1

"Armor array!"

Under the sound of the order, the drum sounded, and the footsteps moved quickly with the swing of the flag. Hundreds of pitch-black square shields flew to the front of the formation like geese in the clear sky, and then fell in unison, and the sound was shocking.

"Hey!"

"The spear rushes forward, and the horizontal knife makes up for it!"

The drum beat at two o'clock, the flag moved again, and the spear rushed out of the shield array, like a sharp bamboo shoot turned into a bamboo forest in a moment, and the horizontal knife followed closely behind, hiding the edge between the shields. From a distance, it looks like a hundred-legged centipede, covered in armor, with strong feet and sharp teeth.

At the beginning of the morning red, the low and long trumpets have echoed between the plains and the valleys, and the black and red flags have been torn out of the wind and roared, and the sound of drums and killings came in bursts, breaking through the silence of the early morning. Chariots, hussars, foot soldiers, bows and crossbows, east, west, north and south formed formations, rehearsing formations and training on the loess school field. At one end of the school field, there is a high platform towering, rising several feet from the ground, connecting hundreds of steps. A red-clad and black-armored general stood on the stage, surrounded by dozens of black armor, looking around left and right. From time to time, there are fast horses coming and going, and the dragon flag with red stripes on the back of the black background holds the festival order.

Suddenly, there was a birdsong, slight but enough to reach the ears. With the prestige, a white feather flew over the banner tower like a loss and fell straight to the high platform. In the red cloak, a slender hand greets the sky, and even from a distance, you can see that its fingers are like onions and jade, which is somewhat incommensurate with a piece of iron armor. The collar is like snow falling on the branches, and the white dove is lightly dotted on the index finger.

"Coming back?"

Looking closely, the full and warm light red lips of the woman in red and black armor are slightly upturned, the slender and thick eyebrows, and the same pair of bright spirits with a hint of round Danfeng eyes, revealing a hint of joy. She tapped the pigeon's head with one hand and took a handful of grain with the other, and let it peck in the palm of her hand. The mountain breeze skimmed, and as she played with her cloak, it tossed her jet-black hair, revealing her thin, small ears.

"General Yuan Xian?" There is a side side to ask questions.

Yuan Xian nodded and signaled, Xu Qike practiced on his behalf, and then took off the iron hoop covered with red silk on the pigeon's paws, took out the white silk, and recited it silently.

"Liucheng has been defeated, and Jun quickly sent troops. In addition, please prepare a few jars of wine and drink it quickly on the day of the meeting. ”

The corners of his mouth raised slightly, and Yuan Xian put away the letter. "Herald!" She said to everyone: "After the, the whole army of Chilong will quickly prepare grain and grass, and there will be a fire tomorrow, and the troops will be sent at the end of the day." ”

2

"According to what you say, prepare enough wine, send troops tomorrow, and meet soon." The book is on the white silk, Yuan Xian's hands are lightly supported, the red lips are slightly opened, and the wisps are dried. Then put the letter into the iron hoop, knock on the pigeon's paws, and check the tightness. Finally, take a small handful of grains, mix a few air-dried insects, feed them with one hand, and caress the wings with the other.

"Xue'er," Yuan Xian called the white pigeon Xue'er. "Do you remember the way you came? Go find Zhong Li! ”

Xue'er turned her head and cooed a few times, as if she understood what she was saying, but her wings did not move, only her eyes were facing each other, as if she was reluctant. Yuan Xian took a few more small insects from his purse, "If you want to eat again, go to Zhong Li to ask for it." ”

"There is no fear." Seeing his wings fly out, Yuan Xian smiled helplessly. The tent was empty, and she was the only one left. Because she is a daughter, and both young and old in the army know her and Zhong Li's thoughts, so few people are bored. Because the leader of the troops is outside, the furnishings in the tent are undoubtedly the same as ordinary men, simple and ordinary. A mat, a bookcase, a pair of armor stands, and a few lamps and candles. Only a four-fold screen is covered in front of the bed, and there are Meilan bamboo chrysanthemums, which shows her identity as a daughter. In addition, there is an inkstone engraved with plum blossoms on the bookcase, and this is still given by Zhong Li.

"Let's tweak!" Yuan Xian breathed a sigh of relief. Because she has to prepare for war at all times, when she is out of the army, she either trains every day, or fights with others, and rarely has time to relax. "When was the last time you went back?" She tried to remember, and then identified: "System command, log out." ”

3

The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are chirping, and the flowers are blooming...... Things that don't matter to us make up the real environment around us. Illusory stories or dreams always run through a thread, and no more or no less will sometimes writes the ending like a prophecy.

