第36章 暗影之舞 (第2/2页)

the door was unlocked and he gently pushed it open. clark always paid attention to the different degrees of door opening. If something goes wrong again, he can protect millet's safety as soon as possible.

however, clark was thinking too much and there was no one in the room waiting for him.

\Speaking of which, how much do you know about hera?\ clark asked as he entered the room, closed the door, and placed a small chair behind the door.

miraille thought for a while and said, \mr. hera is a very pretty person, very good at dressing up, and very good at municating with boys. She's not as good as me.\

\Is that all?\ clark said, a little embarrassed. these were superficial perceptions and asked, \does he have interpersonal relationships, family, friends?\

miraille blinked and said, ``I don't know much about her family, but the first time we cooked together, I plimented her hair. She was very happy and casually said, ``She. her mother told her, ``hair is a symbol of hair.''

\If it wasn't christmas, how many people would be in the castle every day?\

\well...before I arrived at the castle, butler Valente told me that there were twenty-six servants in the castle.\

…

“twenty-six?” Yu Lianyun frowned when she heard this number. “can you confirm your identity?”

A while ago, citizens found 26 bodies stuck to a barbed wire fence at the mouth of the heishui River in Fengxiang city. It was very strange and scary.

``As you can imagine, mander,'' the mysterious detective who made the call said with a solemn look on his face, ``26 psychiatric patients and medical workers were missing in the fire.''

188 cats with bracelets

All 26 corpses had been decapitated. the circumstances of death were extremely tragic. the identities of each headless corpse have not yet been confirmed, and the missing heads are sure to provide important clues for the mystery investigation team to solve the case. As evidence, if you find the head, it is possible to find out where this group of ordinary criminals is.

Yu Lianyun came to the rescued floating corpse and squatted down to observe it.

After being submerged in water for a long time, the swollen corpse looked even more hideous than a normal corpse. In addition, the deceased was \violated\ by normal factors during life, and the internal structure of the corpse was already in disarray. the epidermis, body, and blood organs all appear as oval spheres. this granulation is like a part of human skin covered with strange sores filled with oval shaped particles made of different types of flesh and blood organs, which fill the entire human skin. I am.

Yu Lianyun frowned, picked up tweezers, took out an oval-shaped particle, probably made of muscle tissue, from the corpse, placed it on the ground, picked up a scalpel, gently rubbed the particle, and found a soft elastic the particles suddenly turned greenish-yellow. Fluid gurgled from the incision. Fortunately, Yu Lianyun's technique prevented these strange tissue fluids from splashing out.

Some of the mysterious detectives who were watching could no longer stand the strange sight. they started vomiting while holding on to pillars and walls. their scalps were numb, and their trembling skin seemed to turn into these unknown oval particles. the more I thought about it, the faster I felt my sanity crumble.

“Is this… an eye?” Yu Lianyun may have felt a chill in his heart. he focused on dissecting an oval-shaped piece of material, and after it was pletely cut open, it turned out to be an eyeball.

Yu Lianyun suppressed the turmoil in his heart as he selected a few more oval-shaped particles and continued dissecting them, finding that without exception, they were all eyes.

“the whole human being is visibly disintegrating and changing.” Yu Lianyun trembled. this clearly goes far beyond the normal influence that animals have on humans. It is the power of a foreign god.

Yu Lianyun stood up, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, turned around and said to everyone, “please check the Ability God data file shared by the world Investigation Agency.Important Ability God data that fits the situation. Is there one?” that. ? \

…

clark was rummaging through miss hera's room. he had hoped to find another record written like a \magic Usage Record\ notebook, but in reality miss hela was far less powerful than count bluebeard and butler Valente. two of them were very \cruel\ and did not keep diaries.

cry

clark opened miss hera's closet. Among the neatly arranged clothes, I found something that wasn't supposed to be in my closet. It was a bracelet made of many small white star-like things. .

``It's very beautiful. what is this?'' when miraie saw this bracelet, she couldn't help but raise her eyes and ask a question. ``but why isn't miss hera wearing such a beautiful bracelet?'' wool? ”

\It's made from brushed cat teeth,\ clark said with a blank stare, but his words were so shocking that miraido was immediately shocked.

