A few weeks later, Jiang Ling, deliberately concealing the discomfort caused by a hangover, and surrounded by a group of people with different styles, stepped onto the docking bay of the Steel Atom tactical cruiser - probably dozens of AUs behind the mother ship.
Her memory was still lingering on the moment Lin Yi had urged her to drink, a day earlier. She had no idea where this intelligent being had gotten the contraband, but the result was that the two of them were hiding in a warehouse nowhere to be found, empty aluminum cans and plastic bottles piled high beneath their feet. If an outsider had been there, they would have seen a mountain of garbage, a shredded android body, a hull hole repaired by an automated repair system, and the air lingering with the odor of urine and alcohol.
This should be Jiang Ling's third excessive drinking in this article, but in the setting, it is actually the fifth time...
Every time she blacked out, she vowed never to drink again.
In short, as she followed the crowd forward in a daze, the auditory nerve that had been successfully repaired and restarted transmitted key information to her brain.
"...iron atoms."
Iron atoms? How could that be considered crucial information? Hey, wait, it's not you who thinks this, it's the protagonist who thinks this—because she just saw something else. It was a piece of "paper" lying on top of a pile of folders, disguised as worthless. She only glanced at it accidentally, but the residual visual image still allowed her inhuman brain to transcribe the text.
It is recorded as follows:
A vacuum is not empty. Even if all conventional elements are removed, it still contains matter that is difficult to eradicate. In our universe, dark matter, or dark energy, are actually the same thing.
Although it's hard to believe, the dark matter our ancestors predicted and pursued over 10,000 years ago does exist. It's just that it's even smaller than known microscopic matter, so small that it's impossible to detect with current methods. If the universe is like a computer, then these dark matter particles are like the bacteria crawling on the keyboard.
We now know that all microscopic particles (matter) are spacetime distorted and folded in some unique way, and that energy is the process of unfolding or resetting this folded spacetime. The law of energy conservation breaks down at the Planck scale. During the transformation of microscopic spacetime, some energy is permanently converted into smaller particles. Photons, mesons, gluons, and the like are among these, and they are relatively large. The rest become wrinkles in spacetime, now commonly called "spirits"—the host believes that calling them "debris of matter" might be more appropriate.
These leptons are likely the source of so-called psychic powers, as they possess properties of both matter and energy at such a tiny scale, consistent with psychic phenomena. While we still don't know how organisms manipulate these particles, a wealth of research data points to the ultimate destination of all elements in the universe.
"How is it? The Steel Atom is very different, right?" Lao Ning's low voice interrupted Jiang Ling's recollection.
Looking back suddenly, I am the only one left around.
"It's very different..." Jiang Ling smelled the scent and looked over, only to see Ning Weihe's robotic body holding a tablet and writing and drawing on it, but the tablet's display was as clean as a piece of white paper.
"But your uniqueness almost completely overshadows its uniqueness."
“Same here!”
"No, no, no, I can't compare to you. At least I eat normal food, but you can guzzle 401 liters of ethanol and 260 liters of antifreeze and still be unharmed."
"If energy pellets are considered normal food, then I have nothing to say. Perhaps T800 will have something in common with you."
"T800? What's that?"
"Just pretend I didn't say anything." Jiang Ling was sure it wasn't Lao Ning, at least it wasn't completely Lao Ning.
She lost another companion.
"Okay, you have to walk the rest of the way by yourself. I can only take you here," it said.
"Lao Ning." Jiang Ling called out to it, "My Lin Yi, are you here yet?"
"Everything is going according to plan. This is not the surface, there aren't so many surprises."
"Then I'll take your kind words." Jiang Ling seemed to be thinking about something.
Further ahead is a huge gate that has been opened for a long time. Looking from the outside, the inside is like the spring afternoon sunshine outside the gate, golden, warm and soft, with a cool breeze blowing from time to time.
With a slight movement of her nose, Jiang Ling discerned a familiar smell from the airflow. The distance between them quickly shortened, and she crossed the light curtain and arrived in a brand new world.
In a trance, she saw herself entering a spherical space. All she saw was a spotless mirror. Countless versions of herself were reflected in the mirror, reflecting, reflecting, and then reflecting again, as if the light was imprisoned in a cage.
"Welcome to the 'Danlu'!" One of the "Jiang Lings" turned around and greeted her.
"Why do you look so stupid? Sister, didn't the higher-ups say that the one coming this time is a heavyweight?" Another smaller "Jiang Ling" poked her head out from behind the previous one and said coquettishly.
"You are the zheng and drum, right?" Jiang Ling said.
"Lululu!" The trumpeter "Jiang Ling" made a face.
"Small drum, stop it!" The golden-haired "Jiang Ling" bent to the right to block the naughty boy. "I am indeed Zheng. You don't look familiar. Are you the new sister? What's your name?"
Jiang Ling didn't answer immediately. Instead, she tapped her toes and flew into the air. After all, constantly looking up to listen to people talking was tiring. Then, her eyes lit up. "I heard about you from Qin. There's only one Xun left. Where's she?"
"Second sister... Second sister is not here..." Gu covered his mouth in surprise, but still answered vaguely.
"Snare drum!"
"Yes, yes sister!"
"Constrain your strength. You are no match for her."
After arranging the drum, Zheng looked at Jiang Ling, her eyebrows slightly raised. "So, you've already met the other sisters," she said. "You don't have to tell us their names. We'll cooperate with you."
"Cooperate for what?"
"Don't you know?" Zheng was full of doubt. "We make medicine. We make elixirs for longevity, antidotes, and wall-breaking medicines. But they're not for human consumption." She paused, "We make medicine for civilization."
The Iron Atom started moving, and the three people floating in the air slowly approached the wall on one side. To be precise, the three people fell onto the mirror together.
"It seems that people outside think we are ready." Jiang Ling said.
"Now, now?" Gu poked his head out next to Zheng's calf again.
"Yes, right now!" Jiang Ling extended his right hand to them...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com