The medical record from the steel factory was something Long Yuehong found during his first search of the ruins, and it had some research value, so he remembered it very clearly, recalling all the relevant details at once.
"Yes, it's really similar!" He responded to Jiang Baimian's words with some excitement, "Both became vegetative due to certain events, signed volunteer agreements, and were sent to a certain place in the north to receive new treatments."
The biggest difference between the two events is that some descriptions are different, but this does not affect the essence of the matter.
As soon as Long Yuehong finished speaking, Bai Chen blurted out:
"That hospital, no, that place has a secret?"
She began to suspect that it might not be a hospital.
The hospital is likely just a front!
Jiang Baimian controlled her inner excitement and turned to look at Shang Jianyao:
"What do you think?"
After such a long time together, she increasingly felt that Shang Jianyao's sudden whims or unique ideas always brought different inspirations.
Although over ninety percent of them are worthless, just making people feel annoyed and amused, the remaining ten percent often penetrate the fog, pointing to the core of the problem in strange ways.
Shang Jianyao behaved like the most professional detective this time, looking around and saying:
"I thought of another thing."
Hmm, at this time, if he had a pipe, would he be able to deduce more of the truth? Long Yuehong, who had listened to the same radio program as Shang Jianyao, suddenly had such a bizarre thought.
"What thing?" Jiang Baimian had just spoken when she also had a flash of inspiration.
Then, she and Shang Jianyao said in unison:
"Research institute!"
Shang Jianyao nodded slightly and said to Bai Chen and Long Yuehong:
"Didn't the landlady say that before the Old World was destroyed, the largest Ashlander country and the strongest Red River country jointly established nine 'future-oriented' research institutes?"
"Do you suspect that Jiang Xiaoyue and the others actually received experiments from a certain research institute?" Long Yuehong understood his friend's meaning and asked in reply.
Frankly speaking, he was a little unaccustomed to Shang Jianyao being so serious, proper, not joking, and not being mentally ill.
Of course, being completely different from usual is also a manifestation of mental illness.
"Yes." Shang Jianyao nodded, bent over, picked up the phone, and dialed the front desk.
Soon, he asked:
"Hello, is that the landlady?"
"Call me Ms. Ai Nuo! Where's your manners!" Ai Nuo complained on the other end of the phone.
Shang Jianyao laughed, his previous seriousness swept away:
"I don't think it's necessary to be so polite with our relationship, right?"
"What relationship could we have?" Ai Nuo "heh"ed.
A relationship of sending invitations... Long Yuehong guessed Shang Jianyao's answer.
Although the landlady was joking at the time, he thought Shang Jianyao might remember it.
"A relationship of watching horror movies together." Shang Jianyao's answer was even more whimsical.
Not giving Ai Nuo a chance to refute, he asked directly:
"Which of the nine research institutes you mentioned are in the north?"
"How would I know? I only know that the Third Research Institute is in the south, and the Second Research Institute is in the west." Ai Nuo replied unhappily, "Next time you disturb me watching my show, you'll have to pay!"
Snap, she hung up the phone.
"No further clues." Shang Jianyao spread his hands to Jiang Baimian and the others.
Jiang Baimian nodded, muttering in confusion:
"But what does this have to do with that 'Higher Mindless'?"
Shang Jianyao replied quite seriously:
"He might be Jiang Xiaoyue's son."
This time, no one ignored the answer, Bai Chen said thoughtfully:
"You mean, the experiment was very successful, Jiang Xiaoyue woke up, and after the Old World was destroyed, she coupled with someone and gave birth to a child?"
Coupled... wouldn't it be more elegant to use 'married'? Long Yuehong muttered to himself.
However, he also knew that in many places on the Grey Earth, the state of most men and women could not be described by marriage, and coupling was more accurate.
"Yes." Jiang Baimian nodded in agreement, "But this cannot explain why he is so obsessed with Tarnan. We also saw in the information that Jiang Xiaoyue's hometown and the place where she later jumped to her death were both north of Lake Nu, while this is south of Lake Nu, in the southern Qilaer Mountains."
Long Yuehong put forward his own guess:
"Could it be that the 'Higher Mindless' himself has nothing to do with Jiang Xiaoyue, but comes from that mysterious research institute?
"He came into contact with Jiang Xiaoyue in a vegetative state and related project information there, leaving an extremely deep impression?"
"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Jiang Baimian sat cross-legged on the chair, her mind racing, "But I think there is a deeper connection, otherwise he would not have shown us the scene of Jiang Xiaoyue jumping to her death for no reason? Even if he only has the intelligence of a beast, he would not do anything meaningless."
Accurately speaking, the closer one is to a beast, the less likely they are to act aimlessly.
At this moment, Jiang Baimian really wanted to put her finger on her head and "use her brain," but to maintain the image of the team leader, she gave up the idea.
"Let's review the scene again, in our own minds." Shang Jianyao became serious again, seeming to be playing the role of a famous detective again.
"Good idea." Jiang Baimian praised, and closed her eyes.
