Three years have passed.
The sky was nearly dark, and the sun was about to set, leaving only a glimmer of light. A six - wheeled carriage rushed through the street and stopped behind a villa. The fancy copper letters "Bosstraat" were inlaid on all four walls of the villa. This carriage was quite special. There was no horse in front; instead, there was a small platinum horse - head sculpture placed where the coachman usually sat. The entire carriage was silver - gray, looking like a square box. The carriage made a beautiful 90 - degree turn, and a hidden door at the bottom of the villa slowly sank into the ground. The carriage smoothly and almost silently drove into the passage behind the door, fitting perfectly in the up, down, left, and right positions without hitting any corners.
In the basement, it was pitch - black at first, and then a soft white light suddenly illuminated the spacious passage.
The silver - gray carriage stopped in the middle, with the hidden door tightly closed behind it. On the left wall, there was a row of flat glass sliding doors. The inside was sprayed with a gradient purple color, and the upper half was transparent. It was about an astonishing one - inch thick. Above it was a half - meter - high solid wall with a green and white light box hanging on it. The light box had dark blue printed lettering that read "Home Mart". The fluorescent tubes in the light box flashed on, and the white circular ceiling lights inside the glass doors lit up one by one. Inside, rows of white shelves, presumably made of metal, could be seen. The goods on the shelves included buckets, pickle jars, kimchi vats, flower pots, water cups, wine bottles, rice jars, biscuit tins, etc., as well as bags made of coarse non - woven fabric. Some of the bags were open, revealing old canned foods, daily necessities, tools, parts, etc. These were all usable supplies collected by the exploration team from other worlds in cities and towns. There were also some packed coarse flour and rice, which were hard - currency items, also packed in non - woven bags. Behind the cash register stood a chubby Asian male clerk with short hair, around thirty years old. He had a beaming smile, making people feel amiable and comfortable at first sight.
On the right wall of the carriage, there were several oil lamps that illuminated an arched doorway dug into the wall. There were two carved double - leaf swinging wooden doors. Above the arched doorway, on the solid wall, there was an arc - shaped wooden sign nailed with large round - headed nails. Two beer - filled glasses were drawn on it with charcoal, and there were round - style words that read "Old Time Bar". Through the gap above the wooden doors, one could see that there was a row of bars right in front of the door. Behind the bar stood two young female waitresses wearing white shirts and red ribbons, around sixteen or seventeen years old. One had blond hair and the other had black hair, both smiling. The black - haired girl was very tall and thin, with slender wrists and waist. She looked a bit like people from Fujian in the old world but was much taller, about 175 cm. The blond girl was a bit chubby, half a head shorter, and younger, not fully grown yet. There was also an Asian young man with a thin and fair face, a center - parted hairstyle, wearing a neat white shirt and a red bow tie. He was standing behind the sink for washing glasses, checking a cleaned wine glass to see if there were any remaining fingerprints.
Suddenly, a half - meter - square hole silently slid open on the carriage roof. Only then could one see that it was actually a metal sliding cover. Then, a small spiral staircase descended from the ceiling. An almost transparent figure slowly leaned out of the carriage and climbed up the spiral staircase. Then, the spiral staircase slowly and steadily ascended and retracted into the ceiling, and the bottom closed and disappeared. Next, two pneumatic doors popped up on the wall in front of the carriage and slid open to the sides. The carriage wheels began to roll, and the sliding doors slowly closed. Just as the doors closed, one could see inside the room, where many mechanical arms extended from all around and rested on the carriage. It seemed to be a repair shop.
Upstairs was the first floor.
In a corner of the first - floor hall, the ground slowly rose, and a transparent figure walked down the spiral staircase. In the middle of the hall, there were two rows of sofas facing each other, surrounded by six one - meter - high marble counters and a one - meter - thick decorative pillar in a U - shape. There were three counters on each side of the pillar. The countertops all the way to the ceiling were blocked by a single thick piece of glass. There was a recessed area on the countertop with a metal drawer that could be pulled from both sides. Among them, the gray linen curtains behind four of the counters were drawn, and only behind the first counter near the door sat a black - haired Asian woman in a dark green uniform. She had an oval face, and her coiled hair was tied up with a dark green ribbon at the back of her head. Her face and ears were completely unobstructed, and she was wearing professional makeup for formal occasions. She looked about eighteen or nineteen years old. Her face was extremely beautiful, making people notice her at first sight. She had a professional smile on her lips and was sitting behind the counter, looking towards the door. Behind the innermost counter sat a serious middle - aged man in a dark green uniform. He had short, graying hair in a crew - cut style and was frowning as he looked down at a piece of paper. The hall door was an integrated metal door and frame with a layer of brass pasted on the surface, looking both sturdy and luxurious.
