Seal Off the Scene!

Shakespeare reluctantly took the fortune-telling box back.

In the end, Cervantes chose to team up with Shakespeare. The old man also had some affection for the island's inhabitants, so he was prepared to see if he could help Shakespeare with the paperwork.

Pilot Manfred chose Jimmy, and the two of them had a lot to talk about when it came to airplanes.

Bianka and Rita are left with only Schrödinger and Leila as choices.

Fortunately, the two of them were traveling together, so there was no need to worry about anything.

After the teams were chosen, everyone except Cervantes was stuffed into several small boats by Shakespeare.

They reached the shore without encountering any obstacles.

"Isn't the management of this city far too lax? There wasn't a single checkpoint along the way," Bianka commented objectively.

"Because that's how this city is managed... Ah, here we come."

"What? It's already here?" Bianka was a little confused.

But then, a red robot, long like a fire hydrant, moved in front of them and said in a mechanical voice:

"Miss, this is the city's police. Since this is your first time in the city, please enter some basic information."

"... To be honest, it's quite incongruous to have a robot here," Liu Bai complained.

It feels a bit out of touch with the times... but this isn't the normal world after all, so there's no need to overthink it.

"Is this the management style you described, Leila?"

Bianka nodded, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the thing looked out of place.

"Name: Bianka Atagina, age 12, birthday January 1st... I don't know your specific calendar, but anyway, just take my fingerprints, right?"

The whole process was very simple. After Bianka and Rita finished in turn, the robot policeman left.

"A birthday on New Year's Day... that's quite rare," Schrödinger said with some surprise.

"That's not really my birthday," Bianka shrugged. "The doctor at the sanatorium just filled it out for me. Anyway, I don't know when I was born, so I just used New Year's Day as my birthday."

The West does not have a lunar calendar, so there is no such thing as New Year's Day being the Gregorian New Year and the Spring Festival being the Lunar New Year.

"... That's a casual yet reasonable statement." Schrödinger nodded in understanding.

"Right? Convenience is enough... By the way, what's our next step?"

"If you don't mind, how about we just hire a robot tour guide?"

"Huh? This city not only uses robots as police officers, but also as tour guides?"

Chapter Ninety-Four: Sealing Off the Scene!

"That's right. Many functions in this city are performed by robots, which is what makes this city special... or rather, amazing." Boatswain Leila nodded.

"However, I am a little worried about who these robots are responsible to, and what to do if special circumstances arise?"

Only Rita would raise such a practical question.

"If we're talking about who's in charge... it's an organization called the 'City Management Association' —functionally speaking, it's like the city hall. They use robots to maintain order and collect taxes. As for accidents... at least they haven't happened yet, but if one were to happen, the city would probably be paralyzed instantly."

Schrödinger said it was none of his business.

"As for the composition of this agency, it is elected from among the citizens and replaced every year—because these machines can maintain themselves, so these people don't actually have to do anything and their status is similar to that of a jury in court."

"It's quite advanced."

Bianka gazed with great interest at the modern yet classic city.

"What about the tour guide robot?"

"Here." Schrödinger walked forward and patted the head of a white robot with his iron glove.

"Welcome to Alexandria," the robot immediately announced in its pre-programmed voice. "This machine can provide you with a basic city guide free of charge. If you require a guided tour, please insert three drachmas..."

"Dracma?" Bianka nudged Schrödinger with her elbow.

"The money used here has a gold content of about 0.4 grams per coin—not as high as gold coins, but still very high, even extremely high, for a coin," Schrödinger continued to explain.

"It is indeed a very strong currency," Liu Bai remarked.

Two and a half coins make up one gram of pure gold. In his previous life, that would have been worth four or five hundred yuan, and the value would only increase.

In other words, the price of this robot tour guide is equivalent to six or seven hundred yuan in his previous life?

"Speaking of money... would you all like to save some money?"

A voice rang out from around them, and then a blonde girl dressed in ancient Greek style appeared before them.

"I can provide you with a better city tour—all things these machines won't tell you—and it only costs two drachmas!"

In fact, the drachma was the currency of ancient Greece—although the drachma of the original world and the drachma used today are most likely not the same thing.

Looking at it this way, the girl's attire, which suddenly appeared in front of us, actually makes quite sense.

"Although generally speaking, these girls who suddenly appear are either important plot missions or final bosses."

Liu Bai has completely turned this kind of journey into a classic RPG and is now criticizing it.

"So, you're also a tour guide?"

Bianka looked the girl up and down, her hair color matching her own.

"A tour guide? No, no, no, I wouldn't do that kind of repetitive work for long,"

The blonde girl waved her hand. "The reason why my explanation is fundamentally different from the robot's explanation is because my way of thinking is fundamentally different from the robot's way of thinking."

"If humans and robots think indistinguishably, that would be a real disaster, wouldn't it?" Schrödinger quipped.

"What do you know? In other words, I am a philosopher, and they are not."

