Chapter 654

Jie Ming fell into deep thought when he saw this.

He had also heard Professor Vido's lectures before, and at that time, the theory Professor Vido promoted was that the birth of the bizarre was related to intelligence.

But now it seems that this was just a relatively shallow reason.

【—I have observed countless cases of bizarre entities attacking humans.

Old people, children, men, women, ordinary people, psychics, and even vegetative patients.

I discovered a pattern: as long as it is a human, the bizarre will attack.

Regardless of whether you have consciousness, regardless of whether you have behavior, as long as you are human, the bizarre will treat you as a target.】

【But animals will not.】

【No animal will be attacked by the bizarre. The possibility of animals being attacked by the bizarre is not "very little."

It is "never."】

【There is no record indicating that any cat, dog, mouse, or bird has been killed by the bizarre.

They can move freely in areas where the bizarre is rampant without suffering any harm.

Plants won't either.

Even those primates that have undergone special training and have intelligence levels close to humans will not be attacked by the bizarre.】

【What does this explain?

It explains that the bizarre's "target locking" mechanism does not rely on physiological form, does not rely on behavioral patterns, and does not even rely on conscious activity.

Vegetative patients have no consciousness, yet they will still be killed by the bizarre.

Gorillas have consciousness and even have a certain level of intelligence, yet they will not be attacked by the bizarre.】

This was also a question Jie Ming thought of at the time, but because there were no samples, he could not know the specific situation.

It seems Professor Vido had already studied it carefully.

【Therefore, the only commonality of bizarre locking is "human" itself.】

【I spent a long time thinking about this question. Then I reached a conclusion, a conclusion that might not be accepted by anyone: the bizarre is not an external threat.

The bizarre is a product of the relationship between humans and this world.

It is the existence of humans itself that led to the birth of the bizarre.

Just like light will produce shadows, just like water flow will produce ripples.

Humans are the "dissonance" of this world, and the bizarre is the "echo" produced by this world to eliminate this dissonance.】

【Therefore, the bizarre will never disappear.】

【As long as humans still exist, the bizarre will be born continuously. This is the basic rule of this world's operation.】

【The battle between humans and the bizarre will never stop.】

Jie Ming's fingers paused on the page.

He looked up, his gaze passing through the bookstore window and landing on the sky outside.

The cloud hole was about to be filled with fog again, leaving only a small, irregular blue spot, like a pupil slowly closing its eyes.

Is the professor right?

Not necessarily.

But this is a valid hypothesis, and a hypothesis that can explain many phenomena.

Jie Ming roughly understood Professor Vido's thinking.

【Since the battle will never stop, then what humans need to do is not "eliminate the bizarre," which is impossible.

What humans need to do is "change their own nature."

If the bizarre attacks humans because humans are "humans," then let humans no longer be "humans."】

【The bizarre will not attack each other; if humans can obtain the characteristics of the bizarre, even if it is only the most basic and weakest characteristic, the bizarre will no longer attack humans.】

Jie Ming nodded, this was that Professor Vido's thinking.

The real purpose was not to obtain stronger combat power, but to obtain the "identity authentication" of the bizarre while maintaining the human essence.

Just like putting a bizarre "coat" on an ordinary person, letting him be identified as "bizarre" rather than "human" by this world.

This way he can walk freely in the bizarre world without being attacked by anything.

Of course, this was just the first step.

Judging from the content later in the notebook, the professor's ultimate goal was to let humans and the bizarre fuse completely.

Humans obtain the characteristics of the bizarre, and the bizarre obtains the will of humans.

Both sides lose a part of themselves in the fusion, and each obtains a part of a new self.

The existence after fusion is neither human nor bizarre, but a brand-new life form that has never appeared in this world.

【This is what I call "human liberation."】

Jie Ming's hand flipping the page paused.

He reread the last line: "human liberation."

Liberating humans from the shadow of the bizarre, liberating them from endless fear, liberating them from the fate of "being born human means having to face the bizarre."

"This—should be considered an alternative human completion plan—"

He was silent for a few seconds and continued reading.

【Of course, this goal is too far away.

With current technology, with my ability, with the resources of this era, I cannot do it.

So I settled for the next best thing.

I want to find a plan for the perfect fusion of humans and the bizarre.

It doesn't need everyone to be able to fuse, it only needs a part of people to be able to fuse.

It doesn't need to solve the contradiction between humans and the bizarre forever, it only needs to let humans no longer be able to only passively take a beating when facing the bizarre in the next few hundred years.

