Chapter 2573: 2177
Xu Huo was indeed going to pay the deposit according to the store's listed price, and he roughly asked how realistic the imitation could be, but the old man poured cold water on him. "No matter how realistic it is, you can't open it."
The Instance Authorization document contains information about the instance, and only the instance holder knows this best. How could a counterfeit authorization document have the information filled in? Therefore, the authorization document cannot be opened. As for Xu Huo's idea of deceiving the holder when the instance is activated, that's basically impossible unless the holder's mental state is compromised.
Xu Huo pressed down on the contract they were about to sign. "Old man, are you trying to scam me?"
The little old man's eyes bulged. "How am I scamming you? If you can't use it when the instance is open, then just use it when the instance is closed!"
"You hold an instance yourself, so you should know—instances aren't open all the time. They have rest periods. If you want to fool someone, just wait until the instance closes and take a break!"
The old man looked like he was teaching Xu Huo a lesson.
"Is that so?" Xu Huo put down the pen and prepared to leave.
"Hey, hey," the little old man called out to him. "Don't go. If you're willing to provide funding, I could actually do some research."
"Do you think I'm stupid?" Xu Huo chuckled, picked up the counterfeit authorization document, and walked away.
The little old man, probably sensing that Xu Huo was financially well-off, reluctantly followed him out. "In District 001, when it comes to Artificers, I dare say no one dares to claim first place but me. Investing in me is a sure thing!"
Xu Huo waved his hand without looking back, left the shop, bought a set of Random Instance guides, and returned to the hotel.
Early the next morning, the sisters You Zhi and You Xin were waiting downstairs. They arrived early, even before breakfast. Xu Huo received their message and called them to the hotel restaurant to eat together.
District 001 had long days, and the residents generally had evolved bodies, so they didn't need to increase their meal frequency. They still ate three meals a day, with two snacks in the afternoon and late at night. The snacks weren't full meals, so eating them was optional.
The Painting Woman couldn't sit still and had already gone to the restaurant to order. She was playing a game while waiting. By the time You Zhi and You Xin were led to the table by the waiter, the food was already laid out. Besides dishes with District 001's local flavor, there were also some signature dishes from Yongxing Hotel.
When Xu Huo came down, the two sisters first handed him a pre-written list of precautions. "These are some small details to keep in mind. Since customs vary by district, and people in our district are quite combative, misunderstandings can be troublesome."
"Let's eat and talk," Xu Huo said.
"Then we won't stand on ceremony." The two sisters were not shy at all and ate with great gusto.
After the meal, the sisters first brought over their aircraft.
When Xu Huo saw it in person, he understood why someone had to drive it manually. Most aircraft had automatic remote-control functions, but theirs looked like an outdated model from decades ago. Not only was the exterior covered in cartoon decorations meant to hide repair marks, but even the seats had been removed, replaced with a soft sofa for lying down.
"Truly making the most of everything," Xu Huo commented briefly before stepping inside.
You Zhi wasn't much of a talker, so You Xin did most of the explaining. "Mr. Xu, don't let the looks fool you. This aircraft is absolutely comfortable. Sitting in it feels like sitting in a hotel!"
That wasn't far off. Xu Huo watched as the Painting Woman pulled a small clip out of a corner of the sofa and nodded. "That's right."
You Xin smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that. The neighbor's kid hid it there during a game of hide-and-seek last time."
Probably too embarrassed to keep talking, You Xin fell silent and turned away.
Soon, they arrived at the exhibition venue. Without an entry pass, one couldn't get in. You Zhi and You Xin had to wait outside, while Xu Huo and the Painting Woman, holding the two complimentary passes from the shop, were told they could only view the exhibits on the first floor.
That wasn't to say the items on the first floor were inferior. They were all outstanding works by master clockmakers over the years, some of which had become out-of-print collectibles. Without this exhibition, they might never have been shown to the public again.
The second floor featured new products that hadn't been released yet. Many people came specifically for these new items. By securing authorization through collaboration with the master clockmakers, these new products would soon become cash cows.
Xu Huo wandered around the first floor for a while. The classic clocks on display were mostly everyday styles—wall clocks, mantel clocks, desk clocks, floor clocks, and so on. It seemed the selection of classics emphasized the evolution of clockmaking, with many clocks drawing on District 001's historical anecdotes or legendary tales as selling points.
Of course, there were also some more innovative designs. For example, a house clock that used the ceiling or floor as its main structure, with the outlines of the ceiling and floor serving as the dial. Several circular tracks were inlaid, and metal beads replaced the hands, with the rolling of the beads representing the passage of time.
There was also a tree clock, where the trunk and leaves replaced the various hands of a clock. At first glance, there was no obvious time display; the current time was judged by the number of leaves facing up or down—decoration was its primary function.
As for the multi-dial combination time tower like the one at Time Square, the exhibition also had a small model, which was the origin of the time tower.
It was said that the dials on the time tower didn't appear connected, but internally, the main body was composed of mechanical gears. The rotation of the gears could drive every dial. In other words, when the gear representing one district's time turned, the other gears would also rotate at different speeds, achieving a true "one move affects the whole."
In the initial version of the time tower, every dial's time was interconnected. Later, as districts developed and more district times were added, it became difficult to fit more gears into the original time tower, leading to the addition of clocks suspended beside it.
The exhibition materials mentioned that the number of district times recorded on the time tower had increased to 2,177. This meant the time tower recorded the time of 2,177 district spaces, because according to the District 001 District Government, no two districts had the same time—not even a millisecond's difference.
Over two thousand districts might not seem like many given the current wormhole points and modes of the game. Each level of wormhole points had a considerable number, and each wormhole point often had twenty or thirty districts. These were districts accessible by ticket and frequently visited by players. As for districts that no longer supported instances or those that had been abandoned, their numbers were unknown.
Xu Huo was observing the time tower model when suddenly, noise came from the originally sealed-off second floor. A casually dressed little old man was being "escorted" out by the staff. "Mr. Xi, please don't make things difficult for us. On the second floor, besides the inspectors from the District Government, there are also Artificers and players from other districts. So many people are waiting for the new product auction. As soon as you came up, you started undermining your own people. We have no choice but to ask you to come out and rest for a while."
The little old man grumbled discontentedly. "They're all a bunch of fame-seeking old farts. Can those clocks even be called masterpieces?"