Chapter 47

Chapter 47

"It hurts! (\u003e﹏　　The girl squatted with her head in her hands to protect herself——　　"Stop playing tricks! Tell me, why did you suddenly come to the moon? What trouble did you get into to make your mother angry?"　　But the person who had almost grown up with the other person didn't buy it at all and asked about the real business.

Under normal circumstances, whenever he said this, the little girl would smile embarrassedly and ask Fang Yuan to help her say good things in front of her mother.

But this time, the girl, contrary to her usual behavior, held her head high and said proudly: "I didn't get into trouble! I'm here to sign up for the first deep space expedition this time! I want to be a space explorer!"　　"...[Ether], arrange my private spaceship and have someone take her back to Earth!"　　Fang Yuan said expressionlessly Said.

"Hey - wait! Uncle, listen to me! I'm serious! I'm really not kidding!" Hearing that she was going to be sent away, the pink-haired girl hugged Fang's thigh without any girlish reserve, and struggled desperately to save the situation as if she would never let go.

"... Last time you said you were going to join the army, but I took you to participate in military training but you couldn't even last a week; and the time before that, you said you were interested in scientific research, and I arranged for you to intern in the laboratory in Anaheim, but you were only enthusiastic for three minutes, and you quit after a few days because you were tired... Do you want me to continue?" Every time Fang Yuan said something, the girl's face became more embarrassed. In the end, she was too embarrassed to hug Fang Yuan's thigh anymore, She could only stand up from the ground awkwardly, brush off the non-existent dust on the hem of her skirt, stand upright, and pretend to be a good kid.

"Tell me, why are you going to participate in the deep space expedition this time? Don't think this is an outing in a suburban park. This is an exploration of a completely unknown planet, which is ten times or a hundred times more difficult than military training!" Although Fang Yuan knew that this little girl was very unstable and only took three minutes to do anything, wasting her outstanding mind that could be regarded as a genius, but looking at her this time, it seemed that her attitude was really firm, so he wanted to ask what was going on.

"This, this..." The girl pointed her index fingers at each other in front of her chest, and was a little speechless for a while, as if she was not good at it. Meaning to speak.

"Does she have a boyfriend in the expedition team?" Fang Yuan gave the most likely guess.

"No!" The girl blushed and retorted: "I... I don't have a boyfriend!" "...Okay, not a boyfriend, then a girlfriend? Although I don't discriminate against homosexuals, it seems that your mother is not easy to accept..." Fang Yuan joked casually.

"... You can guess this?" The girl widened her eyes with an incredible expression.

"..." And Fang Yuan's expression was even more exciting. He didn't expect that the original Martian princess, who should have been infatuated with a male second in the original fate, would actually go astray! Did his education lead this girl astray? 　　"Who is she?" Fang Yuan was a little curious.

"Well... her name is Selam, a friend I met at school..." Remulina blushed and said a little embarrassedly.

What? Selam? Isn't this... isn't this the pseudonym of the genuine Martian princess in the anime plot? ! 　　"I still have her photo here, look! "As she said this, the girl took out her terminal and projected the figure of a girl with short brown hair in the air.

Although the difference between the faces of people in the two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds is very large, Fang Yuan had seen the girl in the picture when she was young, so he recognized her identity at a glance - "..." It really is... The fourth update, additional update')179'\u003eChapter 178 Princess Lily \u0026 Two Fang Yuans

Seram, the former Princess of the Weiser Empire, Eseiram Weiser Eliosia, had her soul extracted by Fang Yuan in the war twelve years ago, and her body was destroyed in the aftermath of the battle.

But after the war, out of a little pity in his heart, Fang Yuan removed the foreign soul mixed in her soul and re-refined a body to revive her.

Unfortunately, it is not known whether it was because Fang Yuan's soul surgery skills were too cliché or her own soul was already damaged. When she was resurrected, she fell into a deep coma like a vegetative person.

Fang Yuan had no choice but to bring her back to Earth and let the medical institutions under Anaheim Company take good care of her.

However, one night a few years later, she disappeared from the hospital bed like a ghost, completely losing her trace. Even if Fang Yuan used the power of Anaheim and the technical strength of [Ether], he could not find her.

