Chapter 23
The world of fog is so wonderful.
They are the most eager to explore the unknown world, but they are also the most isolated from information.
Although they have advanced technology like the Arrow Project, other aspects are at the normal early twentieth century level.
However, the Arrow Project is only used as a background setting in the movie, and there is little direct description. Perhaps the discovery of the underlying technology of this project is largely accidental, or it is simply some ancient relic or alien technology. After all, the genre label of "The Mist" is horror, not science fiction, so naturally anything is possible.
Fang Shao had all kinds of guesses in his mind while he continued to flip through the book "Stephen King Novella Collection" in his hand. Although this famous horror writer is well-known, most of the works Fang Shao has read are adapted from novels into movies and TV shows, such as "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Shining", and "Carrie". This is the first time he has read a literary work.
What surprised Fang Shao a little was that the ending of the novel version of "The Mist" and the movie version were very different.
At the end of the movie, the military dispersed the fog, killed the monster, and appeared as a savior in front of David, who had already helped his companions commit suicide, and gave him the last blow in despair, causing him to collapse directly.
In the novel, the military was always invisible, and the fog did not dissipate until the end of the novel. Fortunately, David and his companions found a safe place to spend the night, so they managed to maintain their mentality and continued to set out towards the vast road ahead the next day.
This is an open ending.
Generally speaking, the ending of the novel is not as amazing as the movie version. But putting aside the degree of excitement, if we only choose from the perspective of human nature, Fang Shao really can't say which ending is better.
In the novel, the overall environment seems hopeless, but David and his group of protagonists still hold on to hope.
In the movie, David and his group of protagonists are naturally sad and desperate, but the military with flames spewing from their guns and constantly dispersing the fog, and the residents who were rescued on the military card are full of vitality and hope.
Both endings are a subtle mixture of despair and hope, without a truly happy ending.
However, with the intervention of the bar, the happy ending of the Mist World has been achieved. Now it depends on whether the collision between the Mist and The Wandering Earth can produce sparks of hope again.
Next, the two worlds started a long negotiation in the bar.
The negotiation took a long time because they spent most of the time waiting, waiting for the bar to appear in their own world, and waiting for the other party to appear in the bar.
But in Fang Shao's eyes, they came quite often, appearing in the bar from time to time. And once they met, every negotiation made considerable progress. Fang Shao could see this from the relatively happy expressions of both parties when they left.
As the negotiations progressed, the number of members of the two negotiating teams gradually increased. After all, the details of cooperation involve many aspects. Zhu and Qiao are experts in communication and negotiation, and other aspects involving scientific theories and technical applications must be handled by people with professional backgrounds.
Things were fine for The Wandering Earth, as they received help from Fang Shao when they first came into contact with the bar. Thousands of people came in and out of the bar, so they didn't have to worry too much about bringing people along.
The Misty World started to tentatively bring people in only after they saw that The Wandering Earth calmly added members to the negotiation team and Fang Shao showed no displeasure at all.
After all, they had a bad experience.
But if Fang Shao knew what they were thinking, he would probably be in tears. For a bar, the more customers the better, so how could he refuse a customer to bring someone else?
This is a complete misunderstanding.
The language buff can only allow him to ignore language barriers, but it cannot allow him to possess knowledge and abilities that he does not originally possess.
For example, with the buff, he can easily recognize the English word "entropy" and know that it can be translated into "entropy". But that's all. If you continue to ask what "entropy" is and what field the concept belongs to, Fang Shao can only smile and use practical actions to interpret what is the clear ignorance of contemporary college students.
This is how the scientist from the misty world was defeated last time.
It was just because the bar added a mysterious identity to Fang Shao that his "clear ignorance" was mistakenly identified by scientists as "reserved refusal."
The poor man reflected for a long time after returning home and wrote a long self-review, but he was still transferred from his important position. The military also withdrew the small test.
This is a tragedy, for both parties.
But now that the Wandering Earth has taken the lead, the Mist Army immediately followed suit.
When the negotiation team had the most people, there were about 10 to 20 people on each side, surrounding the two main negotiators. It seemed both troublesome and ugly, so Fang Shao simply temporarily allocated a large area on the right to them, giving them the right to make their own arrangements.
The negotiating team was very active and put the dining tables together to form a standard U-shaped negotiation shape. They each sat on one side and took turns to preside over the negotiations.
So the style of the bar became more and more strange during this period.
When other guests arrive at the bar, they may see a large group of men and women in uniform occupying half of the bar. Sometimes they argue fiercely. Usually one party asks for a high price and the other party returns the money on the spot. Sometimes everyone is silent. They bury their heads in the latest information in their hands, their brains working rapidly, making various speculations and calculations.
