Nobita's Time Heist

"These are quite dangerous items. I remember they should all have been retrieved..."

Nobita said helplessly, "Doraemon always has some inexplicable gadgets that are dangerous."

“Yes, your companion is quite unusual.” Kurt nodded, crossed his hands and rested them on his chin, and murmured, “When the Dream Machine was invented, it caused quite a stir in our circles. We all agreed that, besides reversing dreams from reality, it had a huge side effect.”

"Before I explain it, Nobita, I have something to tell you." Even in the secret room where there were only the four of them, Kurt still lowered his voice, "In fact, even the craftsmen themselves don't fully understand how most secret gadgets work."

"What?!" Nobita's brow twitched. "But... you're the ones who created the tools!"

Kurt looked at him with a very deep gaze.

"What I'm about to tell you is something that even in the 22nd century, only the most skilled prop craftsmen would know."

"The core components of the secret gadgets were not invented by Earthlings. Therefore, the operating mechanism of most gadgets remains a black box in our view."

"Based on our capabilities alone, we can only analyze and recreate about 25% of the secret items."

Chapter 436: Why is cutting-edge technology called cutting-edge technology?

This news was truly explosive, an absolute exclusive. The train conductor was immediately dumbfounded; if he had a human mouth, it would have been agape. The spring on its back spun rapidly like a fully wound piston. If counted from its production date, it had been running smoothly for eighty years.

It's quite remarkable that someone his age could still hear such exciting news.

"You seem very calm, Nobita. No wonder you're the one who saves the world!" Kurt exclaimed. "When I first heard the news, I was so scared that I couldn't sleep for nights on end."

“My grandfather told me this. He once had dinner with Dr. Pipula and drank too much sake that night. He was a little out of it and just blurted it out.”

"But... this doesn't make sense," the train conductor muttered. "Aren't secret gadgets themselves all made by humans?"

Kurt glanced at him, his expression complicated. "Theoretically speaking, you're actually a kind of secret tool on the train."

"After entering the 22nd century, robots also became intelligent. But in fact, I looked up the history of artificial intelligence development in the 21st century, and the big data models at that time could only achieve relatively simple dialogues. Simply put, it was just a matter of feeding in a large amount of text to perform a kind of context matching and connection, and ultimately, to simulate the illusion of emotions."

"This is the limit of 21st-century technology. They couldn't give robots real emotions; they just equipped them with a system that used big data to calculate human language, eventually making them seem emotional. But 22nd-century robots are equipped with so-called emotional simulations. The complexity of this circuit is like a species evolution compared to the core logical thinking of 21st-century robots!"

He used the term "evolution," which takes tens of thousands of years for organisms to achieve, which speaks volumes about the extent of the process.

“Train conductor, you are now able to think for yourself. In extremely dangerous situations, you can make decisions on your own without consulting anyone. These decisions are made entirely by analyzing intelligence and judging the situation on the ground, and are quite natural. In fact, you are no different from a human being.”

"However, in the 21st century, due to hardware limitations, it is simply impossible to build such a robot!"

He made a startling conclusion: "Therefore, the emotional simulation circuit of 22nd-century robots is actually a kind of secret tool."

"You mean..." The train conductor was momentarily speechless, forgetting to use honorifics, "...that the core technology that constitutes my work wasn't invented by humans?"

"Perhaps we can only say that humans account for a very small part. Humans are only responsible for producing the hardware, while how your emotional circuits actually work is a black box in the eyes of most scientists." He smiled somewhat timidly. "My grandfather once told me that these prop craftsmen are like children who assemble building blocks. They are only responsible for assembling the blocks, and through constant trial and error, constantly summarizing experience, they draw conclusions."

"What happens when these two blocks are put together? What happens when the other two are put together? And then they try to explain this phenomenon with scientific theories that humans can understand. It's like shooting an arrow first and then drawing the target, but even this cheating research method cannot fully understand this emerging science."

"In our industry, there's a core component of secret tools, which has a special name:..."

"Origin Technology," Nobita said calmly.

Now, everything is connected.

"...How do you know this?!" Kurt's expression was one of utter shock. It was unclear what he had misunderstood, but an indescribable sense of admiration crept in as well. "No wonder he's Nobita! Despite being from the 21st century, he knows the top secrets of the 22nd century like the back of his hand. This is a secret that even the higher-ups in the Time Police rarely know."

