Thorin's main hub should be the most special one among all the magic network main hubs in the empire - not only because its crystal array is built on the top of the tree, but also because Bertila, the "living hub carrier", uses The unique biological characteristics of Thorin's giant tree have made a bold transformation of the entire hub. She has cleverly integrated the original cold steel and crystal into the structure of the giant tree, and on the canopy of this giant tree, it is reflected everywhere Her "design".
Margarita came to the area where the crystal array was located under the guidance of Bertila. The metal devices supporting the crystal array were deeply implanted in the giant tree, with a large number of wooden structures and vine-like structures. The "pipe" extends from the layers of branches and merges with the base of the crystal array. Along with a splashing sound, Margarita saw that a "ground" near the base opened, and the leaves that originally looked neat and dense trembled and retreated to both sides, revealing a sloping downwards. The stairs seemed to lead to a very deep place.
Although it is wrapped in layers of leaves and branches, the passage is not dark inside. A large number of luminous flowers, leaves and vines hang down from the "walls" on both sides of the passage, like This "little world" within the canopy is illuminated like a light.
"This is my 'research laboratory'. I built it inside my body to make it easier to use," Bertila said to Margarita, already taking the lead to move forward. , "Please follow me - pay attention to your steps. This step is a bit steep. I am currently thinking about how to make this part grow again."
"It's really...ingenious," Margarita followed. Following the opponent's "footsteps", she led several technicians and accompanying soldiers into this "secret space" that belonged exclusively to Bertila. She was amazed to see the luminous plants on the leaf walls on both sides and the cleverly grown stairs. and the corridor, couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't expect you to have such creativity, Ms. Bertila."
"...Actually, I almost forgot that I still have such creativity. ," Bertila's footsteps seemed to pause slightly, and then continued to move forward, "Curiosity, creativity, learning new things, observing the world... I have thrown away a lot of things, but recently I am trying to Get them back."
As they spoke, they had already walked through the slightly steep stairs and entered a rather wide space.
This is a roughly ellipsoid-shaped "world in the tree". Margarita swore that even in her most imaginative dreams, she had never seen such a weird but wonderful world. Scene——
Solid wooden shells and support columns hold up this place. Countless green leaves and vine walls make up the walls, floors and roofs of this ellipsoidal space. Countless luminous plants—— — including flowers and hanging mycelium — provide lighting, making it look like a brightly lit plant cave. And in this "bottom of the cave," Margarita saw many things that were difficult for humans to understand, including things distributed along the ground,There are luminous vines with varying light and shade, some kind of culture capsule-like bags hanging on the nearby leaf wall, and some wooden, stacked platforms. The most eye-catching one is the one in the center of the entire space. ...some kind of structure.
It was a huge capsule hanging from the ceiling. About dozens of vines and tubular tissues of different thicknesses extended from the top of the capsule. The entire capsule was like a brown-red bag. It seems to be filled with some kind of shimmering liquid. As time goes by, some of the thinner "skin membranes" on the capsule are still pulsing slightly, and there are things like blood vessels inside that are changing in light and dark.
It is a bit disturbing, but also has a certain mysterious attraction. Its style of painting is obviously related to the biochemical technology of the Death Society, but it does not have the bloody madness. feeling.
"I have never let anyone else come here," Bertila said to Margarita. "As you can see, this is a place built according to my 'survival mode', and the things here Only I can use it. By the way, it shouldn't be considered a 'violation' if I do this, right? I'm not taking up any public resources, I'm just doing some research here - I am a druid after all."
"Um... I think this is not a violation," Margarita thought carefully for a long time before organizing her words, "Strictly speaking... this is your own 'physiological structural adjustment', and I think the imperial law also There's no way to tell you how to grow..."
As she said that, the female imperial general seemed to feel that the current topic was a bit too brain-burning, so she quickly waved her hand before the topic got even weirder: "We won't discuss it. That's all - Ms. Bertila, you just mentioned that you analyzed the clues from the signal. Does this have anything to do with this 'secret base'?"