From time to time, various data and images are projected into the air, which look both complex and sophisticated, carrying the ultimate wisdom of mankind in the world.
Totoro always remained calm in the face of such a spectacle. After taking a quick glance, he quietly passed by with the two timid children.
Harry was a little curious. But without his friends, he lacked courage, so he stayed aside and waited for Fang Shao to finish before talking to him. After running the bar for so long, this was the first time Fang Shao felt busy—of course, the tsunami didn't count.
Iron Man was different. He walked over to listen without hesitation, and then joined the discussion, arrogantly pointing at the technology displayed by both sides. If it weren't for the grateful Wandering Earth trying to smooth things over, and Stark's extraordinary insights, Misty would have fought with him a long time ago.
Stark has such a bad temper that even if he was given ten bottles of "Ancient Dreams", let alone one, it would be useless. If he could change, he would not be Iron Man anymore.
Stark did not mention the Marvel movies or Thanos to Fang Shao and Mr. Zhu, but from his seemingly equal-minded attitude, which was actually biased towards The Wandering Earth, it could be seen that he took the contents of the USB drive seriously.
As Fang Shao saw, the discussion between the two sides progressed quickly. The Wandering Earth side had always been firm in their stance. What they wanted was the scientific principles and technical details of the "Arrow Project" so that they could replicate the Alien Gate to the Wandering Earth to the greatest extent possible. But their frankness did not mean that the other side could have whatever they wanted.
The Misty Army seemed to be asking for a lot, but they were also prepared for a bargain from the Wandering Earth. After all, they didn't just want to do business with the bar, not to mention that Tony Stark's acquisition message was written on the blackboard on the bar wall.
And although Fang Shao had not expressed his opinion, they were not blind. Facing the old fox with white hair, Fang Shao's smile was more sincere. Even George, who had the longest contact with them, did not receive this treatment.
Because of this, they even felt that the pizzas they got on The Wandering Earth were bigger and the fruit plates were more numerous.
It's really a brain supplement that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Rather than saying Fang Shao is closer to Zhu Lao, it is better to say Zhu Lao is more comfortable with Fang Shao. Emotions are two-way.
Maybe this is the characteristic of the Mist World? Even when David and the protagonist group first arrived, they also made up their minds about the identities of Fang Shao and imagined a bunch of possible taboos.
When the real world time moved forward to mid-December, the cooperation between the two worlds was finally achieved.
"You want me to be your witness?" Fang Shao looked at the two stacks of cooperation agreements in front of him, which were almost as thick as bricks, and picked them up and flipped through them. Very good, I felt dizzy after reading just a few lines. I knew every word, but when I put them together, it was like reading a book of heaven.
"Yes." Zhu Lao and George nodded at the same time. The two negotiating team members gathered behind them. After the technical discussion session, there were fewer people, only a few people left on each side.
Fang Shao didn't think there was any point in doing this, but seeing that both parties were very insistent, he readily took out the pen. Before signing, Fang Shao half-jokingly said, "Just make sure you are a witness. Do you not need me to guarantee you or anything like that?"
Seeing both parties' eyes light up, Fang Shao laughed and signed his name behind the word "witness". "It's just a joke, don't take it seriously."
Everyone was somewhat embarrassed by Fang Shao's inappropriate joke, but most people didn't dare to say anything. Only Mr. Zhu smiled and glanced at Fang Shao, "You and the existence of the bar are the biggest guarantee."
The Mist World finally chose the space elevator technology as an exchange, and the Wandering Earth got the desired Arrow Project. The next step is for each world to verify it.
After all, although both parties have no reservations on technical issues - Fang Shao's weight as a witness is not light, but in a different world, whether these technologies can still be implemented as smoothly as in the original world, there is still a small question mark for the time being.
Fang Shao hopes that everything will go well for both sides. Especially for Wandering Earth. After the tsunami, most of the humans moved to the underground city, but Zhu Lao said that some humans still live on the surface. Most of them did not draw the lottery for the underground city qualification, but a few of them voluntarily gave up the qualification to move in. Some of them could not leave their relatives outside, some were volunteers with great love, and some joined the rebels.
The United Government has not abandoned these people, and has been transporting supplies to the ground from time to time to ensure their survival. However, as time goes by and the Wandering Earth Project progresses, the situation on the ground will only get worse, and they will face more severe survival tests.
If the Arrow Project can successfully open the door to another world, even if the other side is full of fog and monsters like the world opened by George and his team, they are confident that they can use firepower to cover all non-cooperation and unpleasantness, and strive for the survival of those who survive on the ground and for more people wandering on the earth.
If the founders don't give them a happy ending, they will create one for themselves.