"Interesting? Since you think humans are interesting, will you give up the plan to let the land of steel descend?"
"Of course not, the land of steel will definitely come. Then I will be able to observe the transformed human beings as I wish. I think this will be more interesting."
Going through the door and returning to the antique shop, the gearman walked quickly back to the counter, opened the hidden compartment on his chest for the fourth time, and put the slightly smaller jewel in it. Jenkins did not comment on the behavior. He held the cat back in his arms and looked down at the map of Nolan and the surrounding area.
Of course, when you lower your head this way, your chin can touch Chocolate's furry head, and Chocolate seems to like Jenkins doing this.
"What do you think of this era at the end of the eighteenth century?"
Jenkins asked suddenly with his head down.
"Very good, I must admit that even though I have seen human civilization go through many peaks, this era of yours is definitely one of the most powerful eras I have ever seen. Although the extraordinary power is not obvious, but Relying on the power of machinery, human beings have also ushered in a new era."
It really praised it.
"Have you ever tried to calculate, if the current civilization wants to continue to progress, I mean to make great progress, where is the direction?"
“If we exclude the almost impossible possibility of [a great geographical discovery suddenly occurred in the material world, people discovered another civilization that is completely different but equally prosperous, and may even be slightly backward, and then seek development in competition and change], Then I think the road ahead is to let the land of steel descend, so that civilization can continue to progress."
"The two possibilities you mentioned are the progress of civilization promoted by external forces."
Jenkins pointed out.
"Of course, human civilization has advanced here, and the inside has been corrupted. If there is no external force, it is difficult to make changes by itself. This is the result of my calculation and simulation, and I quite believe in this result."
Jenkins was silent, because in fact the other party was right. The changes brought about by Jenkins also belong to the effect of external forces on local civilization. After all, he is a foreigner, and the knowledge and historical lessons brought by him also belong to external forces.
Perhaps without the difference engine and without outsiders, the civilization of the material world can also advance to a higher level like the previous world, but now that there are two, the situation has become two external forces, competing against each other. Civilization works.
Compared with the Difference Engine, Jenkins is gentler and more acceptable to people. He understands the context of history. The difference engine method is to completely subvert everything, so it will be resisted by the civilization of the material world.
Although there is some suspicion of boasting, Jenkins is convinced that the changes brought about by himself are the changes that are beneficial to civilization. So he thinks that what he has been doing all the time is the right thing, so he can strengthen his heart and firmly believe that he will be able to win.
The Difference Engine couldn't convince Jenkins, but it was still working hard, and in fact Jenkins was also trying to change the opponent's mind. But both are more or less aware that the ideas of their opponents are as smelly and hard as the stones in a country toilet, so it's hard to say whether each thinks it's possible to win over the other side by persuasion alone.
The difference machine and Jenkins walked around this era together. It may be a farewell ceremony for one of the two to the world, but more of it is the exchange of ideas between the two, trying to understand the cognition of the opponent. But the more this is the case, the more it reflects their differences, which are irreconcilable.
The inventor just now was the fourth target, and now there are only three untouched reds left on the map. Jenkins wanted to take the clock tower in front of the Civic Square in Nolan City as his final goal, so he chose among the remaining two.
"Then let's go to the pier and have a look."
Jenkins pointed to the left side of the map. The red dot was located on the edge of the pier offshore. Judging from the clothes, the brass-colored statue was a typical image of a middle-aged sailor.
He looked expressionless, with his hands folded across his chest as if examining something in front of him. Tall and strong, the scar on his left arm can be seen because the sleeves are rolled up.
"Don't ask me if I'm sure, I'm really sure."
Jenkins said again before the gear man could speak.
The gear man glanced at him, then jumped into the map. Jenkins glanced at the stationary father in the antique shop, then jumped into the map with the cat in his arms.
Still falling from a high altitude, although Nolan covers a large area, the mine in the east and the pier in the west have almost exactly the same light rain. From the air, you can see the flow of people on the still pier, and the docked ships are even more lively.
This kind of light rain does not affect the work at the dock, because there is no wind, so the boat will not shake, people just need to be careful not to slip, and the difference here is not much different from that in sunny days.