Although it is not boring, even if it is imitated in reality, it is difficult to experience the Mediterranean sun drying the sea breeze in dreams or stories, refreshingly lingering around the skin; The cold winds of the Himalayan plateau are like ice crystals that refract and purify the sun, making it too dazzling, sacred and unattainable; and the Saharan dry wind that carries the heat of the sun, which is sucked into the mouth and nose, and then scorched the body from the inside out, these kinds of taste and difference between the sun and the wind. Not to mention the inextricable connection between all kinds of attention and inattention. Just as I hear a birdsong, a bird hears a worm, a worm sees a flower bloom, a flower feels the sun and the wind, and then the next birdsong, I seem to hear all of this. The beauty of this truth lies in the fact that even if I understand the color of the flower when I look at the flower, when I don't look at the flower, there are still people watching it, so that it will not be lonely for a while.

4

The eyes slowly opened, and there was a piece of fluorescent green in the pitch black, and I vaguely saw "4:55". Blinking the eyelids that had not been opened for a long time, there was a small line of "2109/9/15" on the transparent screen that reflected green fluorescence.

"It's been half a month."

The tiny, continuous hum of the machine running gradually to the ears, and there was some smell of sweat in the air. Yuan Xian tried to move his fingers, but he had not recovered from the feeling of powerlessness. The dry and supple texture of the cotton dress is passed from the fingertips, and it seems that the air exchange system is working well.

"The connection is over."

With Yuan Xian's command, the sensors and delivery pipes connected to various parts of the body slowly retracted like insect tentacles. An icon of red and yellow characters and a frame appeared in front of her, with the words "Metabolism Report" prominently written, but even so, it didn't attract the slightest attention.

Yuan Xian is a veteran player of this kind of stealth game, often sneaking into the world of the game for ten days and half a month, for her, this world may be a real entity, but the world over there is where the meaning of her life is realized, of course, this is also for the vast majority of people in this world.

Completely stealthy games have been around for more than 50 years, and are played in a way that separates the human spirit from the body, simply transports the spiritual senses into another world, and the body sleeps on the basis of ensuring the work of survival, as if in a dream. In addition to the sense of hyper-real experience, in the case of full brain work, people can complete the original work in one-sixth of the time, in other words, the loss of time in the world here is one-sixth of the speed of the real world, which is tantamount to prolonging the life of the person. As a result, this kind of game quickly became popular all over the world. And for the kind of players who play for a long time, the game company has launched a "stealth pod" to help take care of the player's body left here. Until now, the average stealth pod has been able to ensure that players do not return to the real world for 2 months without physical health problems. This provides the most advanced guarantee for the other world as a life.

On the other hand, in the seventies of the 21st century, artificial intelligence can basically replace human beings to complete any work, that is, the material materials needed for human life no longer need to be produced by human beings. In 2072, after several rounds of negotiations and consultations between several major science and technology consortia and governments of various governments, they initially reached a system under the guidance of the government and the specific supervision of the production and distribution of pure artificial intelligence by science and technology consortia. However, due to the original commercial nature of science and technology consortia, the distribution principle in the initial establishment system is too biased towards technology companies and the government, so that the original system that pointed to equality still has class problems. As a result, in the wave of revolt of people around the world, led by players, the technology consortium and the government were forced to dissolve, and the newly formed government completely became the department that oversees the production of artificial intelligence.

In 2091, after several amendments, the principle of production and distribution in the constitution was well established: citizens who receive compulsory education from school age to the age of 16 and participate in voluntary labor for two years (mainly to assist government departments in supervising artificial intelligence work) can obtain the right to distribute basic living materials, including food, water and electricity, medical care, information technology services and housing necessary for daily life. The acquisition of non-necessities of life is obtained by the completion of prescribed labor or occupational work.

After the establishment of a somewhat boring system, the vast majority of people became players like Yuan Xian after completing the prescribed study and labor, and only a very small number of people went back to choose to become professional government employees or scientific researchers, and most of these people's choices came from their life ideals. Indeed, hard work can be rewarded with things like villas with sea views, private flying machines, luxury goods, etc. But the satisfaction of living in a society that doesn't require money is a far cry from being famous in a fictional world that is incredibly real.

Although some people can't help but ask: "Isn't it easier to get the ideal distribution of this kind of peaceful labor?" But one thing has long been recognized by sociologists: boredom is the number one killer of mankind.

5

"Open the cabin."

The transparent hatch slowly lifted, and the first wisps of air flowed into the cabin with bursts of crickets. Yuan Xian sat up and took a deep breath of natural air, the faint smell of earth told her that it had just rained not long ago, and her skin felt a little damp and cool.

With a snap of his fingers, the wall suddenly lit up, and a bright moon as big as a round table was reflected on the wall, and some holographic moonlit grass appeared on the ground.

