Chapter 778: Calculating the Stars

"Tongtian Tower..." Chen Ling muttered to himself.

"So, is that place similar to the lair of the Floating Life Painting?"

"You can understand it that way, but the Tongtian Tower is only used for research, and those 'craftsmen' are not good at fighting... Of course, except for individual lunatics of the 9th generation." Spade 9 added with a subtle expression as if he had thought of something. "In short, the Tongtian Tower will not interfere with the operation of the Tian-Shu Realm... The Tian-Shu Realm has its own 'order'."

Spade 9 emphasized the word "order," seemingly implying something else.

"Alright, alright, why tell him so much? He’s not going to go and blow up the Tongtian Tower." Jian Changsheng waved his hand casually. "Let’s go eat first. After running around in the Gray Realm for so many days, I’m starving to death."

Spade 9 naturally had no objections. "Still going to the one from last time?"

"Yes! The one from last time!"

"That place is a bit expensive... My salary for this month is almost gone."

"What are you afraid of? Our 'Brother Don't-Worry' has plenty of money."

Chen Ling: ???

Chen Ling wanted to pull out his gun and shoot Jian Changsheng in the head. After all, this guy also had the 【Blood Garment】 and shouldn't die so easily... But thinking that the other party had carried him for so long, reason and kindness stopped him.

"...It’s fine, I’ll treat this meal." Chen Ling said calmly. "Where is that restaurant you mentioned?"

"No rush."

Spade 9 looked at the large clock on the street corner. "It’s almost here."

Chen Ling was stunned, seemingly not understanding what Spade 9 meant. Just as he was about to ask something else, the minute hand on the clock clicked toward the 12 o'clock position... The next moment, the red lights at all intersections lit up, and whether it was the trains on the road or the pedestrians on the sidewalk, they all stopped in unison.

"What’s the situation?" Chen Ling frowned slightly.

Hum—!

A low roar came from beneath his feet.

He saw the street filled with parallel tracks split toward both sides like a pulled zipper. Through the cracked gap, Chen Ling could see countless gears and levers operating deep in the earth, like a massive super-machine...

The street where Chen Ling was located rotated slowly like a gear on a machine, meshing with the gears of other districts, and the district opposite rotated and disappeared to the other side of the earth. This process lasted about thirty seconds. After countless streets and buildings slid past him, the district in front of Chen Ling was replaced by an unfamiliar one he had never seen before!

The main road of this district connected perfectly with the road beside Chen Ling, and even the parallel tracks docked seamlessly amidst a hum... The red light of the road sign jumped to green, and the train started slowly, driving straight into the district ahead.

Chen Ling’s mouth opened involuntarily. If the ground train and the Tongtian Tower had only surprised him slightly, the scene just now had completely shocked him... As for the residents of the Tian-Shu Realm beside him, they were not surprised at all and continued to move forward calmly.

"This... this is..."

"How is it? Isn't it amazing??" Jian Changsheng grinned when he saw Chen Ling’s expression. Ever since he entered the Tian-Shu Realm with Chen Ling, he had been looking forward to Chen Ling’s reaction to this scene. "When I came here for the first time, my jaw dropped to the ground..."

"The Tian-Shu Realm is active." Spade 9 said at the right time. "It’s like a huge astrolabe. Every street and every building has its own trajectory... It changes every hour."

"Of course, this change has a pattern. You might not understand it as a newcomer, but as long as you live here for a while, you can master the logic of its operation."

"The Tian-Shu Realm is a huge astrolabe??" Chen Ling found it inconceivable. "Doesn't that mean everyone needs to confirm the time and the city trajectory that might change during their outing before leaving the house?"

"Exactly."

"That’s too inconvenient, it’s simply anti-human."

As a modern person from before the Great Cataclysm, Chen Ling found it troublesome to check subway transfer times and routes before going out, let alone calculating astrolabe trajectories? He didn't understand why the Tian-Shu Realm would create such an inexplicable design.

"It’s normal for you to think that. After all, from the very beginning, the original intention of establishing the Tian-Shu Realm was not to serve the residents..."

"Then what was it?"

Spade 9 was silent for a moment and spoke slowly, "Tian-Shu Sovereign designed this realm to calculate the trajectory of the Red Star."

Chen Ling was stunned. "Calculate the trajectory of the Red Star??"

"Tian-Shu Sovereign spent his whole life exploring the mysteries of the Red Star, looking for the reason for the regression of human civilization. He once predicted that after the Great Cataclysm, the Red Star would descend on Earth again, but the time was uncertain... So the Tian-Shu Realm itself is a simulator he built. The street changes every hour are his calculations of the celestial trajectory."

"Tian-Shu Sovereign wanted to 'catch' the Red Star."

Hearing this, the face of Lu Xun involuntarily appeared in Chen Ling’s mind, and he fell into silence...

"So that’s it... However, the Red Star is not a star in the traditional sense. Can its trajectory really be calculated?"

"That would be a question for Tian-Shu Sovereign."

Spade 9 said as he led the two of them across the road.

After the "celestial evolution," a high-end restaurant called "Comet Restaurant" appeared right across the street. The main facade was in black and gold, and several stars were painted on the plaque... Chen Ling then discovered that basically every street in the Tian-Shu Realm had "starry sky" elements, which looked very interesting.

The three of them walked straight to the second floor of the restaurant and found a place to sit.

It could be seen that this restaurant was very high-end in both environment and service. As soon as the three of them sat down, a waiter in uniform walked up and handed over an exquisite menu.

"It’s rare for Heart to treat us, so it wouldn't be right not to slaughter him." Jian Changsheng took the menu and flipped through a few pages. "I remember you guys have king crab, right?"

Chen Ling: ???

"Yes, sir." The waiter said respectfully. "All seafood is in the water display cabinet on the first floor. You can go and choose it yourself."

"Good, I’ll go down and take a look."

Jian Changsheng grinned and ran downstairs like a gust of wind... Having been humiliated by Chen Ling so many times, he naturally wouldn't miss this rare opportunity to eat back. You have to know, when Chen Ling was in the Red Dust Realm, he was a special envoy of the Golden Society, a big spender among big spenders!

Seeing this, Chen Ling couldn't be bothered to argue with him. Anyway, he had plenty of money; buying this restaurant today wouldn't be difficult at all.

Chen Ling sat by the window, quietly waiting for Jian Changsheng to order downstairs. Before long, a lively sound of gongs and drums came from outside the window.

"...Huh?"

Chen Ling subconsciously leaned out to look and saw a red lion dancing on the street.