"Why must... human skin be used to make this kind of lantern?"
"This is the only suitable material offline. We have tried many kinds, but none of them meet the requirements."
"Where's the animal skin? Didn't the genetic research institute over there make a major breakthrough?"
"No, it must be an intelligent creature."
This is out of the question.
The only intelligent creatures offline are humans.
Du Shiyu saw her lab supervisor's embarrassed face and quickly explained: "It's actually just a layer of skin. It can be regenerated. You don't need to take more from each person. Just pick it up is enough."
"What are you talking about? What if everyone has a cup?"
"No, no need?" Du Shiyu's eyes widened in surprise.
"Look outside, since this kind of lantern is useful, what's the point of not promoting it?"
So there was nothing Du Shiyu could do.
"I'll ask other laboratories to see if they can think of a way to get the best of both worlds."
After the lab director finished speaking, he changed the subject and said, "Don't think about it now. I have a confidential project here. Just read it here and tell me what you think after reading it."
"OK."
After taking the file bag handed over by the supervisor and taking out the documents inside, Du Shiyu stood up in horror and asked, "A complete ban on Canaan?"
"Keep your voice down, just treat it as a topic, a plan, and think about the consequences of doing this from the perspective of your own career change."
"It's impossible, director, it's impossible to ban it." Du Shiyu shook her head repeatedly, "The access equipment on the line does not need to go through any... uh, procedures, there is no way to ban it."
"I mean, if, if it can be done, think about what will happen...can the fog disappear?"
"cannot!"
Today, Du Shiyu is no longer a simple player. Her dual identity online and offline has allowed her to come into contact with enough secrets and learn enough truths. As a newly selected Thousand New Special Professional Talents, she even
Unable to cross the border, while enjoying huge honors and status improvements, they also shoulder heavy responsibilities.
Of course, she is also proud of this responsibility.
Although she was responsible for protecting the country and the nation, she never thought about banning Canaan. Firstly, she did not agree with it emotionally. Secondly, there was no possibility or necessity to realize it.
But her superiors asked her to put aside the interference of these factors and speculate on the future of Forbidden Canaan from the perspective of her career change. She could not refuse. After a little wording, she said, "First of all, the Great Mist will not disappear. On the contrary, it may
"More serious"
"Why?"
"Because people have changed!"
Du Shiyu said, "It's just like me. I was just a graduate student before. Now I can do things offline that can only be done in movies and novels. Changes are changes. They cannot be taken back, nor can they pretend to be banned online. All players and tourists
It's impossible to just go back to where you were."
"Well, keep talking."
"Once they are unable to go online, all players and tourists will wake up offline. Director, what do you think they will do?"
"What will they do?"
"Anyway, they won't go to work or go to school honestly, they won't pick up their old jobs, and they won't stay at home doing nothing. Director, think about it, they have changed, and it is their existence that makes the big fog, if
They stay offline for a long time, are dissatisfied with the status quo, and want urgent changes.
The needs and impulses of the status quo... That's too scary. Director, I can't imagine what the fog will turn into. Maybe... Offline is the same as online, and even more dangerous than online, because online has powerful systems and
The magic network dominates, but offline there are only specious... strange things."
"The selfish desires of people offline are far more complicated than online, and the population and mental activity are even more incomparable than online. There are so many religions that restrict thoughts online, but offline... the director will definitely be dancing with demons, compared to
Now it’s a hundred times, a thousand times more serious.”
"Is that your opinion?"
"Anyone with a modicum of common sense would have thought of that."
"Okay, go down and sort out your thoughts and write a detailed report."
"Director, please don't shut down the Internet. We cannot afford the consequences."
"I understand, this is just a research project. Haven't you done many similar projects? Don't think about it, work hard, and get on with it."
"Director, I'm leaving. I will submit the report as soon as possible."
"Well, thank you for your hard work."
After Du Shiyu left, the director took out a roster, made a mark behind her name, then sighed and pressed the intercom.
At the same time, Xie Xiaomeng also just went offline.
"The fog hasn't cleared yet?"
She took a shower first, then stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and opened the curtains, took a deep breath into the surging fog, and stretched.
