Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 8 The Ultimate Question

"No wonder you are in such a hurry to find a doctor. It turns out that there is such a big hole."

On the familiar workbench, Shangluo is checking the internal problems of the music box.He turned on all the lights in the house for lighting, which was a waste of electricity.But it doesn't matter, there is no electricity meter so far, so there is no electricity bill.

Using the bright light, he opened the bottom of the music box.And the first thing that came into his sight was the "big hole".

As if being shot into by a bullet, the densely packed parts inside the music box all neatly vacate a ballistic space.Gears were chipped and levers twisted like springs.

In this way, a neat round hole was vacated in the receiver, and the nearby parts were messed up.But compared with that ballistic, the machine itself seems not so normal.

The receiver seems to be "sophisticated" too much.In addition to conventional gears and levers, there are cycloidal wheels, oscillators, hairsprings, pawls, and large and small steel wheels. This small music box contains almost all the mechanical parts he knows.It's like a mechanical museum, but small enough to fit in your pocket.

And of all these parts, no two are exactly alike, just like there are no two identical leaves in the world.

Shangluo knew that his conjecture had been confirmed.The more complicated the machine is, the more powerful he can perceive its "consciousness".Simple machines can often only show a certain flow of Qi, while complex machines can show complex emotions and fragmented memories.And in this extremely complex machine, the wonderful Apollonia was born.

[How, can it be fixed? 】

"I need to double-check. The construction of these parts is just amusing me. Hmm... I'll evaluate whether it can be repaired first."

Under the desk lamp, he put on a loupe for himself.

Loupes, as the name implies, are used to see small objects at a distance of about one inch. The general clock structure is only this big, and no matter how big it is, it is not suitable for daily use.From the looks of it, the brass heart clockwork doesn't seem to exceed that size either.

But he vaguely noticed that beyond the visual distance of the loupe, there seemed to be some unexplored mechanical structures, which already exceeded the volume of the clock mechanism itself.

"Did I use my eyes too much and get dazzled?"

He took off the loupe and looked directly with his naked eyes.Now it is much clearer, and the structure in the depths of the bell structure can also be discerned.

He saw a red bullet, stuck there, deep in the bellwork, a tiny link in a series of delicate mechanisms.

"Okay, it's not a big problem."

He put on cut-resistant leather gloves.This is necessary, because the power accumulated in the mainspring can even blow up the entire clock, and a rash operation may cause the entire mainspring to pop out.Cutting a finger is still a small matter, but cutting any blood vessel is a big problem.

After securing the safety protection, he used a pair of fine-nosed tweezers to probe into the bell structure.The red bullet is within his sight, as long as he clips, twists, and pulls it out like this:
The clockwork was activated and the gears began to spin.At first, it was the small gears distributed on the edge of the clock structure, and then the large gears began to rotate visible to the naked eye.The gears meshed with each other, driving the levers, cycloidal wheels and oscillators to converge into a low roar.

Only then did Shang Luo discover that the interior of this mechanical heart seemed to be "bigger" than he had imagined, even exceeding the volume of the outer shell.The spiral of the clockwork continues deep into the heart, extending to almost infinity, and more and more components join the chorus of gears and levers.

The pitch of the roar gradually increased, the roar turned into a beep, and the volume became louder and louder:

hum-

Invisible fluctuations shook his brain.

The world is spinning, and Shangluo's eyes are blank.
When he woke up again, he was still there, and everything was as usual.The suitcase in front of him was still open, and he was still clutching the tweezers with the dark red bullet in the tip of the tweezers.

[5 seconds, you were dizzy for 5 seconds just now.Your problem is not big, but mine is not solved yet. ] Apollonia's voice appeared in his ears again.

The hole is still there.Although the inside of the clockwork has begun to rotate, the hollowness that runs through the entire mechanism remains.The surrounding parts are idling around the hole, and the infinitely deep mechanism makes the hole seem infinite, just like a black hole tearing apart the three-dimensional universe.

[The wound has not healed yet, my shell was completely shattered.I'm still stuck in this little music box. 】

"So this is infinity..." Shang Luo knew that he had underestimated her.I thought it was just complicated, but I didn't expect that there is almost infinite space inside.If one deduces according to the logic of "the more complex, the stronger", Apollonia is probably already too powerful to be added.

"Even so, can you still exert your power?"

[That's only temporary.Like when your veins burst, you don't die right away, but you sure don't.For me the cycle is quite a bit longer, but that creates bigger problems.Just like a wolf will chase after the blood, my wound will also make my blood smell farther and farther.So... please, please help me. 】

Shang Luo put down the tools in his hand and left the music box where it was: "I need to know one thing, what are you?"

Apollonia was silent for a while.

