A common tavern that connects all fantasy worlds

Several people fell silent, only Deckard Kane was reading a book at the table behind him, raising his head to look at these people from time to time, feeling very strange... Rain is not a rare thing, why is it blocked by the balcony? Can't finish watching?

He was about to look back at his book when he heard a knock on the door behind him.

The guests who came in didn't look very nice... no, Deckard Cain didn't know how to describe him either.There was no expression on his resolute face, and even the wound on his head with a stream of bright red blood was as if it didn't exist.

Not only was blood splattered on his white shirt, it was also stained with a lot of mud, and there were a few scratches that looked like claw marks. It looked as if he had just fought with a bear.

"Uh, hello? Boss Xue, you have a new customer again."

When Xue Li heard him being called from the room, he immediately turned his head, looked at the strong man, greeted him and asked friendlyly, "Sir? What would you like to drink?"

The gentleman on the opposite side didn't speak, but looked up at the wine cabinet behind the bar.

Seeing the beating heart in the bottle, the man's pupils shrank, but he calmed down immediately, and pointed to a bottle of whiskey next to him.

At this time, Xue Li also realized that the new guest in front of him couldn't speak for some reason.

In the hand he stretched out, there was an obvious gap in the skin of the metacarpophalangeal joints, revealing the metal movable structure, and some blood and dust were still stained on the fingers.

This is really troublesome... Boss Xue can understand no matter which language he speaks, but whether sign language is a kind of language is a bit of an argument.Fortunately, the other party seems to be able to understand what he said, not completely unable to communicate.

Boss Xue, who didn't know how to care about it, still poured him a glass of wine for the time being, then took a wet towel under the bar and handed it to him, telling him to wipe the blood on his face and hands.

The man took the towel, nodded to Boss Xue, and expressed his thanks.

Although his face was dirty and bloody, expressionless, and there was a thick layer of stubble on his chin, it could be seen that he was a good-looking young man. From his appearance to his attire to his figure, he was a typical image of a white tough guy.

The bishop didn't know when he returned to the kitchen and brought out a plate of sausages for him. The guy nodded at him again, grabbed the sausages, stuffed them into his mouth hungrily, and downed them together with the glass of whiskey.

"There is something wrong with this guest." The bishop leaned close to Boss Xue and whispered to him.

"I can eat and drink, what's wrong?" Xue Li also felt that something was wrong, but he still had to ask a question out of habit.

"The sausage is cold...and you see, I can eat and drink normally."

said the bishop.

Chapter 1 Life Rebuilding

The rain hasn't stopped.

Today's new guests in the tavern are not only inarticulate, they are simply silent.

Because he didn't speak, the other people in the tavern also became silent, only the sound of the rain outside the terrace could be heard.It wasn't until Santa Nicole, who was sitting on the side, couldn't bear the atmosphere, stepped onto the stage and began to sit there and sing a song, that the air in the tavern was considered relaxed.

The customer sitting in front of the bar turned his head, thinking of something, with a rare soft expression on his face.

Boss Xue behind the bar had sharp eyes, and immediately saw a ring on his ring finger, which was made of silver-gray metal, on the hand holding the cup.

Guests nonchalantly munched on cold sausages, their attention entirely on the other side of the stage.

Santa Nicole sang: "On the slopes of the Morena, there are black eyes shining; black eyes come down quietly, come down, O beautiful little angel. Oh, oh, oh, oh, sing, don't cry; sing My heart is happy when I hear that song, the beautiful little angel’s heart is happy..."

She may be a stay-at-home basilisk who only preys on her bar, but she really likes music.She should never be ignorant of this folk song that is widely sung in Mexico.

The sound of raindrops hitting the pergola from the terrace made the singing and music on Santa Nicole's side slightly covered and distorted, but it added some special flavor to the song.

I don't know what the guest heard from this ballad. Anyway, while drinking wine, his eyes lost focus, maybe he thought of someone.

