Chapter 61: Professor Duoya

"From the moment a monkey picked up a stone to attack a wild beast, a brand new chapter in the history of this world was opened. This volume of history is named humanity, recording human epics, hymns, and sufferings—all of which are attributed to the monkey learning how to use tools."

The man wearing a plaster headgear spoke slowly at the front of a crowd of numerous Soul Engineers. These high-level Soul Engineers, any one of whom would have been warmly welcomed in the outside world, listened to the man's lecture as obediently as students.

"Humanity lacks the sharp beaks of birds, the sharp claws and teeth of lions and tigers, and the protective camouflage of reptiles, but they possess nimble hands and brains with an intelligence far surpassing that of beasts."

At this point, the man suddenly paused and muttered, "Well... let's put the brain thing aside for a moment. After all, some idiots might just have length of brain without actual intelligence—the kind that wouldn't even be edible if made into deep-fried pork brains."

"In short, among the many factors that have allowed humanity to reach where it is today, aside from the existence of Martial Souls, they have relied even more on learning how to use tools."

"Stones, bone spears, bronze, ironware... the evolution of tools is just like the changes in human history, until the emergence of soul guidance technology using soul power as an energy source completely changed society. This is something worth praising."

"However, some believed this was still not enough. Tools are, after all, external objects, and external objects always come with the problem of whether they feel natural to use. He pondered, researched, and manufactured, ultimately proposing a plan—a bold plan."

"He said: Why don't we turn soul-guided devices into our hands and feet to be used? Let them become a part of the body, or even replace parts of the body, achieving a physical unity of person and apparatus!"

"It was bold, whimsical, and likewise fraught with controversy and rejection." The man closed his book and looked at the academic giants before him, saying, "I suppose you should be quite familiar with this plan? After all, it was you people of the Sun and Moon who proposed it in the first place."

"Thousands of years ago, the war between the Sun and Moon Continent and the Douluo Continent ultimately ended with the victory of the Douluo Continent faction and the removal of the Sun and Moon Continent from existence. The surviving Soul Engineers of that time proposed this plan, attempting to modify the human body into a soul-guided device in order to combat the Martial Soul powerhouses of the Douluo Continent."

"They believed that only in this way could they bridge the gap in physical fitness between Soul Engineers and normal Soul Masters, while also acquiring the power of soul-guided devices, restoring glory to the Sun and Moon Empire."

"But Professor Doya, they ultimately failed," someone spoke up. "Back then, this plan once sparked an advancement in the empire's biology, and even successfully led to the later development of soul-guided devices capable of replacing body parts."

"However, this type of soul-guided device was extremely unstable. Not only could it not completely replace hands and feet, but due to the absence of the body's own meridians, Soul Masters were unable to perfectly control their soul power, causing the soul-guided devices to suddenly explode."

"Later on, because the citizens of the empire yearned for a peaceful life, this plan was completely sealed beneath massive piles of paper, and finally reduced to ashes in a great fire."

"To try and replicate it at the present time is simply too difficult. Without a dozen years of time, not even a finished product could be made."

"Thud!"

A piece of chalk struck the head of that Soul Engineer. Professor Doya gently clapped his hands; wearing the plaster headgear made it completely impossible to read his expression.

Doya simply said in a flat tone, "Deduct ten points, for lacking a pioneering spirit."

"As scholars, as Soul Engineers, if you don't even dare to walk paths already pioneered by your predecessors, you might as well go back to sleep."

"Half a year. You only have half a year. This is also the deadline given to you by His Highness the Crown Prince. Within this timeframe, you must produce a flawless finished product, not limbs exploding the way they did thousands of years ago."

"Do you understand?"

"What! Half a year?! This... this..."

Numerous scholars found this deadline unbelievable. Someone stood up indignantly: "What kind of crazy plan and deadline is this? Asking us to execute a completely impossible plan—isn't this purely making things difficult for us? I'm not doing this anymore!"

"Professor Doya, we all respect your knowledge, but regarding this plan, please forgive us for refusing. We will not waste time on a meaningless experiment!"

There were many with the same sentiment, standing up together in resistance. Doya watched them quietly and said indifferently, "Anyone who wants to leave may leave. The door is right there; I don't care."

"But don't forget that everyone who came here signed a confidentiality agreement. Leaving now means violating that agreement. Do you understand the consequences?"

These words immediately caused the complexions of the scholars wanting to leave to shift and turn pale.

Doya swept his gaze across the surroundings and said, "Those who want to leave may leave. Those who wish to stay, get started as soon as possible. The train of thought has already been given to you, and the rest is merely copying the model. Don't tell me you can't even do that much?"

With that, he walked over to a corner and quietly began reading a book. Those Soul Engineers who had wanted to leave looked at each other in dismay; constrained by the existence of the confidentiality agreement, they could only grit their teeth and stay, gathering together to discuss where they should begin.

None of them noticed a figure stepping past them with brisk footsteps, heading straight toward Doya.

"Reading again, are you? Let me guess who you're pretending to be today? A bookworm? Or a sculpture?"

"A sculpture. Someone felt that becoming a sculpture is a very blissful thing—able to daydream to one's heart's content without having to worry about a teacher discovering it and coming over to knock on his head."

Doya replied without looking back, "Well, it is indeed very useful. I feel that the nagging voices in my head have lessened quite a bit."

"Tsk tsk tsk, what an interesting dream. Truly fascinating!" Chun marveled, doubling over with laughter.

Laughter squeezed out tears; he wiped the corners of his eyes and asked with a smile, "Hey, hurry and tell me what it feels like to have the wills of two hundred thousand people filling your brain? Do you get smarter? I see those fellows look at you with so much reverence!"

"..."

"Hoo!"

Doya fell silent for a moment. After removing his headgear, he let out a long breath. Revealed to others was the face of a handsome young man with medium-short dark blue hair. The lines of his face were as perfect as a sculpture, and his eyes gazed coldly at Chun.

He stated calmly, "First of all, I am not smart. Although my soul and will are composed of twenty thousand—twenty hundred thousand people, essentially I am still just an independent personality, and my intelligence is no different from ordinary people."

"I am a mediocre person. The reason I am perceived as smart is simply because I can think about problems from twenty thousand perspectives and twenty thousand trains of thought, ultimately arriving at the optimal solution."

"However..." Doya looked at Chun with an earnest expression and said, "Even with twenty thousand trains of thought, I still couldn't figure out what on earth you are trying to do."

"So, could you please tell me?"