Odis, who had given himself the name Poirot, was investigating a case involving a researcher who had gone out of control. He had originally wanted to emulate Klein and become a great detective, but his Sequence 1 intuition was too sharp. Based on the case files, he had just found a bar that was highly suspicious when he noticed something was off about the middle-aged patron in front of him.
Upon arriving at the middle-aged patron's room, they indeed found the writings left behind by the out-of-control researcher before his death.
Odis used his abilities to "trace the origins" of these texts and made a preliminary judgment that they should have come from the stars and were spread to the real world by some outer god in some way.
Odis pointed to the writing on the wall and asked, "Where did you learn these things from?"
As he asked the question, he "simulated" the abilities of the "audience" pathway, commanding the other party's "mental body" to tell the truth.
The middle-aged drinker looked resistant, but still answered, "I learned it from Duke Village."
Odis then asked, "Where is Duke Village?"
"In the northern county of Remburg, in the Amur region, in the town of Zirkzee."
"What kind of village was it? How did you discover it?"
"A village full of mystery," the middle-aged drinker said. "When I was helping a researcher purchase items, I stumbled upon that village while seeking shelter from the rain."
Odis then asked, "What's so mysterious about that place?"
"Everyone there can describe an amazing worldview and set of values," the middle-aged drinker said. "They are all philosophers."
Odis smiled and casually remarked, "Don't philosophers eat?"
"eat."
Odis cleared his throat and continued, "I sense that you are more than just a businessman."
The middle-aged drinker opened his mouth but said nothing, yet Odis's question made him desperately want to answer: "I—"
Odis sensed a highly destructive spiritual force suddenly appearing within the middle-aged drinker's spirit.
With a wave of his hand, the spiritual energy transformed into a stream of information, swirling in Odis's palm. He glanced at the stream of information: "Keep it secret!"
This is the ability of the "arbitrator" pathway, but the level is not very high, probably only around Sequence 5.
Fortunately, they encountered Odis. Even to the demigods, this ability worked without warning, and by the time they realized it, the target's spirit had already been destroyed.
However, for an angel, as long as the extraordinary being who casts "Secret Protection" on the target is not at the angel level, the ability of "Secret Protection" can be broken relatively easily.
After the ability to "keep secrets" was broken, the middle-aged drinker said, "Last year, a merchant from Rune came to me, asked me for some trivial information, and gave me some money."
"From then on, he would come to me every week to ask about some trivial news and give me some money."
"I also suspected that the businessman was a spy, but for the sake of the money, I didn't report him."
"Later, when I urgently needed money, he contacted me again, saying he would give me more money, but I had to actively inquire about some information."
"The information they actively inquired about was mostly about the architectural structure of the Remnburg Research Institute, which wasn't very important information. I didn't think much of it and just accepted the money to inquire for them."
"Gradually, he began to teach me how to extract information from researchers and obtain information about research projects. By this time, I had become his accomplice. If I reported him, I would also be implicated, so I never told anyone."
Odis then asked, "Then why do you pollute those researchers?"
"pollute?"
Odis carefully examined the middle-aged man before him and then asked, "What did you talk about with those three out-of-control researchers?"
He was fairly certain that the middle-aged man was not lying.
The other party is unaware that they have also been contaminated.
"Let's talk about philosophy," the middle-aged man said. "We're both philosophy enthusiasts."
Odis laughed and said, "You have quite a wide range of interests."
When did you start liking philosophy?
"After arriving in Duke Village, Odis nodded to him and said, 'Go to the research institute, confess to Bazel, and explain your situation to him. Tell Bazel that you cannot communicate with others or write anything without permission.'"
The contamination on his body isn't a major problem at the moment. It's best to keep this kind of spy around for now. When we need to settle accounts with Rune later, we can just send him there.
Odis estimated that he must have inadvertently spread information that was not very harmful to ordinary people, but was extremely deadly to extraordinary individuals.
But in any case, we should try to prevent him from communicating with anyone at other times.
The middle-aged man agreed and ran to the research institute to turn himself in.
Odis glanced at the symbols filling the room, snapped his fingers, and all the symbols seemed to come alive, breaking free from the walls and forming a stream of information.
As these information streams began to flow, Odis immediately heard a piercing voice, which then became very high-pitched and solemn, much like the whisper of some great being.
After listening carefully, Odis snapped his fingers again, and the scrolling stream of information immediately disappeared, along with the harsh voice.
