A common tavern that connects all fantasy worlds

After more than 100 hours of drifting, the AI ​​assistant gave a reminder that Saite has arrived.

Although it is considered primitive and wild by the Earth Federation, Seite obviously has a sufficient level of civilization... There is an airport to receive alien tourists, and there are several ships parked in it.

"Spaceship with identification number...MAT-GS-0101775, you have arrived at Star Star and are subject to our legal jurisdiction. You need to report your intention and accept our boarding inspection; all crew members please gather under the ship within 5 minutes and go through Entry procedures. If you find that your cargo, personnel, or equipment do not meet the requirements, we will forcefully deport your ship from the country."

As soon as she landed at the airport, the voice of the port manager came from the radio in front of Ripley.

She stopped the spacecraft, pressed the radio, and simply replied: "Got it."

"Okay, the most important and dangerous moment has come... Don't wear clothes." Hicks said, this is indeed the most dangerous time to enter the port... In order to pretend to be a little bit, not even a few marines Carry any weapons, and throw the guns in the tavern; if you can't fool these Setters, the consequences will be disastrous.

Barbaria, who has completely changed her personality, comforted everyone: "It doesn't matter, even on Setter, there are not so many violent incidents, and our current identities are all members of the Earth Federation, and there is no threat to them... ...Besides, it doesn't matter even if they find me, you can just say that I am on the boat halfway, and just clear yourself."

"I think this makeup is very successful. If there is no one who has seen you with their own eyes, it is impossible for anyone to recognize you. Get off the boat." Ripley stood up, urged several humans to get off the boat, and pressed each other The request stood in a line at the exit.

It didn't take long before the official personnel from Seter came to check.

Walking forward were a few people wearing black coats and black masks who couldn't see their faces clearly. The leader turned on an electronic screen and asked without looking up: "What kind of ship is your ship? What are you doing here?" ?”

"We are the mining ship of the 'Wilander-Tangu' company." As the captain, Ripley replied, "We mine tritium ore from the asteroids in the nearby star field, transport it back to the Federation for sale, and have filed with the Earth Federation. The reason why I came to Seter for the first time was because I found a spaceship without a pilot and parked in space when I was passing through this star field, so I brought it here to report and resupply here."

Seth Star is so aggrieved... Their control is limited to this planet and its atmosphere. The ships of the Earth Federation do not need to notify them in advance when they pass through the star field or mine in the star field. to report.It has to be said that it is not surprising that this planet really has a heart of resistance... This may be their motive for kidnapping the scientist Duran Duran.

"Spaceship? What spaceship?" the Set star looked up and asked.

Ripley calmly pointed to the rear hatch, and replied, "It's in the cargo hold, it's a strange spaceship, shaped like a woman's lips inlaid with pearls."

"...You two, go up and have a look." The man in black, who was obviously an official, turned his head and ordered to his subordinates.

When the subordinate stepped forward to search the cargo hold of the spaceship, the man continued to ask, "Are you all from Earth? What's your name?"

"They're all from Earth, I'm Ellen Ripley."

"Dwayne Hicks."

"Janet Vazquez..."

"William Hudson."

"Ba..."

Ripley coughed quickly, interrupted the last person, turned her head and said with a smile: "Her name is 'Baba Rena'. Sorry, she is not very proficient in English, and she has recently caught a cold."

The black-haired Barbaria also coughed a few times quickly, and said in that popular voice of exotic girls and idols: "Linai, I'm just coughing—"

The man in black looked up at the few people and found nothing unusual. Just as he was about to let them go, two subordinates ran out of the cabin and whispered something in his ear.

"What! It turned out to be that well-known in the universe..." The man immediately yelled out in a huge reaction.

"Yes, that Barbarella's ship, my lord, but her people are nowhere to be seen. I suppose she has infiltrated..."

The subordinate hurriedly nodded, pulled him away and reported.

Several human beings looked at each other speechlessly. Even the serious-looking "Site Star" turned out to be so casual. This kind of thing can be heard by several of them. It seems that they completely believed in the fabricated background. No story, no defensive psychology at all?

The people in black whispered to each other for a while, and then came back to announce to everyone: "Your ship cannot leave for the time being, and you have to stay on our planet for the next few days. You can only set sail after our investigation is completed. .”

"Ah... okay..."

Ripley said, what I really want to say is "that's it"?Is Hicks' plan too perfect, or is there something serious wrong with the people in this universe?Didn't this just get in easily... The people in black didn't even check whether they were armed or not, the preparations they had made before were completely in vain.

After the people in black announced their conclusions, they left without looking back, and didn't say that they would conduct any further investigations on Barbaria's flaming red-lipped spaceship.

