This isn't the Fourth Calamity

Chapter 546 Human Skin Lantern
"Why must...human skin be used to make this kind of lantern?"

"This is the only suitable material offline. We have tried many kinds of materials, but none of them meet the requirements."

"What about animal skins? Didn't the genetic research institute over there make a major breakthrough?"

"No, it must be an intelligent creature."

That's all.

The only offline intelligent creature is human beings.

Du Shiyu saw that her lab supervisor looked embarrassed, and quickly explained: "Actually, it's just a layer of skin, which can be regenerated. Everyone doesn't need to take too much, just connect it."

"What are you talking about, if everyone has a lamp?"

"No, don't you need it?" Du Shiyu's eyes widened in surprise.

"Look outside, since this kind of lantern is useful, what's the point of not promoting it?"

So Du Shiyu has nothing to do.

"I'll ask other labs to see if I can think of a way to get the best of both worlds."

After the director of the laboratory finished speaking, he changed the subject, "Don't think about it for now, I have a confidential project here, you can read it here, and tell me what you think after reading it."

"Ok."

After taking the file bag handed over by the supervisor and taking out the documents inside, Du Shiyu stood up in horror, "A complete ban on Canaan?"

"Keep your voice down, just treat it as a topic, a plan, and think about it from the perspective of your own career change. If you do this, what kind of consequences will it cause?"

"Impossible, Director, it is impossible to ban it." Du Shiyu shook his head again and again, "The access equipment on the connection does not need to go through any... er, procedures, and there is no way to talk about banning it."

"I mean, if, if it can be done, think about what will happen... Can the great fog disappear?"

"cannot!"

Today's Du Shiyu is no longer a simple player. The dual identities online and offline have allowed her to come into contact with enough secrets and understand enough truths. When you can't cross the border and enjoy great honor and status promotion, you also shoulder heavy responsibilities.

Of course, she also takes pride in this responsibility.

Although she is responsible for protecting the country and the nation, she has never thought of banning Canaan. First, she does not agree with it emotionally. Second, it is impossible or necessary to realize it.

But the superior asked her to put aside the interference of these factors and speculate about the future of banning Canaan from the perspective of her job change. She couldn't refuse, so she said a little, "First of all, the great fog will not disappear. On the contrary, it may more serious"

"why?"

"Because people have changed!"

Du Shiyu said, "It's like me. I used to be a graduate student. Now I can do things offline that can only be done in movies and novels. A change is a change. It can't be taken back, and I can't pretend to be banned from going online. All players and tourists Just go back to where you were, it's impossible."

"Well, you go on."

"Once they can't go online, all players and tourists will wake up offline, Director, what do you think they will do?"

"What will they do?"

"Anyway, I won't go to work or school honestly, I won't resume my old job, and I won't stay at home and do nothing. Director, think about it, they have changed. It is their existence that creates a big fog. If They stay offline for a long time, and they are dissatisfied with the status quo. They have an urgent need and urge to change the status quo... That's terrible. Director, I can't imagine what the fog will turn into. Maybe... Offline is the same as online , even more dangerous than online, because online is dominated by powerful systems and magic nets, but offline there are only plausible... weird things."

"People's selfish desires are far more complicated offline than online, and the population and spiritual activity are even more incomparable online. There are so many religions that restrict the mind online, but offline... the director who will definitely dance with demons, compared to Now it is a hundred times, a thousand times more serious."

"Is that your opinion?"

"Anyone with an ounce of common sense would have thought of that."

"Okay, go down and sort out your thoughts and write a detailed report."

"Director, don't ban online, we can't afford the consequences."

"I see, this is just a research project. Haven't you done a lot of similar projects? Don't think about it, work hard, and go on."

"The director, I'm leaving, and I will hand in the report as soon as possible."

"Well, hard work"

After Du Shiyu left, the director took out a roster, made a mark behind her name, sighed, and pressed the intercom.

At the same time, Xie Xiaomeng also just went offline.

"Has the fog not cleared yet?"

She went to take a shower first, then stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and opened the curtains, took a deep breath against the surging mist, and stretched.