[I have to say, this is the ultimate question.What am I. It may take me a long time to figure it out.But you can understand it this way: I am Monkey King. 】

"Monkey King? What do you mean?"

[Sun Wukong, a natural saint conceived by heaven and earth.He was born knowing it, but he didn't know how to use his power.He has gone through many detours and made many mistakes.He has received a lot of help, he has also helped many people, he was born as a 'born saint', but birth does not determine everything about him.The future of Sun Wukong is determined by the road he has traveled.This is me, the endless magic machine 'Apolonia'. 】

"So what state are you in now?"

[Well, I have never walked in the world.Analogous to Monkey King, I'm afraid this meeting hasn't entered the Water Curtain Cave yet. 】

"So you're a monster now?"

[Appropriate metaphor.Because the current me is obviously not enough to be called a human being, at least not in jurisprudence. . 】

"." Shang Luo was lost in thought.

As a human being, Shang Luo felt that this monster should be thrown into the trash can unconditionally, or it would be better to put it in a rocket and blast it into space.

However, Apollonia's answer made her hesitate.Apollonia did not deny the fact that she is a "demon".But she brings up the "possibility" of monsters, like Monkey King.Sun Wukong is a monkey monster from the beginning to the end, but he can also be a born saint, a demon king, a great sage equal to heaven, a sun walker, and a battle against Buddha.

"So what you're trying to say is that you're not a vague faceless monster. You can communicate?"

[Yes, please treat me as a business.I will definitely pay you the right reward. 】

"Well, this may be the difference between you and Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong doesn't know how to negotiate business with others. Sun Wukong always borrows from his old neighbors." Shang Luo looked at the music box, "Of course, I am not Fahai, and I have no Take your mind with a trick of 'Dawei Tianlong'. But if it is a transaction, what can you offer me? Let's not play charades. Tell me what you can do. Since you have not shown hostility, we You can communicate in a faster way."

[Okay, let's end the dumb fans, metaphors really aren't my thing.Then let me tell you the truth: I cannot predict the future, or it is not me who has predicted the future before, but the Akashic records—the cloud of omniscience, in which the ultimate of all things lies.As an infinite magic machine, I can open the channel to the Akashic records for you, and assist you to ask questions to the Akashic records.Although I will definitely feed back the answer to you, I can choose how to collaborate with you or how to give feedback to you. 】

"Like tarot cards?"

[Yes, such as Tarot cards.I've tweaked the deck a little so that it can feed back the Akashic Records directly to you in a 'symbolic' way.Because this set of playing cards is a closed loop, it does not need to consume my energy, energy saving and environmental protection. 】

"So you can still try to help me?"

【Yes, this is the reward I decided to give you.I'll help you ask the Akashic Record, and I'll do my best to collaboratively iterate on the question with you to get the most useful results for you—because the most important thing is the question itself.You saw a movie, didn't you?The famous "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". 】

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction novel written by British author Douglas Adams in the 20s. A movie of the same name was released in 70.

Shang Luo recalled the movie, which indeed has a similar plot.This is still a movie he watched in "another world", a work that does not exist in this era.

The super-intelligent life in the Milky Way - the mouse, built a supercomputer named "Deep Thought", hoping to get the answer to the ultimate question from "Deep Thought".

Here's how the mouse asks: What's the answer to the "Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything"?
Shensi pondered on this question for 700 million years, and the final answer is "42".

"I'll leave aside why you know about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, it's not important for now. The '42' part you want to talk about, right? The rats have been waiting 700 million years for an inexplicable 42."

[Yes.You see, in this process, what did the mice do wrong?They were wrong, they didn't iterate on their questions, there was something wrong with the way they asked. "What is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?" This question is too general and too chaotic.The mice should first build another 'Apolonia' to help them iterate on this problem, iterate repeatedly, iterate for 350 million years, iterate out the problem they really need, and then give 'Deep Thought' some time to think, really The answer is likely to appear.Anyway, it can't be 42. 】

"Wait, you mean it takes time to iterate?"

[So this is what I said, 'the most important thing is the problem itself'.Because the collaborative iteration between us is carried out through the way of 'question and answer', you first give a topic, and then I will ask you.Yes, I am asking you.Through the way I ask you, I will find your needs, and finally we will sort out a practical plan, and then send a request to the Akashic Records.The result obtained in this way will be the result you want.The ultimate problem has to be iterated for at least a few million years, so that it is worthy of the ultimate.It may also take millions of years to calculate, but at least a useful result can be produced. 】

"So I can ask for anything at the beginning?"

【certainly.But you can't be too greedy, because if the question you ask is too big, then we will have to iterate for a long time just to iterate. 】

"Then my request is - I want to cultivate. I want to be a happy immortal."

(End of this chapter)