[Infrastructure] After being mistaken for a god

"You came back in time to let everyone breathe a sigh of relief." Daniel looked at Yi Nan who was projected.

Yi Nan nodded occasionally: Now her heart is still a little confused, and she needs to relax a little.

It has to be said that this time she withdrew from Babylon and left, which was the best time to cooperate with Daniel.As soon as she sat down here to confirm her divinity, she turned her head and left without staying for a minute...as if she is really a god who has nothing to worry about in the world.

"Those buddies who researched the origin of ancient law raised money to buy beer, saying that you must buy you a drink when you come back. It's a pity that with a few of them, those beers will definitely not be saved for the day when the project is completed."

Daniel could see that Yinan's mood was not too high, so he raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said a witty thing.But in fact, as the person in charge of the whole project, he has always been serious, even if he suddenly tried to ease the atmosphere, he still couldn't be "playful".

The laboratory was so embarrassingly quiet, complemented by the lively sound of drinking and guessing games next door.

Yinan finally couldn't help smiling: "Indeed..."

"But why didn't they drink it here?" Yi Nan still remembered that when she just made beer in Eridu, everyone gathered together in Daniel's laboratory to drink beer.

"Because they talked about some inappropriate content in the laboratory last time, I bumped into them and lost the opportunity to enter and exit this laboratory at will." Daniel said lightly.

Yi Nan imagined everyone talking casually in Daniel's room with beer bottles in their hands, and felt that this decision was not difficult to understand—it was just that she never imagined that it had something to do with her.

"Feel better?"

Yinan nodded, cheering up again: "How is my task accomplished?"

"It's very ingenious!" Daniel clasped his fingers together, propped his chin, and praised sincerely.

Even Yi Nan didn't expect to receive such a compliment, and couldn't help but smile, and then said solemnly: "Okay, Mr. Project Manager, what advice do you have?"

"I can't talk about advice, I want to tell you about some recent archaeological discoveries."

"The first one is a newly unearthed clay tablet. This clay tablet is a diary of a Babylonian scholar, and it happens to record the situation when you left."

"The year that the great old king Hammurabi died was also the year that the brave Babylonians defeated the Hittite invasion. I finally understand that Babylon is a city that is loved by thousands. Our city is more than With the blessing of Marduk, the god of Jupiter, we also have a guardian goddess from Uruk..."

Having said that, Daniel paused, looked up at Yinan, and continued to read:

"...the sanctuary of Ishtar."

Yi Nan listened with his chin in his hands, and flattened his mouth when he heard this: Sure enough...

"She shed light brighter than Jupiter over the city. It was she who blessed the great regent Herod, and led the army of the freed Valdus against the Hittites invading from the north. ..."

While Daniel was reading, Inan's thoughts wandered: It seems that she was right. After she left, Herod not only liberated the serfs, eased class conflicts, but also achieved military success.

It seems that the Kingdom of Babylon did not collapse because of the Hittite invasion, but continued tenaciously.History has been modified by her presence.

She did feel a little regretful that she could not witness Herod's deeds with her own eyes.But now that she could see Herod's efforts bear fruit and survive in the long river of history, Inan felt sincerely relieved.

"Another discovery may surprise you." Daniel clicked on a picture and projected it on the big screen.

"This is the latest unearthed from the Mesopotamia ruins..."

Yi Nan was really surprised: "This is..."

The very familiar "Code of Hammurabi" stone pillar appeared on the screen, a tall black basalt rock with densely packed cuneiform characters engraved on it.

But, if she remembers correctly - only one Codex of Hammurabi has ever been unearthed, and it is now in the Louvre in Paris, France.

Didn't she remember that Hammurabi ordered other codes to be carved?

"Take a closer look."

When Daniel said this, his brows and eyes were curved, showing rare warmth.

Yi Nan took a closer look, she was so familiar with the code, that she could even memorize the preface from beginning to end.She read it for a long time, and almost read the entire preamble. When she raised her eyes, she found the relief carved on the top of the code.

On that relief, Hammurabi still wears the round crown and receives the scepter from the gods.

But the god who handed him the scepter has a slender figure and a rather complicated jewelry on his head. Although his face cannot be seen clearly from the side, he can clearly see a graceful curve on the shoulder of "His"——

"This is a Pala suit..." Yi Nan murmured.

"It was a goddess who gave the code of Hammurabi..."

