270 ? The eleventh store

270 The Eleventh Store

◎The mood is Fifty Shades of Grey.◎

0815 returned to the office with a book bag, thinking about which book to read to kill time during the night shift.

But it was still early, and it seemed too long to wait until the evening, maybe he could read a book during his break.

Anyway, he bought a lot of books, many of which were classics highly recommended by the store owner, and keeping two or three books would be enough to kill the lonely night.

Several colleagues were watching a surveillance video, and 0815 passed by, glanced at it casually, fixed his eyes, turned his feet, and walked towards them.

"What are you reading?"

0816 tilted his head to look at him: "Did you go to see the owner of the bookstore?"

When the other colleagues heard this, they looked up at him almost at the same time.

0815 nodded: "What's wrong?"

0816 gently swiped on the suspended light screen in front of him, splitting a small screen and pushed it in front of 0815: "The surveillance team just sent a few videos." The surveillance team sent

three surveillance videos, all of which were taken at the Bookstore Street in District 8.

The first video showed the prison guards and the mechanical sniper team from District 6 squatting at the door of the bookstore to arrest Gus.

0815 had seen this surveillance video, but the video sent by the surveillance team was a little longer, and it also captured Gus buying books in the store.

As 0666 said, Gus stayed in the bookstore for at least fifteen minutes, but he did not hurt the owner and even bought a few books when he left.

In the end, he was caught by the prison guards at the door but he did not resist, and reminded them not to damage his books.

The second video was the first time 0815 watched. It was about four prisoners from the sixth district who came to the eighth district during their break and ran into the owner who was returning from a physical examination at the door of the bookstore.

The four prisoners obviously had bad intentions. When the silver-gray robot ran towards the weak owner first, even though he knew that the owner was not hurt, 0815 still couldn't help but sweat for her.

But 0815 didn't expect that the owner personally subdued the prisoners.

0815 saw the shopkeeper calmly throw the mechanical body that had turned into a ball to another silver-gray robot, and was stunned and puzzled: "How could this happen?"

0816 pushed the last video to 0815: "This is the last video. Not long after the four prisoners left, five more prisoners came from District 9."

The shopkeeper used the same method to subdue the group of prisoners and asked them to buy books.

In the video, the shopkeeper's voice was soft and clear: "Everyone come in and buy three books, and this matter will be forgotten."

0815 remembered what the shopkeeper said to him - they were very studious and just came to buy books.

He said how could the group of prisoners be so honest, it turned out that they kicked the iron plate.

The three videos directly shattered 0815's weak filter of the shopkeeper.

This is not a fragile native human being, but a humanoid weapon with high attack and defense.

The colleague next to him could not hide his excitement: "I just saw her physical examination data, her mental power is S-level, and she has not undergone any gene fusion. How can she have such ability?"

S-level mental power is rare among ordinary people, almost one in a million.

But this is Guandao, the mental values ​​of prisoners range from A-level to 6S-level, and the minimum selection standard for prison guards is S-level mental value.

However, there are very few pure native people like Lu Yao among prisoners and prison guards. Most of them are not born naturally, but have undergone artificial gene screening, or are alien artificial humans with gene fusion.

The so-called aliens are humans who are not naturally fertilized/born by nature and not born by the mother.

For pure native humans, the naturally occurring S-level mental value is actually quite precious, not to mention that the store owner's mental value is not only S-level.

0815 was silent.

He also couldn't understand Lu Yao's ability.

Could it be a byproduct of the 6S-level spirit value?

After a long time, 0815 replied dryly: "I don't know. If I hadn't seen you watching the surveillance video just now, I wouldn't have known that the owner was so powerful."

0816 suddenly asked: "What are books? Are they really so magical that they can tame even the most vicious criminals?"

Three surveillance videos, three groups of prisoners, who dares to say that they didn't have evil in their minds before entering the bookstore?

Even if they were violently subdued by the owner, they were a little reluctant when buying books. When they came out of the bookstore, each of them was holding a light yellow book bag in their hands and began to talk about the contents of the books.

A colleague saw the light yellow book bag that 0815 had placed on the edge of 0816's table and exclaimed: "Did you buy books?!"

0815 subconsciously touched the tip of his nose: "I just went to see the owner and bought a few books."

