Recently, Tingting's house has often been visited by guests, and it is the old man from the Mediterranean who calls himself the third master. The third master is a mysterious old man, and the people in the alley only know his surname Hu, but no one knows his real name. And his relationship with Tang Quan seems to have always been very good, and he will often invite Tang Quan to his deep mansion compound as a guest. But Tingting didn't know about it at first, and among her father's few friends, there was no third master, so she was somewhat surprised.

Eight or nine years ago, in a deep house compound at the entrance of the alley, a family suddenly died. At first, everyone thought they were gas poisoned, but when Bai Aya was full of people, the autopsy forensic doctor revealed that it was a deliberate murder. It is said that the man had a fierce dispute with his wife's in-laws, and in a fit of anger, he had evil thoughts, and even his two-year-old son was suffocated to death. Although the death was not bloody and tragic, the mansion became a murderous mansion in the true sense.

The people in the alley thought that this mansion would be idle for a long time until it was deserted, but the third master bought it in full just a month after the incident. Someone told him the truth of the case, but he didn't care at all, laughing, "I'm over 90 years old, can I be afraid of ghosts?" If the demons ask for their lives, it's too late for me to thank you. "No one knows where he came from, only that he is an eccentric old man who is not afraid of death.

These days, the third master came to visit, probably interested in Tingting's chess skills, and constantly suggested that Tang Quan should train her well. In addition to these topics, it is to discuss the history and military affairs that men are passionate about, and they often debate the history of the Three Kingdoms or which dynasties. has come more times, and Tingting has gradually understood this energetic old man. On weekends, when Tang Quan was away, the third master would often move the chessboard over to compete with her and teach her some small routines and skills, but he was soon slapped by the back waves, but he learned a lot from Tingting.

When the two play chess, they are no longer as serious and nervous as they were the first time, and often talk about other irrelevant trivial matters. Tingting is a curious child, and the third master seems to be very knowledgeable, so she naturally throws many questions that her father has not answered.

Sanye was born in the 20s of the 21st century. According to him, he was born in a much better environment than he is now. There are high-rise buildings everywhere, cars are flowing, public order is good, and the regulations for order and standardization are very complete. Science and technology is far ahead, especially with electronic automation and information networks are the most developed, the full coverage of the 5G network makes the information superhighway unimpeded, and the home is full of convenient smart homes, which is a completely unattainable technology after a hundred years.

The third master said that the society in the past was extremely fair, and as long as everyone worked hard, they could always find a position that could be appointed to shine. Of course, he didn't say that the present is useless, he feels that the relationship between people today is more sincere and intimate, rather than the coldness of the invisible barriers of the past.

Of course, Tingting will be curious, from ancient times to the present, society and technology have been progressing, why has it continued to regress in the past hundred years?

It all started with the advent of magic.

In 2062, Ted Hoff, a scientist in the good country, published "On the Hypothesis of Human Consciousness Interference", and the following year, the experiment verified the existence of magic, officially kicking off the seventh scientific and technological revolution. The Seventh Technological Revolution is also known as the "Fantasy Revolution" because it no longer relies on pure science and technology as the previous two times. Instead, it makes human beings who originally saw the world with "one eye" become normal "two-eyed" human beings.

Magic is real. It arises from human consciousness and is attached to the will of human beings, and it is a powerful force possessed by human beings themselves!

We all know that turtles have shells, oxens have horns, tigers have sharp teeth, and eagles have sharp claws. Are we worthless apart from wisdom? Of course not, just like an eagle with sharp talons, it has eyes that see everything. While we have a higher level of wisdom, we ourselves have the power to dominate.

Humanity is of course ecstatic.

Scientists are putting more energy into the study of magic. Compared with the boring nature of various theoretical sciences, magic that can obtain practical benefits has become fragrant. Everyone wants to put their footprints on this blank piece of paper and leave a meritorious service that can be remembered by the world.

With magic, tedious irrigation projects can be appropriately cut, and various types of power plants can also save more costs and improve efficiency. It is easy to open mountains and split rocks and build passages. Humanity looks forward to the future of magic, but there is no end in sight. The world is everywhere immersed in the convenience of magic, forgetting its potentially great dangers.