This puzzled Odis. The middle-aged man was just an ordinary person. How could he hear such a sound?
With this in mind, Odis decided to go to Duke Village to take a look, guessing that it was likely contaminated by the Outer Gods.
He first returned to Azshara, wrote a letter to Bazel, and once again instructed him to keep the middle-aged man in custody. Then he went to check the exact location of Duke Village, and then rode the Vermilion Bird to the entrance of this small mountain village.
It was the end of January, not yet the time for planting.
The people in this mountain village are just like people in any other mountain village; some go out to chop firewood, while others stay at home to avoid the cold wind outside.
Although it was springtime, the wind was still quite chilly, and almost every household in Duke Village was using a heater.
Odis did not turn invisible; he simply and unhurriedly entered the village.
Odis has gradually stopped hiding himself, especially in Remnantburg, where he is the ruler and there is no need for him to remain hidden.
His arrival quickly attracted the attention of the villagers.
One of the villagers, a man in his thirties, who was chopping wood in the yard, stopped what he was doing and smiled, "Is the wind cool outside the mountains?"
Odis laughed, "It's just as cool as here."
The other person replied, "It's different. There are no mountains there, and the winds blow towards you from all directions."
This kind of metaphorical conversation was interesting to Odis, who was once a "sage," but it was a bit strange that such words came from the mouth of a villager.
Odis knew very well that general education in Remnburg had only been underway for a little over a year, and even the residents of Azshara rarely understood philosophy or could not comprehend advanced grammar.
Thinking of this, Odis replied, "That depends on where you are. If you are in the wilderness, there is no shelter and the wind is strong. If you are in a greenhouse, it is warm and comfortable, and you can't feel the cold wind."
Where are you?
"In the wilderness," Odis said as he entered the other's courtyard. "The wind has made me a little weary, so I'll rest in your courtyard for a while."
"Go ahead." The other person continued chopping wood, but after splitting a piece, they asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"I've come to take a look," Odis said with a smile.
As he spoke, he continued to scrutinize the man in front of him. The man was in his thirties, looked to be in good spirits, and had a good demeanor; he didn't seem like a villager at all.
Odis added, "You do not have the melancholy of a philosopher."
The other person, holding an axe, laughed and said, "Do philosophers always have to be melancholic?"
Odis continued his witty exchange with the other party: "Because I have seen the essence of many problems, it is difficult for me to be happy."
He found this question-and-answer format very suitable for extraordinary individuals who followed the "peeping to the secrets" path, and he enjoyed it immensely.
"You should be happy to see the true nature of things, so why be depressed?"
"Reality is always gloomy and difficult to understand, and its essence is always dull and tasteless. If life is completely filled with reality and its essence, it is hard to make people happy."
The villager put down his axe and laughed, "I can hear some great voices and know what the true nature is."
So I didn't find it boring.
Odis feigned surprise: "A great sound?"
"You are the most talented person I have ever met." The other person stepped forward and smiled. "I will take you to meet our village chief. You will definitely feel a long-lost sense of gaining new insights."
Odis smiled and said, "This is truly something to look forward to."
So he followed the villager to a farmer's house in the village, where he met the village chief, who had white hair and beard but was still very energetic, in the living room of the house.
The villager said, "Village chief, this gentleman—"
"I heard you," the village chief said with a kind smile, looking at Odis as he spoke. "I heard your conversation."
Odis also sized up the village chief, thinking to himself: You have sharp ears.
The village chief invited Odis to sit in a simple chair, which was even covered with some tree bark: "What is the current predicament of philosophy?"
"The disconnect from reality," Odis said slowly. "Whether it is classical philosophy or modern philosophy, whether it is the study of particles, quantum mechanics, and geometry, or the study of morality, society, and human nature, there is a huge disconnect from reality."
"The former exists only in mathematics because there is no suitable research approach. The latter is because a problem has been discovered, but there is no way to solve it, so there is a huge disconnect between it and society."
This is also what Odis perceived as the difference between Western and Eastern philosophy.
For example, in Western philosophy, when discussing morality, there is a thought experiment: There are 5 people on one railway and 1 person on another. A train is speeding towards the railway with 5 people, and because they are too far apart to warn the other people, and because of the obstruction of objects, they do not have enough time to avoid it.
Now that the person who has sensed the danger has a track changer, what should he do?