Although he was praising himself, Nobita didn't feel happy. Having experienced countless adventures, his premonitions were extremely strong, and he vaguely sensed that he had fallen into a huge vortex again.

Origin Technology, but where exactly does this origin come from?

It's reasonable that 22nd-century humanity lacks the capability to create origin technology! He also couldn't imagine that human technology could undergo such a dramatic transformation in just one hundred years. Therefore, eliminating all other options, only one possibility remains—this technology was given to humanity by another civilization.

Phoenicians explicitly told him that the Origin Technology originated from a miraculous civilization that had existed in the universe for 3 million years. Therefore, it's conceivable that at some point in the 21st or 22nd century, messengers from this miraculous civilization contacted Earth and bestowed upon them the power of the Origin Technology.

The result was a significant increase in technological productivity and the arrival of the era of secret gadgets.

But is there really such a thing as a free lunch in the world?

Whether there were any ulterior motives behind the gift of Origin Technology remains unknown. Da Xiong once read a quote: "The gifts of fate often come with a hidden price." If Origin Technology was truly a gift from an outsider, what would that person be after?

Perhaps at some point, they will demand payment from Earth. But will humanity be able to afford that payment? All of this is unknown, unpredictable, and unchangeable.

Nobita decided to put it aside for now; the conspiracy hidden deep in space was truly agonizing. He had too little information, and no matter how he thought about it, it seemed unsolvable. He should deal with the immediate situation first.

"So..." he abruptly steered the conversation back on track, forcing himself to say, "about the Dream Machine that lets you do whatever you want..."

“That’s what I was about to say,” Kurt said in a deep voice. “My grandfather and Dr. Pilap’s seclusion for research was actually a cover-up. They only occasionally designed blueprints for new props, and these blueprints would eventually be sent to me. The actual experimentation and assembly were all done by me.”

"You do it?"

"Mr. Kurt?!"

Da Xiong and the train conductor were both taken aback.

“But Mr. Kurt doesn’t have a license, does he?” The train conductor quickly seized on the blind spot.

Kurt glanced somewhat guiltily into the distance, but in reality, the distance here was just a screen.

"Actually... my skills are not bad, not as bad as you think. Besides, these new props are not going to be sold. In short, it's to cover for Grandpa and Dr. Pipla. They stay in the [Canned Food Workshop] for months at a time. They can't just not produce any finished products, can they?"

In other words, what he has made is already almost identical to what the two PhDs have made, even without market testing.

Nobita was secretly happy for his old friend.

"What they are really doing is conducting detailed research on secret, black-box-like devices, at least trying to decipher some of the mechanisms of Origin Technology. Even my grandfather and Dr. Pipala are working themselves to the bone. I heard they only sleep four hours a day, spending the rest of their time researching day and night..."

"In order to solve the problem in one fell swoop, they deliberately started with some secret items that could cause great danger. These items often have a higher content of Origin Technology components."

"The dream-making machine that lets you do whatever you want is right here."

Chapter 437: Wan Hu and the Starry Sky

Nobita once read about an ancient man named Wanhu in a book. He tied dozens of fireworks to a chair, held two large kites, had them lit, and used the effect of a large brick to propel them into the sky. This makeshift rocket eventually disintegrated in mid-air, and Wanhu himself lost his life in this great endeavor to explore the universe. To commemorate him, there is a crater on the moon named after him.

At this moment, Da Xiong saw the shadow of Wan Hu in the two scientists.

While it wasn't quite as tragic, the spirit of exploration he displayed in the face of the vast unknown was exactly the same as Wan Hu's. In an era without systematic astronomy, he didn't even know how far apart heaven and earth were, or rather, it was precisely this desire to explore that led him to resolutely choose this path.

And now, yet another unknown lies before humanity.

The origins of technology lie in ancient civilizations, and humanity's understanding of it is no less profound than Wan Hu's understanding of the stars. In this context, the two pioneers were able to set aside the immediate technological advancements themselves, truly desiring to leave behind understandable and universally applicable technological concepts for human civilization.

This pure spirit of scientific research filled Da Xiong with immense admiration.