She just disappeared! Many years have passed, and Fang Yuan has even forgotten the existence of this original heroine, but today, she reappeared in front of Fang Yuan in a very impressive way - the two original Martian princesses turned out to be lesbians, and the love objects were actually his own sisters, what should he do? Waiting online, urgent! Upon hearing such explosive news, Fang Yuan was a little panicked and asked for support from another self deep in his consciousness, but the other side only replied with four words and a punctuation mark - well done! ... What does well done mean? ! ! Is it a good thing to turn a pair of young girls into lesbians? ! ! Well, from the perspective of preventing being seduced by the yellow-haired minotaur, Fang Yuan did do a great deed, but... this is definitely not the way he expected to achieve it! ! ! Fang Yuan was struggling... ... Well, everyone should have noticed.

That's right, the "Fang Yuan" who has been in this world for more than ten years is not the original Fang Yuan! To be precise, he is actually a clone created by Fang Yuan using quantum replication technology. After he left this world as the original body, he stayed in this world to continue running the already established Anaheim Company.

All this started from the battle twelve years ago.

Being trapped in a high-dimensional space and unable to move, and being forced to fight a life-or-death soul battle with the opponent who has become a monster in the form of a soul, this can be said to be the most dangerous and difficult battle Fang Yuan has ever encountered.

Although [Ether] is still struggling to seize more authority from the core network of the super-ancient alien civilization, and although the reinforcements from the earth are trying to strangle the variously strengthened Iron Knights.

However, for Fang Yuan, he still has to face a terrifying enemy with a total soul volume that is ten or even a hundred times his own alone.

In the confrontation and fight between souls, Fang Yuan forgot about time and everything that happened in the outside world. He devoted his whole heart and soul to this seemingly hopeless struggle. The battle of souls was not something Fang Yuan could retreat from. Since he had made a choice and extended the struggle to the soul level, the end of the war could only end with one side being completely eliminated.

The most dangerous time was when the Earth United Army in the outside world finally defeated all the Mars Knights who had transformed into steel undead and completely cut off the soul supply of this monster.

The soul monster, which had lost the way to increase its strength, fell into an unprecedented frenzy. Its desire for more souls even overwhelmed its remaining rationality. It desperately absorbed the soul foundation of this semi-high-dimensional space! 　　The foundation of the spiritual dimension was eaten away, which naturally shook the stability of this semi-high-dimensional space. What would happen when it fell from 3.5+1 dimensions to 3+1 dimensions of space and time? Even Fang Yuan plus the computing power of [Ether] could not calculate it at all.

Maybe it was just a smooth and natural dimensional reduction of space, without any abnormality; Maybe it would be like a hyperspace gate out of control, with violent space changes tearing the entire Mars apart; Or it might simply generate a black hole... No matter how terrible the change is, it could happen.

But Fang Yuan didn't think about whether the collapsed space would destroy his body.

Because when the soul monster transformed by the old emperor devoured the soul that constructed the space itself, the truth hidden behind the darkness, the "god" that the old emperor had been thinking about, finally revealed its true face.

Although it was just a glimpse, Fang Yuan still saw it. It was a huge, star-sized, even huge luminous sphere that made people lose their sense of size, hidden in a higher dimension than this collapsing semi-high-dimensional space.

But this was not a star. Fang Yuan's soul vision could see that the light ball reflected the scene of the infinite world! 　　Then, the next moment, his consciousness was overwhelmed by the infinite information that suddenly poured into his brain.

At the last moment, he only had time to let [Ether] control the authority that had been seized, and used quantum replication to copy another of himself and send it to the outside world, and then he completely lost consciousness.

... When Fang Yuan woke up, he found that he had returned to the outside world. The space maze and the strange space deep in the maze had disappeared, and the dazzling light column towering in the sky had also disappeared. The matter was over! Then, he realized that in the depths of his consciousness, behind the towering door of truth, there seemed to be an inseparable connection.

That was... another self! It was amazing. According to Fang Yuan's analysis, this kind of quantum replication clone in this world can actually only copy the human body but not the soul. That is to say, even if you copy a million clones at one time, your soul is still only one, but it exists in all individuals at the same time with the help of the high-dimensional characteristics of the soul itself. Therefore, each clone can be regarded as the original body, and as long as one original body is not dead, it will not really die even if it is killed many times.

