A common tavern that connects all fantasy worlds

Amelia said that as soon as she got out of the door, causing Xue Li next to her to look at her twice.

"You don't have any particular fetish...don't bring it to my tavern."

"How come, boss..." Elder Amelia smiled gracefully, "No one really likes these, but this smell is a characteristic of an era. You, or humans in Gibb's era, I am used to a perfect water supply and drainage system, abundant resources, and air without peculiar smell, but the United States and the European continent were all shrouded in this smell more than 200 years ago. At that time, I was still young..."

"I won't ask how young you are anymore, I have a hunch that your answer will not conform to the common perception of human beings."

Xue Li said, put the top hat on his head, raised his arms, let Amelia, who was a little taller than him, hold his arms, and walked out of the alley with her.

A certain young man was waiting beside the carriage at the entrance of the alley. When he saw two people in formal attires coming out, he quickly took off his felt hat and saluted, and asked, "Are you Boss Xue? Waiting here, please get in the car."

This carriage was going to a certain church in the suburbs of New York. Thankfully, the population density there was not too large, and the smell should not be so strong.

When the scenery outside the window changed from stone walls and buildings to lush woods, the carriage also stopped.

In front of the wooden church, the white road was paved with marble slabs. At this time, there were already many guests who came to watch the ceremony; the fat Sleepy Hollow Sheriff Phillips almost blocked the whole road by himself. He took off his wig and wiped the sweat off his head.

Today's groom officer, Mr. Ikab Keruien, also appeared in the crowd, accepting everyone's congratulations cautiously.He is not used to such occasions, but there are always some things in one's life that one cannot escape.

Seeing Boss Xue and Elder Amelia getting out of the carriage, he hurried over and greeted them politely.

"Welcome, welcome to my wedding, both of you."

"You're welcome, we are here to enjoy the joy of the guests, thank you for your invitation."

Xue Li replied, picked up a bottle of wine in his hand, and handed it to today's protagonist: "Happy wedding to you!"

Even in the more recent modern times, this speed can already be regarded as a flash marriage; but their feelings have been tested by the headless horseman, so they are naturally different from ordinary people.

Daige and Chito, who saw what a wedding is for the first time, also mixed in the crowd, observing the whole process of this Western-style wedding with great interest.

The only thing that is a little bit wrong is that all the men who came to the church on the man's side were friends, and the woman only came to a father.

Mr. Fantasso felt proud, because in addition to a bunch of people he didn't know, even the mayor of New York and the justice of the New York State Court condescended to come here, which made him feel that this son-in-law is quite powerful in New York!A countryman like himself, even if he has the title of "nobility", has never been out of Sleepy Hollow in his life, and he has never seen so many big people.

He still doesn't know that the "Corian Coke" created by his daughter and son-in-law has caused a sensation in New York City in a short period of time.However, due to the fact that the most important raw materials are only produced in Africa and have not been transplanted to the United States, this product cannot be mass-produced at present; it is just that the big shots in New York City are not fools, especially through various channels After getting the samples and finding that I didn't understand the formula.

Adding air routes between the Americas and Africa, helping Mr. Corin recruit workers, getting loans from the bank, all of these can be negotiated and exchanged...as long as they can also participate in the "pain-relief" drink.

In order to manage the relationship with Mr. Corin, even his former boss came to the stage when he was signing the book, proving on the spot that the New York City Police Department has been using scientific methods to solve the case with the help of Mr. Corin.

For the same purpose, today the mayor of New York City also declined his general affairs and came to serve as the witness of Mr. Corin and Miss Fantasso's marriage, which can be said to have given him enough face.

But Mr. Corian did not mean to be flattered.

After the guests were seated, the wedding was about to begin, but he stood at the door of the church, as if he was still waiting for someone.

A few minutes later, another carriage came from the direction of the center of New York and stopped at the other end of the marble road in front of the church.

Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai jumped out from the back of the car first, opened the door, and then helped Uncle Jiu get off the carriage and handed him a cane.The three masters and apprentices were still wearing the clothes given to them by Master Fantaso when they came to this world last time. Uncle Ninth, who was leaning on a cane, was wearing a double-breasted coat and a bowler hat. ordinary gentleman.

Uncle Jiu seemed to be inconvenient to move, but when he saw Ikab standing at the door of the church, he still laughed and raised his hand to say hello from afar.

"Congratulations on your newlyweds... We happened to be out on business, so we were a little late."

"It's okay, Uncle Jiu. I'll be waiting for you. Katrina also said that she wants to see you... You must stay later. We have prepared a sumptuous banquet for our guests."