Aunt Xue is still online. In this kind of weather, the nanny is naturally not here. The house is empty, showing a feeling of emptiness and desolation.
When I opened the refrigerator, everything inside was spoiled.
Xie Xiaomeng can't remember the last time she was offline. Aunt Xue has been even worse than her recently. There is a thick layer of dust on the stove at home. It seems that the only one who has been online longer than her is.
Now Aunt Xue has established a career online. After the evacuation, she was accepted by a large gang and opened a tavern in a town. The business was good, especially she got along well with the aboriginal NPCs, and she kind of made her home online.
means.
She went to Aunt Xue's room and checked and found nothing inappropriate. All the life indicators in the game room were normal. She added a vitamin nutrient solution to it and looked at her wearing only underwear floating in the nutrient solution.
Aunt Xue, I feel like this scene seems familiar, as if I have experienced it a long time ago.
She shook her head, putting this weird feeling behind her, and prepared to go out to buy some necessities.
Apart from anything else, there is not much vitamin nutrient solution left.
The current game warehouse has evolved to a more advanced version. The launch of the life support system has greatly reduced players' worries. Eating, drinking, and excretion are all left to the game warehouse. People are connected by various pipelines, and the nutrient solution maintains the normal operation of the body. No need
I'm worried about muscle atrophy or something like that if I don't move for a long time.
Just as he was about to go out, the doorbell rang.
"Who is it?"
"From the neighborhood committee."
"What's going on?"
"Sending you necessities."
"What necessities?"
"You'll know when you open the door and take a look."
Xie Xiaomeng did not open the door immediately, but first looked outside through the peephole, only to see a lantern and the hazy and dim light emitted by the lantern.
What the hell?
Of course she was not afraid of ghosts and monsters in the mist. She opened the door curiously and saw that it was really an aunt she knew from the neighborhood committee and a young girl. The girl was holding a strange red leather lantern.
"This is a love supply package from your family. Please sign for it."
The aunt's attitude cannot be said to be good. Under the illumination of the lantern, her face is still a little bleak, and she looks at people with a gloomy look.
In the fog, how many of the people acting outside are completely ‘normal’?
Xie Xiaomeng didn't care, but was very curious about the lantern.
While signing, she asked: "Why are you carrying a lantern?"
"With it, the fog can't come close!"
The young girl shook the lantern and said, "This is a magic weapon, it has been illuminated."
"Oh, that's it!"
Xie Xiaomeng signed, "Can you show it to me?"
"No!", the young girl held the lantern back, fearing that she might snatch it.
——If you don’t want to show it, then don’t show it. Why are you so nervous?
Watching the two people leaving with the lanterns, in the corridor shrouded in light fog, the fog was really pushed away by the halo emitted by the lanterns, but the other kind of light seemed to be more penetrating than the fog. People inside, even if they were very
Even up close, you can only see a blurry and distorted outline, as if the light emanating from it is tangible, just like water.
Shrugging his shoulders, he returned home and opened the so-called love supply package. He found that he didn't have the most needed vitamin nutrient solution and needed to go out.
The city shrouded in fog is naturally deserted, but this time, there are indeed many people walking through it carrying lanterns. If the dense fog is like water, the dim red light emitted by these lanterns is like oil. The two are not compatible.
, just like the ink splashed on a plain canvas, extremely eye-catching and extremely mysterious.
This is true for pedestrians, and it is also true for shops that can still operate as usual.
A lantern at the door illuminates the foyer, and a lantern inside the store dissipates the dense fog. The closer you are to the lantern, the denser it becomes. People only move within the area illuminated by the lantern, and nothing unusual happens.
It is not difficult to buy vitamin supplements. The door of the store I usually go to is closed, but there is a lantern lighting up the alley next door. Under each lantern, people are setting up street stalls.
"The space in the store is too big and the lanterns are too small, so..."
At the street corner, Xie Xiaomeng bought a vitamin supplement solution from a stall. The stall owner explained it this way.
"What is this? Where did it come from?" Xie Xiaomeng asked, pointing to the lantern.
"The latest technology...I heard it is made of human skin," the stall owner lowered his voice and said mysteriously.
