Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland.

"...'scholar'?" Lu Dai repeated this abstruse word subconsciously, but a huge wave of shock was rising in his heart.

"My senior brother is different from the rest of us. He is not interested in lost mathematical sciences. He is interested in psychology... the psychology of skeletons." After talking about it, Wolfe no longer concealed it, and it seemed to bring back his memories. "Everyone laughed at him at that time. Even if he wanted to study the logic of the skeleton machinery, he should have looked for it from the program. How could he put it into such a superficial form? Besides, who can really be sure whether those iron boxes have similar thinking to our biological beings?"

"Unexpectedly, he really succeeded."

"To be precise, the reason why skeletons can have thoughts and emotions is not based on any of our existing technological paths. The cornerstone of the intelligent building... is natural language." Wolf said, "It's just that the 'natural' of this natural language is for its users, and the ancients who used it no longer exist in this world. Therefore, even if future generations can decipher some characters, they will only regard them as mysterious and difficult to decipher codes."

Therefore, even in the Second Empire, where production technology had not been completely lost, the Empire could only rely on factories to produce semi-intelligent machines such as Iron Spiders and Honeycomb Drones.

They are no longer able to create skeletons of their own kind, causing their numbers to continue to decline.

"But, Brother... he studied and deciphered the language itself." Wolf was somewhat moved. "I don't know the specific details of his work. It's just that at the end of the world, I didn't reject him like others did and stay away from him, treating him as a freak... I learned the news and conclusion at the first time."

"Ancient words, it's the key."

"Teacher, wait a minute..." Lu Dai came to his senses and looked at him in surprise: "You mean the real function of this language is not to interpret ancient books, but to understand the operating logic of the skeletons' intelligence - but in this way, doesn't it mean that we can tamper with their thinking?"

Free will is a noble word, but if you have actually lived in the real world, you will know that there are countless ways in this society to change and influence a person's thinking.

From education and beliefs that change the spirit to illnesses and medicines that directly affect the body, the so-called soul can be sculpted and molded like clay.

The only exception is the skeletons whose bodies are made of steel. It is generally recognized that the skeletons' minds can be changed, provided that they adjust and choose which part of the memory to retain. Once it is firmly engraved on the chip, even time cannot destroy it until it exceeds the upper limit.

Therefore, Skeletons can be skilled craftsmen, the most diligent farmers... and the most loyal and fearless soldiers.

But now, Lu Dai heard of a way to pry open this solid barrier.

Just a language?

"Yes, of course, this requires other means, and it is not as simple as brainwashing ordinary people - after all, we have practiced and summarized too many methods of the latter in history." Wolf said, "However, because my brother is the only one who studies the so-called 'bone psychology', before it is publicly published, only he knows how to use it specifically."

"Unfortunately, he was banished from the End of the World just before it was published."

Cervant only shared with Wolfe the words he had deciphered, without touching upon the most valuable part - of course, even if it was only the former, it would still be quite valuable.

Even part of the grammar was figured out by Wolfe himself after he came to the Lagoon. This is how he learned that there was another person in the world, an unknown person, who also mastered this language.

Only then will you feel surprised and heavy.

The room fell silent for a moment.

“Scholar…” Lu Meng leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table, the sound echoing in the air, “Maybe… I do have some clues.”

That was on the edge of Vengeance Land.

When he met his first whistleblower.

Zero two.

"If you do this, the scholars will not let you go..."

The skeleton used a coded language taught by scholars. Xiao Huo was present at the time, but he could not understand it at all.

However, Lu Meng answered fluently.

Because at that time,

They speak Chinese.

The whistleblower was transformed by scholars.

The Whistleblower model is inherently private because it serves the ancients directly. Perhaps among all intelligent machines, it is the last one that can understand the lost natural language.

Even though their memories have been deleted, the trigger program is still retained in the built-in underlying system.

So when Lu Meng was confronting the whistleblower who was looking for a blood-swap reincarnation, he was finally able to briefly control the other party's behavior for a moment.

Just by saying it out loud, it has such great power. If it were replaced by a scholar who is proficient in "Bone Man Psychology"... it is not impossible to completely reset and replace the thinking of a whistleblower.

The Whistleblower's body is already covered with biochemical flesh and blood, and his self-perception is "human", so it's no wonder that Zero Two thinks he has become a human.

But these things...

Should I tell others?
"You know?" After hearing Lu Meng's words, Wolfe was so shocked that he sat up from his seat, but he quickly realized that he had lost his composure, so he held on to the table and asked tentatively: "Mr. Lu, how did you get the news about my senior brother?"

After he mentioned his senior brother's name, Savante, and the other party did not respond, Wolfe actually lost all hope.

The reason why the “scholars” who are talking about ancient pronunciations is just to try their luck and make sure nothing is missed.

This title was just a joke between Cervante and him in private. In the worst case scenario, the only two people in the world who knew about it might be the two of them.

"Answer me a question first." Lu Meng observed Wolfe's expression. The mechanic's face showed worry for his old friend, but more...hidden fear. "Why was your senior brother fired from the mechanic job?"