They forget that only a very small number of people can use magic, and that not everyone is equal in strength, which causes a big problem. When a few certain people get the power that does not match their own, the desires of the heart are infinitely magnified. What's more, many of them may have bad intentions, and some of them may even be misanthropic and hateful.

Strife began in an instant.

For a time, all kinds of crimes full of their own desires were not uncommon. What's even more terrifying is that the detection methods at that time could hardly identify the suspect, and even if the identity was known, it was more likely that there was nothing to be done. The more fanatical criminals know how much magic can be used for them, the farther and farther they go on the path of exploring magic. Perhaps the researchers who spend their days in the lab are not as fruitful as the criminals, who themselves are the material for experimentation. And those magic users who didn't want to get involved in the strife, after forbearance and resistance again and again, most of them also chose to join those criminals. They are gangs and factions, various forces are secretly clashing, and governments have collapsed or been hollowed out, and they exist in name only.

Then comes the big question.

The world has become extremely unfair, and people with magical constitutions are doing evil, calling themselves "sons of God", completely distancing themselves from ordinary people, and constantly oppressing them. After all, ordinary people could not stand this reign of terror and rose up one after another.

But those "sons of God" had long been prepared for a rainy day, knowing full well that the development of science was the only weapon that ordinary people could use against them. In order to consolidate their position, they tried their best to suppress the progress of science and technology, block information, and especially focus on destroying guns and ammunition, as long as all weapons that could pose a threat to them were destroyed.

This is the main reason for the regression of today's society.

The third master said that the current level of science and technology in society may be comparable to that of his parents, and it is another reincarnation that has just entered the 21st century, so today's 22nd century is jokingly called "mirror 2002" by some historians. It's ridiculous and ridiculous, because of the intervention of magic, the future society has become more and more primitive.

"Then why don't the magicians nowadays seem to be as evil as Grandpa said? What they're doing now is working normally, right? ”

Tingting's questions were just thinking of the exiled Liang Leon, and at the same time recalling the words of the neighbors, she felt that the current magician was obviously a regular profession, which was very different from what the third master described.

"Well, the current magicians are indeed respected, and there have been earth-shaking changes in this. Ironically, when I was in my forties, I didn't dare to wander the streets, and if I was unlucky enough to run into a magician, I would have been beaten up. They think that ordinary people do not deserve to enjoy the baptism of the sun and can only move at night like rats, and now, we want to worship them as heroes. ”

There are too many folds on the third master's face, and he can only see the sadness when he looks back on the past from his slightly raised cheekbones.

"That'...... What happened after that? ”

Tingting was eager to know the answer, but the third master suddenly kept silent and hesitated slightly, because this is the origin of today's world pattern.

Around the beginning of the 80s of the 21st century, I don't know where it began, a magic swept the whole world like a virus. A small number of advanced life forms other than humans have been affected by magic, but they are unable to manipulate magic purposefully like humans, but have become extremely manic due to its interference, and their physical qualities have skyrocketed until they mutate.

The mutations of large carnivores and omnivores are even more frightening, and they are more ferocious and bloodthirsty than ordinary mutants, and humans collectively refer to them as "poisons". At the same time, for the first time, the hegemony of mankind on the earth was shaken, because in just over twenty years, cities were destroyed and the human population declined sharply.

There are two main reasons for the sharp decline in the population, one is because of the direct invasion of poisons, and the other is because if the corpses of poisons are not cleaned up in time, a special decomposer in the terrestrial soil will discharge residual pollutants, and most of the people living here are infected and killed.

At this time, the scientific and technological level of human beings was extremely backward, and the army was equipped with only repeating pistols, which could not resist tens of thousands of murderous poisons at all. Therefore, those magicians who stand at the pinnacle of power are first crowned with responsibilities and expectations, but even if they have the blessing of magic and are extremely brave, they still fall behind in numbers. You know, only 5% of human beings enjoy the magic physique, and among these 5%, there are the old, weak, sick and disabled, women and children, who are unable to go to war. The magicians who were pushed onto the battlefield had varying abilities, and some of them couldn't even do actual damage.

The magicians, who were cornered by poison, gathered on a battleship in Lijiang and held a meeting that shocked the world, the "Lijiang Conference". During the meeting, the top magicians reached a consensus and decided to start asking for help from the general public. At the same time, under the guidance of the conference, the magician transferred to another profession, called the magician, which specializes in the study of magic theory and the existence of magic weapons. Despite the fact that they no longer have shells and bullets, they have developed "spells" that increase the power of their magic and replaced them with good results. Even ordinary people who don't have a magic constitution can hold a "spell weapon" to gain lethality.

