Night. An empty room.
A slightly magnetic male voice came from a radio. Opposite it, a recording device was quietly running, occasionally emitting buzzing electrical noises.
After the "Dao and Appliance Repair" program ended and two more minutes passed, a robot in black military uniform with red glowing eyes pushed the door open and entered.
He listened to the entire recording from beginning to end.
After completing this task, Genava walked to another room diagonally opposite.
"How was it? What did Wu Meng talk about today?" Jiang Baimian asked.
Genava raised his right hand and placed it against his chin.
He was unconsciously imitating some of Shang Jianyao's gestures.
"He talked about the spirit of appliance repair, something about 'when a low-level officer hears of it, he will laugh; if he doesn't laugh, it is not worth calling the Dao'," Genava briefly summarized the main content. "But whether they can affect humans, I cannot discern."
Jiang Baimian smiled:
"That's why we need to experiment."
She led the rest of the "Old Task Force" members into the room with the recording equipment, closed the door, and looked around, saying:
"Who wants to try first?"
She didn't lead by example because she was worried about uncontrollable developments. If that happened, she, who hadn't been affected, could still use violent high-voltage electricity to create a chaotic electromagnetic environment, interfering with subsequent changes and blocking possible accidents.
Long Yuehong glanced at Shang Jianyao, then at Bai Chen, and gritted his teeth, saying:
"I'll go."
In his opinion, Shang Jianyao himself possessed a fairly strong Awakened ability, and if he was affected, it would cause a lot of damage. Moreover, Bai Chen was a woman and not as tall as him, so letting her be the test subject would make him seem cowardly, weak, and without manners.
"Okay, be careful," Jiang Baimian didn't stop him.
She, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen quickly used different methods to block their ears, only looking at Long Yuehong.
--Compared to the two team members who either wore full-coverage headphones or stuffed their ears with paper, Jiang Baimian's method was the simplest: she simply raised her palm and covered her ear canal.
Seeing that his teammates were ready, Genava turned on the recording device.
Long Yuehong sat up straight and listened to the recorded content:
"...Appliances are both simple and complex. Simple in that the Dao they rely on, the fundamental principles, are just a few. Complex in that those principles have evolved into various rules, countless combinations, intricate and wonderful...
"...When we repair appliances, we must both grasp the Dao and rely on the Dao, understanding those rules and combinations. Only in this way can we see at a glance where the problem is and how to fix it...
"...For repairmen who have listened to our radio station, repairing appliances is an art and a practice of the Dao. Ordinary people cannot understand this. They either think it's too complex and completely incomprehensible, or they don't think it's necessary, preferring to believe in empirical products. For example, if you tell someone who doesn't know much about appliances or the Dao, 'Your television has a significant problem and needs to be repaired as soon as possible,' they will often reply, 'Just give it a tap, and it will be fine.' If one tap isn't enough, then two taps...
"As the saying goes: When a high-level officer hears of the Dao, he diligently puts it into practice; when a mid-level officer hears of the Dao, he is dubious; when a low-level officer hears of the Dao, he will laugh loudly; if he doesn't laugh, it is not worth calling the Dao...(Note 1)
"Therefore, we must remember that when facing things we don't understand, we must humbly ask for guidance, put aside the prejudices brought by experience, and not be filled with resistance from the start. We must adopt an inclusive attitude to learn, understand, grasp, and accept..."
Long Yuehong listened and nodded slightly, feeling that no matter what, Wu Meng was still very skilled at lecturing.
By the time he finished listening, a long time had passed.
Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen, prompted by him and Genava, successively removed their hearing restrictions.
"I don't feel any effects," Long Yuehong first gave his feelings, then focused on summarizing Wu Meng's words.
Shang Jianyao suddenly laughed and turned off a desk lamp on the table with a snap.
Then, he said to Long Yuehong:
"Look:"
Hearing this opening phrase, Long Yuehong's brow furrowed instantly.
Shang Jianyao continued on his own:
"This desk lamp went out, and Wang Fugui's old computer also had the keyboard light go out due to a malfunction;
"This desk lamp is an appliance, and that old computer is also an appliance;
"Later, that old computer was fixed with two taps, so..."
Long Yuehong's furrowed brow gradually relaxed, and he suddenly stood up, walked to the desk lamp, and reached out his right hand to tap the lamp base.
After tapping it three times in a row, he realized:
The lamp switch had already been turned off. No matter how much he tapped it, it wouldn't turn on!
Long Yuehong turned his head to look at Shang Jianyao and said with slight annoyance:
"You used 'Reasoning Clown', of course it had an effect!"
