LRAB Chapter 291 The Truth of the Surface World
Chapter 291 The Truth of the Surface World
Chapter 291 The Truth of the Surface World
"Wow, that was fast! It must have only taken a few seconds, right?"
The agents from the Bureau of Investigation muttered to themselves, staring in disbelief at the steam train hurtling down from the sky.
Chang Lei's expression was also somewhat strange. As a greedy individual who could freely traverse the reverse passage, he was quite familiar with space.
That's why he was able to appreciate the wonder of that train.
Although they were in the real world, every step the train took was as if it were traveling on the edge of space, like dancing on a tightrope.
There was only a thin steel wire beneath his feet, and the rest was an abyss, where he could die at any moment.
Even so, the steam train still seemed to handle things with ease.
At this moment, Chang Lei finally realized what was happening.
This train is not an "object" brought out from the surface world; the train is the surface world "itself," and its movement is equivalent to an entire operating world.
The movement of the world is not affected by the rules of the real world.
In theory, the train could appear in front of them at any moment, because the train is not in the real world; Tang Zijun's order was simply to have it "rush" over as soon as possible.
Woo-woo-woo!
The clear whistle of the steam train echoed through the sky.
Thick white steam surged out, accompanied by clanging sounds, and quickly plunged down, embedding itself in the rails upon contact with the ground, swaying and slowing down.
At this moment, the agents and experts in white coats in the temporary camp also put down their work and rushed out, their eyes fixed on the train.
"What a creation..."
One professor couldn't help but sigh, and the others around her nodded in unison.
Finally, the train slowly came to a stop, and with a clang, the doors of all the carriages opened simultaneously, as if inviting everyone to board.
Chang Lei looked at the train with great interest, then turned to Tang Zijun and whispered, "Hey, is there any danger? There are quite a few humans here, and those rulers are probably getting restless."
"Not necessarily." Tang Zijun shook her head slightly. "The Dominators are merely remnants of memories in the surface world. They themselves have no 'thought'; they are just memories. What truly controls this dimension is the surface world itself."
"Oh?" Chang Lei raised an eyebrow.
Tang Zijun smiled slightly at him, then beckoned. "Come with me, I'll show you around."
Seeing this, Chang Lei didn't move immediately. Instead, he turned to the detective not far away and said, "First, examine the exterior of the train."
No one is allowed to enter the carriage without my permission.
"Yes," the agent replied quickly.
After doing all this, Chang Lei finally took a step and caught up with Tang Zijun.
The two arrived at the engine of the steam train, one after the other.
As the saying goes, a train's speed depends entirely on its locomotive. The locomotive is the most crucial part of a train, and it is also the location of the energy center in this physical world.
With Chang Lei on board, Tang Zijun immediately spotted the furnace emanating powerful and surging energy.
Stepping inside, a scorching heat hits you, and it's a bit choking.
The enormous black boiler in front of us resembled a lurking beast, occupying the most central position at the front of the train. The boiler's outer shell was cast from thick steel, its surface blackened by the passage of time and high temperatures.
The furnace door was wide open, and the flames inside were still burning, releasing strange energy. One could also faintly hear screams that sounded like those of the dead.
It was unclear whether it was coal or something else burning intensely inside, making crackling sounds and scattering sparks, as if it were trying to break free from its confines.
"An aura of negative energy?" Chang Lei frowned slightly.
He suddenly looked up at Tang Zijun. "This thing's power source is actually negative energy?"
"Why are you so surprised? The purpose of the surface world hunting humans is to collect enough negative energy, so there's nothing surprising about that," Tang Zijun said softly.
After a pause, Tang Zijun continued, "At first, I hadn't explored it properly. Later, Qin Nan reminded me that we had always defined the surface world as a dimension, the same as the inner world and the reversed world, and at the same time, we regarded the rulers as the life forms living in this world..."
But that's not actually the case.
Tang Zijun turned around and pointed to the stove.
"See this? This is the core of the surface world, the energy center that allows this dimension to exist. It's no exaggeration to call it the brain of this world."
"Based on this, and combined with what I just said, the ruler is nothing more than a product of memory that has disappeared into history. Think about it, what exactly is going on here?"
Chang Lei stroked his chin, lost in thought as he glanced around at everything.
On one side of the boiler is a row of pipes of varying thicknesses, crisscrossing like the skeletal network of a human body, delivering energy to all parts of the train where it is needed.
The pipe was covered with water droplets, which were a bright red color and looked like blood. They slid down the pipe, dripped onto the ground, and then quickly began to melt and disappear into the air.
Chang Lei could tell that the water droplets were a manifestation of negative energy condensed to a certain degree. Over time, this negative energy might be able to generate autonomous life, giving birth to beings similar to heretics and greedy beings.