"The Dream Machine works on a different principle than ordinary props. Dr. Pipula came to this conclusion after disassembling it—it is an interface to another universe."

The train conductor was completely dumbfounded.

Shizuku vaguely sensed something, and her gaze towards Nobita became increasingly incredulous. "So, Nobinia... came to our world through a dream?"

Kurt frowned, staring intently at her, surprised that she would reveal these reasons herself.

Throughout his career, Kurt had never encountered such a situation. How could he explain to someone who had emerged from a dream that he was a character from a dream? More importantly, how did Nobita manage to bring her out of there? Even if the theory were correct, it was still another universe!

"An interface to other universes..." Nobita seemed a little confused. "But that was clearly a dream! Can a dream be another universe?"

“This is a very typical fallacy. When Grandpa told me about it, I also found it unbelievable.” Kurt shrugged and continued to explain, “Nobita, let me ask you a question, which may be a bit old-fashioned.”

"There are two railway tracks, with two people strapped to each track. You can only pull a lever to steer the train onto one of the tracks, killing one of the train's passengers. What would you do?"

A simple yet disgusting moral dilemma.

Dekisugi and Suneo had discussed this issue before, but they couldn't reach a conclusion after a long discussion.

Nobita vaguely remembers that they added many details to these two characters, such as one being a great scientist and the other an ordinary office worker. In this moral dilemma, can the life of a scientist and the life of an office worker be equated?

After arguing back and forth without reaching a conclusion, it was Fat Tiger who finally made the final decision: Whoever tied these two unlucky guys to the tracks, I'll go over and smash their heads in, and that will solve the problem.

In fact, this is probably the only solution to the moral dilemma: beat up the person who set the question.

But here, Nobita could sense that Kurt clearly didn't mean it that way. He didn't even let him answer before clapping his hands, "Okay! Whatever you're thinking, you should have thought it through before coming to this conclusion, right?"

Nobita nodded in surprise, thinking to himself that this was no nonsense; any idea comes from thinking first.

To everyone's surprise, Kurt said something completely unbelievable the next moment: "Now I'm telling you, Nobita, this conclusion comes first, then you think about it, and then what would you think?"

Da Xiong stared blankly, his mind going blank, not understanding what he was saying.

"Mr. Kurt, are you referring to the anthropic law?" The train conductor finally chimed in. "The effect comes first, then the cause; it's a reversed cause-and-effect relationship in space and time. It's called the strong attribution effect in space and time. That is, as long as a specific point in time exists, regardless of the process, it will lead to this result."

"That's right! So this law also applies to the problem that has just been solved. It's not that your dream created this universe, but that the universe itself exists and can connect with the brains of intelligent life in some way, creating fragments of information. These fragments intertwine to form your dream."

"Therefore, by connecting back to that universe through dreams—that's the principle behind the dream-making machine!"

After going around in circles, they finally came back to the same point, leaving Da Xiong dumbfounded and speechless for a moment.

Good grief, this actually works?!

Connecting to other universes through dreams instantly elevates the game's sophistication. No wonder people in the 22nd century want to reclaim this gadget; it sounds far too unpredictable!

Dreams, being a form of deep-seated consciousness within the human brain, are not a very stable channel. Given this already unstable premise, to even attempt to connect them to another universe—the person who invented this device must have had an incredibly audacious mind.

"How did something so dangerous pass the inspection in the first place?" the train conductor couldn't help but complain.

“Well… it’s just like any business model.” Kurt shook his head helplessly. “The secret item industry was initially a blue ocean. In any blue ocean market, regulations are bound to be inadequate, and the review mechanism is just for show. It was only later, after frequent safety incidents, that regulations were gradually established.”

"However, many of the gadgets in Doraemon's pocket were acquired during the period when the Secret Gadget Market was a blue ocean with unlimited expansion. As for their safety, it's not so easy to guarantee."

"This is the dream machine that lets you dream as you please. What's really scary about it is that the world it constructs is actually another universe, and therefore has infinite realism."

Nobita understands this all too well.

So true.

"When users connect through dreams, the details they experience are almost identical to those in the real world. However, when the connection is broken, they are forced to exit another universe and return to this world, which causes them great distress, making it difficult to distinguish between illusion and reality."