Shang Jianyao raised his hand and touched his chin, saying with a smile:
"I only used the language format of 'Reasoning Clown'. I didn't actually use any ability."
"..." The expression on Long Yuehong's face froze.
"Really?" He asked again, unwilling to believe it.
Shang Jianyao replied seriously:
"I don't need to be so formal to lie to you."
Jiang Baimian nodded in agreement:
"It seems he was indeed affected. The key point should be the sentence 'When facing things you don't understand, you must humbly ask for guidance.' It made you blindly put aside all your past experience and lose the ability to filter other people's words, only knowing to accept everything."
"It can be like this..." Long Yuehong suddenly woke up and was quite frightened.
At this time, Shang Jianyao looked at him and said:
"You said you'd treat me to an iced cola. There are only a few places in the Red River Wolf District where you can buy it."
Long Yuehong was first stunned, then blurted out:
"When did I ever agree to that!"
"Alas, the ability is失效了 (shixiaole - invalid)," Shang Jianyao sighed deeply.
Long Yuehong didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Seeing this, Bai Chen volunteered:
"I'll try next to confirm if it's that sentence that's taking effect."
After all, if it was to be used as a "weapon", they had to pick out the sentence with the additional ability. Otherwise, when the two sides were fighting, they couldn't possibly ask the other party to patiently listen to half an hour of "Dao and Appliance Repair", right?
Jiang Baimian thought for a while and said:
"Let Wei try. He was tricked last time, so he can assess how much difference there is between the recorded effect and the direct broadcast effect. Also, do it several times to confirm how the effect will diminish as the number of plays increases."
The leader is so professional, no wonder she's a researcher by origin... Long Yuehong marveled inwardly.
After everyone had been through thick and thin together for such a long time, the team members basically knew that Jiang Baimian's ears were damaged and that before joining the Security Department, she was doing research work, aiming to become a scientist. As for what field, she didn't mention it.
After everyone else had blocked their ears, Shang Jianyao selected that sentence and listened to it once:
"Therefore, we must remember that when facing things we don't understand, we must humbly ask for guidance..."
When he finished, Long Yuehong took off his full-coverage headphones and tentatively said:
"I am your brother."
Shang Jianyao was stunned for a moment and opened his mouth.
The next second, his slightly bewildered expression twisted into a smile:
"Hahaha, he's so short, how could he be our brother?"
Hey... Long Yuehong felt insulted.
Shang Jianyao changed his expression again and said seriously:
"There is the possibility of genetic mutation."
"We can't blindly believe it. Let's do a genetic test first."
"Illusions everywhere, why be serious?"
...
After arguing for a while, several Shang Jianyaos quickly came to the conclusion that they had been affected by the recording and broke free from that state.
He struck a professional pose and said:
"The effect is much weaker than when I listened to it at Lehman's place last time, but it's enough to affect Awakened in the 'Sea of Origins', as long as they don't have special costs to counteract it.
"As for whether it can affect Awakened at the 'Corridor of the Mind' level, I haven't left the 'Sea of Origins' yet, so I can't judge. I can only say that even if it can, the effect will definitely be very weak."
After Shang Jianyao's repeated experiments, the law of attenuation was also worked out:
Each time, it attenuates by about fifteen to eighteen percent of the original.
In other words, one recording can be used six to seven times, and the effect is worse each time.
And the current recording only has one or two uses left.
The "Old Task Force" wasn't too concerned about this. After all, Wu Meng broadcasts "Dao and Appliance Repair" every day, and even if he doesn't apply his ability to influence listeners every time, it's at most every few days.
As a result, the "Old Task Force" can be recharged regularly and often have different effects.
"Even if it can't be used to deal with the master of the 'Virtual World', it might have miraculous effects in other aspects," Jiang Baimian said with satisfaction.
She then reminded the team members:
"He who walks by the river will get his feet wet.
"I'm worried that Wu Meng's subsequent broadcasts will have more than one sentence that can affect listeners, causing us to overlook certain effects. And it's too tiring and wasteful to check each sentence one by one. So, try to save it, don't rely on it."
"Okay." The members of the "Old Task Force" began to check the other words in this recording.
After confirming that there were no other problems, the night was already very late, and everyone was mentally exhausted.
"Phew..." Jiang Baimian breathed a sigh of relief and laughed self-deprecatingly, "It's a pity that we can't induce Wu Meng to say the words we want. I think sending him a telegram is too risky..."
Shang Jianyao thought for a few seconds and said:
"We can ask Xiao Chong next time. It would be even better if we could meet Teacher Du Heng."
Note 1: Quoted from the *Tao Te Ching* (Daodejing).