Fortunately, the other party mentioned the word borrowing books at the beginning. Chaoyang coughed twice and replied tentatively, "I want to borrow a few books."
"The deposit is one hundred thyres, any more will be refunded or compensated."
So expensive! He couldn't help but be surprised when he heard the old man's reply. Judy had almost done anything to find out Dan's whereabouts, but the reward she could offer was only five hundred silver coins.
Based on this price, how many residents can afford to borrow books?
"Do I have to pay first? What if there are no books I want to borrow here?" Chaoyang questioned.
"If you can't borrow it here, then you can't borrow it anywhere in the world." The old man's smile was still enthusiastic.
Such a loud tone?
Chaoyang doubted whether he heard correctly. Judging from his superficial understanding of Brilliant Castle, this place is not a big city - there are old and new continents, and the old continent is the core of the world. According to the usual
Experience shows that libraries are advanced functional buildings that appear after basic food and clothing are met. Therefore, the wealthier core cities are more likely to have large libraries.
This immediately aroused his curiosity.
"This is one hundred." Chaoyang counted out the same amount of silver coins and placed them on the counter.
The old man smiled even more kindly. He accepted the coins and took out a sect key, "Then please follow me."
Chaoyang followed him through the long corridor and came to a hall. There were still no bookshelves or books. Instead, there were a series of neat doors arranged on the surrounding walls.
The door is marked with a number similar to the room number.
Hey, this looks more like a hotel!
The other party stopped in front of room 1024 and inserted the key into the keyhole, "We are here."
Chaoyang walked into the house with some confusion, and found that the room was less than ten square meters, with only a desk and two chairs. The window opposite was a piece of flat glass, which seemed unable to be opened, but it emitted a soft light source.
I don't know where this light comes from.
Naturally, there wasn't a book placed in the room.
But his eyes were completely attracted by another thing - it was a huge machine, which occupied almost half of the room. The main body of the machine was like a spine, hanging down from the ceiling, and it looked like a very large machine.
There was a giraffe. At the position of the deer's head was an extremely complex metal octahedron. Through the oil-stained outer shell, he could vaguely see the countless meshing gears inside slowly rotating.
"It seems that this is your first time visiting Gleick Academy." The old man clearly saw Chaoyang's surprise and asked considerately, "Do you want me to introduce you to how to use the Wanli Machine?"
"What books do you need to borrow? You can tell it directly. If there is one in the academy, the conveyor belt on your left will start to rotate. If not, it will next query the main body. There are two possibilities at this time. One is
If the main body exists, then the typewriter on your right will run automatically, and you need to wait for the book to be printed. The second is if the main body does not exist, then it will give a negative prompt, that is, swing left and right."
Language, voice question and answer? Chaoyang was really shocked this time!
"But you should note that the charges for different results are different." The old man continued, "If the academy deposits the book, we only charge a loss fee of ten silver. If the academy does not have it, asking the main body will incur a service fee of sixty silver.
If you want to print it, you will have to pay an additional 40 silver for the production cost and consumables."
Boy...that actually sounds reasonable.
"Sir, do you have any other questions?"
Yes, and there are many more! However, Chaoyang considered that asking too many questions would easily lead to suspicion, so he only picked the one thing he cared about the most, "This million..."
"Wanli machine."
"What is the body of this universal machine...?"
"Of course it's also a Wanli machine." The other party smiled, "The machine in front of you now is, to be precise, a part of the Wanli machine. Just like the Gleick Academy - any city with an academy has a Wanli machine.
The existence of the mechanism. If you want to know more, you might as well ask it yourself."
By the way, he almost forgot that this was a library. If all-in-one machines were so common, he should be able to look up relevant books directly.
"If you want other services, you can ring the bell on the table, and someone will come to your door later. Then, please read slowly." The old man bowed his chest gracefully, then turned around and exited the room.
It's time to verify.
Chaoyang pointed at the head of the machine and said in a straight tone, "I would like to borrow the Brilliant Castle Travel Guide."
The machine started to move.
Its spine began to expand and contract rhythmically, Chaoyang could even hear the low tremor of the joints clenching, and the gurgling sound of steam ejecting from the pipes.
This thing can actually respond to your own voice!
And it’s a machine powered by steam!
How is this achieved in theory?
Soon, the Wanli machine swayed left and right. According to the receptionist's introduction, this was the answer that the corresponding book could not be found.
How could it be possible... Chaoyang was a little surprised. Has tourism not emerged in the world yet? Or should he change his mind and ask?
"I would like a book about the Brilliant Castle."
This time the conveyor belt on the left spun quickly.
After a while, a yellowed book fell out of the transmission port. Chaoyang picked it up and took a look, and found that the cover said "History of Brilliant Castle".
"This is... too awesome..."
He couldn't help but murmured.
You must know that this is a fuzzy query! Wanli Machine not only understood his query through the voice, but also selected such a book based on his semantics and needs! Even if Chaoyang’s understanding of artificial intelligence is only superficial,
He was extremely surprised by the technology contained in it!
Of course, since Wanli Machine cannot display a list or reply to borrowers verbally, there are huge shortcomings in the efficiency of finding books, but these flaws are insignificant compared to its magical side.
"I would like to borrow the introduction book of Wanli Machinery and related publicity." Chaoyang said again.
This time the machine vibrated longer than before.
After almost two minutes, the typewriter on the right suddenly started up and started producing books.
This also made Chaoyang understand that none of the previous customers who came to borrow books had asked this question.
Hell, aren't they even the least bit curious about Wanliji?
The question I asked will not arouse the receptionist's suspicion...
Fortunately, he used a new appearance when he went out this time, which ensured that no one would associate him with the detective. Chaoyang weighed the pros and cons, and finally decided to wait for the book to be printed.
After all, he really wanted to know how the Wanli Machine was made.
This printing took almost half an hour.
When the brand-new "Grake Academy Chronicles" (fifth edition) was held in his hands, Chaoyang felt a solemn feeling in his heart.
He turned to the home page, and a familiar sentence came into his eyes.
"If you have anything you want to ask, you can find the answer at Gleick Academy."
"That's the center of the world."
Chaoyang suddenly choked on his saliva and coughed.
Well, it turns out that what Judy was talking about was the advertisement of the academy!