"Can I see if it's okay?" Xie Xiaomeng asked.
"See if you can, don't move, this is a guy eating."
The name "Human Skin Lantern" alone gives it rich connotations and a series of associations. Perhaps the purpose of choosing such a name is here.
As for whether it is made of human skin, it is secondary. It is most likely not. Otherwise... human skin cannot be peeled off from a human body, right?
Unexpectedly, after touching it, the unique delicate touch of the skin told her that maybe this thing was really made of human skin. Looking at the texture, looking at...
"Where did you buy it? I'll get one too."
“I didn’t buy it, I applied for it.”
"How to apply?"
"You have a reason. We are here to ensure the supply of basic supplies. How about you? Can you set up a stall in this horrible weather like us?"
"Forget it, I don't have time."
"that is"
"You're busy, I'll go shopping later."
Walking down the alley, she found many acquaintances, and there were also people like her who were browsing stalls without lanterns. The fog was so heavy that even people a few steps away could not be seen clearly. Those places where the lights did not shine were shadowy.
Those who are longing for it suddenly appear.
"How come this eggplant is so fresh and so big!"
“Freshly picked from the ground.”
"Who are you lying to? You've been given medicine, right?"
"Purely natural and pollution-free."
"Then give me two pounds."
Passing by a vegetable seller, the round eggplants were really attractive. Xie Xiaomeng swallowed her saliva thinking of the taste of braised eggplants and followed suit and bought two.
"Xiaomeng, is this offline?"
There was a neighbor who was shopping for groceries together, an old man. Xie Xiaomeng vaguely agreed and chatted for a while.
Afterwards, I suddenly remembered, didn’t this old man just enter the crematorium, why did he pop out again?
She laughed dumbly and continued shopping without taking it seriously.
Human skin lanterns, ghost markets, the old man who just entered the crematorium...Looking at this alley again, it becomes ghostly. Looking at the two eggplants in his hand, this one is an eggplant, and it is clearly peeled.
The head was covered in blood, and blood was still dripping down...
Fortunately, the vitamin nutrient solution is good.
Xie Xiaomeng angrily went to find the vegetable stall, and found that the building was empty. She asked the vendors next to her, but they all shook their heads blankly. After looking at the 'eggplant' in their hands, they all wanted to bury their heads and cover their ears.
Treating Xie Xiaomeng is like avoiding snakes and scorpions.
"I found my aunt!"
As a level 43 player with the title of Ling Jue, Xie Xiaomeng felt extremely ashamed. She grabbed a man who was jumping around in the fog and asked who the vendor was.
This man's face was as white as paper, and he pointed in a direction deep in the fog with a sly smile.
Xie Xiaomeng followed the direction he pointed without believing anything. After walking a few steps in the thick fog, she found that she had left the alley and was facing an antique street archway.
The red-painted street archway looked like new, with two swaying human skin lanterns hung on it. A group of people walked over from the thick fog amid the sound of playing and singing.
This scene is extremely familiar. Have you seen it before?
The dead man at the front of the queue was playing the suona, followed by a sedan chair carried by four people, followed by people scattering copper coins, and there was a sound of chasing, laughing and fighting in the thick fog.
Xie Xiaomeng was so excited that she suddenly broke away from such a scene and found that she was still in the alley, but there were no stalls illuminated by lanterns, and they were all filled with piles of unburned paper money.
"His father, everything is fine at home. Don't come back. The whole family is very scared. Remember!"
An old woman was burning paper money in a brazier. She saw Xie Xiaomeng coming over and said, "Girl, are you here to burn money too?"
"Today is Qingming Festival?"
"Yeah, time flies so fast this year."
"No, I remember what happened just now."
"It's 2024, girl."
this……
I thought of the thick layer of ash on the stove at home, and how the life-supporting nutrient solution that could last for several months suddenly needed to be replaced. I thought of... Xie Xiaomeng suddenly realized, "Mother-in-law, this is the first time I have been in the fog.
Already?"
"This is the fourth time, and the intervals are shorter each time. Alas, I don’t know how I will live in the future. When will it end!"