Lu Dai also reacted: Yes, with such a groundbreaking discovery, even if Cervante is more difficult to get along with than his teacher, he will not be expelled.

A mechanic having more quirks does not detract from his research. Even when he becomes successful, these small details will become a topic of discussion, serving as another proof that genius is always extraordinary.

At first, Rude thought that Cervantes' achievement was only in ancient languages, and that it was a niche area. After all, none of the existing ancient books was written entirely in ancient languages, and strictly speaking, it had no practical value in interpretation.

But after the teacher's explanation, she realized that it was not the case at all.

Wolfe felt a chill in his heart and subconsciously wanted to dodge, but he finally held back.

He sighed to himself.

This is the question that he always deliberately avoids, but it will eventually come.

If you don't even say this, it seems impossible to gain the other party's trust.

"That was the eve of applying for the Iyo Prize..." Wolf glanced at Lu Dai. He had never mentioned this to his disciple in the past. "I helped my senior brother organize the materials, which were the texts that had been deciphered. Although it was only the most basic work, it was more than enough to win the Iyo Prize that year with just these."

It was also at that time that Wolfe learned this lost text.

At that time, Cervant also proposed to co-sign with Wolff and share the glory of the Iyo Prize, which was a reward for the other party not alienating himself and being willing to be friends with him.

Wolfe refused outright. He naturally wanted to make commendable achievements himself rather than relying on the credit of others.

He got to know Savante simply because he admired his senior's talent.

Savante smiled and said that this was in line with his junior fellow apprentice's character, young people should be full of energy.

Wolfe did not respond, but instead asked the other party why he did not submit the research results of the subject of "Skeleton Psychology", which would be a truly epoch-making discovery.

Moreover, it was because of his research on the so-called bone man psychology that Savent was ridiculed and his academic resources were suppressed everywhere. Now that he has submitted the interpretation of ancient characters, it is certainly a great honor. However, outsiders do not know the connection between the two and think that they are two completely different fields. Instead, Savent seems to have finally succeeded in abandoning darkness and turning to light.

The response was not as powerful.

"At that time, he said that the truly valuable things would only come out at the end, and if he squeezed out a little bit every year like squeezing out toothpaste, maybe he could even win several Iyo Prizes in the future..." Wolfe recalled, with a hint of a smile on his face. "I didn't think he was joking. Imagine a mechanic who has been lonely and unrecognized for so many years and finally gained power - how could he let it all out and slap his face clean at once? Naturally, he had to arouse all the opponents and convince them again and again to feel satisfied."

Lu Dai on the side nodded like a chick pecking at rice, obviously he had heard it and was immersed in the situation.

It was as if she herself was the unsuccessful senior brother, Savent.

However, with the aspirations of this apprentice, he could only imagine graduating from the Mechanical University at the end of the world with great fanfare, and coming back to make the female doctor envious and jealous...

"However, your results have not been submitted." Lu Meng had been silent before, but he spoke at this time and hit the nail on the head.

Lu Dai paused in his pecking-at-rice action.

"Well... to be precise, we submitted the materials we prepared, but when the Iyo Prize was announced, my name was not on the list." Wolfe said slowly, "Later, I learned that those reports did not reach the review committee at all, but were transferred to the highest level."

"Savant, missed it."

"How could this happen..." Lu Dai murmured. She could imagine the loss she would feel if she encountered such a thing.

Lu Meng was still observing Wolfe's expression and found that there was no regret on his face at the moment. Instead, he calmly picked up the water cup and took a sip.

Sure enough, the mechanic continued, "Because, the day before the Iyo Prize was announced, the Supreme Council at the End of the World sent someone to investigate the situation and invited you to visit the hidden room. We outsiders all say that that is where one of the two cores is stored."

"But Senior Brother killed them all and took away a large amount of confidential information, including an inscribed blade that had been collected for eight hundred years..."

"Then he fled overnight and his whereabouts are unknown."

“Really… eh?”

Lu Dai was stunned.

Wasn’t the atmosphere just now still a story about a frustrated young scholar who finally got his chance to show off but then encountered academic suppression?
How did it suddenly turn into a fight?

And he was able to fight his way out of the Mechanic’s headquarters… What kind of Superman is this?

"My senior brother is very powerful. He is able to devote himself to martial arts besides research... That's why I say he is a genius." Wolf looked at his disciple with some confusion, "Why, didn't I mention it before?"

Absolutely not!

Lu Dai didn't want to say anything anymore.

"There are also problems at the Mechanic Headquarters, but now it seems that Senior Brother has known this for a long time - he knows what the research results of this ancient script mean to those people in the upper echelons, and they will never publish it publicly, but will bribe and contact them privately..." Wolfe continued slowly, "But he took advantage of this."

"Now that I think about it, if my name was on the submitted document, I would also become a target of surveillance, and I would never have the opportunity to come to the Lagoon Station like today."

The mechanic smiled.

“I don’t know whether I should thank him.”

Savante did take the initiative to propose it, but because he knew the character of his junior fellow apprentice, he knew that the other party would definitely refuse.

This seems natural.

From another perspective, this made him, who was also involved, never arouse any suspicion.

By the time Wolfe found out, everything was settled.

(End of this chapter)