Xue Li thought about it, and found a pen and a piece of paper for the guest.

"Uh...guest, what's your name?" After the guest gave him a puzzled look, he decided to ask a less important question first.

The guest obviously has the ability to use language and writing, but he doesn't know why he can't make a sound.He picked up his pen and wrote on the paper:

"Henry."

It can be seen that even if he can speak, he is probably a guy of few words.

But since becoming the owner of this tavern, he has seen many strange guests.It is good to see that the guest does not refuse to communicate, at least you know that this person does not speak because of objective reasons, not subjective wishes.

"So how are you doing recently?" After thinking for a while, Boss Xue decided to ask this question tactfully.

"I can live up to 30 minutes." Henry pointed to his heart, looked at Xue Li's puzzled eyes, and took the initiative to unbutton his blood-stained shirt.

He is indeed not an ordinary human being... Several pieces of flesh on his chest have been dug out. Apart from some unidentified metal plates and wires, the most conspicuous ones are two circular data interfaces, roughly in shape. It looks like a 3.5mm audio jack, but it's a big circle.

"Power out."

He wrote it on the paper.

At this time, Xue Li could also understand the expression on his face, it was not expressionless and not interested in anything, but the calmness that had suppressed sadness and given up hope.

Boss Xue thought for a while, and then said to the guest named "Henry", "You have been in for more than 30 minutes... It seems that I have to introduce again solemnly, the guests who enter our tavern cannot attack each other, absolutely Will not die from any cause. Even if your heart 'cuts out', you can rest easy while in our shop."

Henry paused for a moment. He really didn't have anything to tell the time on him, such as watches, pocket watches, mobile phones and the like.

But looking at the sausages and wine that he had wiped out in front of him, he knew that the tavern owner was right, and 30 minutes had already passed.

His life is not over, that is to say, it is not yet time to squat in a bar and listen to people singing.

Henry, who was about to stand up, was held down by the bishop on the side. This bionic man, whose emotions were very similar to normal people, stared into the eyes of the man in front of him and said calmly, "When you walked in just now, your face was covered in blood. , something must have happened... Go back now, you may face more enemies. This tavern is absolutely safe, because it is located outside the world, so why not sit down for a while and tell us about your The story... just treat it as wine money."

Xue Li, who had been robbed of his lines, shrugged. Indeed, the man in front of him didn't look like he could pay the bill with a dime, so let's tell a story... Uh, maybe the other party can't tell it?

The man didn't think it was troublesome to write, but he just asked for another piece of paper, and wrote concisely on the paper:

Soldier, death.

Wife, scientist, reconstruction.

Limbs, part mechanical.

Memory, voice, unfinished.

Enemy, attack.

Wife, kidnap and go.

Get hunted, fight, power up, run out.

The subway station, the bar, the back door, the time.

Although these words may be too brief and concise, they are indeed a complete story.Xue Li can probably guess the meaning at a glance, which means that Henry was originally a soldier and died, but he was luckier than other soldiers because his wife was a scientist and reconstructed his body, so he came back to life A part of his body is made of machinery, but he has no memory and no sound when he wakes up, because before this step of the procedure is completed, the enemy attacked the place where they are-probably his wife's laboratory.

The enemies kidnapped his wife and tried to kill him, and he nearly exhausted his power supply during the battle with the enemies, leaving him with about 30 minutes of activity left.

When he came to the subway station, he saw the door of the tavern, and thought about whether he could come in and go out through the back door to escape the enemy's pursuit, but when he walked in, he found that the tavern had no back door, and time was almost running out, so he had no choice but to go out. He sat down calmly and ordered a glass of wine, intending to welcome his end here as gracefully as possible.

The fact that is not written in this text is Henry's feelings... He is actually already dead, and every second after being resurrected is earned by his wife's restoration, even if this life is over, It's just a return to the embrace of death.

What he was worried about was not his own death...but his wife who was kidnapped by those enemies.

