The announcement in his ears ended, and the train started running immediately. The carriage was empty. Lin Tuo raised his head and could see the route map on one side... The design was similar to the subway on Earth, but it was extra long.

Lin Tuo walked along the empty carriage and read the route name with interest:

"Sanjiang Station... old geothermal outlet... sewer... four-way connection..." The name is weird, and it's not clear whether it's because it doesn't sound good in the first place, or because of the Tongyu translation...

At the end, the painting style changed, and the name changed to "Slime Station", "Kakashi Station" and the like, which surprised Lin Tuo.

After trying to find it, I found that there were no books in the carriages, only some advertisements, mostly for property sales. As I walked through the carriages, I could see some passengers here and there.

Almost all look the same:

He collapsed on the seat, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

Every few minutes, the car would stop, and gradually there were more people. Lin Tuo observed quietly and found that some people would take out something like a mobile phone from their pockets and plug in their headphones to pass the time.

I leaned over and took a look. It was not a smart phone, but more like an old-fashioned telephone, the kind with a tweeter. It had a small screen, buttons, and a bulge on the back. It was still somewhat different from the feature phones on Earth.

There were few people in the carriage, so Lin Tuo didn't need to rob or steal. He could make a rough guess after just a few glances.

It can make calls, send and receive text messages, and has simple functions. It should have a broadcast function. With his "inhuman hearing", he can even hear the sound leaking from the earphones:

"Next is the advertising time... The South Outer Ring Fruit and Vegetable Zone is on sale, 50% off sale..." This is an advertisement.

"...New Party leader Harilin launched the "Plan for Improving People's Livelihood and Environment in the Outer Ring Road" for the third time... and believed that finance should be liberalized..." - News.

…

The train roared, and Lin Tuo eavesdropped for a while, mainly on the news broadcast. Combined with the conversations of those in front, he actually analyzed some information for him.

But there is still a lack of details and it is difficult to make a judgment.

"We still have to find a way to get to know this city quickly."

While thinking, the scene outside the subway window suddenly changed!

Originally, it was completely dark outside the window, and we could only rely on the street lights at various stations for illumination. In addition, the reflection from the glass inside the car made it difficult to see what was going on outside.

But at this moment, there was suddenly more pale light outside the car window, as if the sky suddenly crossed from late night to early morning.

"Dear passengers: In one minute, this area will enter daylight..."

In the carriage, an announcement suddenly sounded.

In the carriage, many passengers opened their eyes one after another and looked out the window expectantly, as if they were accustomed to this.

Lin Tuo also used the faint light to see the scenery outside clearly. One side was composed of dense gray buildings, mainly residential buildings and factories.

There are some small shops and landmark buildings scattered here and there, and on the other side, there are fields.

It is not flat, but triangular, and the slopes on both sides are covered with plants.

As the "one-minute countdown" ended, the ceiling of the space suddenly lit up, revealing a blue sky with floating white clouds. A huge simulated sun suddenly illuminated the entire world.

"This is... the simulated ecology of the underground city?"

Lin Tuo was a little surprised, while the passengers in the carriage also enjoyed the sunshine.

At this time, the train arrived at the terminal. Lin Tuo got up and got off the train with the flow of people. The buildings, communities, streets, people walking or riding bicycles in front of him were clearly distinguishable.

As "daylight" enters, the entire outer ring area seems to be lively.

Many neatly dressed and listless social animals ran out of the tube building in groups that looked like the earth was in the 1990s, some of them carrying the breakfast they had just bought.

Get off at another nearby platform and take the next train.

Lin Tuo glanced at the sign and confirmed that the bus was bound for "Central".

…

…

When Lin Tuo got into the train again, he found that there was a lot of crowd around him.

The advertisements in the carriages have also changed from real estate sales to more abundant. The most popular one is a virtual game called "The Third Continent", which claims to be played by tens of millions of people online, but I don't know whether it is true or not.

The "equipment" on the young people in the carriage has also become richer. In addition to functional phones, Lin Tuo noticed that many of them had something similar to a "headband" hanging around their necks.

Some people put it on their heads while sitting on the subway, then close their eyes, and then subtle ether fluctuations are transmitted.

Lin Tuo speculated that this may be related to the so-called "virtual technology".

And resisted the urge to grab one and study it... As the train traveled towards Central, he was surprised to find that the "daylight" on different loops seemed to be out of sync.

Some large stations will have fixed clocks, which will additionally display the "dawn and dusk" time. Through observation, he found that the daylight hours in areas outside the Eighth Ring Road are only six hours.

There are eight hours of daylight between the Eighth Ring Road and the Fourth Ring Road.

As for within the third ring road, there are twelve hours.