But the current situation is that Fang Yuan found that he was actually split into two at the soul level! Not only him, even the [Ether] composed of the Philosopher's Stone was copied! 　　When Fang Yuan in the A/Z world contacted himself who had returned to the real world through the Gate of Truth, he finally confirmed this.

However, on the other hand, Fang Yuan's soul itself did not have any defects. This division did not seem to be a simple and rough split of Fang Yuan's soul from the middle, but more like a projection. The two souls were each other's main body, mutual projection, and mutual resonance, but in essence they were actually one, and it did not matter which was the main body and which was the clone.

It can be said that no matter which Fang Yuan, it was the real Fang Yuan.

')180'\u003eChapter 179 Mission Truth \u0026 Sequelae

Fang Yuan, who woke up from his sleep, felt as if he had a hangover, dizzy and couldn't even get up from the bed.

When he struggled to drink two large glasses of ice water, and then almost crawled into the bathroom to wash his face, he finally sobered up a little.

When his consciousness was completely restored, he realized that he was almost killed by the Gate of Truth this time! 　　…　　At the end of the battle with the soul monster, when the semi-high-dimensional space built by souls collapsed, Fang Yuan saw what was covered by this space, no, it should be said that it was sealed behind it.

The old emperor was right, it was indeed a "God"! 　　However, this "God" was not a benevolent God who would accept human prayers and beliefs and reward with blessings and divine power, but a God who regarded mortals as ants and dust, possessed a way of thinking that humans could not imagine, and was the supreme ruler of the universe, the God of Time and Space, the One who brought all things into unity, the Lord of the Gate, the almighty and immortal Lord of the Beginning, the Outer God - a part of Yog-Sothoth...! 　　When Fang Yuan learned this, he also understood the real purpose of his time travel, which was to release the heavily sealed incarnation for the real master behind the Gate of Truth! 　　Yes, on Mars in the A/Z world, there is an incarnation of an Outer God who can be regarded as a big boss in the entire multiverse, and according to Fang Yuan's analysis, this incarnation was most likely sealed by the ultra-ancient Martian civilization who sacrificed their lives and souls as a whole! Fang Yuan didn't know how powerful the ancient Martian civilization was, that they could seal an Outer God as a mortal race, and it was the incarnation of one of the Three Pillar Gods! Was he crazy or was this world crazy? Or was it that ancient Martian civilization that was crazy? In short, when Fang Yuan came to his senses, he had to admire this unknown ancient civilization - they had achieved a feat that was even more powerful than the great race of Iss who could travel through time at will! Unfortunately, no matter how great the sacrifices were, no matter how magnificent the seals were, the seals of mortal civilizations were still at the level of mortals.

Although they had sealed an incarnation of Yog-Sothoth incredibly, the incarnation of the Outer God in the seal could still infiltrate the outside world, tempting those who were weak-willed or unlucky to come and uncover the seal.

The first emperor who established the Weiser Empire and was fought by Fang Yuan as the final boss was the poor guy who was chosen.

He thought he was inspired by "God" and would lead his family and people to the kingdom of God and be with God.

But in fact, he was just chosen to be the executor of the seal.

And Fang Yuan was an excellent assistant sent by the Outer God himself.

Under the invisible hand called "fate", it was because of the conflict and battle between Fang Yuan and the old emperor that he pushed the other party to the limit step by step, and finally had to gnaw the soul foundation of the seal itself, and finally successfully collapsed the entire sealed space, releasing the Outer God incarnation hidden in another dimension.

No wonder there is no toll for this crossing. He is working for the boss, and the expenses are naturally reimbursed by the boss.

But this mission is really very dangerous.

The most dangerous thing is not his crippling disability after crossing, not the war between the earthlings and Martians, not the moon explosion that can kill half of the earthlings, and not the soul monster that almost swallowed his soul alive in the last battle.

The real danger is the Outer God incarnation sealed behind the semi-high-dimensional space! When Fang Yuan observed the other party with his soul, high-dimensional information far beyond his comprehension range poured into his consciousness. At that moment, if the Gate of Truth in his brain had not protected his mind, his San value would have been reset to zero! But even so, looking directly at the incarnation of the Outer God at zero distance (looking directly with the soul, it was really zero distance) still had a huge impact on Fang Yuan's consciousness.

At least, the feeling now, as if he had stayed up all night playing games for three days and three nights, and then drank too much without rest, was the most obvious side effect.