Although he couldn't retrieve the memory of his previous life, he thought that he probably had the same feeling when he died that time. "How will my family live after I die?"

Looking at the story he wrote, Boss Xue felt a little puzzled.

Since you have no memory, how do you know who is your wife and who is your enemy?But thinking about it again, it's easy to explain why his wife spent so much money to revive him. If you want an experimental product, find a dead person who was brain-dead just because of an accident, and all organs and limbs are intact. Is it simpler?Want to experiment with mechanical prosthetics?It would be good to go to a patient who is seriously ill and needs amputation.To test the effect of the cooperation of various parts, then directly build a robot... just like the bishop standing aside at the moment.

It has to be said that from the level of bionics, Bishop is much more advanced than Henry.

Since he was a guest who came to the tavern, of course Boss Xue also wanted to solve his problem.First of all, the "30 minutes" power supply, I have to find a way to charge it.

The person in the tavern who knows this kind of thing best is the bionic bishop.

Fortunately, the action of opening the other party's chest was not considered "harmful or harmful" by the tavern, and the bishop completed it easily.

Henry sat down on the side table, his shirt undone, not much blood came out when his chest was opened, because there was already a huge, unhealed wound there.

The outer covering of the chest cavity is not like flesh and blood connected to the bones by tendons, but more like a... "biomass-like" membrane.In other words, those things don't actually have any function, and the only function may be to make his body look more human.

"You really did a lot of remodeling, Henry."

After roughly looking at the internal structure of the guest's chest, the bishop said so.

Boss Xue, who was watching from the sidelines, probably understood why disembowelling was not considered "injury" and could be carried out normally in the tavern... because the flesh and blood tissue on his chest was completely isolated from his own structure.

To be precise, there is a transparent dura membrane between this layer of bionic camouflage and the functional parts. The bishop carefully observed it and concluded that it is a sensory membrane to allow Henry's consciousness to still be able to perceive pain. , so as not to lose the vigilance of life body instinct.

That layer of sensing membrane does not completely cover the chest cavity, and there should be a narrow maintenance opening in the right chest at the height of the heart. In addition to the two circular sockets connected to the outside of the chest, there is also a battery compartment to indicate The light is flashing red signal, presumably a sign of low battery.

On the side of the maintenance port, the beating heart can be seen through the transparent sensing film, or it is just an extremely delicate pump.I don't know if it's blood or something else, the fluid is pumped out by that structure, and then flows along the blood vessels to the whole body.

Now it seems that there is no sign of the heart stopping. I don't know if it is because the tavern saved his life, or the battery compartment has another function...

Because the bishop soon found a sign around the heart that said "curium-244 atomic battery turbo engine".

Since there are atomic batteries, how can there be only 30 minutes of electricity left?

The bishop was scratching his head and thinking, when a somewhat cynical voice came from behind: "...Uh, what kind of structure is this, why is the circuit connected in this way..."

Several people who had attracted all the attention of Henry's body immediately turned around, and saw a shaved head with only a layer of stubble, a strong man with a plain face in blue work clothes.

He was also staring at Henry's chest and scratching his head, saying, "This doesn't look like a functional module, but a trigger."

Chapter 2 Machinist

It's not surprising that two new guests came within one day... But the newcomer could understand the complex structure of Henry's chest at a glance, which made people a little curious.

"Hello, guest..." Xue Li straightened up and greeted, and then asked bluntly, "What do you do?"

"...I thought that people who opened bars in this neighborhood would know me." Seeing a strange face, the newcomer froze for a moment.

The place where he lives is no different from any block on the earth. The huge population is crowded in dilapidated shantytowns, wild dogs run rampant in the ruins of high-rise buildings, and all kinds of Garbage, wherever you go, you will meet malicious eyes.

But of course such a neighborhood also has a set of rules for doing things... The rule is, don't mess with your own people.