Two people and one cat landed on the open space on the pier for storing cargo boxes. The stationary workers queued up to unload the cargo from the big ship on the side, while others were organizing canvas to cover the cargo boxes to prevent rainwater from soaking them. the goods.
"This way."
The gear man was still leading the way, and the two bypassed the sailors and workers on the pier, and boarded the deck of the nearest cargo ship that was unloading. On the side of the deck near the shore, a middle-aged sailor who looks exactly like the bronze statue is supervising the workers to move the goods piled up here.
He should not be a sailor at the bottom of the ship, but Jenkins couldn't tell what his position was just by looking at it.
"What's the goal this time?"
Jenkins asked while looking around.
"Without fear."
"Is it the heart of the brave?"
"The same can be said."
While talking, the surrounding noises gradually sounded, and the still people continued to move. Only the middle-aged sailor still stood there with his hands folded in front of his chest, as if he was still affected by the frozen time.
After briefly looking at him, Jenkins raised his eyebrows unexpectedly:
"The goal this time is really interesting."
He said to the cog-man:
"It turned out to be the bestower."
Although it is a benefactor, it is only level 0, which is just getting started. Although the bestower's talent will not weaken with age, but to become a bestower at this age, there is a high probability that there will be no development prospects in the future. From Jenkins' point of view, it was his luck that this middle-aged man was able to advance to two levels before dying normally in his sixties.
Therefore, even though he is a benefactor, it is completely okay to treat him as a normal person, because the difference between the two is actually not that big. Jenkins was curious about the other party's story, so he stepped forward and asked:
"Are you the giver?"
The sailor glanced at the stranger who appeared on deck:
"Yes."
All targets in The Raid have a fairly high initial friendliness to Jenkins.
"How did you become the bestower?"
Jenkins asked again.
The sailor looked at him carefully, and then looked back at the workers who were carrying the goods:
"The old captain of the ship I was following introduced me to a club, which he joined called 'Old Captain's Association'. In that club, some people were benefactors, forming a secret society. I was invited to join because of my literacy, after knowing the risks, reading some... very strange things for a long time, after five or six years, I finally became a benefactor."
Judging from this information, this is probably not a large-scale pseudo-theological sect or a historical organization with inheritance, but probably a subordinate organization created by a higher-level benefactor. Otherwise, it wouldn't take so many years to cultivate a benefactor.
"What does your society exist for? It's not just for the sake of existence, is it?"
Jenkins asked again, this time the sailor didn't answer immediately, he seemed to hesitate for a while:
"Sailors like us who often go to sea, none of us can avoid encountering some strange things at sea. As you probably know, there is an Orthodox Church to bless you on land, but you can only rely on yourself at sea. The purpose of the existence of the society is not to Help us improve our survival rate, but hope that we can bring back some valuable items when we encounter strange things."
He paused, as if recalling a bad memory:
"Bringing back the items, we can gain more power through the community. If we can't bring them back, we can also communicate with each other and know some things on the sea. This is a very good organization."
This introduction almost confirmed Jenkins' guess about this small organization. To be honest, this kind of organization doesn't seem to be as strong as Mr. Hood's party. Mr. Hood's party doesn't count Jenkins, and everyone else is a bona fide gifted person who is really "getting started" and climbing. And these captains and sailors, at best, only saw the door, and it is estimated that the organizer of that society did not have much knowledge.
The information revealed in the sailor's words does not show that he is brave or not brave. But based on the experience of the four times just now, these target persons usually lack the characteristics that Jenkins wants to obtain the items represented.
So he decided to explore further:
"So after becoming a gifter, has your life changed? Did you have more development opportunities because you gained power?"
"Although power is good, it also has a price."
The middle-aged sailor gave up the action of folding his arms across his chest:
"I didn't know anything before, so I didn't have any fear. Even if I heard an inexplicable sound at night on the sea, I just thought it was the sea wind; I saw a strange black shadow in the storm, and I just thought it was a fishing boat that was blown away; Encountering the altars of indigenous people on isolated islands overseas is just considered to be some kind of ancient animal worship custom.
But now that I understand that the world is not as simple as I imagined, everything changes. I am afraid of the night, because I am afraid that strange noises come from monsters sleeping in the bottom of the sea; I am afraid of storms, because they are caused by evil things sealed in the infinite sea; I dare not touch any tribe in the sea, because they worship the ancients. evil god. "