[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

The chalk rubbed against the drawing board, making a constant brushing sound, and the gypsum chips kept falling.

Human nature defeated animal nature, and the perception and pursuit of beauty overwhelmed everything else. Vitruvius was painting, and tears gradually filled his eyes.

—What a lucky man he is?

What virtue and ability is there for him to be so favored by God.Or in other words, how many good deeds did he do in his previous life, so that he can have such an encounter in this life.

Gradually, his paintbrush became completely integrated with his eyes, his arms, and the drawing board in front of him.There is no need for his brain to use skills anymore, he can let the scene in front of him fall directly on the drawing board just by instinct.

Her neck, her shoulders, her graceful and slender arms, her black hair hanging down her waist...all of these quickly appeared on the drawing board.

The painter himself, the more he painted, the more tears flowed down his face.

He realized the parting.

He knew that in the long life after tonight, he would only be accompanied by this painting—only this painting proved that he was so close to the true and beautiful emotions in the world.

With a sound of "snap", the painter made the last stroke, and the chalk in his hand was cut off by him.His fingertips had long been bleeding, but they were covered with thick plaster, which could not affect his paintings.

He couldn't feel the pain, but his feet were weak, and he couldn't stand anymore. He leaned on the desk beside him, and sat wobbly on the ground.

He buried his head between his arms and hugged his knees, weeping silently.

He had beauty, and he bid farewell to beauty.

I don't know how long it took, when Vitruvius raised his head, the figure where his "model" was originally was no longer there.

The oil lamp has been burned out, and the sky in the skylight overhead has gradually turned blue.

Vitruvius really felt that he would be alone with him from now on.

But at least he still has one painting that he will always be proud of for the rest of his life.

"Chief Engineer! Master Vitruvius..."

A Roman soldier found Vitruvius by the cluttered docks of Alexandria.

"What is the order of the consul?"

"The Consul ordered you to stand by in Alexandria, and after meeting him, go to Asia Minor with the ship."

Vitruvius stated that he had received the order-he did not have to go to Cairo to build defenses and civilian fortifications. Instead, he would go to Asia Minor to resume his important duties as a military engineer.

Caesar received reports from the military in Asia Minor that the king of the Bosphorus there had broken the treaty with Rome.However, the Roman 36th Legion was defeated, and thus lost key territory in Asia Minor.

Caesar felt that Egypt had been settled, and it was time to wake up from the queen's tenderness.He ordered the 6th Army currently stationed in Egypt to set off across the sea to Asia Minor.

"Understood. When will the Consul arrive?" asked Vitruvius.

"It will arrive tomorrow. After the consul inspects the legion, we will set off directly from the port."

Caesar's actions have always been faster than everyone expected.

On the pier of Alexandria, Roman soldiers from the 6th Legion were everywhere, making preparations for departure in a hurry.

Vitruvius looked around, he wanted to find Yi Nan, and said to her face to face.

He searched all over the city, and finally realized that if she didn't want to, he couldn't meet her—this woman is so powerful.

In the evening, someone finally delivered a letter to Vitruvius.The librarian of the Great Library told him that Miss Yinan would see him off at the port tomorrow.If he has anything to store in the Great Library, he can do so with confidence.They will protect his manuscripts, his paintings as they do all the books in the library.

Vitruvius is very grateful to these administrators: this has indeed solved him a lot of trouble.At least he doesn't have to worry, these things can't be properly preserved after the army leaves.

In addition, Vitruvius felt a little comfort to see Inan again.

The next day, the Roman legion set off as scheduled.The great military commander and the invincible war god Caesar reviewed his army, boarded the commander's ship, and sailed out of Alexandria first.

The royal ship of Queen Cleopatra of Egypt was on the sidelines, sending them off affectionately.

At this time, Vitruvius still stayed on the shore, waiting anxiously. Until the moment when Inan appeared, he was not sure whether he would really meet her as promised.

"Has the library contacted you?" Yi Nan asked with a smile.

Vitruvius nodded and saw the woman unfasten a thin linen cord from her neck, on which she wore a badge.

Inan handed the badge to Vitruvius: "Take it with you. As long as you arrive in Alexandria, you will be entitled to access all public facilities here, including the entire Great Library."