The "Sato Conference" was a turning point in the easing of relations between magicians and ordinary people, and it was the beginning of the first time that the magicians from above transmitted their power to ordinary people, which was of milestone significance.

From then on, a large number of ordinary people armed with spells joined the war, and the "Fourth World War" began.

Unfortunately, by the time all of humanity has assembled a complete army, it will be too late. All parts of the country have fallen, and only the Yuanjiang Delta region of the country, which has not been contaminated by poisonous corpses, and several other areas of the world near the great rivers and lakes have become the last refuge for mankind. The walls of the thread-like network of mercury wrapped in cement effectively resisted the invasion of poisons and pollutants. But then the problem is that the poison is almost endless, and it is endless.

"And then? And then? How did humans defeat poison? Tingting asked anxiously.

"In the nineties, there was a magician named Yuan Ai Yu who led a group of people to infiltrate the nest of poison. Finally, the secret of the endless poison is discovered, and the regeneration of the poison is prevented. But they did not bring back any specific information, and all but one of the advance messengers died in a foreign land. ”

Sooner or later, the contaminants will decompose, and it is only a matter of time before the remaining poisons are eliminated. Therefore, the day when the last epic poison was repelled in history was set as the Victory Day of the Anti-Japanese War. Since then, the purpose of rebuilding the city, absorbing the surviving humans from all over the world, and revitalizing humanity has become the goal of everything.

After the Fourth World War, the Yuanjiang Delta region of the country of Li, that is, the Liyuan District; a very small part of the Amazon basin, known as the Baya region; The Nile River flows through a tiny part of Egypt, the Eni district. The total population of the three regions is just over 100 million, and most of them are concentrated in the Liyuan district. Due to the gap in infrastructure and technology between the other two regions before the war, it was difficult for the two regions to recover from their devastation. On the contrary, after the war, the economy of the Liyuan region prospered rapidly in a short period of time, and even lost as much as it did back then.

The country embraces the people of all countries, does not discriminate against anyone, and gives them the same rights as citizens of the country, and they are required to fulfill the same obligations. Cultural exchanges and integration are more frequent than before, among them, the neighboring island country of Liguo, Xingshou, as the largest number of foreign countries, in just a few years after the war, the people can basically speak fluent Chinese.

"In today's society, magicians are still dominant, but the status of ordinary people has been guaranteed. It's also a matter of generations. After the third master finished telling this long historical article, he sighed heavily.

Tingting seemed to have cleared the layers of fog, and her heart was hearty, but she also paid attention to the third master's words, and when the third master described this history in great detail, the answer to a question was about to come out. She pretended to be casual and asked, "Third Grandpa, when did you and my father meet?" ”

She knew that her father wanted to hide the past, even her daughter, and of course she couldn't expose it to outsiders casually. Although it is suspected that the old man in front of him is also a veteran of the Anti-Japanese War, he and his father may not know each other from beginning to end, so the question is also like this.

When the third master heard Tingting's question, he choked slightly, and his dark lips opened and closed a few times, and then he nodded to the ground, "I met here, when you moved over." ”

With this unnatural movement, Tingting was sure that the third master and his father must have known each other before. But she didn't show it, only smiled faintly, "Oh good, thank you grandpa, for telling me so much, I was like living in a dream before, I didn't know anything." ”

"Huh?" The third master stiffened his limbs, with an expression of hindsight, "Didn't Xiao Tang tell you these things at all?" ”

"No ......"

"Oh, that's weird."

The next day, when Tingting met Sister Ling, she talked about some things about magicians. She wanted to share the eventful years in the third master's mouth with Sister Ling, but because she lacked some tangible experience, she was so annoyed that her hands and feet danced wildly when she thought about it.

Sister Ling looked at Tingting's face full of excited expressions trying to share her interests, and sighed with a smile, "Little Tingting, you are really interested in this kind of thing." It just so happened that because of Tingting's description, she remembered some things again, so she mysteriously put her hands on Tingting's shoulders, "In the afternoon, my uncle's house seems to be about to clear the pond, and it is said that the water pump is broken and you need to ask a magician to help, do you want me to take you to see?" ”

Being able to see the magician's work with his own eyes, Tingting couldn't miss it, and hurriedly agreed happily.

