It took more than ten minutes to walk from the center of the park to the edge of the commercial district, and it was not the original route. On this new route, the two of them passed through several antique arches covered with holographic billboards before reaching the interior of the commercial district.
The commercial district looks a bit like a subway market from long ago. Countless illegal buildings on both sides of the street are like building blocks, stacked up layer by layer, occupying every space visible to the naked eye. Neon lights and billboards compete with each other for attention, creating blinding light pollution. In contrast, the street scene is clean and refreshing, as if things from two worlds were forcibly spliced together.
The management here seems to have only regulated the level and size of each store, without considering the customer experience. There seems to be no reasonable vertical transportation between the illegal buildings. From a distance, the pedestrians passing between them are mostly flying over the eaves and walls, and some seem to be carrying some kind of portable single-person vehicle, just like the flying swords in fantasy anime.
"Is this the current commercial district?" Jiang Ling opened her mouth slightly and exclaimed in admiration. The main reason was that she didn't expect that capitalism still existed in this era.
Yu Nuanxin shook her head. "What's the connection? We haven't even arrived yet! This is at most a... flea market." Her eyes lit up when she said the last word.
"But..." Jiang Ling was about to ask something when she saw a square shop closest to them move, slowly rising with the sound of an alarm bell, and then disappearing into the "sky".
"Look, they've gone back." Yu Nuanxin pointed upwards.
"So, they're all spaceships?"
"No, no, no. If you want to fly a spaceship, you need an astronaut certificate. There are too many things to be tested. It will take an ordinary person more than ten years to pass it. These are all hovercrafts. I have one myself, but I know there will always be traffic jams here, so I don't drive it out." she said.
They continued walking forward, and the hovercrafts on both sides of the street rose and fell like flocks of sparrows in a rice field.
"We're here!" Yu Nuanxin finally stopped beside a shaded bench.
Jiang Ling looked around but couldn't find anything different from the previous scenery. "Why can't I see anything? Is the commercial district also hidden in cyberspace?"
"How is that possible!" Yu Nuanxin replied, shaking her head as she sat on a bench. "Everything in cyberspace is virtual. Even if you want to shop online, you need a physical store first, right?" She paused and continued, "This is the bus stop. Do you still want to walk there? It's about 5 kilometers away."
Jiang Ling curled her lips and sat down next to Yu Nuanxin. A few moments later, several more strangers gathered at the small station. She noticed that most of them were accompanied by a mechanical pet, and the backs of these cute little creatures were filled with strange and bizarre goods.
While those people weren't paying attention, she used her telekinesis to tease their robot dogs. Those little creatures immediately circled around their owners' calves, which was really funny.
Jiang Ling had wanted something similar before, but unfortunately the robot dogs at that time were not very smart and could not serve as playmates at all. At most, they could only be considered expensive toys.
The two waited for a moment until a milky white, wheeled vehicle, resembling the old bus, approached, gradually slowed down, and stopped steadily in front of the station. Jiang Ling noticed that the vehicle had no driver and no engine-like noise. It resembled an unmanned electric vehicle, but without the battery inside.
Everyone present filed in, and the two found a spot near the exit. When the car started again, Jiang Ling asked, "Are we taking this kind of car when we go home?"
"No, this kind of sightseeing bus can only travel on the ring surface. You have to take a shuttle boat to go back." Yu Nuanxin looked out the window and continued in an emotionless voice, "The word home is not commonly used nowadays. We usually say community or dormitory. I used this word before to accommodate your habit. History textbooks say that we have long since lost the old concept of family. Only a few people still retain the family cooperation system, which is essentially an alternative community model. My dormitory is in the No. 2 Simulated Gravity Section, Science City District, 7th Street, Row 215, Building 11. Remember this, don't forget."
"Oh my god, how are you going to raise your offspring now?"
"It's about the same as five thousand years ago. If you were from that time, you should know, right?" She turned her head and glanced at Jiang Ling, who shook her head gently. "Well, now it's—quasi-socialized upbringing. It's a technical term, and I don't know much about it. Basically, those who want to pass on their genes go to the community and report it, and then the entire network automatically matches them. Then the baby is born at the child-rearing center, and then the community raises it. Parents only have a few legal obligations and rights to their offspring, such as care, naming, and inheritance. Most other things are community obligations. Even here, there are still many people who don't want offspring."
"Don't you have to give birth yourself?" Jiang Ling touched her nose.
"It depends on personal choice. In fact, male-male, female-female, and even human-animal relationships are all feasible. Some people just like that." Yu Nuanxin said with a smile.
"Then... what about humans and intelligent beings?"
"It's not possible to transform a consciousness into a human yet, but humans can upload their consciousness. However, abandoning the physical body is still somewhat unorthodox in today's society. So far, there have only been two successful cases."
Jiang Ling felt she could wait a little longer, her body perhaps able to withstand the erosion of time. She rubbed the hard object on her right middle finger and changed the subject: "Speaking of which, what should I buy?"
Yu Nuanxin pondered for a moment, then counted on her fingers and said, "Aside from the memory chip, conversion interface, and external TCM, my dorm is still short of some material boxes and energy packs. Everything else can be synthesized using a portable printer. I have all the blueprints, so there's no need to chase the latest models."
"So what are we having for dinner?"
"Anything is fine, but I suggest something light. After all, I heard from witnesses that you just woke up from a long hibernation. To be honest, I've never seen a hibernator like you who can jump around as soon as he wakes up!" Yu Nuanxin poked Jiang Ling's belly.
"I want to ask where to eat?"
"Of course it's my dorm! I know you're asking about clichés like restaurants, hotels, and cafeterias, but printers these days can synthesize anything. They've advanced to the point where they rival the best chefs. Whether you're serving a Manchu-Han banquet or a French feast, they're all blueprints that have stood the test of time!"
Jiang Ling fell silent after hearing this. Her memory seemed to drift back to a time filled with hardship and difficulty, and she thought of people's boundless imaginations about the future. If the cutting-edge technology of that time were truly widely used today, even someone like her, who had seen mountains and seas at the pinnacle, would find it difficult to accurately estimate the true strength of human civilization—unless she reached the pinnacle once again.
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