"This……"

It was so precious that Vitruvius didn't dare to take it for a while.

"You used to protect the big library regardless of your own safety. The people of this city will accept you with open arms." Yinan still insisted, "Take it, you need it more than I do."

"I'm a soldier. It's going to be difficult and dangerous. I don't know when I'll be able to return here." Vitruvius said, "I think there may be someone who needs it more than me."

Yi Nan lowered his eyes to hide the smile in his eyes.

She thought that even Caesar himself might not have imagined that he was about to usher in an easy victory in Asia Minor that he had never experienced in his life, and he uttered the famous words handed down in high spirits: "I'll see you, I'll see you!" Conquer!"①

"Promise me, you will come back here safely." Yinan said, took Vitruvius' hand, spread it out, and wrapped the thin linen rope between his fingers.During this process, Vitruvius has been staring at her every move, wanted to say something, but was unable to say it.

"Goodbye, my friend." Yi Nan said, taking a step back and waving to him.

Vitruvius knew that what she meant was "never see you again".

He suddenly took a quick step to catch up, and wanted to speak, but was suddenly interrupted by an orderly.

"Master Vitruvius, the Consul has other arrangements for you."

"Another arrangement?"

Both Vitruvius and Inan stopped.

"The Consul said that we are going to Asia Minor. The battlefield is originally the territory of the Republic, and the military buildings are sufficient. The Consul intends to make a quick victory and will not build more fortifications there. The Consul will return to Egypt later. He said it doesn't matter if you stay here or go with the army. It's up to you."

Soldiers are called to obey orders - but now, orders no longer exist.What lies before Vitruvius is choice.

The messenger saluted and left.

Vitruvius and Inan looked at each other.

Inan was finally able to raise his eyes and looked at Vitruvius with a smile: "If I tell you, the Consul will win an unprecedented victory when he goes to Asia Minor this time. The generals and soldiers who fight with him will have supreme Glory. Will you give up this opportunity to go?"

Vitruvius shook his head resolutely: "No matter how brilliant the victory on the battlefield is, it is based on the mass killing and sacrifice of both sides. I will not feel so honored by it. I only care about my personal responsibilities .”

Rather than directing the construction of fortifications on the battlefield, Vitruvius preferred to design and build those civil works.

But he is still a soldier, shouldering the expectations of his colleagues.

No one in this world "loves" war. Even the most battle-hardened soldiers are looking forward to a safe place to rest after a fierce battle and peace to come soon.

But human beings are used to using conflicts to quell conflicts and wars to end wars.

"So, what is your decision?" Inan looked into Vitruvius' clear eyes, as if trying to read his thoughts from his eyes.

"My decision...is..."

Vitruvius suddenly felt that time had stopped, and his decision remained on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't say it out.

He saw his own shadow in her eyes, he felt that he had been split in two, a little Vitruvius remained forever in Egypt, in Alexandria, in her eyes up.

"You will still go out with the army, as an engineer, do your best to protect your comrades, and fulfill your obligations to the country, right?"

Sure enough, she understood him, and she said the answer he couldn't say.

Vitruu looked at his own shadow in her eyes, felt that he was losing something, and seemed to be awakening something.

She didn't finish her question yet.

"But you, why hesitate?"

Why hesitate?

Vitruvius pondered this question in his mind.He began to reflect on his decision—it was neither an order from Shangfeng nor a subconscious thought.He has been struggling and struggling in his heart for a long time. He has been hesitating and struggling. It is her, who knows himself better than himself, who helps him to express this decision.

Why hesitate?

It was because he had to make a choice, a choice between duty and responsibility and the obscure emotions in his heart.

But—if there are really gods and destiny in this world, why does he still have this chance to make a choice?

So Vitruvius opened his mouth and replied, "I... I don't know!"

he does not know.

—There must be a reason for his hesitation, but he doesn't know what it is.

He didn't know what his choice meant to his life.He suffers from being unable to predict the future, so he has to struggle between two options.

At the moment when he discovered that "all this has never been arranged", he suddenly felt at a loss and at a loss.

And when he reflected on the whole process of his decision-making and asked himself "why did this happen", he finally found that there was no god.

There is a Judaean proverb: "When man thinks, God laughs."

If God is really looking down on all this, he should have laughed out loud at this time, right?

