Shang Jianyao immediately echoed and slapped his thigh, saying:
“I almost thought the real culprit wasn't us.”
It sounds like you just heard rumors that you attacked Eugene, turned him into a slave, and brought him back... Long Yuehong couldn't help but complain inwardly.
Of course, he had no intention of arguing with a mental patient on this issue, lest Shang Jianyao start repeating "Hey, I only got 1.75 meters tall after genetic modification."
——During a casual chat, Long Yuehong had asked Shang Jianyao about the process of attacking Eugene, hoping to learn something from it.
Jiang Baimian ignored Shang Jianyao and said with a smile:
“The current state is pretty good. Basically, no one will suspect us.
“What I fear is that things will get out of hand, and different forces in the city will start fishing in troubled waters and pursuing their own interests. That could easily turn Wild Grass City into a powder keg that explodes at the slightest touch.”
Speaking of this, Jiang Baimian looked at Bai Chen without any reservation:
“Use the 20 Orles you just received to buy food. With food in hand, you won't panic.”
“Okay.” Bai Chen, who was sitting on a stool at the table, nodded.
Jiang Baimian then took out the paper from Chen Xufeng and handed it to Bai Chen:
“Take a look at it first.”
Long Yuehong immediately got up, picked up his stool, moved it next to Bai Chen, and browsed with her.
“Hypnosis, memory… No wonder…” Seeing the end, Long Yuehong let out a realization.
He had also crammed on what hypnosis was.
“In that case, Lin Feifei and the others were indeed controlled by the 'Anti-Intellect Church,' rather than someone framing them.” Unlike before, Bai Chen expressed her thoughts relatively more actively.
“It's not completely ruled out. We can only say that the possibility is very low; it's not that coincidental.” Jiang Baimian agreed.
Then, she said cautiously:
“Judging from the 'Anti-Intellect Church's' style of doing things, they are relatively extreme and like to create big events.
“From this point of view, can we guess that they are gradually becoming active in Wild Grass City, besides the need for evangelism, are they also preparing to do something big?
“This has nothing to do with Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei from 'Pangu Biology.' Normally, it shouldn't involve them unless…”
Jiang Baimian paused, and Long Yuehong blurted out:
“Unless they accidentally stumbled upon the 'Anti-Intellect Church's' plot?”
“It's also possible that there's an intersection from Wild Grass City, and Lei Yunsong and Lin Feifei were dragged into it as a result,” Bai Chen followed up with her guess.
Shang Jianyao didn't want to be left behind and said his idea:
“There's another possibility:
“When the 'Anti-Intellect Church' was distributing leaflets, they were bumped into by Lei Yunsong and the others, and a conflict arose. They became angry and, without hesitation, found a strong member within the church to take action and save face.”
“How irritable would they have to be?” Jiang Baimian politely denied it. “Although this fits the 'Anti-Intellect Church's' stupid setting, their teachings show that their Chosen Ones are quite smart. They wouldn't create unnecessary trouble unless necessary.”
She looked around and said:
“For the time being, let's investigate based on stumbling upon a conspiracy and being involved in another incident.”
“Yes, Captain!” Long Yuehong responded with his head held high, happy that his idea was affirmed.
Jiang Baimian turned to remind:
“Next, we will start dealing with this 'Anti-Intellect Church.' I hope we can find them as soon as possible.
“During this process, no one can guarantee safety. You'd better make some preparations to prevent yourself from being hypnotized at any time, or losing important memories, or gaining memories you shouldn't have.”
Long Yuehong quickly asked for advice:
“Captain, how should we do that?”
Jiang Baimian smiled:
“Don't be too nervous. Look, Eugene was such a powerful person, yet he was quickly dealt with, wasn't he?”
“Captain, whenever you say 'look,' I suspect that I'm being influenced by 'Reasoning Clown' and mistaking Shang Jianyao for you and you for Shang Jianyao…” Long Yuehong said softly.
“Ah?” Jiang Baimian touched her metal cochlea.
Then, she showed a smile:
“Am I not Shang Jianyao?”
“Okay, I'm just joking.” She restrained her expression and gave her opinion, “You can prepare some small pieces of paper that you keep close to your body. Write down a few key memories in a way that others can't understand but you can understand, and note 'Use this as the standard.' Then, check them every once in a while and examine your condition accordingly.”
“Okay.” Bai Chen nodded in agreement after a moment of thought.
Jiang Baimian looked at her and suddenly remembered something:
“By the way, was it O'Dick who questioned you? How did he question you? Relying on the influence of dreams?”
“Yes, I don't know when I fell asleep, and I didn't know I was dreaming. Fortunately, I found the paper-folded star Shang Jianyao made, and I woke up immediately,” Bai Chen described simply.
“Not easy.” Shang Jianyao commented.
I don't know what he was referring to.
Jiang Baimian thought for a moment and helped him add:
“This is the most difficult application of 'Reasoning Clown' under the current circumstances.
“It makes your subconscious believe that you have such a paper-folded star, so it is reflected in your dream.
“But in reality, matter cannot be fabricated, so you can't touch it.”