0815 generously opened the book bag: "This is also the first time I have seen books. Listening to the owner's introduction, each book is very interesting. There is a quiet reading room in the store, and there are also sample books for trial reading. Basically, you can know whether you like it or not after flipping through a few pages. The owner is a pity that the island is full of robots, otherwise the store will also provide tea and snacks to customers."

0816: "That's right. Before going to the island, didn't she know the situation here?"

0815: "Maybe it's just a feeling. Chatting with her, I feel that she really likes books, and probably wants to provide customers with a better experience and reading environment."

After hearing what he said, his colleagues became more curious about the books and took out a book from the bag without hesitation.

0816 held a book and read it for a few minutes, then looked up and said to 0815: "Can you lend me this one? I'll return it to you in the afternoon."

0815 nodded in agreement, but then worriedly instructed: "The paper is very fragile, so be gentle when you turn it."

Another colleague held up a collection of poems: "1515, can you lend me this book?

I'll return it to you after lunch break." The bag of books that 0815 brought back was divided up by his colleagues. Fortunately, he bought a lot, so there were three books left for him in the bag.

----

The artificial star slowly sank to the west, and the stars twinkled in the sky.

The prisoners were taken back to the prisons one after another. The seventh, eighth, and ninth districts were completely quiet, and there was almost no light in the outer island area.

The only store on Bookstore Street also hung a sign saying it was closed. The store was mostly dark, with only one light left in the reading room.

Lu Yao sat alone under the lamp to check the accounts. The sales on the first day of opening far exceeded expectations.

Without calculating any costs, the bookstore earned more than two million Star Dollars.

Lu Yao's plan was the same. He used all the connections and wealth of other stores to support the development of the bookstore. As long as he made 10 million star coins, he would pay off the loan first.

She hated being in debt.

The Dream Fulfilling System had just sneaked back from the Seventh District Spiritual Value Research Center. When it saw the first day's sales statistics on the table, it exclaimed: "This is so much on the first day. Can't it be possible to make 10 million in five days?"

The store owner's ability to make money is too terrifying.

It has been with the store owner all the way. Every store has experienced difficulties, but it can't stump the store owner at all!

Late at night, only Lu Yao and the Dream-Fulfilling System were in the store. Lu Yao’s spirit was exhausted from the daytime business, and his tone was a little cold: "In the business world, there has never been a static market. A good turnover on the first day does not mean that every day in the future will have such good revenue. We must be mentally prepared and adapt accordingly."

Dream-Fulfilling System: "I believe you. No matter what situation you face, the store owner will never be defeated!"

Lu Yao was amused: "Where did you eat candy beans? Even your words are sweet."

The Dream-Fulfilling System suppressed its shyness and changed the subject a little stiffly: "I went to the Mental Value Research Center."

Lu Yao: "What did you do there?"

The Dream-Fulfilling System directly pushed Lu Yao's physical examination report to the store manager's page.

"I suspected that they had falsified your medical report, and it turned out to be true."

Lu Yao saw his real medical report on the system interface and was a little confused: "Level 6S? What's going on?"

Dream-fulfilling system: "It's your real mental value. I also found some information by the way. There is only one 6S-level criminal on the island. He is locked up in the deepest cell of the inner island. It seems that he has not been released for twenty years."

Lu Yao: "Really?"

Dream-fulfilling system: "Guan Island is an artificial planet, specially used to detain robot criminals. The prisoner with the shortest sentence It's also a hundred years, but I think this island is boring and there seems to be no effective punishment for those criminals. They have no physiological needs and have long since gained eternal life with the help of mechanical bodies. What difference does a hundred years or two hundred years make to them? It's just killing time. "

Lu Yao: "We all really need to start thinking."

The Dream System became shy: "Oh, I won't tell you. When will you review the new translation materials?" Lu

Yao put away his notebook, stood up and turned off the lights in the reading room, and walked towards the bookstore's warehouse in the dark.

In addition to the book inventory, there is also an employee office in the warehouse.

The bookstore's business hours have ended, but Lu Yao's work is far from over.

After the Childhood Tutoring Center got off work in the afternoon, Alfred was sent here and was working diligently in the Mustard Space.