"To be exact, it's a woman." Daniel interjected from the sidelines with a bit of pride in his tone, as if he was very satisfied with Yi Nan's results.

Yi Nan chuckled, and suddenly remembered the old king's effort to explain to her that day: why the sun god Shamash must be engraved on the law code instead of the Jupiter god Marduk—that's because Shamash was originally a This one, if Marduk is engraved on it, I am afraid it will arouse the jealousy of other "gods".

She could even recall Hammurabi's expression. No wonder the old king kept looking at her, and his eyes were even a little apprehensive.

Thinking about it now, she finally understood that the god the old king was afraid to offend was probably her.

"Then I..." Yi Nan was a little curious: What kind of god did Ishtar become in the hearts of the Babylonians?

"Sorry, no!" Daniel interrupted her.

"You did not replace Marduk as the patron saint of Babylon."

Yi Nan was stunned: She had never had such a big ambition.

"However, new archaeological evidence shows that before ancient Babylon, people believed that the sun god Shamash was the god of justice. But in ancient Babylonian times, people seem to have begun to believe that Ish, the goddess of war, fertility and love The tower is the real god who is in charge of justice."

Ishtar's business scope has expanded again.

"The Babylonians even carved many statues and reliefs of Ishtar holding a scale in one hand, a sword in the other, and blindfolded."

Daniel looked at Yinan with an expression that seemed to say: Look at what you did.

Inan stuck out his tongue.

"In addition, the Babylonians also built a city gate for this purpose. This gate is located at the north gate of Babylon City. Name it: Ishtar Gate."

"It seems that, Miss Ishta, wherever you go, you can't get away from the 'door'!"

Inan thought for a while, then asked cautiously: "Then...do they know that Inanna is actually Ishtar?"

Daniel pulled his face: "What do you think?"

Yinan didn't dare to say any more, thinking: Even if others don't know, Herod must know.

What's more, the clay tablet that Daniel chanted just now clearly stated - the guardian goddess from Uruk. It seems that the Sumerian goddess Inanna has transformed into the Venus goddess Ishtar believed by the Babylonians. This should have been the occasion.

Daniel was looking down at the pile of materials in front of him at this time, but he couldn't help but sneak a look at Yi Nan.

In fact, about the newly unearthed "Code of Hammurabi", he still has some secrets that he did not tell Inan: At the end of the code, the regent Herod ordered people to add a line of words besides the legal provisions.

"Herod the Prime Minister followed the last order of the late king Hammurabi, and hereby dedicates this pillar to the goddess of Venus, Inanna/Ishtar."

At the end of the stone pillar, there is a line of very fine and small characters, which can't be seen unless you look carefully.And those cuneiform characters are crooked, and it seems that people who have no stonemason skills at all, forcibly carved them by themselves.

Daniel is an expert at reading cuneiform characters, and he immediately recognized the writing when he saw it: "If I forget you, may my pen forget the skill of writing; if I do not remember you, may I..."

The text stops here.Even carved on hard basalt, these words are still no match for more than 3000 years of honing.

But Daniel can read the complete sentence naturally:

"If I forget you, let my pen forget the art of writing;

If I do not remember you, may my mouth never taste. "

This is because of the memory transmitted by the space-time tunnel - once Daniel figured this out, he was no longer so surprised.

But when he faced Yi Nan, he still couldn't express all these.

What should he say? ——

All those people who fell under your skirt in history were actually me?

No, no, it's not all me, but I can remember their admiration for you?

Please note: The transmission of these memories is all due to the magnetic field, and I did not ask for it actively...

Of course you can't say that.

Rushing to confide in Yinan may also affect her next mission.

Daniel thought to himself: I am afraid that everything will have to wait until the entire mission is completed, and then he can figure out the principle of the "space-time tunnel" magnetic field conduction memory before he can explain it to Yinan.

He could only change the subject: "Okay, let's talk about the next mission. This is the last mission, are you relieved?"

Before Yi Nan could answer, Daniel continued by himself: "But what you will face next is the most abstract one in the entire 'Retrospective Civilization Project'."

Yi Nan was angry: ... How can I breathe a sigh of relief?

"Your task is to explore the origin of human 'free will'."

"Free will?" Yinan asked.

Daniel nodded: "Yes. So this task is difficult."