"Oh, of course, because the clue is me. It was researched here." Bertila nodded and led everyone to a flower bud in the ellipsoidal space. As Margarita and others approached, the flower bud, which was as tall as a person, suddenly It unfolded on its own, and the originally curled green leaves unfolded, revealing their pure white inner walls.
"What is this?" Margarita frowned and asked curiously.
"It's just a little trick that can be used to present the picture - for me, it is more convenient to directly control plants than to control magic network crystals," Bertila said casually, "It just doesn't matter. The details, what I want to show you is...this."
As she spoke, she talked about the plant structure in front of her. Margarita looked at it curiously, and then saw it in surprise. Traces of dark green suddenly appeared on the inner walls of the pure white leaves.
"Since the last time I received a strange signal, I have been thinking about what those signals mean - scholars have used many methods to decipher it, including codes, code words, transforming into sounds, transforming For the 'alphabet'... I also used many methods, but they all failed. There seemed to be no logic in those short tremors. They did not correspond to some kind of code book, and there was no numerical pattern.After switching to sound, there was only noise... So in the end, I suddenly came up with an idea: Maybe these tremors do not involve passwords? Maybe they are something... simpler? ”
While describing the various attempts he had made, Bertila adjusted the lines emerging on the leaves, sketching more details in front of Margarita’s eyes.
"...I used a very simple method that no one has tried: directly draw the tremors. You see, when a strong tremor occurs, a dot is left - just like an ink dot, very small; followed by a weaker tremor or blank noise, it is left blank. If the duration of a tremor is Treated as a 'grid', then how many 'grids' of blank space are left as long as the weak tremor and white noise last...
"Then here, this is very important, it took me a long time to Figure out how to deal with the changes here - in the signal we received, there would be a very short and sharp waveform every other period. I initially thought it also represented some kind of 'line', but in the end I realized, It means...change a line.
"Similarly, we have also received several other very short and sharp waveforms, which also have their own meanings and are used to position the subsequent 'dots'. Go to the specific relative position of the previous paragraph..."
On the leaves, there are more and more imprints made of magic. According to Bertila's idea, Solin Hub is "monitoring" The mysterious signal that arrived was quickly transformed into a pattern composed of dots and blanks, and at this time, Margarita was almost certain that Bertila's idea was correct!
Because of those! The dots are not arranged randomly, their arrangement is showing a neat and regular shape!
"What is this?" "Finally, a technician standing behind Margarita couldn't help but speak. The middle-aged man wearing a magical technician's robe stared at the "dot pattern" displayed on the blade, shocked. The ground cried out, "This..."
"A square, the square formed by connecting the dots into lines, is very... regular, with the same number of dots on each side. "Bertila said, and as she spoke, the dark green pattern imprinted on the leaves was still extending.
Those eye-catching dots have been connected to form a square, but it is obvious that this Not all - there are still new dots popping up in the empty spaces next to the squares, and very clearly forming lines and forming patterns
Margarita and a few entourage! Everyone stared at it with wide eyes, guessing what it would look like in the end. However, after a few seconds, everything suddenly stopped.
The subsequent dots only formed a short line. The line ended abruptly.
"What about the follow-up? Margarita couldn't help looking up and asked, "Why is it gone?" "
"The signal was interrupted later," Bertila spread his hands, "This is what I recorded.So much. You know, the efficiency of using these tremors to record graphics is very, very low. We may have to record uninterrupted signals for a long time to fully describe this thing - but the signal I received was only ten minutes.
"...Damn it..." Margarita couldn't help but mutter something unladylike, and then looked thoughtful, "So the essence of these signals..."
"It should be a picture, and what we saw is probably only part of it - its exact size is not yet known, and its meaning and sender are also a complete mystery," said Bertila's very humane stall He opened his hand and shook his head, "I even suspect that this is a drawing. Of course, this is just a guess - after all, there are too few parts that can be seen."