``I once saw a primitive, uncivilized tribe.the people there would kill a cat during a special festival and take its teeth to make jewelry, saying they would pray for the tribe.'' did clark explain how he knew what the bracelet was made of? \cat teeth are really special, so when you see them, you remember them,\ he said.

clark then picked up the bracelet. before I could get a closer look, a sudden electric shock-like sensation went from his hand directly to my brain. At that moment, his brain became excited and suddenly he saw some incredible sights. .

the crazy woman had a creepy smile on her face. there was a wound on his head, and his hair was as dry and lifeless as a weed, growing wildly in the wound. She was crying as she controlled the suffering girl in the bucket. her hair was as dry as weeds. he held the girl's wet hair firmly with one hand and gently picked up a large pair of scissors.

No matter how loudly the girl called her mother and begged for mercy, the crazy woman did not listen. She just kept crying and smiling and saying: \baby, hair is a symbol of womanhood. hair makes a difference.\ It's a woman's heart...don't move to listen to your mother...\

As he spoke, he opened the scissors, but the blades were aimed not at her hair, but at the girl's delicate, thin neck.

with a loud hissing sound, clark's whole body convulsed violently as if he had felt it, and the overwhelming feeling of death and destruction almost instantly destroyed his rationality.

the pictures flashed and clark looked at the others. the angry woman broke down in tears as she held her daughter's dismembered body, screaming the heart-wrenching words, \how could something like this happen? why could something like this happen!?\ Since you are still moving, all I can do is control your mind and stop it from moving, but why... why can't I restore what was severed? ”

clark was already cursing in his heart as he heard the madwoman's crazy words, but he was too scared to open his mouth and scream.

Suddenly the angry woman seemed to see him in a memory image. he suddenly turned around, looked into his eyes full of sadness, excitement, and despair and warned in a sinister way, \Son, don't be like that.\ Your sister is very disobedient...do you know? hehehe...then you can be my sister from now on, right? ”

clark stared at the angry woman stalking towards him like a writhing reptile. his reason seemed to be the first to leave his body and escape from his soul. his mouth opened wide and he was speechless like a frightened fool.

when the patient came face to face with him, clark felt like he had fallen into the depths of hell. the moment his conscience hit rock bottom, he stood up like a drowning man, weakened. .

he looked at miraille, who was undoubtedly losing the battle and blushing right in front of him. her delicate neck was held tightly by him, a fragment of the poor girl's memory. miraille's eyes slowly rolled back. white

clark shuddered and quickly backed away, unable to believe he was doing such an unconscionable thing.

\cough cough cough, cough cough cough!\ milea was frightened and backed away from clark, coughing frantically until she could finally breathe.

clark was also panicking at this time. \I'm sorry, mirai, I don't know what happened until now, I really don't understand, I suddenly lost consciousness... I'm so sorry...\

clark was speechless and about to go crazy.

Are the memories that pop into his mind really meant for him?

but this feeling...is too real...

miriam's eyes turned red and she panted heavily. when clark was out of sight, he first calmed down. clark seemed to notice something when he saw the cat tooth bracelet in his hand. he cleared his throat and gritted his teeth. taking a bold decision, he quickly approached clark. he grabbed clark's right arm with both hands and forced a smile. “I… believe it.”

189 merged into one

miraille's words seemed to be working, and clark's panic gradually subsided.

taking a deep breath, clark slowly came to his senses. he closed his eyes, meditated for a few seconds, and began examining the memories that came to mind from a rational and objective point of view. Suddenly he discovered the details of the memory.

``hair is a symbol of womanhood,'' said the crazy woman.

``Isn't that what miss hera's mother told her?'' clark was suddenly surprised. he realizes that the memory fragments he saw were not his own, but miss hela's.

but what kind of force makes this possible? clark didn't know he had that ability.