At the beginning of the entire project, he popularized science to all the researchers involved in the project: what the "Retrospective Civilization Project" explores is likely to be something that cannot be seen or touched.

Human "free will", which originated from a theological concept of human beings:

When early human beings were in the stage of "pantheism" and "animism", human beings' understanding of "good" and "evil" was still vague, and human beings acted according to instinct in order to survive.

However, after humans developed the belief and worship of "polytheism" or "monotheism", they found that gods cannot solve all problems. Even if people offer sacrifices to gods again and again, suffering still exists in the world. have happened.

Why can't God bless everyone and allow so much suffering in the world?

Finally, some theologians put forward the concept of "free will": God gave human beings "free will" so that they can choose between good and evil-this kind of will is called "freedom", but in theory But it was given by God.

But in fact, human beings do have will, desire, and creativity, and sometimes they are free to satisfy desires and make choices.

So, when did they really get rid of the influence of "gods" and start to believe in their own power? ——Obviously, this is what Yi Nan needs to explore, the real "free will".

It is neither a technology tree nor a municipal tree, and it has no external form, such as the code carved on a stone pillar, which can provide clues.

It exists in the illusory human heart and consciousness, and it has no physical manifestation.

So Daniel concluded: This is the most abstract and difficult part of the whole task.

However, the origin of "free will" is extremely important.After all, from the standpoint of modern society, it is the foundation of a series of great breakthroughs in history that human beings break away from dependence on "God" and turn to believe in themselves.Even today, humans do not have "full" "free will"—which is why the Retrospective Civilization Project makes this topic a top priority.

Yi Nan suddenly had a bitter face: "Aren't you cheating on me?"

Daniel was stunned.

Yi Nan muttered: "The worship of gods appears in this world...is it not because of me to a certain extent?"

The moment she was recognized as the pea god;

She instructs to sow beans and burn pottery;

She transfers power from temples to kings on earth;

All she has done not only promotes the development of civilization, but also deepens people's belief in gods, making them believe that gods do exist in this world and can give them guidance at critical moments.

Daniel rested his chin on one hand and looked at Yinan calmly.

Suddenly, he smiled softly, his amber eyes filled with tenderness.

"My dear Yi Nan, do you think you are trapped in a cocoon?"

Yi Nan turned pale with shock: she had never seen Daniel being so "kind" to her.

Daniel also instantly felt that he had crossed the line, so he quickly turned serious and cleared his throat.

"You have to believe that the worship of gods is not developed by you alone. What people first worshiped was actually nature. The 'nature' in their eyes gradually became abstract and finally became a god."

"Worship of the gods occurs all over the world, not just in the Mesopotamia. So you really don't have to... bother."

Yi Nan thought for a moment: Indeed, he is a mediocre person.How can she be so powerful?However, she was mistaken for a goddess with a limited scope of business, neither the God of Creation nor the God of Creation.

Where did she get the courage to put gold on her face?

Thinking of this, Yi Nan felt relieved, a smile appeared on his face again, and he looked at Daniel, which meant: You continue to talk.

Daniel immediately said solemnly: "But this time, you may have to be prepared to persevere in ancient society for a long time. All researchers agree that this is a very difficult task, and you may not be able to get the answer within a generation. "

Yi Nan was a little frightened, and looked at Daniel with a pair of beautiful round eyes.

What does this mean?Has come to the last task, but she finally wants to experience the long and endless life, the fleeting but eternal time?

"This time tunnel, the end sign set is the birth of human 'free will'."

Yi Nan gasped - what the hell kind of termination sign is this?

"We don't know when, where, or how it was born—we just know that it was born."

Yi Nan breathed a sigh of relief: That's right, anyway, human "free will" already exists.She doesn't have to worry about not being able to return to modern society.

"But if you really have a huge impact in ancient society, causing human 'free will' not to be born, and this situation continues ... this is the worst situation we can assume." Daniel said.

Yi Nan stared and thought: "You mean... I might disappear?"

Daniel: "Yes, disappeared before you were born."

Yinan: ...

Daniel: "But the probability of this happening is very small. The researchers next door who are drinking beer and celebrating think that the probability of this happening is less than 1%."

"Even so, this 1% probability is enough for everyone to consider this task as the most difficult and dangerous in the entire project."

Yi Nan lowered his eyes and thought for a while, raised his face, and smiled at Daniel.

