources." But it's a great feeling! It's so powerful, it's so vibrant! If steel is the body of the city, steam is its breath! ”

Strunm groaned: "Don't suddenly say something very literary, I can't stand it......"

Before they could get close to the door, they felt a hot and humid wind blow out of the door. Xiao K, who fell on the ground again, got up and introduced: "The first floor of the city is completely steam-powered, and the temperature may be high, but the researchers here are used to it. ”

The interior of the corridor is also full of rivets and pipes, reflecting the cold metallic texture in the light of the oil lamp. If you press your hand against the wall, you can feel the vibrations of the pendulum and gears, like feeling the tide from the beach and the thunderstorm from the wind. Droplets of condensed water vapor trickled down the walls, nourishing the faint brownish-green moss on the floor. The grease-filled copper-iron alloy floor in the crevices faithfully reverberates with every footnote.

Xiao K, who has fallen on the ground five times, took the two of them through many workshops. There is no shortage of researchers wearing old-fashioned goggles on the road, regardless of men, women and children, all of them look hurried, and even if acquaintances meet, they just raise their hands without stopping, and it seems that they have no time to greet each other. Once the two researchers are standing and talking, it will never be about the weather, but only about academics. The pursuit of efficiency and never wasting one's own or others' time is the first implicit rule of Steel City.

Walking to a small space separated by an iron fence, Xiao K pulls the rocker on the wall, and the gate opens. Fermat was told that it was an "elevator"—a machine that would save people time walking up stairs and going directly between floors, and he was immediately intrigued, and he took out his tools from his abdominal cavity and prepared to take them apart and study them, but Strom stopped them. As the elevator descends, the scenery outside the iron fence changes.

"I see the reflux tube! Oh my God, I haven't seen that part! Fermat was completely in a frenzy, babbling about new discoveries. He was suddenly startled, threw himself in front of the gate, and grabbed the railing with his ten fingers: "This floor is a little strange, isn't it?" It's not just steam power! ”

Xiao K, who fell down in the elevator, got up: "Your eyesight is very good, this is the second floor of the city is diesel and steam dual power." ”

"It's the second layer, but it's just a metaphor?" Strunm had calculated that he had just descended a full ten floors.

Fermat asked, "Will there be a 'third layer'?" Also, What is diesel? Is it another name for kerosene? ”

Little K didn't answer.

The scene outside has changed significantly. The corridor pipelines are no longer cluttered, but fixed to the wall according to a certain format and have a neatly planned direction, which looks much more beautiful. The air was still dull, but it didn't have the heat and humidity of steam. The researchers who walked around here no longer wore goggles, and their clothes were much neater, so that they were not covered in soot and engine oil.

The elevator descended another thirty or forty meters or so before finally stopping. This time, Fermat was completely stunned: the rivetless, seamless silver-gray metal made up the walls, clean enough to reflect the human figure; The pipeline disappeared completely, presumably hidden behind a wall; Electrically powered incandescent lamps emit a cool glow on the ceiling; The air vents in the corners and ceiling are bubbling cold, making the temperature very comfortable for thin humans.

From the outskirts of the steampunk-style steel city to this unimaginable futuristic technology world, the two of them don't know where to look, after all, everything is new and interesting.

Xiao K, who fell on the flat ground again, smiled stiffly, got out of the elevator, and said, "Please come this way." ”

"This is ......"

"The third layer, completely abandoning steam power, is powered by diesel and electricity."

"This ...... That's two or three hundred years longer than the outside world! "Fermat doesn't know how to describe the advanced nature of Steel City, and he can't overdescribe it. Perhaps in the eyes of the members of Steel City, the outside world is full of primitive people who have just learned how to use tools.

"There are six people studying here, and each of them has a separate laboratory, numbered 01-06. Thank you. Xiao K, who fell for the twentieth time, took Strunm's hand and stood up, and said to himself: "My model really should be destroyed." ”

(Strom: "For some reason, I suddenly want one of these assistants!") ”）

(Fermat: "Is it because she's more clumsy than you and can give you back a sense of superiority?!!") ”）

It can be seen that the six people working on this level have extremely high authority, because their laboratories occupy a large area, and one is almost the size of the "City of Waiting" craft workshop. The three of them were walking when the door to Lab 04 opened behind them. Looking back, a guy in a blue worker's costume was stretching out. The other party also saw them, was stunned, and asked in a slightly strange accent:

"Zombies? The Twilight Empire? ”

Fermat hurriedly said proudly: "Yes! I am Fermat of the Joint Research Center! ”

"You're talking too much!" Strunm quickly gave the dwarf a slap on the back of his head, and then asked rhetorically, "Who are you?" ”

"Treasure Bag."