"All in all, now we can basically determine this thing It can't be some kind of 'natural phenomenon'." Margarita took a deep breath. "No matter who is doing this kind of thing, there is some existence that has been sending us a picture continuously - also It may not have been sent to us specifically, but an indiscriminate broadcast that happened to be captured by our crystal array. In any case, this matter must be reported to the Imperial Capital immediately."
"Of course. "Bertila nodded, "This incident is very unusual. Think about the network howling incident that happened not long ago... There are more and more disturbing things in this world."
"Well... Speaking of which, when did you discover these patterns?" Margarita suddenly glanced at Bertila, with a curious look on her face.
"It was only a few hours ago," Bertila twitched the corners of his mouth, seemingly showing a smile, "Luck accounts for the majority - the idea I came up with does not conform to the normal code-breaking rules. It can only be said that I got lucky.”
“That’s still an incredible achievement,” Margarita praised sincerely, and then couldn’t help but turn her head. His eyes fell on the capsule in the center of the ellipsoidal space, "Actually, I've been wanting to ask just now, what is this thing... used for?"
This ellipsoid There are many strange-looking things in the space, but most of them are at least consistent with the characteristics of common things such as vines, flowers, branches and leaves. Only the capsule hanging in the center of the space is really weird and mysterious. It was hard to ignore that Margarita's attention had been attracted by him since he came in, but she was too embarrassed to ask due to official duties. At this time, after the official conversation was over, she finally couldn't help but speak.
What on earth is the former Grand Priest of the Death of All Things in front of me studying in her "private research room"?
Hearing Margarita’s inquiry, Bertila didn’t have any strange expression on her face (mainly because it was difficult to express expressions on her plant-like face), but there was a hint of emotion in her tone. A trace of pride came: "That is the optimization and supplement I made to myself. This time I was able to successfully decipher the clues in the signal, thanks to the assistance of this thing. If you want to see, I canThe outer capsule is open, but the things inside may have some visual impact on ordinary people...you must be mentally prepared. "
Margarita suddenly smiled and said quite confidently: "Of course - we have all received special training, and we will not be shocked by any situation. You can open it and satisfy our curiosity. "
Bertira nodded, and with a slight wave of his hand, there was a sudden squirming and rustling sound from the capsule in the center of the "room", followed by the brown layer. Many neatly arranged cracks appeared on the surface of the red capsule, and the entire package structure bloomed around like petals, revealing the transparent oval inner shell, the translucent nutrient solution in the inner shell, and the soaking The huge and astonishing biological tissue in the nutrient solution turned out to be a brain! A "synthetic brain" immersed in the nutrient solution that was nearly as tall as a person! >
Margarita, a specially trained imperial officer, her eyes widened the moment she saw that thing, and then she felt that the hairs on her body stood up slightly: "This... What's this! ? ”
“I built myself a brain—it was made to imitate the human brain as much as possible. Of course, there was a problem with the size... I didn’t want to build it so big at first. "Bertila said without any change in expression, as if this was just a trivial matter.
Margarita felt that her thoughts could no longer keep up with the vegetative person in front of her. She asked questions again. At that time, my head was all dizzy: "How did you come up with the idea of building a brain for yourself? ”
Bertila thought carefully this time and patiently explained to the other party: “After becoming a plant, I found that my way of thinking is moving closer to the direction of plants every day. Recently, I have Even standing here like a real tree, I don't want to do anything in my mind except basking in the sun and bearing fruit and shaking the leaves in the wind... I'm worried about this situation, so I built myself a brain to help myself. Stabilize one's cognition as a 'human', and as for the improvement of logical thinking ability and association ability brought by this brain... it is actually an unexpected gain. ”
Margarita’s wide eyes finally slowly returned to their original state. She glanced at the former dean of the death of all things in front of her with a strange expression, and suddenly felt that communicating with a plant was indeed a good idea. It’s too strenuous...