Ikab said that Uncle Jiu, Qiu Sheng, and Wen Cai were brought into the church and sat on the pews on the left.

Uncle Nine had to stay at home to nourish his soul for the past few days, and he never went out. It was not until today that he received an invitation from Boss Xue himself that he returned to New York in this era.Little friend Ikab is getting married, how could he not come to such a big event?

After the master and apprentice came to the church and sat down, the wedding process finally began.Miss Fantaso, who was wearing a complicated wedding dress, appeared at the door holding her father's hand, holding a bouquet, and walked towards the center of the church amidst the applause and noise of the guests; mouth, watching his fiancée walking step by step.

The pastor asked a few commonplace questions, and no one jumped out and shouted "I object". The newlyweds successfully exchanged rings and kissed in the sun. Those who used to throw their hats there to boo.

Uncle Jiu also stood up straight and imitated the clapping of the foreigners around him. He is more familiar with funeral affairs and rarely has the opportunity to attend weddings... But in this situation, he can always feel the hope of life and the resulting A genuine pleasure to come.

Qiu Sheng next to him looked at the picture of the two young people kissing, and whispered enviously, "That's great, I don't know when I will get married."

"Well, first of all..." Wencai stopped talking at this point, because he thought that there was not much difference between the two of them, they were both bachelors, and it was usually difficult to find a girl to talk to.

Moreover, he sneaked a look at his master, learning Maoshan technique is not allowed to get close to women, do you think Master has just lived like this for the rest of his life?If my two brothers and sisters want to inherit the mantle of the master, then there is no need to count on getting married.

Master Ninth Uncle also heard what the two said, and sighed silently.After recovering from his injuries, he will go to Maoshan and the authentic sect of the Shangqing sect to have a look, and ask the fellow Taoists there about the "Tao". Zhuang business; but these two boys don't seem to be good enough to pass on his mantle, which makes people worry.

Do you want to... just take the two of them along, and ask them if they want to formally enter the Maoshan gate wall?

On the other side of the aisle, Amelia in the guest seat was also standing up and clapping. The metal fingers of both hands collided with each other, causing the surrounding guests to stare at her.

If they knew Amelia's true identity, they would be even more shocked: a vampire standing openly in a church in broad daylight is not something you see every day.

"To be honest, weddings are one of the few moments when I envy human beings." She smiled at the newlyweds and said to Xue Li beside her, "Perhaps it is because of the shortness of life that human beings pay so much attention to it." Only in this way can we try to extend this moment as long as possible and remember it for as long as possible by adding a sense of ritual.”

"Maybe it is true." Boss Xue replied, "Except for the 'plot' of you guys, all the things I have thought of until now correspond to some kind of most emotional moment..."

"What about the ones you can't remember?"

"I can't remember."

The guests who solved their problems this time were Ikabu, Ning Caichen and Uncle Jiu. On the day when the tavern ushered in the sunrise, part of Xue Li's memory was also recovered.

In a hospital in a certain city, he said to the doctor who was about to arrange an operation for him: "My family is not here"; he stood in the rain and fumbled for the key of the house, his heart was at a loss, and he didn't know what he was going to do tomorrow; Wandering back and forth at a certain gate, finally did not ring the doorbell.

I am afraid that no one can count how many such moments there are in a person's life. It is even more impossible to connect them and piece together a roughly complete memory.

But the tavern was still there, and the guests would still walk through that door, and more and more memory fragments would emerge from the depths of his consciousness, maybe this matter just couldn't be rushed.

Just as he was thinking, Xue Li saw that Ikab and Katrina had turned around and walked towards the main entrance, and the guests on both sides of the aisle were throwing flower petals and colored paper into the air above their heads.

The wedding process has been completed so far, and the rest is nothing more than eating, drinking, and friendly greetings, which is the part he is not interested in participating in.Apart from Iqab, he doesn't know anyone else in this world...

"I'm going to find a door to go back to the tavern, do you want to stay here?" He asked Amelia beside him.

Amelia was looking at Uncle Jiu who seemed to be a little weak and coughing while holding his chest, and replied casually, "I'll go back later."

"Then remember to pack something to eat and come back. After sending Uncle Nine and the others over, Max also went back. It seems that he doesn't want to attend the wedding in New York, and he probably hasn't eaten yet. Why are you looking at me like this? Anyway, there is a groom's official treat Yes!" Boss Xue said.

Amelia thought for a while, blinked her eyes and replied: "Just want to make sure that the 'food' you mentioned is the same as the 'food' I think."

"...Are you kidding me?"

Chapter 1 Time Debt

The development of human science and technology, while eliminating some old occupations, will also give birth to a large number of new occupations.