Since it is not your own ability, it can only be caused by other factors.

clark opened his eyes, staring at the cat tooth bracelet he had naturally thrown on the ground. For some reason, when he saw this bracelet again, he felt that this was a little different, and subconsciously became wary.

with some hesitation, clark picked up the cat's tooth bracelet again. the moment he received it, he closed his eyes tightly again. but this time, he no longer felt the mental influence of familiar memories, but his body felt cold from the touch. maoya trembled and lost consciousness.

maybe you can see these memories only when you touch the cat's tooth bracelet for the first time.

miraille saw clark's strange behavior and remembered how clark suddenly became enraged and lost control. he also secretly speculated about the strange ingredients in the cat's tooth bracelet, saying, ``maybe there's something wrong with this bracelet?''

clark apologized to miraille again and told her the truth. \I'm so sorry, miraille. I don't know why, but when I touched that bracelet, I saw a memory that wasn't mine. this memory... was the same.\ I was so scared that I couldn't control myself for a while. did. ”

Seeing this, miraille saw that clark had regained his posure. he doesn't blame her anymore. After smiling at clark, he said, a little confused. \there's something so strange...can I touch it?\

clark felt that perhaps there was something wrong with the cat tooth bracelet. he didn't really want miraille to touch him, but he thought he needed miraille to experience it in order for him to trust him.

milea became suspicious and accepted the bracelet given to her by clark.

clark immediately became nervous, as if facing a powerful enemy, and his men were ready to use their strength at any moment. If mirai makes even the slightest movement, she will immediately control her opponent.

Seeing mi Leil's eyes slowly darken, this silent expression made clark feel a lot of pressure. She looked like a ruthless girl killer, no longer the energetic, cheerful, and considerate girl she was before.

the moment millet showed any signs of ferocity, clark quickly walked up behind him and hugged him tightly, making him struggle in his arms. A great and mysterious power was hidden in its petite body. clark almost failed. control the girl.

She called mirai over and over again, trying to calm the girl down while shaking the cat tooth bracelet from mirai's hand.

After an unknown amount of time, clark finally felt the fighting girl's strength in his arms slowly weaken, and her frantic howls gradually turned into pitiful sobs.

Realizing that miraie was freed from this terrible memory, he immediately released her, held her face in his hands, wiped the tears from her beautiful face, and said with relief: your memory. you're not bad. there's no need to suffer from this memory...\

while saying this, clark felt a great nostalgia in his heart, but before he could remember it, clark, who was always alert to the outside world, heard sweet footsteps outside the door.

``Someone's ing,'' clark whispered, and millet immediately burst into tears due to the nervousness.

the girl immediately stopped feeling sad and asked nervously: \what should we... do? do you want to hide?\

clark was a quick thinker and quickly came up with an idea. he pushes millet into the closet, picks up the ax and hands it to him. before closing the closet door, he warned, ``hide inside first and wait until you have a chance.'' Activities. \

``but what should I do?'' miraie asked quickly, stopping the door from closing with one hand.

\I'd like to show you my card.\ clark took a deep breath. this castle was too strange. he no longer wanted to seek the truth, no longer wanted to analyze who was good and who was bad.

In fact, miraille has had the opportunity to mit suicide several times before. when he lost his mind due to the mysterious power of the cat-tooth bracelet, he attacked him, but he did not resist. Your opponent always has an ax in his hand and can raise his knife and drop it at any time. he strangled himself to death, but his partner did not.

For whatever reason or not, clark didn't want to consider pursuing it again. he put down the hammer and stood there, sweat glistening on his face, watching as hela's bedroom door was slowly pushed open. A small chair creaked.

the person pushing the door seemed to have expected this, and the speed at which he pushed the door was still slow. At this moment, a white-gloved hand touched the corner of the door, and the cold face of butler Valente took the initiative to peek out from behind the door. outside

clark's hammer came down the moment his opponent's head appeared. It was a shot he fought hard for.

but butler Valente was quick to react. the moment he realized the danger, his other hand moved and grabbed the handle of the hammer that clark had dropped. Gray eyes stared at him coldly, as if they were very powerful. \the way mr. clark greets people is really special,\ clark said in a deep voice.

At the same time, in the corner of clark's eyes, he saw a beautiful face stuck under butler Valente's body, but there was a crazy expression on that face. A cold, sharp light flashed across his vision. mr. clark was shocked and turned pale at the scene. he opened the hammer and took a few steps back.

there was a sharp sound of wind on clark's jaw, and the cold went away. I felt a tingling sensation down my chin and felt warm blood flowing from the wound.

clark took several steps back and finally stopped. he cupped his chin with one hand, smelling the blood ing from his chin, the heat running down his palm and fingertips.

\You!?\ clark stared in surprise at the two who appeared at the same time. butler Valente, who looked a little bloated and stuffed, and miss hera, who looked crazy, opened the door and stood in the doorway with their backs to the light.