A few minutes later, there was a broadcast voice in the airport: "Star Star has entered a state of emergency, and all airports have been closed. No spaceships are allowed to enter or leave, otherwise they will be shot down. The reopening time will be announced later."

Following this broadcast, the black-gray metal barrier above the airport gradually closed after a "humming" sound.

Unlike the other people in the airport who quickly complained, Ripley and the others didn't want to leave. They hurried back to the spaceship while no one was paying attention, and got off the spaceship with large and small packages on their backs. Go back to the exit of the airport.

These are not all the weapons they keep in the tavern, but it is better not to carry too many guns in order not to attract attention.

"Okay... things are progressing more smoothly than we expected." As the team's temporary staff officer, Hicks said as he walked among several people: "They will have a reaction of prohibiting entry and exit, which proves that Du Landuran is indeed here...otherwise, there is no need for this planet to be afraid of Barbaria's investigation. It seems that they think that Barbaria landed on her own after parking the ship in outer space, so they want to temporarily prohibit entry and exit, and carry out investigations on this planet. Searching, it's in our interest ... they spend energy and manpower on searching, they don't pay attention to our actions."

"...Not only Duran Duran must be here..." Barbaria's clever brain finally began to function normally, and she also whispered: "Only the ruler of this planet can make the decision to close the airport." Or, if we know where the rulers are, we can probably find the scientists."

"Then why are you frowning?" Ripley asked.

Barbaria replied: "...the problem is, we never know where the ruler of this planet is...it seems to be in a primitive society here, there are only tribes, large and small, of all races, and commercial points on the ground. Those who received the federal tourists were also those in black just now, but they never said where they came from. What's the matter...why are you all looking at me?"

"I despair of your perfunctory universe," Ripley replied.

Chapter 18 The Underworld

A few hours later, several people returned to the spaceship.

As Barbaria said, there are only some humanoid tribes of various races on this planet. The only strange thing is that the number of soldiers in black is abnormally large, even more than the residents.

"No... Judging from the level of civilization, there must be a city and a higher-level organizational structure here. Why didn't you find it?" Hicks scratched his head and asked.

Ripley also said in a low voice: "Compared to this... The Earth Federation knows nothing about it, or even doesn't care about it, which shocks me even more. Didn't it mean that the Federation has official communication with here? Which official do they communicate with? ?”

Barbaria played with her black hair, shrugged, and shook her head: "I don't know, no one knows, and the current federal president doesn't know. The universe has been peaceful for too long, everyone is enjoying and having fun, don't When it comes to history classes, even schools will be cancelled... because we don't need to read books at all, and we can get endless resources."

Vazquez immediately frowned and objected: "Is that impossible? Spaceships always need research and development, and people always need to drive them; the Federation also needs officials to manage them; listening to you say that currency still exists, that person must still produce goods and make money and spending money..."

Barbaria smiled slyly, and nodded her head: "...We have chips. What skills do you want to learn, you can either find someone to teach you or instill them directly through the data center, and then you can Go do the work you want to do.

"So, everyone learns and works according to their own interests. Many people still learn knowledge and skills from their parents... because it doesn't cost money. The current president of the Earth Federation, his father Having been the President, we all assume he inherited the 'knowledge of the presidency' from his father.

"The reason why I learned a lot of useless skills is because I was very active in my youth and didn't want to just have a job. But even I am not very interested in the history of this remote galaxy, just I probably understand, but I don’t know exactly what the Federation talked to them hundreds of years ago.”

Hicks shook his head and sighed: "Let's go back to Star Star... just because no one knows where the cities, armies, and upper floors of this planet are, they don't care so much about whether the people in the airport will leave or not." Get out...they're sure no one will ever find their country or civilization."

Now everyone is really helpless.Anyone can see that the inhabitants of this planet are all placed on the bright side by Seter for the sake of tourism, and it is impossible to find scientists without finding the "real Seter".

After another period of silence, Ripley spoke first: "It doesn't matter if you can't think of a solution for a while, as long as Barbaria doesn't show up for a day, they will continue to search, and we still have time."

"Go for a drink!" Barbaria said suddenly, "Maybe when you relax, you will have new ideas... Besides, with my new look, maybe I can scare Boss Xue."

Several people heard that she was right. Anyway, just sitting here and thinking about it will not make any progress. Maybe it would be helpful to drink some wine and relax?So they all agreed, stood up and followed Barbaria to the tavern.

The door of the tavern was opened in the cockpit with excess fur, and the inside was still brightly lit, it seemed that it was night.