Lu Yao temporarily left the Mustard Space in the staff office of the warehouse. She made a cup of strong tea, carried a plate of snacks and dried fruits, and entered the Mustard Space.

The long desk was piled with freshly translated manuscripts, all of which needed Lu Yao to review, revise, and proofread. This was a very energy-consuming job.

Alfred and the Dream-Fulfilling System can be roughly classified into the category of artificial intelligence systems. Both have their own strengths, and both have very sophisticated computing capabilities and excellent learning abilities.

However, when facing books, they often cannot fully understand the deep meaning behind those profound thoughts. The translated texts are superficial and almost all need Lu Yao to repaint.

Fortunately, there is the Mustard Seed Space, which gives Lu Yao enough time to deal with the translation details of so many books.

After the bookstore's daytime business is over, the owner and two assistants still have to work in the Mustard Seed Space for a long time, basically in months and years.

It was not until the long and silent night was about to wake up that Lu Yao got up with a blanket.

She walked to the sofa and sat down. She leaned back on the cushion and yawned. She tried hard to resist sleepiness and ordered: "The two books on the table have been finalized, and the cover of the new book is in the mailbox. Meixue sent me the finalized version this afternoon, so I'll use it directly. I'll take a nap first."

After the owner fell asleep, Alfred dragged his little tail and bustled around on the desk.

He wanted to ensure that when the owner woke up, the sample books of the new books that needed to be put on the shelves the next day had been made.

----

The lights in the prison were turned off. The cells were arranged in a circle along the walls, neatly arranged in rows and columns. From a distance, they looked like cold tombs, dark and empty.

In each small square grid, a struggling soul was imprisoned.

In every long night invaded by darkness, they screamed madly, cried crazily, and tortured themselves.

The light of the artificial moon poured in through the window and scattered on the silvery-white floor.

The prison guard 0666 from the sixth district was still in the office of the prison. Before his break, he routinely checked the surveillance inside the prison to confirm that the prisoners were all in their rooms.

The prisoner in Room 307 in the fifth dormitory found a rope from somewhere and tried to hang himself by the neck.

He had been serving his sentence in Guandao for twelve years and was a little mentally disturbed. He seemed to have forgotten that he had replaced his body with a mechanical one.

The prisoner in Room 509 banged his head against the wall. It didn't hurt, but the clanging sound was really piercing when heard through the surveillance.

The prisoners in Room 606 started to somersault all over the room, as if they had endless energy.

...

Every day it was almost the same scene, the prisoners were like this, and the jailers were like this.

Decades had gone by the same day, nothing had changed.

It couldn't be said that way, probably everyone's "condition" was worse than when they first arrived.

0666 slid the light screen, quickly browsing all the rooms in Dormitory 5. When his line of sight scanned a certain room, he slightly bent his fingers and slowly slid them back, with the surveillance camera aimed at Room 705.

Gus only returned to Dormitory 5 in the evening. He should not be very old physically. He had just arrived in Guandao for four months and had to undergo mental interrogation from time to time.

0666 actually has a headache about this guy. His mental level is very high and his temper is particularly strange. He often instigates other prisoners in the cell to cause trouble for the guards.

The monthly mental interrogation is useless. He may riot mentally and stab the accompanying guards if he is not careful.

In the past, Gus would go crazy in the cell after being interrogated, but today he was unusually honest. Not only did he not resist when he was escorted back, he also did not make trouble at night.

0666 was a little curious about his condition, so he adjusted the brightness of the surveillance camera, aimed at room 705 and slowly zoomed in.

The silver-gray robot leaned against the head of the bed with his legs propped up, a night light on his chest, and a book in his hand.

0666 zoomed in closer and finally saw the book in Gus's hand - "The Count of Monte Cristo", Volume 1.

That book costs 68,000 .

0666 sent the owner to the Mental Value Research Center in the morning. The owner had also read this book on the airship.

However, the owner was reading the paperback version at that time, and the cover was very soft and could be folded to the back.

Gus bought the hardcover version, which has a stiff cover and more delicate pages, and it cannot be folded.

0666 couldn't see the contents of the book, but the way Gus read the book was clearly displayed in front of him through the suspended screen.

Gus seemed to be unable to hear the noise of other cells. His blue-gray mechanical eyes stared intently at the pages in front of him, as if the story in it attracted all his attention, so much so that he escaped from this desperate night for a short time and stopped being crazy.