At that moment, their bodies became strangely intertwined. miss hella's initially straight and slender legs were now wrapped around butler Valente's legs like a rope. miss hera's back was in contact with butler Valente. their chests were pressed tightly together, as if they were growing together.

they are mixed into one.

Valente's room 190

After seeing such a strange sight, clark couldn't help but look shocked. he was all too aware that humans were irreversibly changed by the invasion of the dimensional powers of otherworldly gods. butler Valente and miss hera were obvious. when clark and millay were busy investigating the truth of the castle, they once opened a portal to an alien god dimension. what surprised clark was that they suffered only physical \scars\ and not mental consciousness. however, he was not pletely obsessed with his illness.

this means either their original conscious beliefs are strong enough or they are murderous and delusional in nature.

From this perspective, mr. clark could not help but override all concerns. the two people in front of me were the true villains of blizzard castle.

``You just casually walked into the ladies' room. Even though you are a guest of the castle, I won't let you do anything else, mr. clark.'' Valente, the butler, looked at clark with cold eyes and smiled, pointing his finger. I inserted it. two rows of teeth protrude from its mouth, creating an opening-and-closing mouth part.

miss hera smiled strangely. Although his body was deformed, his voice was still gentle, \If mr. clark wants to find me, please call me. why bother contacting me? If possible, I really want to I want to bee one with you first.''

clark secretly rejected miss hela's \kindness\ and, with sweaty palms, tried his best to remain calm and asked, \did you use magic again earlier?\

\You really know that...no wonder you're acting so strange.\ Valente the butler raised his eyebrows, noticed the cat-tooth bracelet on the ground, and looked a little amused. he said with a smile. that's oK…\

\what riddles are you talking about? what do you know?\ clark frowned. From the look on Valente's face, he seemed to know even more.

``If you want to know, e with me.'' miss hera smiled, but then suddenly began to cry. he opened his arms as if to wele her arrival, but held her tightly nonetheless. the knife that cut his cheek.

clark's scalp was numb. I realized that butler Valente and miss hela, who do not want to be friends even in death, are fused with their normal powers, but mainly occupy a dominant position in their bodies. butler Valente was in charge. he grabbed things around him and threw them at butler Valente.

Valente laughed, his neck suddenly elongating strangely and turning purple like a swinging rubber band. with a small elbow to the head, he hit every bench, pillow, and other thing clark threw. then he opened his mouth and let out a strange sound. he roared as he flew toward clark, his mouth wide open as if he had transformed into an unknown beast wearing human skin.

mr. clark struggled to avoid it, and as he did so, he accidentally knocked over a lit oil lamp and candle in the room. the flames ignited cloth inside the room, causing the oil fire to spread. Immediately the whole room was lit with fire and burned hot.

perhaps Valente did not expect the fire accident. when the fire broke out, he froze in place for two seconds. It was within those few seconds that clark rolled over and crawled out of the room.

clark continued running, but more terrifying roars were heard from behind him. cold sweat continued to flow down my back like bamboo shoots. he gritted his teeth and continued running, until he felt the roar slowly fade away.

``Aren't you catching up?'' clark hides in a strange room in the castle. he put his ear to the door, but couldn't hear any running. he was confused at first, but then his face changed, \No, you found it? miss miller?\

clark instinctively wanted to run back to save people, but when he put his hand on the door handle to open the door, his movements suddenly stiffened and stopped moving, and he thought with a depressed face: If there really is something wrong with miss miller, then so be it. there's no point in running away now.

he had some pain and sadness, but he kept those emotions in check. At this moment, he needed more calmness and reason to survive.

clark looked at the room he had broken into and searched the room, hoping he might find some useful self-defense supplies there.

the current situation was unexpected for clark. Valente and hera, who at first thought they didn't get along, not only collude, but also fuse together! what's even scarier is that under the influence of normal forces, they have turned into an alien species with supernatural abilities. It's not an opponent that mirael and I can defeat together.

Rather than defeating him, it would be better to think of a way to delay reporting to the Grim Reaper.

the room isn't very big, about the same size as clark's temporary room. the furniture inside is extremely clean, perfectly tidy and spotless. Everything inside is pervertedly arranged in a very orderly manner. the bookshelf not only categorizes books, but also is carefully arranged by the owner of the room according to the color, size, and thickness of the books. Nothing on the bed should have any wrinkles, everything on the table should be angled correctly... Everything here is the work of an obsessive-pulsive disorder.

obsessive-pulsive disorder means extreme control. clark notices that the room has changed hands and notices that everything in the room is clean. the water glass on the table was filled with hot water and was clearly occupied by someone.