"I also have some knowledge of philosophy... well, mostly from Schopenhauer." Schrödinger, hidden behind the mask, looked at the blonde girl in front of him strangely. "But I can't see any philosopher in you at all. You're more like a poor street girl who's fighting with robots for food."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

The blonde girl crossed her arms and glared at the masked man in front of her with obvious displeasure.

"Let me introduce myself! My name is Thales Hou Milidus, and my profession is the Director of the Great Library Metaphysics Institute —that is, a genuine 'philosopher'—so who is Schopenhauer?"

"Rita ...the name Thales ..."

Bianka felt like she had heard the name in a textbook before.

"... One of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece, the founder of philosophy and science, and the first person recognized in the history of Western philosophy."

Rita twitched the corner of her mouth and explained that she now felt that Liu Bai's complaint actually made some sense.

To run into an ancient master of this caliber while just walking down the street... what incredible luck!

Unlike other pure philosophers, Thales was also a mathematical and Tianwen genius, and his philosophy was also related to hydrology.

In terms of influence, Thales influenced Hera influenced Socrates, and after Socrates came Plato...

Well, in that respect, this should be the greatest ancient person they have ever known.

"Here, this is your business card. Please keep it safe."

"It really is... But as the director, to actually be a tour guide..."

"Hmm, why is it 'Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies'? Does the director have to hold a military position as well?" Bianka asked with interest.

"..."

Well, Bianka's natural airheadedness hasn't changed much.

"Oh, well, there are only three of us in the Institute of Metaphysics, including myself! So I'm the commander of the three armies!"

Thales, feeling a little guilty, puffed out her slightly ample chest.

"—This is a trait that becomes incredibly weak once explained!"

"That's terrible... No wonder you have to work as a tour guide to earn extra money." Bianka nodded sympathetically.

"..."

Thales gave a disgruntled smirk.

"Hey, you masked guy, tell this guy, how much can you buy with 100 drachmas?"

"... That's about two thousand euros."

Schrödinger didn't bother with examples and simply converted it for him.

"2000 euros... is this your weekly wage?" Bianka had never expected it to be so much.

Drachmar.

"Um... 200 drachmas for 4,000 euros... that's 120,000 euros a month, and a year... that's 1.44 million euros! That's more than my salary as an A-rank Valkyrie!"

Bianka was startled.

"Don't worry, you'll earn even more when you become S-Rank Valkyrie," Schrödinger reassured him.

Because the current Anti-Entropy is far stronger than in the original work, she can occasionally communicate with Anti-Entropy, so she is not outdated in terms of the times.

Ah... so Rita and Silly Goose are both secretly rich women?

Liu Bai twitched the corner of his mouth; he had been ignoring this issue all along.

"How come you know more about Schicksal than I do... Anyway, Miss Thales, are you saying you didn't come to us just to make money?"

"Of course, I just think you guys are interesting, so I wanted to chat with you and tell you some stories~"

Thales crossed his arms and flashed a bright smile.

"How about it? The opportunity to stroll the streets with a great philosopher like me is rare, isn't it?"

"Hmm...it is precious—but since you're so rich, why don't you just give it to us for free?" Bianka said bluntly.

"Huh? Hahaha—you guys are really funny!"

Thales laughed as he placed his hand on the robot, and at the same time, three coins were tossed in.

"Miss Thales, Senior Research Fellow of the Grand Library, welcome to the Lighthouse Guide System."

"Huh?"

"Well, I've been thinking about it. You need a guide, but you don't want to be scammed; I want to talk to you, but you're not familiar with me—this has nothing to do with whether you hire me or not, so I'll just step out of this contradiction—wouldn't we both achieve our goals this way?"

[You begin your tour of the city, guided by a robot.]

Along the way, Thales chatted with you using some rather obscure philosophical questions.

Although Thales was very approachable, even Rita could only listen to her philosophical ideas and questions with a sense of bewilderment. However, for someone with a basic understanding of philosophy like yourself, it offered a sense of comprehension and insight.

[Philosophy level 1 → level 3]

"..."

Oh, the system didn't remind me, I had completely forgotten that I once learned philosophy from Schrödinger.

But is this useless skill of his useful except for making him a riddle teller?

At the same time, you learn from Thales that there is a place in this city called the "slave market".

Anyone who goes bankrupt in this city becomes a public indenture slave; there are no prisons or death sentences, only "confiscation of property" and "isolation and exile."

This is a savage and ruthless commercial capital.

[Afterwards, you visited the large library where Thales worked, which contained everything from nearly lost materials to "Houm Adventure" and "Houm Romance of the Three Kingdoms".]

... Does the HOMU thing have to make its presence known wherever it goes?

Incidentally, the unique unit "Honkai 3rd" is actually "HOMU"...

"Hey! Miss Bianka! Miss Rita! And the Iron Mask Mate and the Boatswain!"

While everyone was touring the library, the white-haired pilot Manfred rushed over anxiously.

"Jimmy, Jimmy..."

"What's wrong?" Bianka reached out to support the pilot, who was panting heavily. "Tell me slowly, did something happen?"

"Huff, huff..." Manfred gasped for breath. "Jimmy, Jimmy is missing."

"Huh?"

This news shocked everyone.