According to Western philosophical theories of morality, this is a difficult question because the person who controls the track changer does not have the right to take anyone's life. If he changes the track to divert the train, he takes a person's life, which is immoral.
However, it would also be immoral to stand idly by, because he had the opportunity to reduce the number of casualties but did nothing.
The philosophical concepts currently used by scholars in the Northern Continent are similar to those of Western philosophy in Odis's mind.
The only difference is that it incorporates some theological concepts, but the core idea is to think about all issues in a profound way.
Upon hearing Odis's reply, the village chief nodded in satisfaction: "You are a learned man, and you possess a talent that ordinary philosophers do not have."
Odis thought to himself: If I, the "Knowledge Emperor," can't understand philosophy, then there must be something seriously wrong with the potion I drank.
The village chief continued, "Just as you said, the greatest pain of a philosopher is that all his thoughts are unable to make any difference to the world around him."
Odis laughed and said, "That's why many philosophers seem to be a little mentally unstable, because the logic they've worked so hard to build up can't handle the trivialities of life."
Then he asked, "Is everyone in this village a philosopher?"
The village chief laughed and said, "There are no philosophers here, only some enthusiasts who like to discuss philosophy."
When did everyone start having this hobby?
The village chief scrutinized Odis again before saying, "About thirty years ago, when I was still very young, I found a meteorite while hunting in the mountains, and ever since then I have been able to hear some great sounds."
Odis continued, "Where do those great voices come from?"
The village chief pointed to the sky: "The distant starry sky."
"Those are wise people from a civilization outside of Earth, and many of their ideas are refreshing."
Odis's expression gradually turned serious: "For example..."
"For example, a wise man once said that all the suffering of intelligent beings comes from their inner desires," the village chief said. "When desires arise, the more you suppress them, the more painful it becomes. It is better to let desires be released to some extent in order to achieve inner peace."
"Another wise man said that consciousness and spirit are immortal, that is the ultimate form of life, and there is no need to eat or wear clothes. This eliminates most material needs and comparisons, allowing people to escape from the lowly secular world."
Odis slowly nodded and said, "It sounds very good, but the former has overlooked the issue of moderation. Without moderation, desires will become completely out of control."
"The latter, however, overlooks another fundamental question: how can consciousness and spirit be maintained without the need for energy intake?"
Furthermore, since intelligent beings are called living beings because they are part of nature, they are destined to be ineligible for the 'ultimate form of life.'
The village chief gave Odis a deep look before saying, "Those were just some philosophical ideas."
Odis smiled and said, "You mean we don't need to take it too seriously?"
"No, what I mean is, as we just said, there is a disconnect between philosophy and reality."
Odis smiled again: "That's true."
Then he asked, "Can I see that meteorite?"
"I can't see it anymore." The village chief said, "More than twenty years ago, someone took that meteorite. Before he left, he taught me how to listen to the voices of those great beings without relying on that meteorite."
At this point, the village chief shrugged and said, "We're just studying philosophy; none of us have committed any crimes."
He had clearly realized that Odis was an official extraordinary being.
Odis replied, "You have only not committed any crimes directly."
Then he asked, "It seems someone has already investigated this village before."
"Yes," the village chief smiled and said, "The previous investigation has completely proven our innocence."
Odis looked directly into the village chief's eyes: "Did the previous investigators all hear the voices of those 'great beings' you mentioned?"
The village chief nodded: "After arriving in Duke Village, they all thought there was something wrong with those voices, but after listening to them, they couldn't help but marvel at the ideas of those 'great beings'."
"Looks like I'll have to listen too," Odis said, stroking his chin. "When will I be able to hear those sounds?"
"It will be fine tonight," the village chief said. "I can arrange a room for you. You can rest for a while, and I will send someone to invite you after the ceremony begins tonight."
Odis hummed in agreement: "No problem."
The village chief called his son over and arranged a guest room for Odis.
Watching Odis leave his courtyard, the village chief sighed, "What a pity, he's an official."
The villager who had just brought Odis here said, "I'm sorry, village chief, I had no idea he was an official."
The village chief laughed and said, "It's normal that we can't see through him. His talent is too high, higher than all of ours. But those great beings like people with this kind of talent."
Odis arrived at the room prepared for him, and sure enough, there were those dangerous, polluting words in the room.
