Calculating the Stars
"The Tower to Heaven..." Chen Ling murmured to himself.
"So, that place is similar to the lair of Floating Life Painting?"
"You can understand it like that. However, the Tower to Heaven is only used for research, and those 'artisans' are not good at fighting either... Of course, excluding individual 9-series lunatics." 9 of Spades seemed to have thought of something, his expression somewhat subtly adding, "In short, the Tower to Heaven will not interfere with the operation of Tianshu Domain... Tianshu Domain has its own 'order'."
9 of Spades emphatically emphasized the word "order", seemingly pointing to something else.
"Alright, alright, why say so much to him, it's not like he's going to blow up the Tower to Heaven." Jian Changsheng casually waved his hand. "Let's go eat first. Running around in the Gray World for so many days, I'm already about to starve to death."
9 of Spades naturally had no objections. "Still going to the same place as last time?"
"Right! The same place as last time!"
"That place is a bit expensive... My salary for this month is almost used up."
Chen Ling: ???
Chen Ling wanted to pull out his gun and put a bullet in Jian Changsheng's head. After all, this guy also had the [Blood Raiment] and shouldn't die that easily... But thinking about how the other party had carried him on his back for so long after all, reason and benevolence still stopped him.
"... It's fine, this meal is my treat." Chen Ling spoke calmly. "Where is that restaurant you guys are talking about?"
"No rush."
9 of Spades glanced at the large clock at the street corner. "It's about to come over."
Chen Ling froze, seemingly not understanding the meaning of 9 of Spades. Just as he was about to ask something more, the minute hand on the clock clicked and pointed towards the direction of 12 o'clock... The next moment, the red lights at all intersections lit up. Whether it was the trains on the road or the pedestrians on the sidewalk, they all invariably stopped.
"What's the situation?" Chen Ling's brows furrowed slightly.
Buzz—!
A low roar transmitted from beneath their feet.
The street covered in parallel railway tracks separated towards both sides like a unzipped zipper. Through the cracked open gap, Chen Ling could see countless gears and levers operating deep within the earth, like an incomparably massive super machine...
The street Chen Ling was on slowly rotated like a gear on the machine, meshing with the gears of other blocks. The opposite block just spun away and disappeared to the other side of the earth like this. This process lasted for about thirty seconds. After countless streets and buildings brushed past him, the front of Chen Ling was replaced by an unfamiliar block he had never seen before!
The main road of this block perfectly connected with the road beside Chen Ling. Even the parallel railway tracks seamlessly docked amidst a buzzing sound... The red light of the road sign jumped to green, and the trains slowly started, driving straight towards the block ahead.
Chen Ling's mouth unconsciously opened wide. If the surface metros and the Tower to Heaven just now only made him slightly surprised, then that scene just now completely shocked him... In contrast, the residents of Tianshu Domain beside him were not surprised by this at all, calmly continuing to advance.
"This... this is..."
"How is it? Isn't it very magical??" Seeing Chen Ling's expression, Jian Changsheng grinned. Ever since he and Chen Ling entered Tianshu Domain, he had been looking forward to Chen Ling's reaction upon seeing this scene. "Back when I came for the first time, my jaw dropped to the ground..."
"Tianshu Domain is active." 9 of Spades timely spoke. "It's like a giant astrolabe. Every street and every building has its own operating trajectory... Every hour, it changes once.
Of course, this change is regular. You're a newcomer and might not understand it, but as long as you live here for a period of time, you can grasp the logic of its operation."
"Tianshu Domain is a massive astrolabe??" Chen Ling found it bizarre and unimaginable. "Doesn't that mean that before everyone goes out, they need to confirm the time and the city trajectory that might change during their outing?"
"Exactly."
"That's too inconvenient, it's simply anti-human."
As a modern person from before the Great Cataclysm, Chen Ling found it troublesome enough just to look at the subway transfer time and transfer route before going out, let alone calculating the trajectory of an astrolabe? He didn't understand why Tianshu Domain had to create such an inexplicable design.
"It's normal for you to think this way. After all, from the very beginning, the original intention of establishing Tianshu Domain was not to serve the residents..."
"Then what is it?"
9 of Spades was silent for a moment, and slowly spoke, "Lord of Tianshu designed this Domain in order to calculate the movement trajectory of the Red Star."
Chen Ling froze. "Calculate the movement trajectory of the Red Star??"
"Lord of Tianshu's entire life has been exploring the mysteries of the Red Star, searching for the reason for the regression of human civilization. He once predicted that after the Great Cataclysm, the Red Star would descend on Earth once again, it's just that the time is uncertain... Therefore, Tianshu Domain itself is the simulator he built. The block changes every hour are him calculating the movement trajectory of celestial bodies.
Lord of Tianshu wants to 'catch' the Red Star."
Hearing this, the face of Lu Xun unconsciously surfaced in Chen Ling's mind, falling into silence...
"So that's how it is... However, the Red Star isn't considered a star in the traditional sense. Can its trajectory really be calculated out?"
"Then you'd have to ask Lord of Tianshu."
While speaking, 9 of Spades led the Chen Ling duo across the road.
After the "celestial evolution", a high-end restaurant named "Comet Restaurant" just happened to appear on the opposite side of the street. The main color tone of the storefront was black and gold, and there were even a few shapes of stars drawn on the plaque... Chen Ling only just discovered that basically every street in Tianshu Domain would carry elements of the "starry sky", looking extremely interesting.
The three walked straight up to the second floor of the restaurant and found a place to sit down.
It could be seen that this restaurant, whether in terms of environment or service, was very high-end. Right after the Chen Ling trio sat down, a waiter wearing a uniform stepped forward and handed over an exquisite menu.
"It's rare for Hearts to treat, it's unjustified not to slaughter him for a meal." Jian Changsheng grabbed the menu and after flipping a few pages, "I remember, you guys have king crab, right?"
Chen Ling: ???
"Yes, Mister." The waiter spoke respectfully. "All the seafood is in the water display cabinet on the first floor. You can go pick them out yourself."
"Good, I'll go down and take a look."
Jian Changsheng grinned, and then ran downstairs like a gust of wind... Having suffered defeat at Chen Ling's hands so many times, having a rare opportunity to eat back, naturally he wouldn't miss it. One must know, when Chen Ling was in Red Dust Domain, he was the Special Envoy of the Golden Society, a big spender among big spenders!
Seeing this, Chen Ling couldn't be bothered to argue with him. Anyway, he had plenty of money. Even buying this restaurant today wouldn't be a difficult matter.
Chen Ling sat by the window, quietly waiting for Jian Changsheng to order dishes downstairs. A moment later, a burst of lively gongs and drums transmitted from outside the window.
"... Eh?"
Chen Ling subconsciously stretched his head to look over, and saw a red Awakened Lion dancing on the street.