Others, such as the various physical formulas that flashed before his eyes that he had never seen before but seemed to understand at a glance, the whispers that seemed to come from another world, and the thoughts that seemed to have opened a brainstorming session and came out uncontrollably... Fang Yuan just felt that he was not feeling well.

Because of this poor physical condition, he had to give up his plan to return home that day and stayed in this hotel in the UK for several days until his spirit recovered enough to concentrate on performing alchemy, and then he flew back to China a little shakily.

...　　"Master Fang, are you...sucked dry?"　　This was a month later, Fang Yuan came to a banquet at the invitation of the Taoist priest.

Well, it was not an ordinary banquet, but a "Dan Yuan Banquet" with Taoist characteristics.

That means tasting freshly baked elixirs.

Although Fang Yuan was still suffering from the side effects of looking directly at the foreign gods, and his physical and mental state were at a low point, he still came.

On the one hand, he stayed at home for a long time and needed to go out to relax. On the other hand, he was really interested in orthodox Taoist elixirs.

However, when he arrived at the Taoist temple in Zhongnan Mountain, the Taoist priest who came to greet him said "squeeze it dry". He had absolutely no moral virtues of a pure cultivator. He was really a fake Taoist priest! "Don't mention it, I got screwed this time!" Fang Yuan's face was filled with a "It's hard to explain" expression. Seeing this, the Taoist priest knew it and didn't continue to talk about this topic.

While inviting Fang Yuan into the temple, the Taoist priest said conspicuously: "Seeing that your face is pale, your steps are unsteady, and your body is indeed a little weak. This time I just made a batch of Sheng Yuan Dan, which is best for replenishing vitality. You Take a few pills to replenish yourself! "Okay, are you still stuck on the issue of his bad complexion... But there is nothing we can do about it, after all, Fang Yuan has barely slept in the past month.

Now, when he opens his eyes, formulas and theorems that fill his field of view are flashing across the screen like a barrage at Station B. When he closes his eyes, various essential images of the universe, time and space burst out from his mind, directly simulating the dimensional model of the universe in his mind. ! If he hadn't used alchemy and alchemy to maintain and repair his brain, he believed that half of his brain cells would have died within a week! "It's okay, I've been restless recently, and even my inner alchemy practice has declined a lot. I really need to make up for it!" Although he was very embarrassed, Fang Yuan was indeed very covetous of the Taoist priest's elixir.

After all, there is only one Taoist priest in the main world who possesses orthodox Taoist magic power. Naturally, he is the only one who can refine truly effective Taoist elixirs using ancient methods.

The elixirs he sells can be said to be priceless but not marketable! Now that the Taoist priest is determined to hold a Danyuan Banquet, Fang Yuan naturally cannot miss it! The third update later')181'\u003eChapter 180 A heart-breaking conversation

Although it is a banquet, it is not a gathering of ordinary people. There is no big fish, big meat, delicacies from the mountains and seas, nor is it a fairy feast like the fairy tales. Dragon liver, phoenix marrow, fine wine and jade liquid are all things that you don't have to think about.

A pot of tea, a few elixirs, and some preserved and dried fruits secretly prepared by Taoism, this is what this "Alchemy Banquet" is all about.

Although the banquet was very simple, the effectiveness of this elixir was not fake.

Fang Yuan took three Shengyuan Pills to replenish vitality, and his pale face immediately turned rosy visibly, and the depression caused by being unable to sleep for a long time was greatly relieved.

"Your elixir is really good! It seems that I came to the right place today!" Fang Yuan quite praised the Taoist priest's craftsmanship.

"Tell me, how did you end up like this?" During the chat, the Taoist priest still didn't forget Fang Yuan's previous appearance as if he was suffering from severe kidney deficiency.

"..." Fang Yuan was silent for a while, then thought about it and said: "Let's put it this way, it's equivalent to Sanqing Tianzun asking you to complete a task. The entire task process is very dangerous and there is a narrow escape from death. After you complete the task, you will be given The reward is that the knowledge of the divine channel method is flashing in front of your eyes like a screen. You are practicing even when you sleep. For a month, you will become what I am now!" "... Sanqing Tianzun asked me to be a little boy! The Taoist priest has completed the mission? Are you really good at joking..." The Taoist priest was suddenly stunned as he spoke, and he immediately realized the meaning of Fang Yuan's words - the source of his magic power was unknown, but he believed that it was three Qing Tianzun gave blessings, so who would be Fang Yuan's "Three Qing Tianzun" who uses alchemy to possess the door of truth? "Could it be that...you were summoned by that big shot?" Fang Yuan was silent and nodded.