In the new century, interstellar travel technology, like the previous navigation technology, has dragged the entire human society into a new colonial era; the resulting new needs such as the construction of extraterrestrial bases, space mineral development, interstellar transportation and logistics, etc., are The new profession of this century.

The oak and teak ships moving in the direction of ocean currents have become high-tech composite spaceships navigating in space, but the modern "crews" work harder than their counterparts in the age of great navigation.

This is not a material problem, relying on the development of inter-galaxies, the material resources of the new century are already extremely abundant; this is a new problem brought about by the extremely large-scale expansion of the space scale.

In the early days of the era of interstellar travel, the crew of every interstellar spacecraft had to face time debt.

At that time, the spacecraft was traveling at sub-light speed. Calculated according to the speed model of classical physics, it would take about 1.1 Earth years to complete the voyage of each light-year.However, according to the theory of relativity, the time spent by the crew on the ship is far less than 1.1 years... At this time, the extra time for people on the earth, or the time that the crew did not experience, is called "time debt" .

The time debt caused by the round-trip voyage of one or two years is not too much, nor is it insurmountable, but once the spacecraft goes farther and farther out of the solar system, it becomes a big problem.When you leave, your daughter is still young, and when you return, you are greeted by grandchildren... This feeling is not for everyone.

It was not until 2032 that Wieland scientists discovered a way to travel faster than light that they provided a solution to this problem.

In 2034, Wieland’s first superluminal space exploration spacecraft was successfully manufactured, but it was discovered during the actual test that this superluminal technology would cause another time debt... The crew could not understand those theories and formulas , I only know that the time I actually experienced has actually become longer, and it is an exponential increase relative to the voyage.

If cryosleep technology is not used, the crew of many spacecraft will be too old to work after arriving at their destination.

The FTL engine plus the refrigerated sleep cabin has since become the standard configuration of Wieland's spacecraft.

Gradually, the term "time debt" is almost forgotten, and all the "crew" in this new era, including Ripley, are gradually getting used to the life of drifting in an empty universe.

Ripley never imagined that when she woke up again, her time debt would find her like a ghost and haunt her.

Just a few days ago, people from the company came to her and told her that she had been sleeping in the freezer of the escape spacecraft for 57 years.It was so long that everyone she knew was gone; not long enough in her memory that she still wakes up from her sleep to this day.

The monster in the dream was all black, covered with a layer of transparent mucus, dripping from the sharp teeth under the helmet-shaped helmet.

It tears people's ribs, jumps out from the gnawed chest, disappears into the darkness, and may appear behind you at any moment.

Thinking of these still vivid memories, Ripley still couldn't sleep tonight. She looked at the blue horizon through the porthole of the low-Earth orbit station, and decided to go for a walk in the corridor.

In order to facilitate the transfer of resources and the airport for the departure of the spacecraft, this orbital station hovers directly above the equator and remains relatively stationary with the earth, but the sunrise will be much earlier than on the earth.

When Ripley walked out of the room, it was the last hour of the orbiter's stay on the night side.

Most of the staff do not need to work night shifts, and this is the time when they sleep the most.Walking in the empty corridor, she felt a moment of confusion about where to go.

Another automatic door opened in front of her, and she came to the rest area unknowingly.

During the hearing of "Wieland-Tangu Company" two days ago, her spaceflight license was revoked. In order to make ends meet, she could only temporarily stay at the airport to find a job as a heavy machinery operator and a material mover, and lived in orbit. In the porter's dormitory provided by the station.Of course, the rest area of ​​this dormitory is not very big, at most there is only a small water bar, a few tables, and twenty chairs.

But when Ripley walked in, she immediately noticed that there was an uncoordinated door on the side wall of the rest area and in the blind spot of the surveillance cameras.

It's not the automatic doors that close up and down that can be seen everywhere in the orbital station, nor is it a heavy airtight door, just an ordinary white door with a metal handle.On the front of the door, the neon lights twisted into the words "BAR", exuding a pink-purple glow in the quiet and deserted rest area.

There are no portholes on this wall. As far as Ripley knows, there should be space outside the wall.To open a door here, you need to first seal the rest area, then launch a whole new cabin up, and then connect the cabin to here.Apart from the company, she couldn't think of any organizations or individuals that could handle such a troublesome matter.

Is it because the company's top management is finally willing to give porters some benefits?I'm afraid not, after all it says "bar"...so you'll have to pay for it yourself.

What the hell, she's had enough of those synthetic drinks and espresso anyway, and there's nothing wrong with some booze.

Thinking so, Ripley pushed open the door and walked in.

There was indeed a bar inside the door, and there were still a few customers sitting in it, chatting with each other, or taking out pens and playing Sudoku or crossword puzzles.