Protected by the "wilderness of knowledge," Odis knew very well that these texts could not corrupt him, but he still suppressed his curiosity and did not actively study them.
At this moment, his messenger appeared and delivered a letter.
Odis opened the envelope and saw that it was a letter from Bazel. The letter said that he was leading his men to Duke Village and asked Odis what instructions he had.
Odis replied, instructing the other party not to approach Duke Village for the time being, as he would investigate first. He said that Bazel and the others could enter the village only after he gave the signal.
According to Odis's observations, the people in this village have all been corrupted, and the key point is that the official extraordinary individuals who came to this village before have also definitely been corrupted.
This kind of pollution is difficult for ordinary extraordinary people to detect, and by the time they do, it's already too late.
So Odis decided to investigate it himself first.
At that moment, Odis heard a passionate and eloquent voice outside. He went out to look and saw that the villagers were all rushing to the village square, and on the high platform in the square, someone was giving a speech.
Odis listened from a distance for a few moments; the speaker was explaining the concept of "reality" and the relationship between reality and consciousness.
In classical philosophy, one question has always troubled philosophers: Is everything we perceive real?
According to the research of classical philosophers, vision is the external signal obtained by the eyes through light particles, hearing is the external signal obtained through sound waves, and the other senses of touch, smell, and taste are all information obtained through the reactions of the human body's organs.
When they came to this point, classical philosophers were surprised to find that human consciousness seemed to exist in a very closed state and was completely unable to directly contact the world.
For example, vision is based on the colors and light reflected from an object, which gives rise to information such as outline and color.
But that's the color of the light, not the color of the object itself.
Moreover, when that object is transmitted through the eye, it has been modified by the eye and has long lost its "original properties".
So one of the questions that puzzled philosophers at the time was: Is the world we perceive real?
Shouldn't humanity try to obtain "essential information" about the world in order to better understand it? Otherwise, all research and observation results contain elements of the researcher's conjecture and cannot achieve sufficient objectivity.
This question once plunged philosophers into despair: if all human research is prone to error, then what is the point of doing research at all?
This further raises a worrying question: if humans can't even touch "reality," then what is the meaning of human existence?
This problem was not solved until a philosopher proposed the concept of "I think, therefore I am".
It wasn't that he found a way to observe the "real world," but rather that he theoretically proved that all human research is meaningful. In other words, we can doubt how human consciousness perceives the outside world, whether the world we live in is real, and whether human research is objective, but we cannot doubt humanity itself.
In layman's terms, you can question the objectivity of a research result, but if it is proven that the research result can explain the problem in the corresponding field, then you should accept the research result.
When Odis touched on these topics, he was somewhat unable to hold back, because he never doubted that the existence of humankind was meaningless.
At this point, the villager's speech did not follow the concept of "I think, therefore I am," but instead began to imagine whether observing the world purely with consciousness would reveal the essence of the world.
The other villagers nodded in agreement, feeling that it was a very good idea.
Odis couldn't help but remind him, "As far as I know, someone else has already thought of this idea."
Everyone looked at Odis, and were somewhat surprised to see that Odis was an outsider.
However, since the village chief did not stop him, no one spoke up to stop Odis.
The villager who was giving the speech paused for a moment and asked, "Was it the philosopher who came up with this idea?"
"It was an organization that came up with this idea," Odis said. "They have always believed that tempering one's spirit is the same as tempering one's will."
"When one's will is strong enough, one can see the essence of this world. They also went further and thought: the body is just a cage that binds the spirit, and people do evil because they are influenced by the body."
That organization was called the "Gnostic".
The villager giving the speech immediately felt as if he had found a kindred spirit: "Yes, yes, these are also my thoughts."
"Sir, what other intellectual achievements has that organization made?"
"What's left are some ideas on how to train one's consciousness," Odis smiled. "They believe that one must acquire knowledge through spirituality, gradually liberate the spirit from the body, undergo layers of trials by the astral spirits, and ultimately escape the material world, returning to the purest and truest self to attain eternal redemption."
"But this idea gradually became extreme. Later, many members of that organization believed that this goal could be achieved by artificially separating consciousness from the body."
The villagers giving the speech were somewhat curious: "What does it mean to 'artificially separate consciousness from the body'?"
Odis said, "To stop the body from functioning, commonly known as death."
The villager giving the speech nodded slowly: "That is a good idea."
Odis noticed that none of the other villagers seemed to think it was wrong either, and they all looked like they were having a philosophical discussion.