“What I find most strange is that when I couldn't touch the paper-folded star in reality, shouldn't the effect of 'Reasoning Clown' have been lifted?” Bai Chen was a little puzzled.
Shang Jianyao smiled:
“Simple, I added a triple effect, not a double effect.
“Do you remember what I said after you deduced that there was a paper-folded star in your pocket? That was also a 'deduction'.”
Bai Chen recalled and said:
“You mean 'It's very mysterious, involves supernatural power, is an important prop, can't be touched now, and can't be touched'?”
Clap clap clap, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands.
He explained excitedly:
“The first effect is to make you think that the Captain and I are strangers, ignoring the relevant memories.
“The second effect is that you are influenced by me, this stranger, to think that you have a paper-folded star in your pocket.
“The third effect is to make you come to the conclusion that you can't touch that star now. This way, even if you can't find it in reality, you still believe that it will appear in your dream.”
“If I hadn't encountered O'Dick later, would this effect never have been lifted?” Bai Chen asked further.
Shang Jianyao shook his head:
“If you sleep and don't dream anything, or dream something else, it will naturally be lifted.”
Seeing that Bai Chen had been relieved, Jiang Baimian began to summarize:
“In that case, O'Dick's Awakened ability has two parts: forced sleep and dream interference.
“Uh, what did you feel in the dream?”
“Before touching the paper-folded star, I felt a little muddled, similar to a normal dream. I knew who I was, but I didn't feel anything strange about the changes in the surrounding environment,” Bai Chen said truthfully.
Jiang Baimian muttered to herself thoughtfully:
“This is quite different from the Night Mare's true dream.”
“At that time, in the dream, I was very clear and felt like I was in reality,” Shang Jianyao helpfully added.
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly:
“Because it's real enough, the damage suffered in the dream will be reflected in reality.
“Well, O'Dick's ability to influence dreams and the Night Mare's shouldn't be the same. One can be called 'True Dream,' and the other can only be called 'Manipulating Dreams.'
“Indeed, O'Dick's dream ability is weaker than the Night Mare's, but he also has the 'Forced Sleep' ability, which should not be underestimated.”
As long as it is used in the corresponding range, with firearms, it's simply a Bug.
After discussing this matter, Jiang Baimian returned to the main topic:
“Now the most important question is, how should we find the people of the 'Anti-Intellect Church' next?”
“After the power outage, stake out those who distribute leaflets? Uh, given the current situation in Wild Grass City, there should be many patrol teams at night. They shouldn't dare to come out…” Long Yuehong first put forward an opinion, and then denied it himself, “Look around the library? They might take advantage of the chaos to burn the library again.”
“After the library was burned once, it is now guarded by fully armed city defense soldiers.” Jiang Baimian had entered and exited the library several times, so she was quite familiar with this matter.
Shang Jianyao then showed a troubled expression:
“The information is not detailed enough.
“If we can find out what the 'Anti-Intellect Church's' Eucharist is, we can investigate the corresponding shops and markets.”
“…That's an idea.” Jiang Baimian had to admit that mental patients could always find directions that normal people wouldn't think of. “We can either ask O'Dick, or send a telegram to the company. Well, we have to get our own radio transceiver. We can't always rely on Chen Xufeng. On the one hand, it's easy for him to be exposed, and on the other hand, there are too many intermediate links, which is not timely enough. At critical moments, it may be delayed as a result.”
She looked around and continued:
“Besides this, there is another direction.
“Think about it. What group will the 'Anti-Intellect Church' target besides books, one of the carriers of knowledge, to destroy knowledge?”
“Teachers!” Long Yuehong, who had received formal education since childhood, reacted immediately.
Jiang Baimian nodded in satisfaction:
“Although in Wild Grass City, the teachers of regular schools live in North Street, which is relatively safe, we can't forget other people.
“In some camps of wilderness wanderers, there are no public schools like Water Encirclement Town, but some people hope that their children can at least read. So, when they have a little spare capacity, a dozen families will unite, each contributing some supplies, and invite one or two part-time teachers to teach for a few months, and then decide based on the actual situation.
“You've also seen that the living conditions of citizens in Wild Grass City are better than those in most wilderness wanderer camps, and the population is also much larger. Is it possible that there are also some families whose children can't go to North Street to study and whose elders don't have the time or ability to teach, and they unite to hire a few teachers for short-term education?
“Are there some people who make a living doing this?”
Bai Chen immediately said:
“Yes.
“Many ruin hunters themselves are illiterate, so it's not so convenient to take on tasks in the Hunter's Guild. It takes a lot of time just to listen and ask. If such people have spare money and a certain amount of free time, they often gather in groups of a dozen or twenty and hire a teacher to specifically teach common characters.
“In Wild Grass City, this is called a 'Temporary Teacher'.”
Jiang Baimian “hmm”ed:
“Then let's visit these 'Temporary Teachers' separately to see if they have received any threats recently and where they came from.”
ps: The last half day of January, please vote for a monthly ticket~
ps2: The first update in February will be earlier, at midnight~