In the afternoon, near evening, Sister Ling and Tingting got on an electric tricycle and squeaked all the way to a trestle.

Under the trestle, there is a slip of cement boat and wooden boat moored, the cement boat is larger, but also stocky, but Tingting feels that there is no wooden boat to be safe and secure, may subconsciously think that the buoyancy of wood is greater than cement.

Sister Ling's uncle is tall and has a cheerful voice, and at first glance he is a straightforward person, and at this time he is dancing with the two young people around him. The two young men are a man and a woman, the man's upper body is a thickened blue denim jacket, and the pants are of a casual type, clicky color, looking very young and neat; The woman's beautiful long curly hair, the silver-blue long cotton jacket is open, and the inside is a pale pink knitted cardigan, which is quite temperamental.

Although the clothes of these two people are not fashionable, they are by no means fishermen, and they are most likely magicians who have been invited.

Tingting followed behind Sister Ling, and after hurriedly saying hello to the uncle, the five of them got on a cow boat, which was also made of cement, but it was half as big as the ordinary one, and the water line along the boat was much higher than others, which made Tingting feel a lot more at ease. Although she grew up in a fish country, she was afraid of water, and she did not pass in the river like a light boat.

The two young men stood in the middle of the cabin, but did not sit down, the woman saw that the uncle was about to shake the oars, and hurriedly stopped, "Uncle, you rest, I'll start the boat." ”

"Huh? Girl, I see you're so young, you can row? It's amazing, there are few children now, and it's about to be lost. ”

"No, no, uncle, I don't need an oar. You forgot? I'm a magician. The woman chuckled softly, and suddenly folded her hands and bowed her head slightly, as if in a posture of prayer.

I saw that there were white waves on the side of the boat immediately, Tingting suddenly felt that his center of gravity was unstable, and he lay back, and was firmly held in his arms by Sister Ling, who reacted quickly. And the stocky cement cattle boat is like a speedboat full of horsepower, with the bow half-cocked, hula and sail forward.

"Girl! Sister! Slow down! I almost fell into the water! "Uncle was sitting on the bow of the boat at this time, and it seemed that he had just fallen.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The woman apologized embarrassedly, and the folded palms slightly loosened a gap, and the splash immediately wilted a lot.

"That's amazing!" Tingting's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but exclaim.

The woman looked back at her and smiled, "Little friend, what are you doing here?" Did you come and ask your uncle to catch fish for you to eat? ”

"No, no." Tingting had a sense of awe for the magician, waving his hands with a serious face, "I came to see how the magician works!" ”

"Oh? Are you interested in magic? ”

"Hmm!"

The woman turned around, but her hands were still folded, and the boat was moving, she stared at Tingting for three seconds, and then nodded, "I think you may have a lot of potential, do you want to be a magician in the future?" ”

Tingting nodded without thinking, but at the same time wondered, "Is it okay?" Isn't it only people with a magical constitution who have a chance? ”

"Yes, but I see that the breath on your body should be very related to magic, and there is a high probability that you have a magical physique." The woman's eyes were full of composure when she looked at Tingting, obviously just speculation, but it was more like expounding the established facts.

The young man on the side also turned sideways when he heard this, "Our sister Heng has always been very accurate in seeing people, little girl, don't worry, you will definitely have a magic physique when you have a physical examination in the future." ”

"Really!?" Tingting's eyes widened.

"That's a must."

This affirmation made Tingting so excited that he almost jumped up from the boat, and quickly got up and asked the woman what her name was, and her work and schedule.

"My name is Xu Mengheng, and the virtual thing next to me is called Wang Zi'an, we are all police officers from the Xingmin Branch, uh, it should be said that it is a criminal police."

When Xu Mengheng said this, the prince next to her hurriedly grabbed her and whispered, but Tingting heard it clearly.

"Sister Heng, how can you tell her this, if you let the professional magicians know that we have robbed them of their jobs, we will be reported!"

