Chapter 726: Welcome To Exodus
How large were 302.8 acres?
In square meters, that would be 1,225,388.125. Rounding it up, it was already the size of a mansion in the city where Lin Sanjiu used to stay before the apocalypse.
It was exactly because the area of the white ring was so large, she did not feel anything when Timo mentioned it. She only knew that it was colossal, but she had no idea to what extent.
That was, until today.
Right now, Lin Sanjiu was standing in a clearing surrounded by a thick forest. She turned around to make sure that she was in the right location. Everywhere she looked, she saw trees that stood staunchly under the sky. There was a gentle slope at the end of her sight and wisps of cloud were hanging at the edge of the sky.
She pulled a key box out from the doc.u.ment holder that was as large as a suitcase and settled it down on the ground.
The glossy key box was white in color. It had a rectangular shape, and it shone brightly under the sun. Following the instructions, she pulled drawers out one after another which made the box look like a tiny staircase that appeared from nowhere. Each drawer held row after row of keys with different functions. She picked up a round piece of burnished gold metal and tried to swing it several times.
Then, her surroundings began to change. It was as if gravity was throwing a tantrum over the upper ground, the healthy green foliage, the forest glades interspersed with rivulets of white, and the almost imperceptible wind. Everything that was laid in front of her eyes began to deform and fade away, turning into different colors of particles and shadows before being absorbed into the ground below. Finally, the true appearance of the terrain was revealed.
Even though she had psyched herself up, when she looked ahead, she still could not help but be astonished.
She was now standing on a cliff. Strong gusts of wind roared across the yellow earthen land. The sand hopped onto the pa.s.sing wind and began painting the sky yellow.
The canyon looked like a giant laceration on the planet. Even looking from a bird's eye view, she still could not see the end of the canyon. Layers of rocks stood stalwart on both sides of the ravine, forming craggy sides as they held up against the corrosion of the blade-like gust for more than a millennium. The canyon was as deep as the height of the sky, and it seemed like it would remain there for an eternity.
Lin Sanjiu looked down and her heart leaped into a gallop.
Her map was almost blown away when she took it out, so she quickly took several stones to hold the map in place. She narrowed her eyes and began searching for the location of her house. By the time she found the location of the ring, her face had already become red from getting whipped by her hair.
Perhaps the reason the previous owner decided to reduce the price by half was because of its location. After all, n.o.body liked staying inside a canyon.
Lin Sanjiu walked windward for a while and finally arrived at a spot known as the great platform according to the map. The wind had gotten weaker, so she finally had a chance to have a better look at the canyon.
Looking ahead, the sky was blue like a sapphire gem. The wind had stopped billowing and the sand had ceased hopping around. The planet had calmed down and silence once again returned to reign over.
Looking down into the abyss, she saw that an enormous white ring had been fixed onto both sides of the cliff almost a hundred meters deep.
Had she not stood on a height that was equivalent to the top level of the Empire State Building, she would not have been able to see the other side of the white ring. Even now, half of the ring was still shrouded in a thick blanket of mist.
The white ring fit into the picture she had in mind.
The entire white ring looked just like a battles.h.i.+p from outer s.p.a.ce. There were scratches here and there on its white metal exterior wall, frequented by the sand that was carried along by the wind. Various geometric metal plates protruded from the hollow center of the ring and intertwined with the translucent acrylic skylight and t.i.tanium framework that gave a clean but sophisticated futuristic appearance. She seemed to be able to see a patch of green gra.s.s through the skylight.
Lances of sunlight speared through the layers of cloud and shone on the white ring, giving it a golden finish.
All the grumbles and complaints Lin Sanjiu had earlier on were dissolved by the scene before her eyes. She looked blankly at the white ring below her feet, lost for words. The white ring stayed obediently in the center of the canyon, looking like a gentle beast that was waiting for the return of its master.
"Oh, yeah." Lin Sanjiui wiped her face and sniffled a little. "How should I get down there?"
She opened the folder and rummaged through it. Suddenly, something came into her mind and she smacked her head hard. Then, she pulled a controller out.
The camouflage barrier was able to produce more than just a fool-shaming hologram. After all, there were so many posthumans out there, and if they found out that the camouflage was fake just by touching, then the barrier was practically useless. Lin Sanjiu had no idea who created this kind of Special Item, but she could not help admiring the ingenuity of the creator when they were creating it. Slowly but steadily, as she rotated the golden-orange b.u.t.ton anti-clockwise, she peered forward. Trees began to spurt from the ground while gra.s.s and stone slowly stretched and spread forward. Soon, a glossy and green landscape appeared before her eyes.
When she saw a half-log in the river, she raised her guard. She crouched down and slowly descended into the river until her entire being disappeared.
The camouflage barrier actually enacted a layer of real matter on top of the object that needed to be hidden. After all, there was nothing in the world that was more deceptive than the truth.
The trees, the birds, the windsall of them were all put up by the camouflage barrier. They were just a molecular reality, and with one single command from the master, everything would break down and return to their molecular form as they waited for the next order from their master.
The only exception was probably the river.
The canyon was now replaced by the river, the land, and the oasis at the far end of the river. Unlike the forest behind her, those were just holographic images. After all, it required an astronomical amount of matter to cover the entire canyon, and up until now, there was no camouflage barrier that could achieve such a feat.
The wavelets splattered on Lin Sanjiu's body, but she did not feel anything and her body was still dry.
She walked down the suspension bridge for almost an hour before finally arriving in front of the white ring.
Lin Sanjiu had no idea how large it was. When she looked skyward, the top of the ring seemed to touch the sky. It looked just like the s.h.i.+ny glaciers in the northern region of the world she originally came from.
Once she stepped onto the staircase, the camouflage barrier behind her disappeared.
"Welcome to Exodus," a robotic female voice rang out, causing her outstretched arm to freeze in the air, "I am your voice control a.s.sistance. Please call me Silas."
"This...this is so advanced."
"Thank you for your compliment. Please insert your name card into the slot."
'What slot?'
Her question was instantly answered as a square slot appeared out of thin air on the white metallic wall. It was an empty slot that fit one of the keys inside her box.
"Thank you for your cooperation. You have been registered as the new administrator of Exodus. Please reset your name and pa.s.sword as proof of your ident.i.ty for authorization."
"Lin Sanjiu," she said before hesitating for a brief moment. "The pa.s.sword isMeatball Peach."
"Activation successful. Dear Lin Sanjiu, it's my honor to serve you."
As soon as it finished speaking, the wall in front of her suddenly opened. As a puff of stale air wafted into her nose, the door slid into the wall.
In the dimly-lit corridor, lights illuminated one after another.
"Welcome to Exodus. I will now bring you around to familiarize you with Exodus," Silas's voice rang out as if it were speaking right into her ears, "Are you ready?"
"Hold on!" Lin Sanjiu shouted and raised her head. She tried to find where the speaker was installed in the ceiling. "Will it take a lot of time?"
Before she could even finish speaking, she suddenly felt something as the hairs on the nape of her neck bristled. She jerked around and saw that a pod had arrived silently right behind her. It seemed like a miniature s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+p with a hollow center. It was hovering in mid-air and the leather wrapped around the seat was sparkling clean.
"This is your personal maglev transport pod. Please take your seat. With my help, you can finish touring the house in 5 hours. Before we start, can I get you a gla.s.s of juice?"