Aside from the girls' room, clark realizes that this could be butler Valente's room.

clark immediately became alarmed. he carefully turned Valente's desk and finally saw Valente's name neatly written in the notebook, confirming that he was the owner of this room.

when clark opened the notebook, he saw no memories, but deacon Valente's terrifying thoughts.

this notebook is like a laboratory researcher's, recording daily changes in the subjects through daily observation, and butler Valente's observation targets are everyone in the castle, including the master, count bluebeard.

\huh? why is that line... Kander's recorded line specifically prohibited?\ clark discovered something strange in his notes. the records there, including his own, are free of any errors or omissions and are meticulously packed with information. , but mysteriously, the line of data that recorded \Kander\ is magically undone, which goes against his ocd personality.

Judging by what was discovered in the secret room, most of the servants and guests in the castle should be turned into magical substances. Assuming that Kanda's cross means \feast\, it is not necessary to make Kanda the only cross.

therefore, mr. clark surmised that there must be another reason to match mr. Kander's data.

thinking of this, clark remembered that he had also taken the records of the use of magic from the secret room, so he took out the experiment record book again, examined it, and was able to derive an answer.

\Kander's name isn't on this record... Kander didn't die by magic,\ ms. clark muttered, another possibility floating in her mind, \but he wasn't alive either. however, he died at the hands of others, and his body was never found.\

900 new discoveries

clark was very concerned about Kander's record. Although he had never met Kander, he had a hunch that he had to take the character seriously.

Kander was able to find the stone carvings that Valente and bluebeard used to perform their magic, and also knew how to seal and hide stone carvings. From this perspective, this person's knowledge and abilities are far from ordinary people's.

Additionally, the two notebooks in front of him contain his records, proving that Kander's death was abnormal.

If count bluebeard and butler Valente knew that Kander was the culprit who stole the stone, then there should be no abnormality in Kander's death. the magic file in bluebeard's notebook should contain Kander's file. Steward Valente's observation about Kander also doesn't apply.

but if count bluebeard and butler Valente didn't know that Kander stole the Stone that Sees All Shadows, why did Kander die?

clark felt overwhelmed again, thinking that he \couldn't fully understand\ the puzzle-like words that deacon Valente had just said. he searched most of Valente's butler's room, but still couldn't figure out what it was that he didn't \pletely understand.\

\does it have something to do with Kander's death?\ clark couldn't help but wonder. he looked at butler Valente's observation file and observed a cross section.

Suddenly, clark noticed that there was some duplicate writing on the cross-section, but butler Valente's black ink was so heavy and dark that it was difficult to detect it for a while, so he turned the oil lamp on the table to I turned it on and it lit up. . And the light of the fire. As I turned the pages of the paper, I gradually began to understand what else was written on them.

\he actually jumped to his death from a cliff... No one can enter the abyss beneath the castle. he is never found. Even if he was found, his body is inplete and cannot be used as material. \I can't…who? who else?\ \who else can fill this role? You e to this secluded castle and help us…\ clark said overlapping words. I read it slowly and learned the cause of Kander's death.

would you like to jump off a cliff? why do people jump off cliffs for no reason?

clark feels he is close to touching the edge of truth, but he misses the crucial needle that would puncture the balloon.

For clark now, living has bee a luxurious hope, so he feels that it is better to understand all the truth before dying and die as an understanding person than to die without knowing anything.

clark looked around Valente's room again, looking for other valuable clues.

…

\the all-seeing shadow, the Eye between the Rifts, is included in the Anomalous creatures Foundation's Ability God documentation. I believe this incarnation of this Ability God in the New York area circulates a lot in the form of an urban legend. ” If I was obsessed with looks when I was younger, I’m sure everyone on the internet has heard of the Slender Ghost. ” the members of the tiger team who were in charge of the research finally found the answer after examining a huge amount of material.