Taoist priest: "Hiss--" He took a breath of air.

The Taoist priest is also born in the 90s, so he has naturally watched the anime series of Steel. He even knows that many research parties on the Internet have confirmed that the truth in the anime is Yog-Sothoth in the Cthulhu Mythos. An incarnation of... As a member of the system, the Taoist priest certainly knows that the Cthulhu myth is not false, and that various indescribable monsters and old rulers do exist somewhere outside the world.

The most typical one is that Fang Yuan had an accident when he first participated in the exploration of the secret realm. A swarm of earth-burrowing demon insects popped out and almost rushed into the real world. Then there was another incarnation of one of the three supreme gods. It seemed that It's not impossible... Looking at it this way, Fang Yuan is really in big trouble! "Don't... don't tell me that the big boss is coming in person, right?" the Taoist priest asked stuttering.

Taoist priests who have read various Cthulhu series novels, played many Cthulhu-based games, and even formed a team to run with others cannot dare to imagine that when an Old Dominator or an Old One really pops up in the real world, What will be the outcome of the Outer God?

"You ask me, who am I asking?" Fang Yuan rolled his eyes. Even he himself was not sure what the will behind the Gate of Truth wanted to do.

In other words, as a human being, he wants to use human thinking to figure out the purpose of an alien god. This is a very ridiculous thing in itself.

"..." The Taoist priest was speechless, and he also realized that it was useless to ask Fang Yuan about this kind of thing. This kind of existence far beyond the imagination of ordinary people, as long as its essence is 10% as described by Lovecraft. One, no, one hundredth, or even one thousandth or one ten thousandth of the intensity, then no matter what He wants to do, even a mere square yuan cannot stop it! But having said that, the Taoist priest was still a little worried: "Can I take the liberty to ask, what mission did the big boss assign to you?" "...There is nothing bad to say, just go to another planet to release Him. A sealed incarnation."

Well, Fang Yuan didn't lie. He did go to another planet (Mars) and released an incarnation of Bubble Boss.

It's just that he didn't say that this planet is not a planet in this world or this universe.

Even so, his answer completely stunned the Taoist priest.

"Another...another planet? No, no! That's not the point...you actually, actually released the incarnation of an alien god?!" The Taoist priest almost wanted to pick a fight, but he never expected that he was so good at talking to him. My fellow Taoist actually did such...such a crazy thing! Yes, in the eyes of the Taoist priest, Fang Yuan's act of unsealing the incarnation of the foreign god can indeed be called crazy - after all, God knows what horrific disasters this incarnation of the foreign god will cause after being released! "It was only at the end that I realized that my actions actually contributed to the breaking of the seal.

It wasn't until the end that I realized that every move I made was clearly planned... You wouldn't understand this feeling, right? Fang Yuan said with a sigh.

Yes, I don't understand... What I don't understand is why you can still sit here so peacefully! "...Aren't you worried about the safety of the earth?" The Taoist priest didn't know how Fang Yuan was arranged so clearly. The key now is, how long can the earth and human beings survive? "Don't worry, we weren't destroyed as soon as the avatar came out of the seal, which means nothing is wrong!" Fang Yuan was very calm.

After all, God Bubble can be regarded as the most "harmless" alien god among all the Cthulhu mythos.

Well, the harmlessness here does not mean that he is not powerful. As one of the three pillars of gods under the supreme Azathoth, and also the supreme existence that represents the concepts of time and space, his power even in all external It is also second to none among gods.

But unlike other old rulers and outer gods, most of whom have unspeakable malice and hatred towards humans and even other civilizations, Yog-Sothoth himself has no malice towards humans - and of course there is no goodwill. .

According to the camp division of DND, the God of Bubbles should be regarded as an absolutely neutral camp. As long as humans do not die to anger him or try to use his power, he will not deliberately bring disasters to humans.