If in this process, the fused humans can obtain powerful combat power, that is of course a good thing.

A large amount of powerful combat power can at least let humans live a little easier.

Unfortunately, due to the limitations of the era and technology, even this goal, I have not achieved.】

【My plan is not perfect.

The risk of fusion is too high, and the probability of success is too low.

Even if successful, the host's will will be swallowed by the bizarre in a short time.

This is a failed technology, an unfinished work.

But the direction is correct.

I have this confidence.】

Jie Ming closed the notebook.

He leaned on the back of the rocking chair, closed his eyes, and tapped his fingers on the armrest.

The professor's theory is incomplete, and some places are even untenable.

But his direction is correct.

At least on the point that "humans need to change their own nature to escape the bizarre," Jie Ming agrees with him.

And his experimental data is very solid, and those failed experiences are extremely precious materials.

These materials can allow his research progress to advance by at least half a year.

Jie Ming opened his eyes, reopened the notebook, and carefully calculated one set of experimental data—

At this time, the wooden door was pushed open violently.

The creaking sound of the door hinge was several times louder than usual, accompanied by a burst of chaotic and rapid footsteps.

Eric rushed in, panting, his face full of sweat, his clothes stained with dust, and his hair as messy as a chicken coop.

His eyes were wide open, and his pupils carried an expression mixed with shock, excitement, and fear.

"Boss!" His voice cracked a bit. "Did you see it?! Outside—that—sky!

And that—"

He pointed outside with his finger, gesturing wildly in the air, unable to find suitable words to describe what he saw.

Jie Ming looked up and glanced at him, his expression as calm as looking at a fallen leaf.

"I saw it," he said.

Eric was stunned for a moment.

Only then did he carefully examine the situation in front of him.

Jie Ming was sitting in the rocking chair reading a newspaper as usual, his tone calm, as if this was just an ordinary day.

"You—you saw it?" Eric's voice lowered.

Jie Ming's calm posture also made Eric subconsciously fall out of his excited state: "Then what do you think—what is that thing?"

Jie Ming did not answer this question, but calmly changed the subject: "Why did you come back so early? What about work?"

Eric's attention was diverted by this question.

He immediately showed an expression of being stifled for a long time, with nowhere to vent.

"That fat pig! That dead fat pig!" He sat down on the stool opposite Jie Ming, hands on his knees, body leaning forward, his face flushed red.

"Such a big thing happened, originally it should be that public places and factories should concentrate personnel to wait for the Psychic Association's notification to prevent problems."

"As a result, that fat pig was worried that someone would die in the factory and he would have to pay money, so he sent everyone home!

Sent home! Have you ever seen such a person? Huh?"

He became more excited as he spoke, waving his hands in the air.

"I told him, what if there is danger outside? He said, whether there is danger outside is the Association's business, and whether someone dies in the factory is his business. How did that saying go—'my factory is not a shelter'! I bah!"

Jie Ming did not interrupt him, nor did he agree with him.

He just leaned on the rocking chair, his expression flat, his gaze landing on the black notebook in his hand.

Eric chattered a lot.

He was dry-mouthed, but he just couldn't stop, like a balloon that had been stifled for a long time finally finding a vent.

By the end, his voice gradually lowered, and his speech speed slowed down.

His gaze was subconsciously attracted to the black notebook in Jie Ming's hand.

He really hadn't seen this boss read books other than newspapers, and the book without a cover in front of him immediately aroused his interest.

"Boss, what book are you reading?" Eric reached out, wanting to flip the cover.

Jie Ming calmly patted his hand away, his gaze still landing on the notebook.

"Nothing, with your current level, you wouldn't understand it at all."

"Ah—haha—" Eric laughed awkwardly upon hearing this.

Regarding this boss's evaluation, he really didn't dare to refute it.

Jie Ming closed the notebook, looked up at Eric, and began to look him over with interest.

"Eric."

It wasn't until Eric felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at that Jie Ming finally spoke.

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to become a psychic?"

The air in the old bookstore solidified.

The flame of the oil lamp flickered lightly in the breeze, and the spines of the old books on the bookshelf cast long, thin shadows in the orange-yellow light.

Outside the door, there were footsteps of pedestrians passing by in a hurry on the stone road, and the sound of factory whistles in the distance echoed deeply in the fog.

Eric's mouth was open, his eyes were wider than when he rushed in just now, and his pupils reflected Jie Ming's face, which was so calm that no expression could be seen.

"—ah?"

>