This seems to be a trade-off in the use of energy. After all, simulating the sky must consume a lot of energy, but does this not reveal a distinct class?

Not only that, after entering the Eighth Ring Road, the buildings outside are obviously much better. They already have the look of the earth about ten years ago. Office buildings, shopping malls, colleges and universities...

Although it still seems crowded, it is obviously much better than outside the 8th Ring Road.

This made Lin Tuo couldn't help but wonder about the situation within the third ring road, but in the end he did not choose to look. Instead, he simply walked off the subway after seeing a certain building through the window.

…

Ten minutes later, Lin Tuo appeared outside a building that was shining brightly in the sun.

"National Library..." Silently reciting five big characters, Lin Tuo blinked and immediately stepped into it:

"This should help me get to know this place quickly."

…

The earth was frozen, and wood and all fibers became luxuries.

Also, books printed on paper are extremely expensive.

There are naturally paper books in the library, but not many. The main ones open to the public are the "electronic reading rooms".

But for Lin Tuo, this is more efficient.

It didn't take much effort to figure out how to operate the reading machine. Lin Tuo found a deserted corner and started searching for the required information.

Strong mental strength is reflected in reading speed which is much faster.

after an hour.

The ghostly Lin Tuo silently walked out of the "National Library" and wandered the streets somewhat aimlessly, finally gaining a certain understanding of the world:

According to calendar calculations, 213 years have passed since the "Great Ice Age" in this era. The entire world has passed the initial era of "resource shortage", and the take-off of virtual technology has continued for fifty-five years.

The ruling organization is still the "Supreme Council" but the word "United" has been removed. The original four countries have completed integration and unification, and their respective languages ​​have been retained, but the official first language is the original lingua franca of the southern continent.

The original four royal families existed in the form of parties and took turns in power.

The entire society relies on this large city, surrounded by various means of production... The underground planting bases, factory areas, mining areas, etc. are all located in the suburbs.

Fifteen ring roads divided by subways cut the entire shelter into roughly three parts.

Rings 1 to 3 are the "inner ring", where government agencies, research institutions, large companies, some venues, etc. are located and belong to the "elite area".

Ring Road 4 to Ring 8 is the "middle ring", where most companies, schools, hospitals, and entertainment venues are located, and where the largest "middle class" population in the entire society is gathered.

As for the "outer ring", it refers to the area outside the 8th ring to the 15th ring, which is at the bottom of the social structure of the shelter, where the largest population gathers and enjoys the fewest resources including light...

The biggest wish of most ordinary people is to buy a house and settle in "Central"...

As for the "inner ring"...that's too far away.

This gave Lin Tuo a strong sense of déjà vu...

As for the "headband" seen on the subway, its official name is: "Brainwave Connection Machine".

Abbreviation: "brain computer" or "virtual headgear".

You can use this to enter the "virtual world"... At first, virtual technology was just to solve psychological problems... After all, the early dungeons were resource-constrained and could not support too many people, nor could they provide enough jobs.

Therefore, some magicians and scholars are trying to use this technology to build virtual spaces and provide them to citizens, so that people can enter them to work, entertain, reduce consumption, solve psychological problems, and reduce social conflicts.

Later, the technology tree of the entire society was distorted due to this... which also led to the prosperity of virtual networks. Not only entertainment, many jobs were moved in-house.

This is also the reason why we didn’t see many physical entertainment venues along the way, and mobile phones are still in the feature phone stage.

As for the "abnormal and extraordinary phenomenon", Lin Tuo also found clues through searching the news and newspapers.

"The only recent news worth noting that seems to involve extraordinary powers is 'Internet dependence syndrome'... And according to the news, 'Internet dependence syndrome' is closely related to the most popular game "The Third Continent" in recent times..."

Lin Tuo walked slowly.

"If the problem lies in the virtual space, then the abnormal monitoring results of the instrument can also be explained... because the virtual space is not an entity and cannot be accurately locked."

As he walked, the buildings around Lin Tuo became older and older, and there seemed to be a school in front of him.

"So, if you want to be more sure, you need to get a 'brain computer'... Well, it's best to have a supporting operating environment."

This made Lin Tuo frown. The brain and computer were bound and could not be used by others. As for purchasing...it was too troublesome, and...he had no money.

"It would be great if I could get one for free." Lin Tuo couldn't help but think.

Then the next second, his footsteps stopped, and his eyes fell on the glass wall of an Internet cafe in the alley ahead, where two "slogans" were posted:

“This internet cafe has opened a new virtual game area, with 50% off for the first seven days!”

"The "King of War" challenge is in full swing. The first person to pass the level or the one with the highest score will be rewarded with free use of the virtual game warehouse for half a year!!"

…
Chapter completed!