Chapter 2573: 2177
Xu Huo was indeed about to pay the deposit according to the shop’s pricing when he asked about how convincingly the replicas could pass for the real thing. However, the old man threw cold water on him, "No matter how convincing, they can’t be opened."
The Instance Authorization Document contains information about the instance that only the instance holder is most familiar with. How could a replica’s Instance Authorization Document contain such information? Therefore, the document cannot be opened. As for Xu Huo’s idea of deceiving the holder when the instance is activated, that’s essentially impossible to achieve unless the holder is mentally compromised.
Xu Huo pressed down on the contract he was about to sign, "Old man, are you trying to cheat me?"
The little old man widened his eyes, "How am I cheating you? Since it can’t be used when the instance is active, why not use it when the instance is closed?"
"Since you own an instance, you should know that they aren’t always active. They have downtime. If you want to fool someone, just go when the instance is closed for rest!"
The old man had an expression like he was teaching a lesson.
"Is that so?" Xu Huo put down the pen and prepared to leave.
"Hey, hey," the little old man called after him, "Don’t leave. If you’re willing to fund me, I can research it a bit more."
"Do you think I’m a fool?" Xu Huo chuckled, picked up the replica authorization document, and left.
The little old man seemed to notice that Xu Huo was financially well-off and reluctantly followed him out, saying, "I’m the second-best Artifact Maker in District 001; no one dares claim first. You won’t go wrong investing in me!"
Xu Huo waved his hand and left the shop without looking back. He then bought a set of random instance strategies and returned to the hotel.
Early the next morning, You Zhi and You Xin, the two sisters, were waiting downstairs. They arrived before breakfast, and once Xu Huo received the contact, he invited them to the hotel’s restaurant for a meal together.
The days in District 001 are long, and the residents have generally evolved physically, so there’s no need to increase meal frequency. They still eat three meals a day with snacks in the afternoon and late at night, which are not essential and can be skipped.
The Girl in the painting, unable to stay idle, had already gone to the restaurant, ordered, and was playing games while waiting. By the time the waiter led You Zhi and You Xin to the table, the dishes were already served, featuring some District 001 specialties and a few signature dishes from the Eternal Star Hotel.
When Xu Huo came down, the two sisters handed him a set of prepared notes, "These contain small details you can pay attention to. After all, customs vary across districts. Our district’s people are combative, so misunderstandings can be troublesome."
"Let’s eat and chat." Xu Huo suggested.
"Then we won’t be shy." The two sisters acted boldly without a bit of hesitation.
After the meal, the sisters first brought over the aircraft.
Seeing the real thing, Xu Huo understood why it required manual piloting. Normally, aircraft have remote control functions, but theirs looked like it was outdated by decades. Its exterior was covered with cartoon decorations to conceal repair marks, and the seats had been removed, replaced by a soft sofa to lie on.
"Truly making full use of things." Xu Huo made a brief comment and stepped aboard.
You Zhi was not much of a talker, so it was You Xin who spoke, "Mr. Xu, don’t underestimate our aircraft. It’s absolutely comfortable, like sitting in a hotel!"
The statement wasn’t inaccurate. Xu Huo saw the Girl in the painting pulling out a small clip from the sofa’s edge and nodded, "It is indeed."
You Xin blushed and laughed, "Sorry, it’s from the neighbor’s kid who was playing Hide and Seek and stuffed it in there last time."
Perhaps out of embarrassment, You Xin stopped speaking and turned her head to remain silent.
Soon they arrived at the exhibition venue. Without tickets, they couldn’t enter, so You Zhi and You Xin had to wait outside. Xu Huo and the Girl in the painting held the tickets the shop had given them, only to be told they could only view the exhibits on the first floor.
It’s not that the exhibits on the first floor were poor—these were outstanding works by watch masters over the years, some of which had become rare collectibles. Without this exhibition, they might not have been shown to the public again.
The second floor featured unreleased new products that many people attended just to see. By collaborating with the watch masters and obtaining authorization, these new products could soon become a lucrative venture.
Xu Huo wandered around the first floor for a while. Most of the classic clocks on display were of more everyday designs like wall clocks, desk clocks, table clocks, and grandfather clocks. It seemed the selection of classics focused heavily on the evolutionary history of clocks, with many themed around District 001’s historical anecdotes or legends as selling points.
There were also some more novel pieces, such as the house clock, primarily structured around the ceiling or floor, using their outlines as the dial. Rings of tracks were embedded with metal beads in place of hands, their movement signifying the passage of time.
Another was the tree clock, where the trunk and leaves replaced the clock’s hands, with no obvious time indication at a glance. The current time was determined by the number of leaf fronts and backs—a mainly decorative function.
Like the multi-dial combination Time Tower in Time Square, the exhibition also had a small model illustrating the origin of the Time Tower.
It is said that the clock faces on the Time Tower appear disconnected, but inside, mechanical gears interconnect them. Gear movement drives each clock face, meaning that a gear representing one district’s time affects the others, achieving a true domino effect.
In the original Time Tower, each clock face’s time was interconnected. As the districts developed, many more were added, and the original Time Tower couldn’t house any more gears, leading to the floating clocks alongside.
Exhibition materials noted that the Time Tower now supports the time of 2,177 districts. This means it records the times of 2,177 district spaces, as announced by the District 001 government, stating that no district time is identical—not even by milliseconds.
Over two thousand districts, considering the current game Wormhole Points and patterns, isn’t much. There are numerous Wormhole Points per level, not to mention each point might lead to twenty or thirty districts at times, which are still accessible by ticket, frequented by players. This doesn’t include districts no longer supporting instances or those rendered obsolete.
Xu Huo was observing the Time Tower model when suddenly noises erupted from the previously closed second floor. A casually dressed old man was "invited" out by the staff, "Mr. Xi, please don’t make things difficult for us. Upstairs are inspectors from the district government, Artifact Makers from other districts, and players too. Everyone is waiting for the new products’ auction. But you come up and discredit your family, so we have to ask you to take a break."
The little old man shouted unhappily, "They’re all just old-timers fishing for reputation. How could those clocks be considered top quality?"