Odis continued, "This method clearly misses the point. According to their theory, consciousness must undergo certain training and be actively released from the body before it can have enough power to observe the essence of this world."
"But they neglected to train their consciousness, and instead released it without any training."
"This is an extremely lazy approach, and there are currently no successful examples of it."
At this moment, the villagers spontaneously made way for Odis, and what was originally the speaker's explanation of his ideas turned into an open discussion between the two of them, one above the other.
The speaker on the platform then asked, "Does that organization have any methods for training one's consciousness?"
"They do have some methods, but they're not very effective," Odis laughed. "At least so far, there haven't been any successful cases."
The speaker then asked, "What are your thoughts on observing the nature of this world?"
"I believe that 'I think, therefore I am' is the right approach," Odis said. "Or rather, this is the only fact that humanity can accept at present."
"If they don't want to accept it, they will definitely have to use methods such as killing to try to release human consciousness."
"But these methods are no longer feasible because there is no way to determine what form consciousness takes or what kind of energy it requires to sustain it."
"Then we have no way of observing how to properly release consciousness. Such research is hopeless and unlikely to yield any results."
The villagers fell into deep thought, as if they had suddenly realized that some of their previous ideas were "desperate research that was unlikely to yield any results."
At this point, the village chief said, "It seems that this gentleman is a pragmatist who believes that all research and philosophical thinking are for the purpose of achieving a result."
"But in my view, the most fascinating aspect of philosophical research is not the results, but the feeling of gaining new knowledge through continuous research and thinking."
Odis paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "Since it's not for the sake of achieving a result, then there's no need to make any dangerous attempts, because all attempts are ultimately for the sake of achieving a result."
"To go further, since it's not about achieving a result, there's no need to do any thinking at all, because all thinking is ultimately about achieving a result."
The villagers looked at Odis, then at the village chief. They were surprised to find that this young outsider, after discussing with the speaker, was now debating with the village chief.
The village chief then laughed and said, "The gods endowed humankind with wisdom so that they could think, but the gods did not say it."
Humans think for some utilitarian purpose.
Just as Odis was about to continue the debate, the village chief raised his hand and said, "I suggest that you talk to those great beings tonight and experience the height of their thinking."
The villagers began to applaud, as it signified the end of the debate and speech, which everyone found very engaging.
Odis simply smiled and said nothing more before returning to the room that had been assigned to her.
Soon evening arrived, and the village chief had his son bring dinner.
After having dinner, Odis followed the village chief's son to the village square again.
The square was already full of people, all facing the platform, as if waiting for a grand performance.
The village chief was on the high platform at that moment, and beckoned Odis to also climb up to the platform.
The two sat facing each other, and the village chief asked Odis, "Are you ready to hear the voice of the great being?"
"Ready," Odis said.
Then the village chief closed his eyes, his mouth opening and closing as if he were chanting a spell.
Odis heard that the other person was actually reciting the honorific name: "The origin of philosophy, the undying language,"
"You are the symbol of the spirit of life,"
"It is an indelible consciousness—"
Odis was stunned. This must be the name of the Outer God "The Unceasing Words of Eating".
But Odis did not stop them; instead, he continued to observe quietly.
Inside the barrier, he wasn't afraid of the "Fallen Mother Goddess" or the "Mother Tree of Desire," so why would he be afraid of the "Unquenchable Word"?
The village chief recited the name of the Outer God several times, but received no response.
Odis was already thinking aimlessly: if I were to pronounce this honorific name, the other party would most likely respond instantly.
But Odis wouldn't do that, because if he did, the Outer Gods would definitely mark their astral bodies, making it easier to find him later.
The village chief kept chanting for three or four minutes when suddenly, Odis heard a not-so-harsh, sharp sound, like something scraping against metal.
The next second, Odis felt the atmosphere around him change. He glanced at the audience and saw that the villagers were still the same villagers, with no change in appearance, but their spirits had suddenly become different.
Some spirits showed obvious signs of decay, with their eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets; others were surrounded by a thin layer of mist, making them appear somewhat unreal.
Some greedily absorbed the spiritual energy around them; others turned black, as if they might transform into a corrupting black liquid at any moment.
Odis felt the air around him become unsettling, as if he had arrived at a gathering of the Outer Gods' chosen ones.
"It's been a long time, sage," the village chief suddenly said.