However, in this dimension, this energy can no longer be gathered, but is in a state of constant circulation, just like the blood in the human body.
This means "This train is alive!"
Chang Lei's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly realized what was happening.
"No, that's not right. This outer world is alive. This world itself is an entity akin to a glutton, and we are inside its body!"
"accurate (correct and without error)."
Tang Zijun snapped her fingers and then crossed her arms.
"Anyway, it was pretty fast, Lao Chang. It took me quite a while to figure this out."
"No wonder, no wonder the Dominators can't leave the surface world, no wonder we can freely create passages to this dimension. It turns out the surface world itself is a kind of 'monster'," Chang Lei muttered.
Tang Zijun nodded. "Unlike strange people and monsters, the surface world, strictly speaking, should be considered a 'strange realm,' a bizarre area."
Upon hearing this, Chang Lei abruptly looked up. "Then, the fact that the Shadow Woman was able to corrupt the surface world means that she used the power of shadow to pollute the energy center of the surface world and transformed it into a member of the 'Shadow Clan'?"
"Hmm... your guess is somewhat constructive." Tang Zijun rubbed her chin.
Negative energy is a very general concept.
Although the evil beings of today are all formed from negative energy, the energy they use is all different.
The power of desire of the greedy, the power of shadow of the shadow race, and the power of darkness of the heretics—these are all unique ways of using negative energy.
But the surface world seems different. The negative energy in the surface world is more "pure". This does not mean that the negative energy in the surface world is so good, but simply that it is not picky about what it eats.
No matter what kind of negative energy it is, it will be accepted here.
Because of this, the negative energy in the surface world is very mixed. Any special negative energy, as long as it is stronger than this world, can transform everything here.
Perhaps this is why the world is so timid towards us.
As the actual controller of the reversed world, it's like an ancient emperor visiting a hacker's inn run by bandits. Although the emperor didn't reveal his identity, he came dressed in a yellow robe.
Seeing this, these bandit leaders were lucky if they didn't wet themselves in fear. They wouldn't dare to make any rash moves and would definitely obediently bow down in worship.
However, Chang Lei's words reminded Tang Zijun. After a moment's hesitation, Tang Zijun took out a transparent spherical bead from her pocket.
"This is..." Chang Lei noticed Tang Zijun's actions and immediately recognized the object.
This is a rainbow crystal flower, and it's an awakened rainbow crystal flower.
Although there isn't much energy left, this thing still has some value as a natural manifestation that grants magical girls the power to perform miracles.
"How about it, want to give it a try?" Tang Zijun placed the rainbow crystal flower in Chang Lei's palm. "This isn't the one left behind by the Ice City Little Rabbit, but the one I brought back from the Dream World."
Chang Lei stared at Tang Zijun for a while, and seeing that he wasn't joking, he immediately threw the precious pearl into the boiler. "Since you've said so, let's give it a try."
The rainbow crystal flower was placed into the furnace, but the expected spectacular display of light did not occur; the entire train appeared extremely calm.
"Are you sure this thing will work?"
After waiting for a while, Chang Lei looked down at the rainbow crystal flower that hadn't changed at all in the furnace, his expression somewhat strange.
"The world of the surface was born from negative energy. The Rainbow Crystal Flower is exclusive to magical girls, and theoretically, it should be hostile to negative energy."
These two things just don't seem like they could be combined at all... :"
Thinking of this, Chang Lei blinked. "Why don't you try using the power of desire? Since this thing has already established a connection with you, wouldn't it be great to transform it into a part of the Reversal World, just like the Shadow Woman?"
"If I wanted to change, I would have done it already. Why would I be waiting for you to come?" Tang Zijun rolled her eyes at him, saying helplessly. "I already have the label of a greedy person on me. If I go out and ride a train full of greedy energy, how do you explain that?"
"Woolen cloth"
The disappearance of the greedy is now a fact acknowledged by the Demon Surveillance Bureau, and it is something that no faction wants to investigate further.
If at this moment, the train under your control inexplicably carries the energy of the greedy, then you'll truly be in deep trouble.
Therefore, from the very beginning, Tang Zijun had no intention of imitating Ying Nu, even though it would have been the simplest thing for him.
After a pause, Tang Zijun casually waved his hand, and a golden card appeared in his hand. Then he turned to look at Chang Lei.
"Come on, Lao Chang, to verify my guess, I'll have to trouble you to help me with this."
"What, what are you going to do...?" Chang Lei subconsciously took two steps back.
For some reason, seeing Tang Zijun's smile always made him feel insecure.
Then Tang Zijun smiled slightly.
"Back then, the owner was able to deceive nature with his own abilities and create a magical crystal flower for ordinary people to use."
"I just wonder... Lao Chang, have your fraud skills gotten rusty?"
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