The other party replied very indifferently, and there was no other self-introduction, as if the two of them must have heard of him. In fact, this name is indeed known to everyone, after all, it is the name of the great god of the Gospel Continent - the great inventor of the "Almighty Hand" and the treasure bag. He's here? Is it the owner of Lab 04? But it's not surprising. The great gods are all top-notch figures, on a par with heroes and super-level demonic beasts, and are naturally qualified to join the decision-making level of the major forces and disturb the situation on the mainland.

"The Joint Research Center, that's good." 'Funeral mold' and 'dead flu' are simply impressive, but in the end, they are only a little bit of a contribution to biological and chemical weapons, and your military industry is a mess. ”

It's okay that the treasure bag doesn't mention the military industry, but as soon as Ferma fire is mentioned, it will rise up: "That's right, it's you!" You were the one who cracked the manufacturing process of 'Broken Silver', and we lost a lot of money! ”

The great god snorted and shook his head: "And then? Do you want me to say 'I'm sorry' to you? ”

Strunm stopped his angry colleague and forced himself to say calmly, "You don't need to say 'I'm sorry,' because we won't accept it either." We are only researchers, and we have no interest in politics and economics, but it is what you have done that has led to the decline of our country, and even if you are a great god, we will see you as an enemy. ”

"Whatever you want. I just think that, with your skill level, you don't deserve to be in the Steel City. Have the invitation criteria been relaxed recently? The second half of the sentence is to ask the puppet who accompanied the two.

Xiao K replied: "It was invited by the owner of Lab 00, and it has consumed two of his places this year. ”

"Lab 00? I get it. You're in luck. The treasure bag looked at the two of them again and walked back to the laboratory: "Go ahead, don't keep that person waiting." ”

The two of them continued to move forward, but Fermat was still extremely unhappy: "What does it mean to be lucky!" It's as if we didn't walk into the steel city with real skills! Hey, little K, what do you say! ”

Xiao K replied: "The plan to use the soul fire and spirit imprint of the necromantic creature as the energy and control center respectively was proposed by Master Percival fifty-seven years ago, and the number of prototypes made according to this plan is five and ......."

Fermat looked at Strunm, indicating that he didn't understand. Stram rolled his eyes: "In other words, Steel City had your Arcane Puppet idea and implemented it more than fifty years ago, and you didn't get the invitation because of the Arcane Puppet, as you said in your invitation. Do you consume two places...... It seems that the owner of Lab 00 opened the door for us, and when we meet, we have to say thank you to him. ”

"Huh? Do you have any acquaintances in Steel City? ”

"It can't be. What about you? ”

"How could I be a hillbilly! Hey, why do you want to do so much, don't you know when you meet! Also, what is number 00? Didn't you just say that there was only 01-06? ”

"00 on the fourth floor." Little K replied.

At the end of the hallway, there is another elevator, but this one is obviously much more advanced, with a metal flap that once closed, it forms a completely enclosed space, and there are LCD panels that can display the number of layers. The elevator descends and opens to reveal a short but extremely high hallway, ending in an exaggeratedly large alloy gate with a numeric keypad and slots on the door frame, probably for identity verification. Xiao K, as a guide, of course, has a means of verification, and after opening the door for the two of them, he said, "I'll wait for the two of you outside." ”

Even though they had died once, the two of them were still a little nervous, and even a casual conversation could not completely alleviate it. Anyone who is a fool can understand that the person who occupies the "fourth layer" of the steel city alone and owns the "No. 00 laboratory" must be a master of superior learning, and may have made history with a scientific discovery. Ordinary scholars like them may not be qualified to see them for another few hundred years.

Strangely, the room is not big.

In front of him was a man with silver gray hair like metal, his face was slightly thin, his figure was strong, his hair was neatly combed, no matter his physique and appearance, he was not surprising, but his movements were not hurried, his demeanor was calm, and he had a temperament that made people unguarded. Dressed in a plain gray short-sleeved shirt, he stands at a workbench and measures the accuracy of a part with a vernier caliper. He squinted his left eye, so focused that he didn't notice the two people who came in.

Fermat and Strunm glanced at each other, and then knelt down on one knee without hesitation: "Fermat, the Necromantic Repairer of the Twilight Empire (Necromantic Alchemist Strom), see Your Majesty." ”

The man's eyelids lifted slightly, put down the caliper, and said with a smile: "I can't imagine that I will see the same kind one day one day." ”