Aunt Xue was still online. Naturally, the nanny wasn't around in this kind of weather. The house was empty, and there was a sense of emptiness and desolation.

When I opened the refrigerator, everything inside was spoiled.

Xie Xiaomeng can't remember when was the last time she went offline, Aunt Xue has been worse than her recently, the stove at home is covered with a thick layer of dust, presumably the only one who has been online longer than her.

Now Aunt Xue has established a career online. After the evacuation, she was accepted by a large gang and opened a tavern in a town. The business is good, especially getting along well with the aboriginal NPCs. She kind of takes online as her home. mean.

She went to Aunt Xue's room, checked and found nothing inappropriate. The life indexes of the game cabin were all normal, and she added a life-supporting nutrient solution to it. She looked at the girl who was only wearing underwear and floating in the nutrient solution. Aunt Xue felt that this scene seemed familiar, as if she had experienced it long ago.

She shook her head, put the weird feeling behind her, and was about to go out to buy some necessities.

Among other things, there are not many vitamin nutrient solutions left.

The current game cabin has evolved to a more advanced version. The launch of the life support system has greatly reduced the worries of the players. Eating, drinking, and excretion are all handed over to the game cabin. People are connected by various pipelines, and the nutrient solution maintains the normal operation of the body. Worried about muscle atrophy due to prolonged immobility.

Just about to go out, the doorbell rang.

"Who is it!"

"The neighborhood committee."

"what's up?"

"Send you the necessities."

"What necessities?"

"You'll know when you open the door."

Xie Xiaomeng didn't open the door right away, and looked out through the cat's eyes, only to see a lantern and the hazy and yellow light emitted by the lantern.

What the hell?

Of course she was not afraid of the ghosts and monsters in the mist, so she opened the door curiously to see that it was really an acquaintance from the neighborhood committee with a young girl, and the girl was holding a strange red leather lantern in her hand.

"This is your family's love supply package, please sign for it"

The aunt's attitude is not good. Under the light of the lantern, her face is still a bit piercing, and her eyes are all gloomy.

In the mist, how many of those who act outside are completely 'normal'?

Xie Xiaomeng didn't care, but was very curious about the lantern.

While signing, she asked, "Why did you bring a lantern?"

"With it, the mist can't get close!"

The young girl shook the lantern and said, "This is a magic weapon, it has been lit."

"Oh, that's it!"

Xie Xiaomeng signed, "Can you show me?"

"No!" The young girl pushed back the lantern, as if she was afraid she would snatch it.

——If you don’t show it, then don’t show it, why are you nervous?
Watching the two people leave with the lantern, in the aisle shrouded in light mist, the mist was really pushed away by the halo emitted by the lantern, but the other kind of light seemed to penetrate people more than the mist. Up close, only a vague and distorted outline can be seen, as if the light emanating from it has a form, just like water.

Shrugging his shoulders, he returned home, opened the so-called love supply bag, and found that there was no most needed nutrient solution for life, and he needed to go out for a trip.

The city shrouded in mist is naturally deserted, but this time, there are indeed many people walking through with lanterns. If the dense fog is like water, the dim red light emitted by these lanterns is like oil. The two are incompatible , like ink splashed on a plain canvas, extremely eye-catching and extremely mysterious.

This is true for pedestrians, and the same is true for shops that can still operate as usual.

A lantern at the entrance illuminates the foyer, and a lantern in the store clears away the dense fog. The closer the place is to the lantern, the more colorful it becomes. People only move around within the area illuminated by the lantern, and nothing unusual happened.

It’s not hard to find vitamin supplements. The one I frequented was closed, but there was a lantern lighting the alley next door. Under the lanterns were people with street stalls.

"The place in the store is too big, and the lanterns are too small, so..."

At the intersection, Xie Xiaomeng bought a nutrient solution at a stall, and the stall owner explained it this way.

"What is this? Where did it come from?" Xie Xiaomeng asked, pointing at the lantern.

"The latest technology... I heard that it is made of human skin," the stall owner said mysteriously in a low voice.