After hearing Vitruvius' answer, Inan felt shocked.

It wasn't the shock in her heart, the shock she felt was physical.

The whole world was shaken—but only her world, and she had seen a huge golden slit open in the sky in front of her.But everyone around her is fine.Soldiers of the Roman legions left the port ship by ship.Caesar's ship is sailing vigorously on the sea.

Vitruvius was looking at her with a struggling expression, completely unaware of the physical shock she felt.

Inan finally realized:

This is——the space-time tunnel finally reached the end, she finally completed the task, and observed the "birth of free will" of human beings.

Inan has been thinking hard about this proposition for hundreds of years: she believes that in human society, changes have already occurred, but precisely because human "free will" is abstract and has no actual form, the subtle changes , it is difficult to find a certain point in time: it is unrealistic to say that from this moment on, all human beings are free.

But what she can do is to find evidence at a certain point in time.

Just like Vitruvius now, he is obviously reflecting, questioning, questioning his emotions, and seeking reasons.

Thus, there was a vacancy in the will of the gods.

Humans were originally "animals" who followed their instincts.But with the evolution of society, "free will" came into being, and human nature gradually defeated "animal nature".

Vitruvius may not be a pioneer, but he was the first person to provide "evidence" in front of Inan.

Yi Nan couldn't help crying, she raised her face, faced Vitruvius, and murmured, "Thank you!"

The "Revisiting Civilization Project" has finally come to a successful conclusion.

She is leaving.

At this time, Vitruvius, like many soldiers around him, also sensed that something was wrong.Thin ripples began to appear on the calm water surface of Alexandria, not like the usual waves, but as if the entire water surface was constantly vibrating.The ripples, with the harbor as the center, are continuously extending in all directions.

When Yinan looked up, he saw a huge beam of light covering the entire Alexandria.There is a small dot in the beam of light, flying towards her with incomparable speed.

She had seen a preview of this scene and was mentally prepared for it.

But Vitruvius didn't, he naturally stretched out his arms, always ready to protect Yi Nan.

So Inan pointed to the distance of the harbor and said to Vitruvius, "Look—"

Sure enough, Vitruvius turned around and looked in the direction Yinan pointed.

Yi Nan became extremely bright behind him, turning into a person made of rays of light.

She didn't speak again.

She had bid farewell to Vitruvius.

She doesn't need to reveal her feelings to him anymore, after all, not every feeling has to be expressed in words.

And she hopes that Vitruvius can follow his own ideals and become the person he wants to be, and treat her as just an ordinary passer-by in his life.

While she was away, there was a small magnetic storm in Alexandria.

A huge light beam covered the entire port, and the water surface in the port appeared stable and fine ripples, which continued to extend.In front of a trestle bridge in the port, a thin beam of light shot straight into the sky.

The scene shook the ships of Caesar and Cleopatra.Roman soldiers rowed their boats to find out what had happened.

But after asking and asking, no one can tell what happened.

In the end, this "vision" was considered to be an auspicious omen from heaven, which indicated that Caesar would surely win a hearty victory on his trip to Asia Minor.

"Marco, how is it? Has a decision been made? Should we go?"

On a warship, Vitruvius' companions saw Vitruvius standing on the shore and greeted him loudly.

Vitruvius stretched out his arm, wiped his face carelessly, nodded, and said, "Here we come!"

He stood at the edge of the water, looking down at the water surface that had gradually returned to calm.

At that moment, Yi Nan drew his sight away, but he forgot that they were standing by the water. Although the water surface was chaotic at that time, he still relied on his reflection to see the extremely dazzling beam of light behind him.

Besides, there were people gathered around them, with their eyes and surprised comments—she couldn't hide it from him.

It was she who left him so decisively, not the other way around.

Vitruvius suddenly felt like he was in a dream, and when he woke up, he couldn't even tell whether he was still in a dream or not.

When he stretched out his hand, he saw that the badge wrapped with flax thread was still tightly wrapped around his right finger.

His heart relaxed a little from this——

She was real.

Not a dream.

"Mark!"

The companion greeted again.Vitruvius untied the badge from his fingers, put it on his neck with great care, patted his heart lightly, and strode towards the trestle:

"Here I come!" he said②.