After hearing what Fang Yuan said, the Taoist priest also calmed down, but he was still worried, so he continued to ask: "But there is a premise. The incarnation you rescued shouldn't be the incarnation that represents the dark and evil side of God Bubble, right? "... I don't know about this... Anyway, I can be sure that He is not the God of the future and time, nor the ancient eternal being, nor the lurker of the door, but an unknown that does not exist in any human records." Incarnation.”

Since he himself has been closely watched by the big boss, and he doesn't know how he will react when he names the incarnations of these alien gods, Fang Yuan has always called each incarnation by its nickname and did not dare to Call them by their true names - even though his human vocal cords cannot accurately pronounce the names of these indescribable gods.

"O unknown incarnation... My understanding of the Cthulhu Mythos is limited.

If you give me an accurate answer, will everything really be fine? "The Taoist priest was relieved when he heard that the one released by Fang Yuan was not the most troublesome Yafugomon, the god of future and time. He was still a little worried.

"..." Fang Yuan responded with a long silence.

Taoist priest: "..." The third update is presented')182'\u003eChapter 181 The charred intruder

That day's Danyuan Banquet ended in such a heavy atmosphere.

In the next few months, Fang Yuan worked hard to adapt to the aftereffects of being forced to instill knowledge, while sorting out what he had gained from this time travel.

Because of the same soul travel, Fang Yuan still did not bring back any physical items. Even his abundant reserves of Philosopher's Stone were lost due to the soul battle with the old emperor who turned into a monster in the last battle. And it consumed a lot. From this perspective, he lost a lot of money during this time travel.

However, if you include the knowledge he gained from another world, it's a completely different story.

Putting aside the "side effects" of the 24-hour non-stop knowledge brainwashing bombardment he gained from looking directly at the incarnation of the alien god, the Aldnoah technology he obtained from Mars technology alone is already a very, very huge gain! The most important thing is that after testing, Fang Yuan discovered that the core element of Aldnoah technology, the alien dimension that can provide infinite energy and even trigger various magical space effects, also exists in the real world! After confirming this, Fang Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that he was quite lucky. The black technology he had worked hard to collect for several years did not become meaningless garbage just because he changed to another world. The hard work was not in vain.

In this case, the value of his clone in the A/Z world is even greater. With a large technology company as a backing, and a whole Mars of ancient civilization ruins for him to explore and study, more black technology will be continuously delivered from another world, saving Fang Yuan in the real world a lot of research and development time.

So, the next thing he should consider is whether to copy the Anaheim model in this world.

But after thinking about it, Fang Yuan gave up this idea.

After all, the real world is not the A/Z world. There is an urgent threat from the Martian Empire. Therefore, the Earth United Government has no restrictions on the emergence of large monopoly companies like Anaheim, and even more welcomes the development of such powerful technology companies.

But this does not work on the Earth in the real world.

There are no external enemies here, and the international order is generally stable. The anti-monopoly laws of major countries have also become increasingly mature. No modern industrial country will allow such a monopoly company to appear.

Moreover, in the final analysis, he has deeply understood in the A/Z world how cumbersome and painful it is to control a large company.

Especially for a researcher like him, it was really boring to spend several hours every day to deal with those "complicated trivial matters" that were not related to scientific research.

——Since there was already another him doing this kind of thing, there was no need for him to jump into this pit again.

So, Fang Yuan, who returned to the main world, returned to the rhythm of life at the beginning.

Well, of course, the bigger reason was that he still hadn't gotten rid of the sequelae of not knowing whether to say happiness or pain, and couldn't concentrate for a long time. His strength based on alchemy was severely limited, so he didn't have the heart to wander around in this deep water main world.

However, just like the protagonists of most online novels always unconsciously encounter various troubles, although Fang Yuan himself had no intention of going out to find trouble, sometimes troubles would come to him.

One morning, Fang Yuan, who had just survived a night of deduction of the Big Bang model, saw a charcoal-like humanoid object lying under his window sill when he got up.

"...[Ether], what's going on?" Although the thing on the ground looked completely carbonized, it still maintained a roughly complete human shape. Fang Yuan could even sense the faint vitality that was stubbornly clinging to the inside of the "charred corpse" - in other words, this thing was not dead yet! "At 3 a.m. last night, the intruder broke into the room from the windowsill. For safety reasons, the automatic defense system was activated, completely neutralizing the intruder."