She went through the situation from the appearance of the community to Jiang Xiaoyue's jumping off the building frame by frame in her mind.
"There are no other clues..." After an unknown amount of time, Long Yuehong made a sound.
Jiang Baimian opened her eyes, a hint of a smile appearing on her face:
"No, I found a very valuable clue."
"What?" Bai Chen did not hide her curiosity.
"The perspective of the illusion itself, or the source of the corresponding feelings." Jiang Baimian said with a smile, "The windows, the pairs of eyes and faces at the door, represent the prying of the paparazzi, the curiosity of the public, and the disdain of the fans."
In the process of searching and looking through the information just now, they learned the term "paparazzi."
"This, this is..." Long Yuehong suddenly became a little terrified, "This is Jiang Xiaoyue's feelings!"
That illusion seemed to be the mental journey of Jiang Xiaoyue during the time before she jumped off the building!
"How did that 'Higher Mindless' know Jiang Xiaoyue's feelings and corresponding performance at that time?" Jiang Baimian raised a further question.
Snap, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands together:
"The answer is simple."
Seeing Long Yuehong and Bai Chen looking over, he said in a serious tone:
"That 'Higher Mindless' is Jiang Xiaoyue."
"..." Long Yuehong said helplessly, "One is male, and the other is female."
"Sex reassignment surgery, such as organ transplants, nerve reconstruction, and so on, and so on." Shang Jianyao replied very fluently.
"But, is it necessary?" Long Yuehong argued weakly.
"This is a possibility." Jiang Baimian did not blindly deny it, "For example, the human consciousness transfer and uploading that must be involved in 'Eternal Human' technology."
She considered it for a moment and added:
"Hmm, there is another possibility.
"Jiang Xiaoyue and the child of that patient from the steel factory are both vegetative, receiving new treatments or experiments that can wake them up.
"In the process of this experiment, will there be instruments that can guide out the memories stored inside the brain of the treated person, as a step to awaken them, just like the awakened in the 'Endling' field can read memories?"
This is a reasoning based on the state of the parties and the possible development of the experiment.
"That 'Higher Mindless' is one of the researchers? He experienced Jiang Xiaoyue's feelings before she jumped off the building through this method?" Bai Chen made a guess along this line of thought.
Jiang Baimian "hmm"ed:
"This is a very reasonable idea, but the question comes back again, why is that 'Higher Mindless' obsessed with Tarnan, and what is the purpose of showing us this illusion?"
Shang Jianyao replied solemnly:
"Maybe he fell in love with Jiang Xiaoyue while she was in a coma and always wanted to wake her up, and this became his obsession.
"As a result, he contracted 'Mindless Disease' and will never be able to realize this wish, and can only complete it through an illusion, asking us to help him complete it."
Quite, quite a touching love story... Jiang Baimian silently commented in her heart, and then asked:
"What does this have to do with Tarnan?"
This is a place where robots are researched!
"I understand." Shang Jianyao made a sudden realization, "He wants to put the memories extracted from Jiang Xiaoyue into the main module of a certain intelligent robot, so that it can live on as Jiang Xiaoyue."
"Too complicated." Jiang Baimian shook her head without hesitation, "It doesn't seem like a plan that a 'Higher Mindless' could come up with."
Long Yuehong and Bai Chen each made some guesses, but none of them could explain the whole thing, there were too many questions.
The "Old Tune Team's" brainstorming continued until evening, and they still did not find a thread that ran through everything.
"Huff, let's discuss for half an hour more, and then we have to get something to eat." Jiang Baimian pointed to the open computer and said, "Let's condense all the key information together and see if we can get any inspiration. I'll write first, and you guys supplement."
She typed quickly, writing short sentences and nouns in the document:
"Jiang Xiaoyue jumping off the building, Fan's child's car accident, vegetative state, a certain place in the north, new treatment, research institute, 'Higher Mindless', skilled in illusions, powerful, suspected to have awakened to the end of the 'Sea of Origin' or entered the 'Corridor of Minds' before getting sick, the illusion he created has dragons, obsessed with Tarnan..."
While writing, Jiang Baimian heard Shang Jianyao's voice:
"I thought of a possibility."
This time, his voice was a bit low, and he seemed very serious.
Long Yuehong and Bai Chen both looked over, only to see Shang Jianyao standing next to the computer, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, with a rather serious expression.
Jiang Baimian asked with a solemn attitude:
"What?"
This kind of Shang Jianyao rarely appeared.
Shang Jianyao looked around and said:
"Do you still remember Song's description of the essence of the 'Corridor of Minds'?"
"The 'Corridor of Minds' connects the minds of all awakened, and each door there corresponds to a mental world..." Long Yuehong answered like reciting from a textbook.
Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Baimian already understood what Shang Jianyao wanted to express, and blurted out:
"You mean, that 'Higher Mindless' had indeed entered the 'Corridor of Minds' before he fell ill. One day, he opened a certain door in that corridor, and behind the door was Jiang Xiaoyue's mental world?"