In a barbecue restaurant in downtown Jiangcheng.
From the floor-to-ceiling windows you can overlook the night view of Lingjiang River, with cruise ships swaying on the river and people coming and going on the riverside walkway. There are all kinds of shops attracting pedestrians to stop.
Tomorrow is the first day of the college entrance examination. There are some college entrance examination-related banners on the road, but for Lu Ban, this was something that happened several years ago.
This barbecue restaurant is famous for its butter-aged steaks. The so-called aging is a method of storing food by leaving fresh meat for a period of time to make it more flavorful. In terms of technique, it is somewhat similar to the method of making ham.
However, Lu Ban didn’t think the aged meat was that delicious. Instead, he felt it was a bit of a waste to cut off so much meat.
He is a simple man, and not caring about cost does not mean he will spend money recklessly.
But after all, this is the store chosen by Qin Tiantian, so it may be a little expensive.
After ordering the dishes and waiting for the chef to prepare them, Lu Ban glanced at Feng Yu who was sitting opposite him.
"Why did you think of coming here today?"
Hearing this, Feng Yu blinked and said with some amusement.
"Of course it's because of you."
"?"
Qin Tiantian looked at Lu Ban, then at Feng Yu, and secretly took a sip of the tea in the cup.
"You didn't forget that today is your birthday, did you?"
Feng Yu asked.
"Is today my birthday?"
Lu Ban was also surprised.
"So you were born on June 6th?"
Qin Tiantian was also surprised.
"No, why are you surprised?"
She looked at Lu Ban again.
"I don't usually pay attention to these things. I didn't pass it last year."
At this time last year, Lu Ban was still a nobody struggling to make a living, but in just one year, he has become one of the highest-grossing directors in the country. It can only be said that the course of history is sometimes far more important than personal struggle.
"Then you should treat us today."
Qin Tiantian picked up the menu and decided to order some more.
"Shouldn't you be the ones treating me?"
Lu Ban asked back.
"Tsk, what a petty man."
Qin Tiantian put down the menu but didn't care too much. After all, she had ordered a lot and probably wouldn't be able to finish it.
"I heard that your movie is going to be screened overseas?"
Feng Yu did not join in the banter between the two and asked again.
"Yes, I think it is necessary to expand into the international market and become bigger and stronger."
Lu Ban answered decisively.
“Very ambitious.”
Feng Yu laughed. At this time, the waiter brought the appetizers and the three of them officially started eating.
We chatted while eating, and it was already ten o'clock when we finished.
After leaving the extremely sleepy Qin Tiantian back home, Lu Ban and Feng Yu went for a walk in the neighborhood.
"It seems that you have found a way to resist the pollution?"
Feng Yu walked in front. A few stars could be seen in the early summer sky. If it were someone else, they might try to identify what constellations they belonged to, but in Lu Ban's opinion, the stars in the sky might all be enemies.
"Yes, if you want to fight against the pollution from foreign lands, you must first enter the pollution yourself. This is what I am doing now."
Lu Ban nodded.
"You have discovered one of the basic rules of this world."
Feng Yu spoke in a tone of voice, as if praising a student who had answered a math problem correctly.
"All knowledge in this world is accompanied by pollution, and the same is true for this planet. The more humans explore knowledge and the more they understand the world, the greater the impact of pollution on all of humanity. Look, millions of years ago, humans were just insects living in caves, but now they can destroy themselves effortlessly."
"You mean nuclear war?"
After hearing Feng Yu's description, Lu Ban also understood a little.
Originally, humans were just creatures like other animals, and the limit of what an individual could do was just to influence the area within a few miles around them. But with the evolution of humans and the accumulation of knowledge, the scope of human influence has become larger and larger, and the degree of impact they can have on themselves and their surroundings has become more and more serious.
It's the same pattern as pollution.
However, the pollution caused by such knowledge is very slight, and because of the long time span, the consequences are also smaller, which is far less than directly seeing those indescribable creatures in a foreign land.
In fact, if primitive people suddenly saw today’s cars and mobile phones, they might be overly frightened and worship them as gods, which would reduce their rationality.
"Yes, if you want to become stronger in a foreign land, you need more knowledge. The more knowledge you gain, the more pollution you will suffer. The crazier you are, the stronger you will be. Most of the gods you have seen have fallen into madness, and a few are on the verge of madness."
Not sure if it was Lu Ban’s illusion, but he heard some self-mockery in Feng Yu’s tone.
"Is there a way to avoid madness and become stronger?"
Lu Ban couldn't help but be curious.
"For now, no."
Feng Yu shook his head.
"It's just that when the pollution spreads and that crazy knowledge becomes common sense in the alien world, the overall strength of the alien world will increase, just like what you have seen."
This is easy to understand. A primitive man may faint when he sees a mobile phone, but over time, if he is given a certain amount of time to learn, he can learn to use a mobile phone. At that time, mobile phones have become common sense for the primitive man. The appearance of mobile phones will not scare him, but his cognition will be changed forever.
"Has the Quiet Place been trying to deepen the pollution of the foreign land within a controllable range?"
Lu Ban asked again. From another perspective, what he was doing now was gradually polluting the world, which was obviously what the Land of Silence was happy to see.
It is for this reason that Lu Ban temporarily believes that the Land of Silence belongs to his friends, or at least, not to his enemies.
"In your perception, it is true, but the deeper reason is that it is not true."
Feng Yu stopped and looked back at Lu Ban.
"What's the reason?"
Lu Ban couldn't help but ask, and after a pause, he raised his hand again.
“Does this reason also involve a certain amount of pollution?”
In a silent place, knowledge represents pollution. If one is exposed to knowledge passively, the effect of pollution will be deepened, causing a decrease in rationality and corresponding physical alienation. If one obtains knowledge through one's own exploration, the effect of pollution will be relatively shallow and will have less impact on the body.
These are Lu Ban’s personal experiences.
So to some extent, A Quiet Place does have some mouth cannons.
As long as you have gained a certain amount of deeply contaminated knowledge through exploration, you can directly tell the enemy about this knowledge. If the enemy has a weaker ability to withstand it, he will probably be directly corroded and alienated.
Just like the mumbling of Lu Ban’s great existence, it has a similar effect.
"Of course, and it is very deeply polluted."
Feng Yu smiled.
"I made this trip just to verify this, and I got the answer, but I also paid a price."
She suddenly came over and pulled down the collar of her dress when she was very close to Lu Ban.
Lu Ban saw that there were no welfare scenes that the people liked to see.
There was nothing there. A huge mouth with countless teeth lay across Feng Yu's chest. Inside the mouth, countless wriggling tentacles were trying to close the huge mouth of the abyss. Deeper inside, countless eyeballs were moving, spying on Lu Ban through the gaps.
It was as if the entire body had become an empty shell, with only this big mouth remaining, trying to disguise itself as a human.
Lu Ban raised his head and saw that Feng Yu's smile had not changed at all.