Xu Mengheng smiled reassuringly and comforted, "It's okay, why don't you just make some extra money." Perhaps annoyed by his constant muttering, she punched Wang Zi'an in the stomach, and then faced Tingting, "I'm sorry, little friend, can you keep it secret for your brother and sister?" Don't tell anyone about what we're here today. ”

"I understand, I understand. Sister Xu Mengheng is a public magician, right? ”

"Oh? You know a lot. Xu Mengheng smiled and squinted his apricot eyes, leaned his face closer to Tingting, and whispered, "Actually, we handled a big case today, and I want to pay for the wine in the evening, so I want to take an order by the way." Shhhh ”

Wang Zi'an next to him obviously heard it, and cried with a sad face, but he didn't say anything, just looked at Xu Mengheng pitifully, which made everyone laugh.

Soon, the uncle's fish pond arrived. Jumping off the boat, the uncle who had inserted the anchor line pointed around, and pointed out several large fish ponds around, not to mention more than ten acres of land.

"There's so much land, I don't need to drain it all at once, do I? Otherwise, uncle, you catch them one by one, and the fish will die. Xu Mengheng proposed.

"Yes, so, it's enough for you to leave a five-centimeter deep water in each fish pond, my family is full of big fish, easy to catch."

"Okay."

After reaching an agreement, Xu Mengheng trotted to the center of the side of the square ridge, chanted something in his mouth, and suddenly raised his right hand. The water in the pond rises into the air like a piece of jelly, and the many fish swimming in it can be seen very clearly. Without the reflection of the aquatic plants at the bottom of the pond, the water block of the flat cube is not pale cyan, but clear and transparent, looking at it from the side, like an aquarium in the sky.

Hearing Xu Mengheng say "scatter" again, her raised right hand has been raised to her chest at some point, clenched into a fist but stretched out her thumb. The jelly-like pond quickly shattered into small slimes, and the larger fish fell one after another as they lost the support of the water, which is the exact opposite of how a sieve works.

"It's so handsome!" Tingting covered his mouth with his hands, his eyes full of admiration.

But she had just finished boasting, Xu Mengheng suddenly sneezed violently, and the water mass that had been dispersed suddenly turned into a bead-shape, shooting towards the surroundings like a storm. This is no different from pouring water in a basin, except for Xu Mengheng himself, the four people standing around him are immediately soaked.

Tingting blinked vigorously, trying to squeeze the moisture out of it, and when her vision was completely clear, she felt the cold on her body, and a sneeze flew out with snot that she couldn't hold back.

"Ahh

Xu Mengheng was obviously panicked, with a guilty face, he bent down to wipe Tingting's face, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I missed......"

Sister Ling, who has always been gentle, seemed to be very angry, brushed Xu Mengheng's hand away, and said to the uncle anxiously, "Uncle, take Tingting back, this winter, if you don't change your clothes early, you will get seriously ill!" ”

The uncle nodded quickly, and immediately stepped on the already muddy ground, leaned towards the water's edge, and turned around and told the two magicians, "I'll do it before I come back, no problem, right?" ”

"No problem, no problem, sorry, this time it's free. Uncle, I'm sorry. ”

"It's okay, it's okay, the money still has to be given, you didn't mean it, next time ......" Uncle was still talking, but he was punched in the waist by Sister Ling, and he grinned in pain.

"Uncle, can you hurry up? Stop arguing. "It was the first time Tingting saw Sister Ling with a gloomy face, and it was obvious that she was really angry.

On the boat, Tingting waved his hand to Xu Mengheng, who was raising his hand, and shouted, "Sister Xu Mengheng, I still want to say, you are really, so handsome!" ”

"Thank you, you will be 10,000 times more handsome than me in the future!" Xu Mengheng tilted his head and smiled, which actually warmed Tingting's heart.

After a while, the uncle's forehead was bursting with green tendons, and his arms were swinging the oars lifelessly. Sister Ling hugged Tingting tightly, but her face was full of unhappiness, "Xiao Tingting, who is more handsome, me or that sister?" ”

Tingting was stunned for a moment, and couldn't answer, the handsomeness she said obviously meant magic, but Sister Ling was so understanding. She really wanted to tell the truth that Sister Xu Mengheng was more handsome, but looking at Sister Ling's expectant expression, she finally relented, and said deeply and seriously, "Of course it's Sister Ling, Sister Ling is the most handsome in the world." ”