Different from the last time I came here, this time there are several guests from other worlds sitting in the tavern, drinking wine and doing their own things; especially one with a shawl and short black hair, wearing a tight leather jacket, who is more than normal Barbaria, a slightly more conservative young woman, was staring at the few people who had just walked in with her knife-like sharp gaze.

Ripley was still greeting her acquaintances by name, while Barbaria ran to the bar excitedly, and said to Boss Xue who was studying: "Hey! Boss! Good evening! I'm Reina Baba, please Advise!"

"...Barbaria, right..." Boss Xue said without raising his head, "The makeup is pretty good."

"...You are really incomprehensible."

Barbaria immediately sat down on the bar chair discouraged, ordered a glass of sparkling wine, took a sip, and then asked curiously: "How do you know it's me? It stands to reason that this cross-dressing should be quite successful." .”

Xue Li withdrew the hand that poured her wine, pressed the unfinished book, the corners of his mouth turned down, revealing a pair of dead fish eyes: "I said, how could others bring them back from your world together! You don't think I can forget how many guests I have in my tavern!"

"...Yes." Barbaria slapped her head, took out a piece of gold from her pocket, and finally threw a piece of gold the size of a fingernail on the bar: "I invite everyone present to have a drink!"

"not enough."

"...What's not enough, isn't there enough wine?"

"Not enough money! That beauty in leather over there insisted on tasting the most expensive wine in my cabinet, so the bottle on her table was a 1.5 liter Louis XIII. You have to be thankful that there is nothing in our wine cabinet. Limited edition!"

As Xue Li said, looking at Barbaria who was tongue-tied, he couldn't help laughing again: "Forget it, I won't tease you. Anyway, we rarely charge money here... but I will keep the gold for now." .”

"No... I'm just thinking, how many bottles of wine can be exchanged for an asteroid made of gold, and how to transport it in."

said Barbaria, looking at the width of the doorway, but still shaking her head.

"...You don't need to look at it to know it's impossible!" Xue Li complained.

Ripley then joined in, and the three of them chatted and laughed for a while. Seeing that several marines also sat down and asked Daig and Cheetos for drinks, they finally began to talk about the problems they were facing.

Why can't a civilization that has high-level officials and the ability to request that the near-planetary orbiter not land? Why can't it find the core city?

Xue Li listened to them quietly, thought about it carefully, and tapped on the book he put aside.

"Ladies..." he said while organizing his thoughts, "Have you ever heard of the writer Jules Verne? I don't have to ask this kind of question... but according to the difference in the world, Popular literary works and historical masterpieces may also be different. This book that I am reading and feels familiar to you may not be known at all.”

The two ladies followed his movements and looked at the cover of the book, only to see two rows of gilded text on the dark brown velveteen:

Journey to the Center of the Earth, by Jules Verne.

On the other side of the tavern, at an aisle table, the android Bishop was setting a plate of salmon tacos in front of several marines.

"Oh, that's pretty good, Bishop. I learned how to cook so quickly." Hudson immediately praised, if he had known that this bionic man was so powerful, he should have learned how to cook on the Sulaco. For everyone to eat... Sigh, but the food reserves on the battleship are not so rich and varied. They are all instant heat compressed food, and even the best chef can't make any tricks.

And... the other comrades-in-arms have stayed in LV-426 forever.

The bionic bishop showed a sincere smile, and said to several old friends: "Try it... This is a dish I learned from the Internet in another world. I don't know if it suits your taste."

"You are a bionic man... the things you make must be very standard, and they won't taste bad." Vazquez said, grabbed a salmon roll, took a bite, snorted twice in satisfaction, and then chewed While muttering: "...It's really good. But I have to advise you, don't sprinkle all the seasonings so evenly and standardly...then there will be no flavor of the food. Add a little randomness, randomness!"

"You make sense." The bishop thought about it, what is the magnitude of this randomness?Do you want to go back and find a few more videos, and study the amount of various seasonings and adding methods in it, as the basis of randomness?

Hicks, who was eating a salmon roll, also smiled, patted the sad Hudson on the shoulder, and asked Chef Bishop to sit down and eat and drink together. They chatted and laughed, forgetting their troubles for a while.

No matter what one has been through, one has to hold on to what one is lucky enough to have now and look forward.

Just after eating the salmon roll, Ripley over there hurried over with Barbaria, greeted the bishop, and hurriedly said to Hicks and the others: "Thought it! Let's go back immediately! "

Several marines quickly wiped their mouths, said goodbye to the bishop embarrassedly, and followed the two women to the door.

As soon as he opened the door, Hicks couldn't help but ask, "...what did you think of?"

