Chapter 128: Try Extracting My Knowledge

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Lin Jie got Mu'en to remove the 'indigenous mechas' of those men lying on the ground.
After their face plates were removed, it could be seen that these intruders with tears streaming down their faces were all rather young.

As he had suspected, Hood, who had gone upstairs, was the leader of this bunch.
The average age here was around twenty, so this could be considered a youthful gang.

However, that laughable motive of 'stealing books' slightly lowered the anger that Lin Jie had.

If these bunch were truly intending to break in and rob a house with guns, Lin Jie would have to teach them how to be proper human beings instead of tying them up right now and with the intention of chatting with them cordially.

Hood, who was being treated 'cordially,' turned his eyes away from the violently removed armor parts on the floor and looked at the sword edge before his own neck.

Scholars and magicians were similar in that they both relied on external forces to manipulate aether.
Without specially training their bodies, their physical qualities would just be slightly stronger than an ordinary person, at most, with the physical strength of an Abnormal-rank.

In other words, they were merely lambs for the slaughter at this moment.

Moreover, when Hood finally got a closer look at the anguished suffering of his companions, he got himself a harsh realization.
This hadn't been caused by an assault from the artificial human.

There weren't any physical injuries at all, and they wailed in an incomprehensible delirium along with vomiting while scratching themselves all over, as if they had gone crazy.

This…
seemed like a failed attempt to plunder knowledge and their souls were suffering from the backlash.

Hood watched his companions in utmost trepidation, finding it difficult to understand what had happened.
The chance of failure when plundering knowledge was very low and they each had only one book.
So, how could it have gone wrong?

Aether was the currency of blood and soul, representing the two paths of aetheric development.

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As scholars, specializing in soul, their spiritual quantity and strength far surpassed most magicians.

— There was a saying that a good scholar can definitely become a good magician, but a good magician doesn't necessarily make a good scholar.

In most circumstances, there were two reasons for a failure when it came to knowledge plundering.

First, the knowledge plundered contained things way beyond their understanding, such as forbidden, ancient, or high-level knowledge that was way beyond what their souls could bear.

In such cases, the consequences were more severe and could lead to the soul being traumatized or ripped up as well as causing unexpected effects on the body.

The second would be having too much knowledge exceeding the soul's storage threshold.
Just like overeating, it could result in an overloaded mind, causing memory loss or expulsion at the same time.

If both reasons were present, then the result would be just like this bunch, crawling all over the place, having lost their minds.

That meant to say, in this store full of books, just trying to plunder the knowledge of a single book was more than enough to temporarily turn one into a retard.

“Are you guys from the Truth Union?”

Lin Jie sat on the stool, occasionally pointing this sword at Hood's neck.

One by one, the bunch of tied-up intruders stopped their screams and wailing, probably having regained a little sanity, and now lay on the ground with empty eyes, babbling gibberish.
Only Hood remained seated on the ground.

Hood shrunk back in a shudder, the image of his weapon and armor destroyed in a single stroke still giving him trauma.

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“Yes,” he finally replied.

The way Lin Jie looked at him was like he was seeing a student from a reputable school resorting to robbery.
Although there was no direct relation between being well-learned and a person's character, it was still strange.

Choosing to walk this sort of wayward path when there's a straight path paved outwas just sad.

Hood was all too familiar with this sort of look.
Other members of the Truth Union would look at 'Truth-seekers' with these sort of eyes.

Deep down, he naturally felt anger, discontent, and unwillingness to accept this.

However, when he recalled Lin Jie's warning, he chose to obediently keep his mouth shut.

But this wasn't because he was afraid.

If 'Truth-seekers' knew fear, they wouldn't have been called lunatics.

And lunatics didn't mean they were fools, for a wise man knows how to submit to circumstances. 

Hood knew this saying well, and he would just endure.

Lin Jie continued with his questioning.
“Pritt Hall and Trollope Rupert.
Have you heard the name of these two researchers?”

Hood was stunned.
He didn't know what the bookstore was up to. 

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However, he calmed himself down before answering, “Pritt Hall was a former Head of the Medicine Department.
Rupert was the last Head of Archeology, but he has been dead for more than a hundred years.

“The entire Archeology department was a mess after he died and nobody was willing to lead it.
Therefore, the entire department was abolished by the former director of the Truth Union.”

To think that the two researchers of that fragmented document are actually scholars with the ranks of department heads, but even they aren't able to borrow that book Rise and Fall of Alfords. 

Looks like this book is of a really high level…
I've to go about this with a long-term view…

However, there seems to be some problem with Rupert's death.
Even if he died of natural causes, there isn't any reason why no one would be willing to lead all of a sudden, or even the abolition of a discipline.

Hmm, perhaps there isn't any relation between the two, but if that was so, the last sentence is kinda superfluous.

There's definitely something regarding this.

Lin Jie realized that Hood seemed to have a special desire to show off his own knowledge.
There had been an expression of natural complacency when he was talking about the latter part.

“How did Rupert die?” Lin Jie asked abruptly.

Hood realized his slip of the tongue and shut up.

“I can still ask them if you don't want to tell me,” chuckled Lin Jie as he pointed to Hood's comrades on the ground.

Hood scoffed.
“They don't know.”

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Lin Jie rubbed his chin.
“You seem to know a lot.”

“Of course.” Hood sneered.
“Us Truth-seekers are the genuine way to the truth.
Our efficiency of learning is way more efficient than theirs.
As long as we seize all the knowledge required, we will eventually see the truth!”

Lin Jie ignored him.
“Since you can't say anything, it's likely that this matter cannot be disclosed to the public. 

“The premise of stealing knowledge is probably from someone or resources, right? I wonder who can provide you with all this classified information…
From your unbridled behavior, it seems like you aren't afraid of being held accountable.”

Lin Jie took a long hard look at Hood and flashed a very amicable smile.
“Young Hood, you don't seem like a big shot, so there's only one possibility.
Your parents…
have high positions in the Truth Union.

“Say, how about I use you to make a deal with the Truth Union?”

Of course, these words weren't meant to deceive.
As an upright and kind bookstore owner, how could Lin Jie do something like holding someone for ransom?

Getting Claude, a policeman he knew to handle the matter, was really to increase the efficiency of resolving this matter and nothing more.

Hood's face stiffened.
Eying the sword edge that was inching ever so closer to his neck, he shook his head vigorously.

“No?” Lin Jie sighed.
“Alas, I was just kidding.
You are a little kid who has no sense of humor.”

Before Hood could relax, he heard Lin Jie continue on.
“How about this? Since you kept mentioning about Truth-seekers, extracting knowledge and what not, I shall not make a deal with the Truth Union any more.
Instead, you and I will play a game.

“You try to extract my knowledge.
I'll let you off if you succeed.
But if you fail, just take it as I've seized your knowledge and you tell me about Rupert's death.”

Lin Jie's smile widened.
“How about that?”