After inspecting all the test items, Duncan gained a better understanding of Ai's transportation capabilities and the nature of the items on the Lost Homeland.
Ai can transport several different items at a time, and these items include organic, inorganic, extraordinary and ordinary things. The type of items does not affect the stability of the transportation process, and the transportation process does not affect the properties of the items themselves;
Some things on the Lost Home that are obviously "active" are actually "sub-units" of a larger control consciousness. For example, artillery shells are sub-units of the ammunition system. After leaving the Lost Home, these sub-units will lose their active properties and become ordinary things.
Aiyi's transportation process does not seem to consume much of its "energy". Whether it is the ritual dagger it carried at the beginning or the pile of things it is carrying at once, the bird is still alive and kicking after returning. Of course, this may be because the total amount of "cargo" it has transported so far is too small, far from reaching its capacity bottleneck;
At present, only different types of items have been tested. It is not yet known whether Ai's transportation capacity has restrictions on "weight" or "volume". More testing is needed.
Duncan summarized the currently known information one by one. After he was sure that he had thought it all through, he breathed a sigh of relief and slowly leaned back in his chair.
He knew that the tests he had conducted were still far from perfect, and there were many possible variables that had not been carefully considered. Even from the perspective of "test object types", the samples he had selected were too small to accumulate valid data.
In the future, he will have to select at least more types of items, and use different weights and volumes of items to test Ai's transportation limit and the stability of multiple transportations. Only with enough control samples can the test data obtained be reliable and trustworthy enough.
He was very cautious in this regard, and his caution was not without reason - because he had a very bold plan... or idea.
Since Ai can transfer items intact between the land and the Lost Homeland, and there is no limit on the types of items, then... can it be sent to people
If it can be sent to people, can it be sent to people who are not quite people? Like... Alice
Duncan knew that a person's ability was limited. If he only relied on his ability to walk in the spirit world to act as a link between the Lost Homeland and the land city-state, he would sooner or later encounter problems of insufficient manpower and lack of consideration. At this time, if he had a helper, the situation would be much better.
The teleportation ability demonstrated by the pigeon Ai gave him a good idea.
Of course, Alice is not a very good candidate for helper. Although this "Anomaly 099" with only a higher number is elegant and mysterious when she is quiet, her incompetent nature will be exposed as soon as she moves. But Duncan really has no other candidate at the moment.
Duncan couldn't help but sigh when he thought that the only useful crew member under his command was a loser who could even stew himself when cooking.
The Lost Homeland's position as an enemy of the world really gave him a headache. He estimated that it was impossible for him to find allies in the human world. If he had to find any, he would probably only attract a group of middle school villains, the kind who looked forward to the end of the world every day when they opened their eyes, cut gas pipes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, performed devil sacrifices on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and fought guerrilla warfare with church defenders on Sundays...
That kind of people can quickly team up with Goat-Head. When they have nothing to do, they can discuss which city-state to invade together, but they are definitely not the help Duncan wants.
"… Well, Alice is at least obedient," Duncan sighed and stood up, muttering to himself, "If I train her well, she can grow up… maybe."
Even if she can't be a helper, it would be good to let the doll see the human world. After all, she has been locked in a coffin for so many years and has no idea what the world outside is like.
After organizing his thoughts, Duncan began to pack up the pile of things he had brought with him - he would not be returning to the Lost Homeland for the time being, and many of these things could not be taken with him, so they naturally had to be left in the store.
There weren't many places to hide things on the second floor of the antique shop, and Nina would come up at any time to help clean up the room. Some things that obviously didn't look like everyday items would be particularly suspicious if placed in the room (such as cannonballs from a century ago). However, after a brief consideration, Duncan found a reasonable place for these things.
The sun amulet can be hidden close to the body, and the salted fish can be put directly into the kitchen, which seems reasonable. The cannonball from a century ago and the sailor's dagger from a century ago are even simpler -
Duncan took the two items directly to the store on the first floor and placed them in an inconspicuous corner next to the counter. After all, this was an antique shop, and there were as many miscellaneous items of similar style as needed. It would be better to hide the dagger and the shells in the pile of rags and fakes on the first floor...
As for the last item, the cheese taken from the kitchen of the Lost Homeland, Duncan also found a good place for it.
In the trash can.
After dealing with all this, Duncan patted the non-existent dust on his hands and was very satisfied with his arrangements.
Then he looked at the sky outside.
The "sun" that was imprisoned and blocked by double runes was hanging high in the sky, and it was just noon.