More than 60 years ago, holographic projection began to be widely used in interior decoration, and almost became a necessity for house decoration with the establishment of the housing allocation system. At 30 square meters per capita, like a container at a wharf, squeezed to the bottom of a high-rise building, it is the standard for people who only complete the prescribed work. Due to the lack of space and lighting, as well as the enormity of the city, holographic projection and 3D printing and recycling technology have become the best choice to create the atmosphere and personality of the space.

Slowly got up, and his muscles fell a little heavily. There seems to be some gap in the quality of the head, arms, as well as chest in the virtual world. The half-length hair is a little sticky, but fortunately, I kept the window before sneaking, and the wind was still fresh. A pair of white rabbit-headed slippers and beside the stealth pod, spotlessly clean, it seems that the cleaning machine is doing a good job these days. Yuan Xian tried to move his feet, his slender legs were still a little disobedient, but it was still not a problem to get up.

The bathroom is on the side of the bedroom, so there's just enough room for one person. The light is warm, the water flow is accurate to 42 degrees, and a white mist instantly rises in the small space. The background music is a cello, probably from the hand of a musician hundreds of years ago, Yuan Xian doesn't know the specifics, but with the trance yellow mist, it makes people a little drunk. Her skin was still smooth and elastic, and she hadn't lost a few more strands of hair, so she quickly and happily finished the rinse and changed into a gray dress, leaving her clothes in place until a cleaning machine would come to wash them for her.

She didn't like her hair getting wet, so she took a moment to dry it, glancing at the time to make sure it was too early, as time was "passing six times as fast" over there.

The wooden handle was rotated, and the buzz of the door was heard, and a suitcase-like cleaning machine was cleaning the living room, and the sensors were dotted with red and green dots like eyes. A three-seater sofa made of gray-blue linen lay in the middle of the living room, and his slender stainless steel legs supported an uncle in a gray and white plaid shirt, medium in size, with a stubble complexion, and a mustache in front of him, a piece of basswood grain long, a stack of papyrus, and a miniature terminal, and he seemed to be pondering something.

"Dad?"

Slightly hoarse, but still audible, the woman's voice pulled the man's thoughts back from a long distance.

"How did you come back?" The man's voice was a little muffled.

"Zhong Li is in place." Yuan Xian replied calmly, still standing at the door of the bedroom.

Like pulling at a dry bush, the corners of the man's mouth turned to the sides and his eyes narrowed. The manuscript paper and a bunch of unintelligible data were put aside, "The soldier is coming." He got up and said, straightened his waist, walked to Yuan Xian's side and stretched out his hand, stroking the top of her head like a pet. With that kid here, do you still need me to go over? ”

"Leave your broken code alone." Yuan Xian brushed away his father's somewhat dry hand with one hand. "What's the use of writing so much and not playing?"

"You still have to write, otherwise how can you clearly taste whether the mutton you eat is Dongsu or Xisu?" He smiled very satisfied as he spoke.

"You are! It's just a matter of brainstorming things that don't matter. Yuan Xian began to carefully observe his father's sideburns and wrinkles. How much longer? ”

"Do you have to go?"

"Of course, it's best if you can drive it yourself."

Yuan Xian's father, Yuan Qizhi, is the commander of the legion where several people belong and one of the designers of the game. Fifteen years ago, a group called "Conscious Mode" proposed to design a completely stealth game that was completely inspired by the theme of ancient warfare in the real world.

The biggest design difficulty in game planning is also the highlight: it not only wants to show the ordinariness and impermanence of everyone's life in the real world, but also allows players to have a high-quality game experience (the simple explanation is that if it is really as ordinary as ordinary people, there is no need to play); I want to incorporate the real feelings of life and death, but also ensure that the player will not leave the game because of the death of the game character (no one wants to play a development game that is dead and has to start over).

Yuan Qizhi has made a lot of contributions to solving the problem. He proposed to design an NPC reproduction mechanic, as well as a player exercise mechanic. The system can simulate a large number of NPCs with civilian identities, and give them basic artificial intelligence such as labor, combat, and simple communication, so as to ensure that the game society can run itself in a realistic situation. Although players are born as civilians, players can greatly improve their abilities through practice, such as practicing martial arts can quickly improve the strength of simulated muscles, physical strength and nerve reactions, studying medicine can obtain treatment methods prompted by the system, and being a craftsman can increase equipment attributes, etc., which can ensure that the value of players can easily surpass that of artificial intelligence. In this way, the combination of the two can theoretically ensure the realism and playability of the game with a certain number of players.