The vast majority of residents in the neighborhood have lived here for several generations, and each family is very familiar with each other. Most of the people of the same age have engaged in illegal activities together in their teenage years, and their relationship has long since surpassed that of neighbors and folks. category.

Among other things, fights often broke out between different neighborhoods because of the scramble for resources. At that time, men, women, and children all had to fight. If the poorer neighborhoods were not united, wouldn't they definitely suffer?

Therefore, as soon as the new customer saw a bar appearing on the corner of the street, his first reaction was "see which brother's business this is".The reason is that outsiders dare not open a shop here at will.

Except for public hospitals, the Department of Transportation, and factories run by "superior", any business must first be patronized several times by idle youths in the block; the mechanized security forces have limited management of the ground, and the They will basically not intervene in such "small" crimes.

Of course, at this time, the guest also noticed something was wrong...

The rain outside the terrace was still pattering, and it didn't look like the neighborhood he lived in on earth.

In particular, Boss Xue also asked the next question: "This guest... what year is your world now?"

"...2154 A.D. I work at ARMADYNE's robot manufacturing factory in Los Angeles."

The guests may feel that this name is very popular, but no one present has heard of this company.

The bishop raised his eyebrows, a worker in a robot manufacturing factory?In this way, what he just said has some credibility.

Xue Li also thought so, he took the initiative to shake hands with this new guest, and said:

"My name is Xue Li, the owner of this tavern. What is your name?"

Amidst the increasingly violent rain outside the window, the man with a slightly naive face replied, "My name is Max."

[140. No. 140]

Is there something wrong with these Westerners?Why did you get involved with the name "MAX"?

Boss Xue immediately wanted to complain, but he held back abruptly.

Fortunately, the other Max hasn't come to the tavern for consumption for a long time. It should be busy and he doesn't have to worry about the water source for the time being, otherwise it would be really difficult to distinguish.

This new Max is more willing to communicate with people and looks more philistine. Of course, his thick muscles and tattoos all over his body also show that he is also not easy to mess with.

After getting to know each other, the bishop asked bluntly: "Mr. Max, can you see what's wrong with our friend's power system?"

"It's illegal to modify a robot without permission."

Even so, Max stepped forward and carefully studied the energy supply system on Henry's chest.

He is actually just an assembly worker in a robot manufacturing factory. This position belongs to the kind of work that can be started as long as he can screw screws, but of course he has also taught himself some technical theories... If he can pass the exam and get an engineer certificate, he can be promoted At that time, only through the relationship of the company will there be a chance to immigrate, and there is no need to stay on the earth that has almost exhausted its resources and is bloated.

Compared with the bionic design level of the half-mechanical half-life body in front of him, this internal power supply system is not too advanced...or in other words, the advanced parts are beyond his comprehension.

From the distribution of the power supply lines, this small battery compartment should be the excitation device of the main power supply system, just like the spark plug in the engine.He also doesn't understand the mechanism of the main power supply system, but experience tells him that the output of this thing is not low, it is impossible to start it easily, and it will not stop easily after it is started.

It's just... the excitation device usually works once to make the main system start running and then turns silent, it doesn't have to be

After hearing about the "30 minutes" limit, he thought of the books about robot design he had read, and suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "This is not an activation device, this is a timed circuit breaker!"

The bishop also suddenly realized.

In the world he once lived in, the technology of bionics has advanced to a considerable extent, and such "simple and primitive" circuits have long been no longer used, so he couldn't think of it for a while.

The so-called timed circuit breaker is a device that will cut off the circuit at a certain time and when certain conditions are met, commonly known as a switch.

It's just that the circuit breaker on Henry's body is obviously more ingenious... This circuit breaker is not only the control core, but also the relay of information. It is obvious that the sensing film is connected to the bottom of the battery compartment. Even if you want to dismantle this structure, you can't do it. .I don't know if it's a special security design for the system not to be destroyed, or it doesn't take this into consideration, but simply isolates the information system from the energy output of other parts.