0666 stared at Gus's cell for almost five minutes, and suddenly regretted not going to the bookstore to buy the novel during the day.

In the long and lonely night, 0666's thirst for knowledge and curiosity were out of control, and he was crazy about reading the entire story.

In order to divert the sudden impulse, 0666 withdrew from the monitoring area of ​​​​Door 5 and turned to check Door 7.

Door 7 was unusually quiet, perhaps because the twin brothers and Team 597 were in confinement. Without those restless young souls, the old people in the cell did not cause trouble.

When 0666 thought of the twin brothers, he remembered that he seemed to see them coming back from outside with Del in Room 423 and Kani in Room 425 during the day.

He casually swiped twice on the suspended light screen, and the images of cells 423 and 425 appeared at the same time.

Del was not in bed, and there was a large shadow under the ventilation window.

He leaned against the wall with his knees bent, and a book was spread out on his knees.

The man read in a small handful of moonlight leaking in from the vent.

0666 turned his head away in annoyance and looked at another light screen.

Cell 425 was even more amazing. The appearance of Kani's mecha was a customized mechanical body that was restored one-to-one with the real mecha. He also added some personal designs to the mecha, such as installing a small flashlight on the palm of his hand.

0666 has been in prison in District 6 for more than seven years. At that time, Kani was imprisoned in Dormitory 7.

This was the first time in seven years that 0666 saw Kani use his small flashlight function.

Kearney was lying on his back on the bed, with his head and shoulders almost at right angles, and the hatch on his chest opened to both sides, just enough to serve as a stand.

He stuck the book in the groove between the hatch and his chest, put his left hand behind his head, raised his right hand, and aimed the small flashlight in his palm at the page.

The worst thing was that Kearney was also reading that damn "The Count of Monte Cristo". 0666 quickly checked the cell, picked up his uniform jacket, stood up and walked out.

Tomorrow, he must go to the bookstore to buy a copy of "The Count of Monte Cristo"!

----

There are three types of confinement cells on Guandao Island. The twins and Team 597 were locked up in the outermost confinement cell.

This kind of confinement room is similar to a single cell, but it is not as spacious as a cell. Both sides of the corridor are crowded with rooms. The space inside is only half of that of a normal cell. There are no windows, only a palm-sized visitor hole on the door.

This kind of confinement room is mainly used to detain prisoners who occasionally cause trouble and whose mistakes are not so serious.

The prison guards deliberately locked the twins and the five people of the 597th team in seven rooms facing each other in the same corridor, allowing them to curse and quarrel with each other.

Generally, after three to five days, they are tired of cursing each other, and the matter is over.

In the dark confinement room, a faint sob can be heard, echoing repeatedly in the deep and cold corridor.

Xi could hear the crying coming from the opposite room, and it was from 597 who beat him up in the morning

. The two players had just finished a fierce war of words that lasted for thirty hours, and Xi now just wanted to rest quietly for a while and read a book. But

the noise from the opposite side was endless, and he couldn't help but get up and bang on the door: "597, what the hell are you crazy about? Can you be quiet for a minute?"

597 was sitting in the corner, holding a collection of poems in his hands. He couldn't cry, but he couldn't help sobbing.

He was tired of scolding, and was too bored to find anything to do, so he casually took out a book from his bag.

It would be a waste if he didn't read the book that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He just touched it casually and took out a collection of poems.

The signature on the collection of poems was a name he had never heard of, but 597 didn't care and casually turned a page.

[I made the biggest mistake a person could make, and I was never able to be happy. My parents raised me... They gave me courage, but I didn't become a brave person (1).]

597 fell to the floor, unable to shed tears, but unable to control sobbing.

He had never thought that words could be used as knives, and that stabbing into his body was more painful than the mechanical guns of the prison guards.

A ball of paper was thrown into 597's confinement room from the opposite viewing hole. Xi was still banging on the door: "I'm so upset. Can you stop crying?"

597 reached out and picked up the ball of paper that rolled in front of him, a little confused: "There are no words on this paper."

Xi's voice came from the opposite side: "This is a notebook given by the store owner. It is specially used to record reading insights. I haven't written anything yet, so of course there are no words. How come you don't even have a gift?"

