Alien paradise

Fortunately, the other party mentioned the word borrowing books at the beginning. Chaoyang coughed twice and replied tentatively, "I want to borrow some books."

"The deposit is one hundred thyres, any more will be refunded or compensated."

So expensive! He couldn't help being surprised when he heard the old man's reply. In the past, Judy almost did whatever it took to find out Dan's whereabouts, but the reward she could offer was only five hundred silver coins.

Based on this price, how many residents can afford to borrow books?

"Do I have to pay first? What if there are no books I want to borrow here?" Chaoyang questioned.

"If you can't borrow it here, then you can't borrow it anywhere in the world." The old man's smile was still enthusiastic.

Such a loud tone?

Chaoyang doubted whether he had heard correctly. Judging from his superficial understanding of Brilliant Castle, this place was not a big city - there were old and new continents, and the old continent was the core of the world. According to usual experience, libraries are advanced functional buildings that appear only after basic food and clothing are met. Therefore, the wealthier core cities are more likely to have large libraries.

This immediately piqued his curiosity.

"This is one hundred." Chaoyang counted out the same amount of silver coins and placed them on the counter.

The old man smiled more kindly. He accepted the coins and took out a sect key, "Then please follow me."

Chaoyang followed him through the long corridor and came to a hall. There were still no bookshelves or books. Instead, there were a series of neat doors arranged on the surrounding walls.

The door is marked with a number similar to a room number.

Hey, this looks more like a hotel!

The other party stopped in front of room 1024 and inserted the key into the keyhole, "We are here."

Chaoyang walked into the house with some confusion and found that the room was less than ten square feet, with only a desk and two chairs in it. The window opposite is a piece of plate glass that seems unable to be opened, but it emits a soft light source. I don't know where this light comes from.

Naturally, there wasn't a book placed in the room.

But his eyes were drawn to something else - a huge machine that took up almost half the room. The main body of the machine looks like a section of spine, hanging down from the ceiling, looking very much like a giraffe. In the position of the deer's head is an extremely complex metal octahedron. Through the oil-covered casing, he could vaguely see the countless meshing gears inside slowly rotating.

"It seems that this is your first time visiting Gleike Academy." The old man clearly noticed Chaoyang's surprise and asked considerately, "Do you need me to introduce you to how to use the Wanli Machine?"

Chaoyang nodded involuntarily, "Please... tell me."

"What books do you need to borrow? You can tell it directly. If there is one in the academy, the conveyor belt on your left will start to rotate. If not, it will next query the main body. There are two possibilities at this time. One is If the main body exists, then the typewriter on your right will run automatically, and you need to wait for the book to be printed. The second is if the main body does not exist, then it will give a negative prompt, that is, swing left and right."

Language, voice question and answer? Chaoyang was really shocked this time!

"But you should note that the charges for different results are different." The old man continued, "If the academy deposits the book, we only charge a ten-silver loss fee. If the academy does not have it, asking the main body will result in a sixty-silver service. If you want to print it, you will have to pay an additional forty silver coins and consumables."

Boy...that actually sounds reasonable.

"Sir, do you have any other questions?"

Yes, and there are many more! However, Chaoyang considered that asking too many questions would easily lead to suspicion, so he only picked the one thing he was most concerned about, "This..."

"Wanli machine."

"What is the body of this Wanli Machine...?"

"Of course it's also a Wanli machine." The other party smiled, "The machine in front of you now is, to be precise, a part of the Wanli machine, just like the Gleick Academy - any city with an academy has a Wanli machine. The mechanism exists. If you want to know more, you might as well ask it yourself."

By the way, he almost forgot that this was a library. If Wanli machines were so common, he should be able to directly look up relevant books.

"If you want other services, you can ring the bell on the table, and someone will come to the door later. Then, please read slowly." The old man bowed his chest gracefully, then turned around and exited the room.

It's time to verify.

Chaoyang pointed at the head of the machine and said in a straight tone, "I want to borrow the Brilliant Castle Travel Guide."

The machine started to move.

Its spine began to expand and contract rhythmically, and Chaoyang could even hear the low tremor of the joints clenching, and the gurgling sound of steam ejecting from the pipes.

This thing can actually respond to your own voice!

And it’s a machine powered by steam!

How is this accomplished in theory?

Soon, the Wanli machine swayed left and right. According to the receptionist's introduction, this was the reply that the corresponding book was not found.

How could it be... Chaoyang was a little surprised. Has tourism not emerged in this world yet? Or should I ask in a different way?

"I would like a book about the Splendor Castle."

This time the conveyor belt on the left spun quickly.

After a while, a yellowed book fell out of the transmission port. Chaoyang picked it up and took a look and found that the cover said "History of Brilliant Castle".

"This is... too awesome..."

He couldn't help but murmur.

You must know that this is a fuzzy query! Wanliji not only understood his inquiry through his voice, but also selected such a book based on his semantics and needs! Even if Chaoyang's understanding of artificial intelligence is only superficial, it doesn't stop him from being extremely surprised by the technology contained in it!

Of course, since Wanli Machine cannot display a list or reply to borrowers verbally, there are huge shortcomings in the efficiency of finding books, but these flaws are insignificant compared to its magical side.

"I would like to borrow Wanliji's introduction book and related publicity." Chaoyang said again.

This time the machine vibrated longer than before.

After almost two minutes, the typewriter on the right suddenly started up and started producing books.

This also made Chaoyang understand that no one of the previous customers who came to borrow books had asked this question.

Hell, aren't they even the least bit curious about Wanliji?

The question I asked will not arouse the receptionist's suspicion...

Fortunately, he was wearing a new appearance this time, which ensured that no one would think of him as a detective. Chaoyang weighed the pros and cons and finally decided to wait for the book to be printed.

After all, he really wanted to know how the Wanli Machine was made.

This printing took almost half an hour.

When the brand new "Gleke Academy Chronicles" (fifth edition) was held in his hands, Chaoyang felt a solemn feeling in his heart.

He turned to the home page, and a familiar sentence came into his eyes.

"If you have anything you want to ask, you can find the answer at Gleick Academy."

"That's the center of the world."

Chaoyang suddenly choked on his saliva and coughed.

Well, it turns out that what Judy was talking about was the advertisement of the academy!