Strangely, none of them were wearing the "standard extraterrestrial activity uniform" issued by the company...but this is not mandatory, and the company representative who received her two days ago, Carter Burke, was neither Instead of wearing a uniform, wear your own suit.

"Hey." She walked up and greeted the boss sitting behind the bar: "When did you arrive at the orbital station? I didn't even notice that there was a bar in the rest area. The wine here should not be that kind of high-end wine." Concentrated synthetic block? I don't want to drink that."

She noticed that the boss had a playful look on his face when he heard her mention "orbital station".

While taking out a bottle of wine to unscrew the lid, he said mockingly: "It seems that our tavern can finally be connected to a near-future era... These are all genuine wines, made with traditional brewing techniques, There is no secondary processing other than filtration, purification and storage."

After finishing speaking, the boss took out another glass whose shape has not changed much for hundreds of years, and poured half a glass for her.Ripley also skillfully showed her wrist, ready to pay the bill.

Because she is an employee of the company, and this place is also the company's property, she only needs to swipe her identification chip, and she should be able to use her salary account for direct settlement.

This orbital station, all spaceships, and almost all colonies are operated and managed by the Wieland-Tangu company. All the needs of an employee from birth to death can be met through the company. Even 57 years ago, she also Already used to this kind of life.

But the boss on the opposite side smiled and waved to her: "Madam, I will explain to you later... But if you don't have precious metal currency, you don't have to pay the bill for the time being. Whether you want to swipe your fingerprints or your face, our shop will do it for you." Sorry for not being able to provide corresponding services.”

Ripley's expression changed, she took out the portable terminal from her pocket, pressed a few buttons, and found that it didn't respond at all.

This is the company's "latest technology". In theory, as long as it is within the scope of the company's industry, it can be directly used to access the wireless network and send and receive data information without charging or manual connection operations.

But at this moment, the terminal seemed to be dead, no matter how much she pressed it, there was no response.

"...I'm not at the low-Earth orbit station in Wieland-Tangu, am I?" After trying for a while, she finally gave up, put the terminal back in her pocket, and picked up the glass of wine.

"No. I'm afraid to say that this place is not even near any planet in your world... Although this tavern is connected to your world, it is independent of all worlds."

Xue Li pointed to several guests around and introduced one by one: "This one, this one and this one guest, their world already has a space station, but I'm afraid the level of technology is still not up to it." Opening a bar can also make people habitually walk in' to such an extent; this, that customer over there, before they came here, they probably thought that the moon was a celestial body similar to the sun."

"Hmm... Parallel world theory?"

Unlike all the previous guests, Ripley seems to know the truth, and immediately proposes a possible scientific explanation for the existence of the tavern.

Boss Xue immediately felt much more relaxed. Sometimes it is really unnecessary to talk too much nonsense when communicating with sensible people. He nodded immediately: "You can understand it this way. Also, look there—"

There was a whiteboard hanging in the direction of his finger, which was an extra thing in the tavern after all the problems of the guests were solved last time, and now he used it as a message board.

On the top of the whiteboard, he wrote the rules of the tavern:

One, pay the bills with stories or precious metals;

Second, you cannot act hostile or harmful to other guests here;

Three, the boss and other guests are willing to help you solve the problems you encounter.

"That's great, if this is not a dream, and there is such a bar in the orbital station, it would be great." After reading the words on the whiteboard, Ripley said: "Or even if this is a dream, it will make me sleepless than before. Those dreams are too strong..."

"This is simple." Xue Li said, took out a beer bottle cap from another lower drawer, and handed it to Ripley: "If you can still see this when you wake up tomorrow, come have another drink bar."

Ripley pinched the bottle cap, looked at the colorful logo on it, pressed its serrations with her fingers, and fell into deep thought.

[41. No. 41]

Chapter 2 Toward the Void

Ripley stayed in the tavern for a while, drank a glass of wine, chatted with the boss, and left peacefully.

Soon after, the first ray of sunlight also came into the tavern windows.

While eating the breakfast he brought back from outside, Max was discussing the guests just now with his boss Xue Li.

"...The guests this time seem to be different from other people, and they don't panic even if they know the existence of 'other worlds'." Max said, "And it's a spaceship, so it's so curious."

Boss Xue replied: "Maybe driving a super-light spaceship to reach the other end of the universe is similar to going to another world?"

Think about it, if you ask a person to describe what the "world" looks like, he will probably subconsciously start talking about the earth, the sun and the moon, flowers and trees, mountains, rivers, and human society, because the word "world" is in the group consciousness. This is probably the cognitive boundary of .