Chapter 16 The World Inside the Wrist Watch
Ren Zhong lay quietly on the single iron bed.
The night was still cool as water, serene and peaceful.
He squinted his eyes, cautiously surveying the surroundings.
Opposite him, Zheng Tian had already fallen into a deep sleep.
Her long-lashed eyes were tightly closed, looking adorable, with a sweet smile lingering on her face, as if she was having a delightful dream.
It still only takes Zheng Tian a second to fall asleep.
Just now, Ren Zhong and Zheng Tian met with Mayor Ma Dafu, gaining permission for temporary inhabitant status in the town for the wilderness people.
It's unclear if Zheng Tian and Ma Dafu had communicated beforehand, but the chubby old man's attitude was much better than last time. He never mentioned the upcoming Pu Cha, or that the newly arrived wilderness people couldn't settle down because they don't have a spot. Instead, he kindly and enthusiastically asked Ren Zhong about his impression of the town.
Not understanding the situation, Ren Zhong, adhering to the principle of not hitting someone's face, didn't speak the truth, only saying "not bad".
Ma Dafu chuckled, "Then I'll take that as a compliment?"
Ren Zhong awkwardly laughed it off.
The old chubby man was truly thick-skinned, with no sense of propriety.
...
Ren Zhong gently rubbed the round Wrist watch with an anti-theft chain on his right wrist, feeling a surge of emotion in his heart.
At first, Ren Zhong worried that he wouldn't know how to use it, but he soon realized he was overly concerned.
After putting on and starting the watch, he felt a tingling sensation on his wrist.
Ren Zhong attentively sensed the change, speculating that it was caused by some kind of subtle biological electricity flow.
The tingling sensation traveled along his right arm at a speed of one decimeter per second, spreading throughout his body completely in about ten seconds. The cerebral cortex, eyes, and ears tingled especially fiercely, as if a nerve was being rubbed repeatedly with a stick.
Ren Zhong's tightly closed eyes began to see light, and a snowflake pattern typical of poor TV signal reception appeared in his vision.
A buzzing sound, like the tinnitus of an insomniac, started humming in his ears. The buzzing amplified, transforming into the static noise of a radio receiving no signal.
Thirty seconds later, the new feedback was simultaneously given by both vision and hearing.
A VR large screen appeared "before" Ren Zhong, showing various icons similar to those on a window system desktop.
The white noise in his auditory system vanished, replaced by a beautiful synthesized female voice.
"Welcome to the eighth-generation portable auxiliary brain. Deep Communication Group is committed to developing human potential and improving human life. Deep Communication Group is dedicated to serving you. This auxiliary brain system was developed in the year 418 of the New Origin Calendar, having undergone eight major revisions..."
Ren Zhong thought, this advertisement is so long, can it be skipped?
The next second, the voice broadcast abruptly stopped.
Huh?
Ren Zhong felt a bit of surprise, then refocused his attention on the large screen.
He first noticed, not the colorful or black-white-gray icons, but the desktop background at the bottom layer of the large screen.
It was a dynamic wallpaper, an overhead view of a massive city brimming with a sense of high technology.
Towering buildings reaching into the clouds.
An orderly array of transparent three-dimensional traffic pipeline networks.
Large and small floating Shuttles in the sky were rushing back and forth at incredible speed.
At first glance, the flight paths of these floating devices seemed chaotic and too fast, as if a mid-air collision could occur at any moment. But upon closer inspection, one felt that these Flying Devices were always following an orderly yet invisible path, intersecting but never colliding.
The air traffic network of the city followed an artistic pattern, a perfectionist's delight.
It seemed as if all the machines were planned and coordinated by a massive superbrain, their efficiency and safety controlled as precisely as a human system.
This city was vibrant, full of life and prosperity, overflowing with vitality, corresponding to everything Ren Zhong imagined and expected of a bustling future metropolis.
Ren Zhong was deeply attracted to this dynamic wallpaper.
He vaguely saw some letters at the top of the tallest giant square-tower building in the center of the city.
If only he could zoom in on the view.
Ren Zhong thought.
The next moment, a white mist appeared at the edges of the dynamic wallpaper, and the screen advanced rapidly.
Once the display stabilized again, Ren Zhong's perspective became like he was 200 meters in front of that building.
He clearly saw the words on the building.
"Deep Communication Group."
Ren Zhong understood.
The future city in this dynamic wallpaper was indeed the location of Deep Communication Group.
He also roughly guessed the principle of the Wrist watch.
By using tiny biological electricity to interfere with human nerves, it directly generates information flows of the same level as human internal signals within the nerve network, eventually constructing visual and auditory information similar to illusion while recognizing certain directive dynamic thoughts from the brain, giving corresponding feedback.
Ren Zhong felt this was simply miraculous!
He was deeply impressed by this precise and powerful portable device, to the point that this genius from the 21st century even felt a bit of a country bumpkin's inferiority.
Such a high-tech product had become common enough for anyone to buy it as a wrist watch, surely there were countless incredible smart people in the world, striving somewhere for the rise of humanity.
Just thinking about it a little, Ren Zhong both envied and admired these people, yet deep within his heart, he harbored an unyielding spirit.
Despite different eras, he still arrogantly believed he was no weaker than others.
This was the pride of a genius.
Originally, due to what he saw and heard in Starfire Town, Ren Zhong had already lowered his expectations for this world.
But now, hope and fervor rekindled in his heart.
No matter what, since he emerged from the Frozen Storage, received a new life, and had the ability of S/L, he would eventually visit such a city, gain a clearer understanding of this world, relearn, and encounter knowledge that was unimaginable for his 21st-century self. How wonderful that would be!
Ren Zhong's breathing gradually deepened.
Dad, Mom.
I saw it.
This is the new era.
Thank you for snatching me back from the hands of death.
Thank you for giving me a second life.
I will use all my strength to embrace this new life.
Although you can no longer see it, I want you to know that your efforts were not in vain.
After a long while, Ren Zhong regained his composure, refocused his visual attention to the desktop icons.
New User Manual, Basic Information Database, Professional Education System, Scientific Knowledge Education System, Hypnosis, Internet (grayed out).
There were six icons in total on the desktop.
The first five were usable, while the last one was grayed out, unable to be accessed.
Ren Zhong attempted it and discovered that the network function was blocked on the rented Wrist watch.
He didn't mind, as the first few were enough to keep him occupied and entertained.
He was quite easily satisfied now.
First, open the New User Manual.
The manual explained the basic usage of the Wrist watch and mentioned the rules for earning Contribution Points by sleeping with the Wrist watch, but did not elaborate on the principle.
Ren Zhong only skimmed through it for two minutes before hurriedly returning to the desktop, clicking on "Hypnosis".
Shortly after, a ripple-like disturbance appeared on the giant screen before quickly clearing up.
Ren Zhong knew that he had entered deep sleep, yet his mind remained perfectly awake.
This state was named hibernation space, which could be interpreted as a "dream" that generates memory.
He exclaimed at how amazing it was.
Isn't it equivalent to having 24 hours available each day? This is truly a scholar's paradise!
With that kind of productivity explosion...
His happiness was interrupted as he thought of those pale and thin wilderness people.
Strange.
Forget it, it's incomprehensible.
That night, Ren Zhong slept soundly and felt immensely fulfilled.
He finally began to slightly unveil the veil shrouding the truth about this world with thick fog.
[PS: The contract status has finally been updated! Feel free to give monthly tickets and tips! The quadruple monthly ticket event from 8 PM to 12 AM ends tomorrow! In conclusion, it's not easy to release a new book, asking for monthly tickets, tips, favorites, and recommendations!]