The transparent figure reached out and removed something. His whole outline flowed like water, and suddenly he appeared. It turned out to be a long cloak with a cape and a mask, seemingly made of high - grade optical stealth material. At this time, the middle - aged man in the counter looked up, and their eyes met. They smiled at each other. The two faces looked about eight - tenths similar, except that the transparent figure was fat and the middle - aged man was thin. The middle - aged man in the counter rummaged under the counter, and the thick decorative pillar in the hall silently sank into the ground. The man walked into the position where the pillar had been. There was a narrow staircase in the dark, and then the pillar rose again, leaving no trace on the outside.
This should be the height of the second floor.
A small door slid open, and light shone in, illuminating a narrow corridor. The transparent figure gently walked out of the door. The floor of the corridor was covered with anti - slip floor tiles, and the milky - colored lights above were hidden behind transparent panels, lighting up one by one. He took a step forward, and suddenly a wardrobe door on the left wall slid open. He took off his windbreaker and mask and handed them to the mechanical arm that extended from the wardrobe. Then the wardrobe door closed with a swish. He took another step forward, and another wardrobe door slid open. This time, a mechanical arm extended and sprayed mist from head to toe. He calmly handed his jacket, suit, belt, gloves, and shoes to the mechanical arm. He took another step forward, and another wardrobe door slid open. The mechanical arm sprayed again. He took off all his remaining clothes, including his socks, and handed them all to the mechanical arm naked. Then he stepped over a shallow threshold. A semi - transparent door slid out from the wall behind him. A "Happy Birthday" piano piece sounded, and fine holes in the ceiling and floor sprayed liquid. It turned out to be a shower room. It was steaming hot, and soon, hot air blew in, drying every part of his body. A semi - transparent door in front slid into the wall with a swish, and he walked out and casually took a snow - white coral fleece bathrobe from the mechanical arm.
Wrapping himself in the bathrobe, he faced an old - world common residential anti - theft door with aluminum letters "1105" inlaid on a copper - brown door panel. The door opened silently. Looking at the side, it was a full 10 centimeters thick. If it were all metal, it would be extremely heavy. He walked in, and the lights behind the door came on. It was a suite's living room. In the passage behind him, the purple disinfection lamp shone brightly, and the anti - theft door automatically closed and locked silently. At this time, he yawned widely and staggered to a multi - functional massage leather sofa in the corner of the living room and collapsed onto it. He casually picked up a cup of black drink on the small table beside him, drank it in one gulp, and then tilted his head and fell asleep. The massage sofa automatically started, gently vibrating and rocking like a cradle... After an unknown amount of time, he finally woke up. He reached out and put a black ring on his right middle finger. He looked at the many clocks of different shapes hanging on the living - room wall - square, round, oval, triangular... Almost all of them showed 12 o'clock sharp, except for a triangular clock whose hands pointed to 12:15.
"The virus is mutating stronger and stronger," he murmured to himself. He picked up the refilled black drink on the small table and drank it all at once. Then, he watched as the hands of the clock slowly returned to 12 o'clock sharp.
He slowly stood up, stretched, walked a few steps, and pushed open the wooden door of a bedroom. The lights there gradually brightened. There was a boss's desk, a liftable boss's chair, a Simmons bed, and the four white walls were pasted with patterned paper. The floor was made of coffee - colored solid wood, and there were no windows. There were no pens or paper on the desk, only a few three - dimensional projection bases and several fully transparent displays. He sat down, and the three - dimensional display in front of him immediately lit up, showing the scene in the hall. The resolution was extremely high, and it could be zoomed in and out. When zoomed in, one could even see the small words on the documents. "Any guests today?" he asked.