"Don't worry! I will complete the mission, I will witness the birth of 'free will', and then come back here to reunite with everyone. Don't worry about me!"

Daniel looked at Yi Nan with admiration. The girl's performance in the project was far more tenacious than he imagined.

At this moment, her eyes are full of spirits, ready to meet new challenges at any time;

This is exactly the same as when she leaped desperately into the space-time tunnel over the Euphrates River.

Daniel secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and turned to another topic.

"Considering that you may stay in the target time and space for a long time, the project team believes that: to a certain extent, you should enjoy your own privacy and the joy of the world you should enjoy."

Yi Nan raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?"

"You only need to cover your watch with a handkerchief, and the watch will automatically block the data during this period. This part of the data is not marked with a 'privacy' label like before, but is directly blocked and will not be transmitted at all. Back to the project team. So you don’t have to worry about your privacy being leaked.”

It was only then that Yinan remembered: Because of the existence of the wristwatch, in ancient times, she was actually being observed in all directions without dead ends.

But her boring daily privacy, no one should be bored enough to want to observe those, right?

Not good - Yinan suddenly remembered, she remembered that "eye for an eye" kiss.

Dare to feel that scene has been "studied" by all researchers?

She blushed immediately, and she didn't know where to put her eyes.

"I, I'm not...I'm..." She didn't know what to say about herself.

"Don't worry, all of this is very normal. You are a modern person and have very normal emotional needs." Daniel said softly, "As long as you need it, you can block data transmission at any time. The entire project team Members understand that."

At this time, Yinan said anxiously: "The more you say that, why does it seem that I am less sure?"

It seemed like everyone expected her to be bored in the target plane, so it was unanimous that any intimacy she had with anyone was... acquiescing?

"I mean...you have the right to have your privacy without interference. Of course, the autonomy is yours."

Daniel felt a little guilty when he said this.Fortunately, Yi Nan looked around for a while, and then brought up another topic: "What kind of target time and space will it be? Do I have a set character background and identity?"

Last time, she became an heiress with estates and workshops in ancient Babylon; what about this time?

"Not this time." Daniel replied, "But you should have a great chance to automatically obtain a certain background identity in the target time and space."

"Oh?" Yi Nan raised his eyebrows, expressing his curiosity.

Her projected image began to shake, and Daniel knew that she was about to go to the next time and space.

"Damn it!" He still had so many things in his heart that he didn't say.

Daniel quickly spoke: "Your power will continue to be preserved, and you still have an immortal body. The only thing you need to beware of is..."

Yi Nan's figure has disappeared, and the last half of Daniel's sentence has been left in the modern age, "...the disturbance of the magnetic field mutation to you."

Daniel slammed the table heavily, hating himself deeply, why didn't he say this earlier.

Yi Nan felt as if he had rolled in the yellow sand.

Her graceful Sumerian palla outfit had now turned almost entirely sandy; the exposed snow-white skin was also covered in a thick layer of sand—the “covered in sand” stalk was almost back.

What's going on here?Could it be that the impact of land desertification has suddenly intensified?As a result, the two river basins she was familiar with were covered by long yellow sand?

Yi Nan raised his head: No——As far as the eye can see, tall date palm trees and low green trees can be seen. Although water and soil erosion can be seen, it will not turn into a desert.In the distance, the tall walls of Babylon are already in sight.

But a group of people who were "covered in sand" like her were slowly passing by her side.Many of them had their hands bound with ropes, and some young and strong men were even shackled to their hands and feet.

They walked slowly along the road with sad faces.

An old man suddenly opened his mouth and sang lamentably: "Lord, they have burned your sanctuary with fire. The gold has lost its color, the sanctuary has lost its luster..."

Inan pricked up her ears to listen: it was a language she had never heard in Babylonia before.

"The crowded streets have disappeared, and now there are only people sitting alone."

"Those who used to taste exquisite food can only eat grass roots now..."

"O fair Zion, they have destroyed you, destroyed, destroyed you to the very foundations..."

"Beautiful Zion, and you can only cry at night, with tears streaming down your cheeks..."

Yi Nan is now mixing with the crowd, walking slowly together.Listening to this song, she suddenly woke up.

"Zion" is the ancient name of Jerusalem. These people came from Jerusalem and were Judeans.

But they are on their way to Babylon.

So what she encountered was actually: a prisoner of Babylon?