"The book Boss Xue is reading is called 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'... It mentions a very interesting theory, that is, the earth is actually hollow, and there is another world under the earth's crust where many life forms live." Lei "Of course we know that these are not correct, they are wild guesses of human beings in the past when science and technology were not enough to detect the mantle, but it is this concept that is important.

"What if the civilization of Seth is mainly located underground?"

A few people immediately thought deeply, and when they walked through the darkness outside the tavern, they were still thinking, isn’t it impossible... There will be no earth-centered world on the earth, but the situation may not be the same on outer planets.

When a few people served in the Colonial Marine Corps before, they also saw the kind of mineral planet full of underground caves.The depth of these caves can reach more than ten kilometers. If there are creatures inside, isn't it similar to the "underground world"?

"But how do we know exactly which underground they are in, and how to get down?" Hudson asked after returning to the spaceship parked in the airport.

"We may be a fake prospecting team, but this spaceship is a real mining ship." Ripley replied, pointing to the equipment room on the side of the cabin: "Can't we use the things in there to find it?"

Chapter 19 Night City

Star Set is not a particularly large planet, but it is not possible to find the inner world by simply drilling into the ground.

Several people observed on the ground for a long time, and finally locked on an active volcano not too far from the airport.

The volcano spews out twice a day, with thick smoke billowing throughout the day, and sometimes lava spouts from the mountain pass; whether it is the Setters on the surface or tourists from other places, they must avoid the volcano, only those who Men in black often appear in the danger zone... In the eyes of those who are interested, this is enough to prove something.

"...every time before lava erupts from the crater, there will be an earthquake nearby that lasts for about 1 minute. Compared to the scale of the earthquake and the size of the crater, the scale of the eruption is really too small and out of proportion. If the underground world is indeed It exists, and there is the most likely entrance and exit." After the observation, Hudson put down the binoculars, and reported his discovery to everyone in this way.

Barbaria on the other side frowned, and whispered to the people around her: "I have a strange feeling... that volcano is a living thing, and earthquakes and eruptions are just its breath."

Oddly enough, several others felt similarly.The crater was not like any volcano they had seen on the earth in another universe, but it looked like a sleeping dragon.

"Never mind that, we have to find a way to go down." Hicks said, "I really don't suggest that we go to the crater, first of all because we can't get in at all...Secondly, it may be the reason why those Sets can go in." Because they have special methods that we don’t.”

Ripley narrowed her eyes, looked carefully at the terrain near the crater, and said, "There is no need to go to the crater. The area affected by the earthquake is probably the underground cavity. We just need to choose a location in that area to drill." Going down... In addition, you need to take advantage of the time when there are the most people in black near the crater, which is likely to be the time when the corresponding personnel on the ground and underground are changing shifts, and it is relatively difficult to be noticed."

Everyone agrees with this opinion and thinks that it can be implemented immediately.

So, after a while, they drove the landing vehicle that was already in the spaceship and continued to drive towards the volcano.

In order to be as inconspicuous as possible, the cabin-type boring machine on the vehicle was dismantled into several parts, which needed to be assembled on site; moreover, the boring machine was not too big, and it would not be easy for five people to squeeze in, let alone one A pile of weapons.

But in any case, before the sun sets in this galaxy, they are still ready.

The people in black in the distance really started to gather near the crater, not paying attention to an inconspicuous car here.When the airport is closed and the import and export are controlled, they must feel that their secrets are safe. How could they think that someone will dig directly from the ground?

The sun was gradually setting, and the landing vehicle with all the lights turned off was perfectly hidden in the wilderness under the night.

[49. No. 49]

After huddling in the cockpit of the boring machine for a long time, Hicks couldn't help but say bitterly: "Our experience is really colorful."

"Yeah, you have enough stories to tell your grandson on the farm. If you didn't get suffocated here." Vazquez was sticking his back to the cabin roof in a very awkward position, and said angrily Reply.

"No..." Barbaria turned her head while operating the machine to dig down, and said, "This machine is used to dig mines in the ever-changing astral environment. Guaranteed. We have come a long way, and if there is an underground world... it should appear in front of us at any time from now on."

While talking, the body of the boring machine suddenly shook violently, almost causing Barbaria, who was not wearing a seat belt, to jump towards the co-driver, Ripley.

Several people looked at each other and said in unison: "Earthquake!"

The boring machine swayed suddenly, and then suddenly rushed downward at an unusually fast speed.

"...It's a crack, we've dug a crack!..."

Before Barbaria finished speaking, everyone felt the sudden weightlessness and screamed uncontrollably.

The sonar detector of the boring machine showed a large red image, which is the "echo" feature of the underground cavity... But the detection results came too late, and the whole boring machine was already falling, and after a few seconds It crashed into a pool of water with a bang.