Kurt's tone was somewhat heavy.

There will always be people who think the world in their dreams is better.

Secret gadgets are that terrifying; misuse can lead to very serious consequences. In fact, most people lack the self-control to handle them. People like Nobita, who possessed secret gadgets for 10 years without any supervision and still managed to live a normal life, are rare indeed.

"The inability to escape the dream world, leading to a sense of aversion to real life, is a common side effect of using the Dream Machine. In the end, it develops into suicidal thoughts, with people going to extreme lengths to return to the dream world, ultimately ending their own lives. Due to the rapid rise in the suicide rate, this device was officially withdrawn."

"The above is the official statement."

Chapter 438: A Long Dream, Never to End

"The real reason is related to that button," Nobita revealed the secret.

"As expected of you, Nobita! Don't tell me you actually pressed that button." Kukurt's expression was initially one of surprise, but then he showed a "I knew it" look, it was hard to tell just how thick his filter was for Nobita.

Nobita smiled slightly, not saying much, deliberately maintaining this sense of mystery so he could show off to his friends. He'd had this bad habit since he was a child and hadn't changed it yet.

That was a red button on the upper left of the "Dream Machine." Pressing it would reverse the dream world and reality; reality would become a dream, and a dream would become reality. As a child, Nobita didn't think much of it, but thinking about it now sends chills down his spine.

Even a newborn calf that is not afraid of a tiger has its limits!

"But didn't you just say that both universes exist? Then how can there be a distinction between dreams and reality?"

“That’s right, you’ve spotted the blind spot!” Kurt nodded. “The so-called switching between dreams and reality is just a gimmick. Ultimately, it’s packaging to sell the product. But the people who developed the device didn’t consider how much resistance humans have to such temptations! They just added this feature simply to make money!”

At this point, Kurt's tone became somewhat angry.

As a prop craftsman, he embarked on this path with the ideal of using props to benefit the world. Although he had a momentary lapse in judgment and created a prop like the "Phantom Thief DX Set," his true intention was not to steal or cheat.

But the developer of the Dream Machine was clearly different from him.

"As I said before, dreams are actually a bridge that connects two universes. In other words, you are in that body in that universe. You project your consciousness there, and that's how you create them. Nobita, you must have seen a lot of cassette tapes, right? The thrilling adventures of the Galactic Boys, the fables of the shepherd, and so on. The principle is actually the same."

"And once you press that button, you'll never come back to your senses."

"The bridge called Dream will be completely severed—this is what is known as 'the exchange between dreams and reality'."

"Because your consciousness can no longer return, that world naturally becomes your reality. You can only live in that universe as a projection."

Nobita swallowed hard. "But... but... I can still come back after the story ends, right?"

“Yes, if everything goes smoothly, of course there’s no problem,” Kurt said worriedly. “But what if you die during the story? The bridge between dreams is severed, and you can’t return to your physical body by ‘waking up.’ In other words, if you die in the dream, you will become a vegetable in your original world! Your consciousness will dissipate in another universe!”

Da Xiong was immediately drenched in sweat.

Danger, too dangerous.

Although he had some expectations, that great adventure was still exceptionally difficult compared to all his previous adventures; they almost suffered a total wipeout. If Nobita and Shizuka hadn't soaked in dragon sweat beforehand and hadn't had a chance to revive themselves, they would have been killed by Odorom's laser beam long ago. In other words, that was actually the closest they ever came to death—true brain death, beyond any hope of recovery.

"Such a dangerous gadget, Nobita..." Kurt began to worry about Nobita's safety. He glanced at Shizuka and whispered, "This thing has been clearly listed as a contraband. If it's inconvenient to handle, should I come to your place?"

“I’ll just destroy this prop. Anyway, the museum has thousands of pieces of waste to dispose of every day. With me here, it doesn’t matter if there’s one more or one less.”

Nobita was deeply moved that they had considered things to this extent for him, but he still resolutely refused.

“Thank you, Kurt, but that’s not what I meant. The Dream Machine… is just one part of it.” He licked his lips, somewhat embarrassed, and said, “Things might… be a little more complicated than you think.”

Let's start from the beginning.

Starting from the entrance to the Winged Kingdom, Nobita recounted his adventure story once again.