Nina would be returning home later today, and before then he planned to go out for a walk to get to know the city better.
Anyway, it looks like this antique shop doesn't have much business today.
The weather was a bit chilly, so Duncan put on a dark brown coat and tidied up his messy hair before going out. He tried his best to make his decadent and weak body, which had been tormented by alcohol, drugs and illness, look more energetic, and then left the antique shop.
As soon as he went out, a sound of flapping wings came from the second floor. The pigeon Ai Yi flew out of the room and landed on his shoulder. It shook its head and said proudly, "Go to Erxian Bridge and walk along Chenghua Avenue..."
Duncan immediately glanced at the guy. He originally planned to let the pigeon guard the house on the second floor. After all, carrying a pigeon on his body when going out always looked too conspicuous and weird. Anyway, he and Ai were connected by spiritual fire. If he really encountered a situation, he could use the spiritual fire to summon it to his side at any time without worrying about delaying things.
But I didn't expect that I forgot to tell the bird when I went out, and the bird just "got on the car" on its own.
Looking at the smug look of this bird spirit, Duncan finally sighed with a helpless smile: "... Forget it, follow me if you want."
He carried the pigeons to the main road opposite the antique shop. He walked a short distance along the main road and heard a clear bell sound mixed with the sound of a steam engine coming from far away. Looking up, he saw a brown double-decker bus with blue stripes driving along the main road and gradually stopping at a bus stop not far away.
It was a very common public transportation in the Plande city-state, driven by a steam engine. With a ticket price of six pesos, it could reach most of the lower city. According to the route map posted on the back of the car, there were two more stops at the end of the route that would pass through the edge of the upper city, a place called the Cross District.
Duncan had an impression of the "Cross Block" in his mind. He knew that the block and the surrounding area were regarded as the "border" of the Pland city-state. There were more prosperous businesses and more decent residences there. Many residents of the lower town regarded the Cross Block as their goal and dream to move up in life. Many middle-class citizens who could not afford the high consumption in the upper town but wanted to live a decent life also lived there - there were also cinemas, museums and several upscale restaurants.
Nina's school is near the Cross Street District, and the museum she mentioned is also near the Cross Street District.
Duncan thought about it, walked quickly to the station, and got on the bus before it started.
There were not many people on the bus, with more than half of the seats on the first floor empty. A conductor in a dark blue uniform stood next to the driver's desk. This young woman with shoulder-length hair and simple makeup subconsciously reached for the ticket folder when she saw someone getting on the bus, but then she noticed the pigeon on Duncan's shoulder.
"Sorry, you can't bring pets on board. It's the rule," the young woman said, raising her hand and pointing at the pigeon on Duncan's shoulder, "including pigeons."
Duncan looked at Ai, who flapped his wings innocently and tilted his head to look at him.
"Go climb on the roof of the car."
"Coo, coo, coo."
Ai flapped his wings and flew out of the car, cursing "cuckoo cuckoo" as he flew.
The young ticket seller stared in amazement at the man communicating with the pigeon in front of her, and the pigeon that seemed to really understand human language, and was speechless for a long time.
"Is it okay now?" Duncan had to remind the conductor who seemed a little dazed, and pointed to the roof, "There's nothing you can do about a bird landing on the roof, right?"
The ticket seller finally responded: "Ah... yes... the fare is six pesos, for the all-inclusive ticket."
Duncan reached into his pocket, took out two coins and exchanged them for a blue ticket. Then he found a seat by the window, sat down quietly, and prepared to enjoy his first train ride in this world.
The steam engine started, accompanied by slight vibrations and mechanical friction sounds, and the bell on the front of the car rang crisply. Then the bus shook slightly, and the scenery outside the window receded.
Duncan leaned back in his chair comfortably, feeling the vibration and acceleration of this mechanical engineering creation during its operation.
The steam engine is a good thing, civilized society is a good thing, and technological progress is a good thing.
If he had the chance, he would definitely build a set for the Lost Hometown - even if it was just a boiler that could heat hot water, so that people could take hot baths on the ship in the future.
Just as his thoughts began to spread, he felt the car suddenly shake and the scenery outside the window slowly stopped.
The young conductor pushed open the window near the front of the train and leaned out, shouting, "Want to get on board? There are seats! They're all big seats!"
Duncan was stunned and burst out laughing.
At this moment, he suddenly felt that this city-state, which was still unfamiliar to him, suddenly became full of life.