"Let me see if it's okay?" Xie Xiaomeng asked.

"Look at it, don't move, this is the guy who eats."

The human skin lantern, just by its name, gives it a rich connotation and a series of associations, perhaps the purpose of choosing such a name is here.

As for whether it is made of human skin, it is secondary, most likely not, otherwise... the human skin cannot be peeled off from the human body, right?

Unexpectedly, after touching it, the unique delicate touch of the skin told her that this thing might really be made of human skin, looking at the texture, looking at...

"Where did you buy it? I'll get one too."

"I didn't buy it, I applied for it."

"How to apply?"

"You have a reason. We are here to ensure the supply of basic supplies. What about you? Can you come out and set up a stall in this ghostly weather like us?"

"Forget it, there's no time."

"that is"

"You are busy, I will go shopping again."

Walking down the alley, I found many acquaintances, and there were also people like her who were shopping at the stalls without lanterns. The fog was so heavy that people could not be seen clearly from a few steps away. Those places where the lights could not shine, shadows Every now and then, someone pops up out of nowhere.

"Why is this eggplant so fresh, it's so big!"

"Just picked from the field"

"Who are you lying to, have you taken medicine?"

"Pure natural and pollution-free."

"Then give me two catties"

Passing by a vegetable seller, the round eggplants are really attractive, Xie Xiaomeng swallowed when thinking of the taste of braised eggplants, and followed suit and bought two.

"Xiaomeng, is this offline?"

The neighbor who bought vegetables together was an old man, Xie Xiaomeng vaguely agreed and chatted for a while.

Afterwards, I suddenly remembered, didn't this old man just enter the crematorium, why did he pop out again?
She couldn't help laughing, and continued shopping without taking it seriously.

Human skin lanterns, a ghost market, the old man who just entered the crematorium... Looking at this alley again, it becomes ghostly, and then looking at the two eggplants in his hand, these are eggplants, obviously peeled The head, bloody, still dripping with blood...

Fortunately, vitamin supplements are good.

Xie Xiaomeng rushed to find the vegetable stall, but found that the building was empty, asked the vendors nearby, all shook their heads blankly, looked at the 'eggplant' in their hands, and wanted to bury their heads and cover their ears, Xie Xiaomeng is also like avoiding snakes and scorpions.

"I found it on my aunt's head!"

As a level 43 player with the title of Lingjue, Xie Xiaomeng felt ashamed, aggressively grabbed a person who was jumping around in the mist, and asked who the small vendor was.

The man's face was as white as paper, and he pointed to a direction deep in the mist with a sly smile.

Xie Xiaomeng searched in the direction he pointed in disbelief. After walking a few steps in the dense fog, he found that he had left the alley and was facing an antique street archway.

The red-painted street archway is like a new one, with two rickety human skin lanterns hung on it, and a group of people came through the thick fog amidst the sound of playing, playing and singing.

This scene is very familiar, as if seen there?
The dead face at the head of the row was blowing the suona, followed by a sedan chair carried by four people, followed by people sprinkled with copper coins, and there was a sound of chasing, laughing and fighting in the dense fog.

Xie Xiaomeng was shocked, and suddenly broke free from such a scene, and found that he was still in the alley, but there were no stalls illuminated by lanterns, but piles of unburned paper money.

"His father, everything is fine at home, don't come back, the whole family is very scared, remember!"

An old woman was burning paper money in a brazier, when she saw Xie Xiaomeng coming over, "Girl, are you here to burn money too?"

"Today is Ching Ming Festival?"

"Yeah, year after year, time flies so fast."

"No, I remember what happened just now"

"It's 2024, girl."

This……

Thinking of the thick layer of dust that fell on the stove at home, thinking of why the life-supporting nutrient solution that can last for several months suddenly needs to be replaced, thinking, thinking...Xie Xiaomeng suddenly realized, "Grandma, this is the first time the mist gone?"

"It's the fourth time, and the interval between each time is shorter than the first time. Alas, I don't know how to live in the days to come. When will it be the end!"

(End of this chapter)