Yi Nan woke up from the chaos, feeling that all the bones in her body were in pain as if they were broken.She even suspected that she had passed through a time and space with several times the gravity, which made her so tired and heavy.

She opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on the emergency bed, with an oxygen mask on her face, surrounded by countless instruments, beeping one after another.A large group of people surrounded by angels in white were pushing her to nowhere.

She heard fellow researchers who used to get along day and night cheering her up: "Yinan, cheer up, you'll be fine."

"Yinan, don't worry, you're back!"

Finally——Yinan closed her eyes wearily, she finally completed the task, and she didn't have to disappear before she was born.

But she soon heard another emotional voice, which was so familiar that she had to open her eyes.

"No, you can't do that, she is a dedicated scientific researcher, not a guinea pig for your research - you have no right to limit her freedom of life, you have no right to conduct any experiments on her. I disagree, I absolutely do not agree."

It was Daniel's voice.

Yi Nan thought to herself: Since she knew him, she had never heard Daniel so restless—why?Had she really been gone for so long that Daniel was a different person?

There are medical staff struggling to explain to Daniel:

"...You need to understand that she has just returned from a time and space that is completely different from modern society. Her body is not yet able to adapt here... She must be left alone in a sterile environment for a while... Don't worry, it won't be long ..."

"What? Accompanying? No, absolutely not!"

Obviously, Daniel's self-introduction was decisively rejected.

"Whether she is your close relative or beloved, for the sake of her health, you must exercise restraint, restraint—"

Yi Nan couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth: Daniel... a person like you will have today? !

It was hard for her to imagine that someone would repeatedly ask someone like Daniel to "restrain".

But it was quickly clarified there, and the medical staff also understood: "Hey, it's okay to accompany me outside the sterile room, you should have said it earlier!"

This... Yi Nan secretly laughed in his heart.

Then Yi Nan was sent into a separate room, and she could feel that she was undergoing various examinations all over her body.This toss is several hours.

Finally, she was pushed into a sterile room with bright and clean windows, where someone said to her: "It's ok, please go ahead and take a good rest now. If you need anything, just ring the bell beside the bed."

Inan nodded silently.She didn't have much strength yet, so she could only close her eyes and lay down in a daze, not knowing how fast time was passing.

In this time and space, she will also dream, she will dream of people she has met in the past... people she has loved.

Suddenly she felt something strange, and she opened her eyes.She tried to turn over, just facing the large glass window of the sterile room.

She was looking into a pair of amber eyes.

Her heart seemed to have been hit hard - it really was you!

Daniel greeted her with his eyes.

They can understand each other's meaning without words, just with their eyes - this is a tacit understanding formed only after getting along for a long time.

Yi Nan suddenly laughed happily: because through the glass window, the man outside the window raised his arm as if by magic.

There was a thick piece of cowhide on his arm, and a majestic bird of prey was standing on his right arm, with its small head tilted slightly, flapping its wings towards Yi Nan.

"Chirp—"

Yi Nan didn't know where the strength came from, but he pushed the bed and sat up.She staggered to the glass window, and put her hands on the window glass, as if she could already gently caress this cute little guy.

"Get well soon!"

Through the thick glass, Daniel mouthed to her, "Everyone is waiting for you!"

"how about you?"

Inan looked at him eagerly.

He can't escape anymore, he has nowhere to hide.In this world, Jiujiu is only close to two people: one is her, and the other is——him.

"Me?" Daniel seemed a little surprised, and the research madman immediately tried to show a serious and deep expression.

"I'm still waiting for your lab report!"

Yi Nan stuck out her tongue: How many pages would it take to write a report on her experience?

However, if you really want to write——

Yi Nan cast his eyes on the man across the window, and he couldn't help showing a sly smile in his eyes.

I plan to spend my whole life writing this report: and you, are you ready to spend your whole life reading it?

Daniel took advantage of the opportunity of the doctor to inspect Yinan, and hurriedly sent the Saker Falcon Jiujiu back to the breeding and observation room.There, while there was no one around, he made three chapters with the young bird of prey: "Little guy, you must not be too enthusiastic!"

"She must not know..."

You must not know that I have all the memories of loving you.

"Shh-"

"Don't say it!"

(End of text)