597 got up to look through his book bag, not to mention a notebook, there was not even a pen.

597 hugged the poetry collection in his arms tightly, cursed, and felt like Fifty Shades of Grey.

...

In the next room, one of 597's younger brothers took out two pens and two clean small notebooks from his book bag, and didn't know whether to say anything.

----

At the same time, in the office of the District 8 Administration.

It was long past the end of work time, but the office, which should have been empty and dark, was still brightly lit.

A circle of people surrounded 0815's desk, and none of the colleagues who had borrowed books from him in the morning had left.

Colleague A: "Who is reading "The Deep Rose"? How long will it take?"

Colleague B: "This book only has the first volume? What about the others?"

0815: "That one seems to have three copies. I saw that others only bought the first volume, so I only bought one."

Colleague B: "..."

0816: "1515, "One Hundred Years of Solitude"... haven't you finished reading it yet?"

There were several books scattered on the table; the colleagues seemed very busy.

0815 was reading One Hundred Years of Solitude during his lunch break, and he didn't put it down until the evening.

According to the speed at which the robot processes information, that much time was enough for him to read the book three times.

0816 had already finished reading the other books that 0815 bought, and One Hundred Years of Solitude was the last one.

In fact, he should go back to the dormitory to rest after work, read it early tomorrow morning, or rush to the bookstore to buy a copy early in the morning, but 0816 felt an urgency, and he couldn't imagine how long this night would be.

[…Everything recorded on the parchment scroll will never happen again, because the family destined to endure one hundred years of loneliness will never have a second chance to appear on earth (2). 】

0815 finished reading the last sentence slowly and enjoyably, closed the book reluctantly, and handed it to 0816: "I've read it five times, and I never get tired of it."

0816 responded perfunctorily, lowered his head and opened the magnum opus he had been waiting for for a long time.

The book that 0815 just bought in the morning had some corners that had flaked up due to repeated folding, and was not so smooth.

The rustling sound of the pages turning continued, and 0815 leaned lazily on the chair, looked up at the familiar ceiling, and closed his eyes with satisfaction.

0815 couldn't help but imagine that even after many years, he would never forget this night when he and his colleagues had a late-night book club in the office.

Just like when Colonel Leoriano Buendía faced the firing squad, he remembered the distant afternoon when his father took him to see ice (3).

----

When Lu Yao was tired from her busy schedule, she would sleep in the mustard seed space, and when she woke up, she would continue to read and work.

It was not until the dream-fulfilling system notified her that it was dawn in Kanshima and the bookstore was open that she came out of the mustard seed space, holding two boxes of new books that she had prepared all night.

Kanshima followed an absolutely healthy schedule, and treated prisoners and guards equally.

After the prisoners got up, there seemed to be some group activities, and then they were sent to Districts 7 and 9 by the guards.

Lu Yao thought that she had figured out their schedule yesterday, so she got up early without panic. She ordered breakfast at the snack bar before opening the store. She also thought that there were basically no customers in the morning, so she would have enough time to put new books on the shelves after breakfast .

But she didn't expect that as soon as the store door opened, several customers in black prison guard uniforms rushed in and grabbed her arms like hungry wolves.

"Christ... The Count of Monte Cristo... Where is the middle and lower volumes?" Lu

Yao turned sideways and pointed to the bookshelf behind her.

[Author's words]

Note (1) "I made the biggest mistake a person can make. I have never been able to be happy. My parents raised me... They gave me courage, but I did not become a brave person." Quoted from Borges's "Guilt".

Note (2) "Everything recorded on the parchment scroll will never happen again, because the family destined to endure a hundred years of solitude will not have a second chance to appear on earth" is quoted from the ending of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Marquez.

Note (3) "Just as Colonel Leoriano Buendía faced the firing squad, he remembered the distant afternoon when his father took him to see ice" is quoted from "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Marquez.

Notes on books mentioned in the article: Alexandre Dumas, author of The Count of Monte Cristo / Marquez, author of One Hundred Years of Solitude / Borges, author of The Deep Rose

--- Thanks to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2023-12-04 00:28:33~2023-12-04 23:47:52~

Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Liu Mo 2; CP in the book 1;

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thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!

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