“holy Spirit?” Yu Lianyun blinked, a little surprised. \I have heard urban legends about him. he is said to kidnap children. At the same time, anyone who senses his presence inadvertently will be attacked by him. these people will be harmed by mysterious things, causing psychological damage, sleepless nights, frequent changes in vision, various physical disforts such as dizziness. when people e into close contact with other people, they bee more susceptible to their influence. Ability to influence madness. ”

``Yes, that's right, but the kidnapping of the children is a fictional folk tale, but almost everything else is real.'' the tiger team member who made the report took a deep breath and said with a solemn look on his face. peeking through everything, I found that it was actually an interpretation of a parallel essay by Kosa Shinji School about the King of Kosa. ”

hearing this, Yu Lianyun couldn’t help but take a step forward, avoid the other party’s hands, and look at the information alone. Shock almost flashed in his eyes.

Yu Lianyun only read a few lines, closed his eyes, trembled with restraint, took a deep breath, and said with a gloomy face: ``taketaka-kun, you have made a wonderful discovery, but at the same time, it is also a big problem for us.''

Fu Gaojun nodded and said, \Yes, the huangsha master of the Shenzhou region is also the embodiment of all these shadows. this foreign god has been our enemy for a long time. Now I... I seriously doubt that the Yellow Sha truthers are really that way.'' the Shenzhou Zone and the New York west coast extremists who worship the Slender Ghost are united, and dr. clark's disappearance is inseparable from them. . ”

Yu Lianyun and bu Gaojun were in a helpless state.

dondon.

when Yu Lianyun and bu Gaojun were thinking of countermeasures, members of the second team led by the rabbit group came knocking on the door to report. It's better, e and listen. ”

hearing this, Yu Lianyun and bu Gaojun looked at each other, and with suspicions followed the mysterious detective to the second team's temporary office.

captain Rabbit stood in front of a transparent board with various human figures written on it. Yu Lianyun looked at the wolf's face, and his heart sank a little, and asked, \captain You mao, what do you think you have?\ I noticed that it's here too...

\there's no need to rush. Let me talk to him first, captain xiaoyu.\ before Yu Lianyun could finish speaking, team Rat captain Leng qiuzi appeared behind him and walked up to him to stop him.

Yu mao slowly turned around, showing his ugly face, his face was sweaty and pale.

Seeing Jade mao like this, the two zodiac team captains couldn’t help but feel their hearts sink.

\we have just received a report from members of the Anomalous creatures Foundation who have been assisting the occult team in their investigation. As they investigated dr. clark's relationships and local past, they discovered dr. clark's anomaly. I did.” point…”

Yu Lianyun and Leng qiuzi both quietly concentrated on listening.

\dr. clark's current parents are not his original family. he lived in an orphanage for a while, but was soon adopted by a kind couple who are dr. clark's current parents. we found out that clark was dr. clark's original name, who was adopted by Enus and lived on the west coast. he was the child of a crazy couple. before being sent to the orphanage, she was sometimes persecuted and beaten by her biological father and mother.

Another night, an angry couple was arguing when they accidentally started a fire, which ultimately led to their unfortunate deaths. however, the young dr. clark managed to escape... however, after passing in front of the Abnormal biology Foundation, he investigated the fire using special means and discovered that the fire was not accidental, but man-made. It turns out it was caused intentionally.

who do you think started the fire? captain Yumao took off his glasses, rubbed his eyebrows with sweat dripping down his throbbing fingers, and said, ``Yes, young dr. clark.'' ”

190 memories

the door slowly opened and the hallway outside fell silent. the sky gradually became brighter. there was still wind and snow, but the light was brighter.

clark looked around the room, observing movement outside the room. Relieved to see no one passing by, he slowly closed the bedroom door.

Sitting on the bed in Valente's room, clark took his fingers and bowed his head in thought.

he is thinking about what to do next and trying to survive longer.

when clark thought about time, he couldn't help but think of the pocket watch he always carried with him. he opened his pocket watch and watched the hands slowly turn on the dial. her heart rate also seemed to slow down.

``It's a bit strange that this castle doesn't have a chronometer tool,'' clark said, surprised as he remembered that there were no clocks in every room in the castle he visited, and even in Earl bluebeard's master bedroom. how do the people who live in this castle usually judge time?

If you think about it, even yesterday, when everyone reported what Earl bluebeard had done before he died, no one could give an exact time.

this is actually quite reasonable. After all, without a more accurate time scale, the world would not be able to reach its current level of civilization.