In order to realize the idea, in addition to participating in the design of the program, he also became one of the first users of the game. This is the first purpose of his participation in the game. It took only a year and a half from the planning to the production of the prototype of the game, but it has been eight years from the debugging of the experience to the official launch. In the past eight years, Yuan Qizhi has spent almost all of his time in the virtual world, and the time he has spent on the other side is forty-eight years. For testing, he has tried almost all the mechanics in the game in the past forty-eight years, and he has reached the level of mastery of conventional skills such as farming, mining, smelting, manufacturing, medical treatment, and fighting in order to simulate the real experience. Originally, he could finally rest after the game was officially launched, but the influx of a large number of players made him feel the rebirth of this virtual world, not to mention that for him at the age of forty-three at the time, the feeling of forty-eight years has surpassed his life, even if this feeling is virtual, it is enough to take deep root in the heart of a normal person.

His long-term work has led him to become the all-round king in the hearts of a group of new players, and he has established the largest army in the server called "Shuoguo" with his base "Handan", and in the first round of hegemony, he occupied the southern part of Qing, Hebei, Bing, Xu, Yanzhou and Youzhou, which are nearly one-tenth the size of the whole map. Two years ago, Wan Yuan Xian joined his father's ranks as soon as he became an adult, and gradually grew from an ignorant princess to a red-clothed general who led the party and commanded the first of the four armies of Qing, Xuan, Bai, and Red under Shuoguo.

During these periods, many newcomer legions gradually grew into forces that could dominate one side, such as "Yingyue" who ruled Yangzhou and Jingxiang with Jianye as the base, "Zhurong" who favored Xishu in An, and "Tianma" who dominated Liangzhou and the Western Regions, all of which posed a challenge to the status of "Shuoguo". The commander of Liaoxi, who is now at war with it, and the "Northern Forward" north of it, although slightly inferior in strength, can be regarded as a rising star.

6

"7:03" shows the time in green fluorescent letters, and the date below is still 2109/9/15, but in the world of "Divided", it is already two or three o'clock in the morning of the next day, and the date is September 22, 33 years after the first year of the open beta.

The stomach could clearly feel the hot milk that he had just drunk, mixed with a red sweet-hearted egg, the aftertaste of the detergent on the newly changed pajamas and the fragrance of the residual shampoo on his hair mixed together, Yuan Xian sat back in the sneak cabin, the transparent streamlined hatch was standing upright, the window was still fully open, the morning breeze was a little cold, and the outside was a little lonely and clean. Yuan Qizhi was at the door, wearing a white cotton split pajamas, which he was wearing when he tested it that year. Although some of the old ones had to be reimbursed, there were still a few items left for him to change and wash.

"I'll go first, you hurry." Yuan Xian said and lay down in the cabin, her slender and rounded toes still a little away from the bilge.

Yuan Qizhi smiled, and there was a look of firmness in his slitted eyes compared to Fang Cai. His eyes kept on Yuan Xian and silently closed the door.

The hatch lid closed with the slight sound of mechanical operation, and the normal green warning lights lit up next to the different wiring pipes around it, and then a green prompt appeared on the display screen. Yuan Xian confirmed her position in the cabin again, there was still more than half a head of space on her head, her left and right hands were still a foot away from the edge, and the memory foam pad under her body was very soft and odorless, she had probably just finished cleaning, and then she closed her eyes with peace of mind.

"System, login confirmation."

(Written later in this chapter:

1. The environment where Yuan Xian and others live should be many thirty or fifty-story high-rise buildings buried deep underground, and the roofs of the buildings are almost natural wilderness. The lighting of the lower residential area is mainly solved by artificial pseudo-sunlight light sources, and local areas can enjoy the light patio. The whole city is like a super-large building, the ground floor is freight traffic, pipelines, the upper point is normal civil traffic, although the sidewalks are not very useful, but there is a separate layer at the position of about five floors, service facilities are several floors above this, and then up is the allocated residential area. What really emerges from the surface are the luxury residential areas like small towns, as well as high-end business districts, resorts and scenic areas.

2. There is still money in society, but it is all electronically calculated, and there is no longer any banknote issued. It is not used in general life, and only in the area above the "surface", it is mainly for the convenience of giving labor remuneration.

3. Yuan Qizhi is basically engaged in originality purely out of interest, although there will be a lot of incentives from the government for him if he succeeds, but the energy spent in this industry is usually not as good as working for the government.

4. The stealth module will cut off the person's nerve transmission, and then assist the rest of the body to maintain normal vital signs. The various tubes that secrete metabolism will be taken care of, and they will be connected or cut off after cutting off the nerve transmission, otherwise it will be a little nauseous even if it doesn't hurt.

5 time: The official release time is February 1, 2104, and the time of planning is the end of 2094. Yuan Qizhi was born in 2062, Yuan Xian was born in 2088, and Zhong Li was born in 2087. In the following text, when the text is written in a long form, the internal time is used, and the real time is used for the external time, and the prefix will be added if the distinction is not clear. ）