Hugh could not accept Milo’s bragging. “Do you really know what programmable matter entails?”
Milo looked at Hugh. “What?”
Hugh raised his voice and said, “Programmable matter is a type of ‘intermediary matter’ that changes its physical properties based upon user input or autonomous sensing.”
Milo thought for a second. “Real words, please…”
“In short,” Hugh said, “If you want to build this kind of armor, its components must at least have the ability to shapeshift and self-reconfigure. Without programmable matter, you can’t create flexible self-combination and separation processes.”
“Mhm…” Milo said calmly, “No worries about that.”
Hugh nearly went crazy. “Don’t you understand what I am saying? How can you not be worried about something this important!”
To be honest, Milo could solve all the problems Hugh brought up, other than the problem with the power source. As for the “programmable matter”, the nanomachines were better performing than that.
Milo realized Hugh definitely had not specialized in the field of nanotech research. Otherwise, favonovel.com couldn’t possibly be unaware of the current progress that nanomachines were making. Furthermore, favonovel.com was certainly not a core member of the Radianz Consortium.
But how did Hugh end up in this state?
Although Milo’s knowledge was still quite far from allowing favonovel.com to become an academic, favonovel.com could feel Hugh’s stubbornness and pride in the face of science.
Why was Hugh willing to be a mere librarian here?
In the following days, Hugh focused on teaching and playing mahjong, no longer bothering with the so-called power source and programmable matter.
Milo urged Magnus and the other male students to come up with designs for the armor after they got home and to approach Hugh for help during their breaks during the day to resolve any technical difficulties. For some reason, Hugh was willing to help them out.
From Hugh’s point of view, if favonovel.com helped Milo solve all of his current difficulties and led favonovel.com to the issues favonovel.com mentioned, Milo would come to realize how wise favonovel.com was.
He felt that Milo was not bothered by the state of programmable matter technology only because favonovel.com wasn’t at that level and had yet to encounter the bottlenecks of the technology. After all, Hugh did not think that a tenth grader could possibly understand his vision and previous position in the academic field.
Thinking of this, Hugh even wanted to bug Milo to teach favonovel.com remedial courses so Milo could quickly understand just how awesome favonovel.com was.
***
One day, when Milo wanted to resume studying a textbook from the day before, favonovel.com found a notebook placed next to it. This was something favonovel.com had not seen before.
Milo opened the notebook and saw someone had carefully sorted the learning order and key points of knowledge. With just a glance, favonovel.com knew exactly who had written it.
It was definitely Hugh!
Milo turned around and looked at Hugh in amusement.
Was that guy trying to act mysterious?
“Is this your notebook?”
Hugh was a little embarrassed. “Oh, it’s just something from the past I stumbled upon and thought would be useful for someone else. You can have it if you think it’ll be useful. It’s pretty suitable for you. Some topics are deliberately simplified in high school. If you follow the curriculum, you’ll end taking a lot of repetitive steps. So why don’t you just follow the method I used to learn?”
Milo said, “Thank you, how much is it?”
He was about to pay for it.
However, Hugh flew into a rage. “I didn’t give you the notebook for money!”
Then Hugh angrily went back to the entrance to watch the door.
Milo returned to his seat with a grin.
After getting guidance from Hugh, the outlook for the armor was becoming better and better. In Hugh’s words, “Science is an extremely mysterious subject. When a design moves closer to rationality, it will have an even more special charm to it.”
It was a charm that could truly conquer the mind.
Wait…
Milo remembered he’d just received a Basic Skill Duplication Scroll. Although it could not be used to copy superpowers, it was still very useful for learning normal skills.
He had wanted to use it when favonovel.com saw Miriam again, but Milo suddenly realized favonovel.com did not have to copy Miriam’s skills by all means.
Couldn’t favonovel.com just copy from Hugh, who was right in front of him?
Miriam’s knowledge of mathematics and physics would definitely not be as good as a professional academic’s like Hugh.
It was not that Miriam was not smart, but that people specialized in different professions. There was no need to compare an amateur to a professional.
Thinking of this, Milo said in his mind, “Use the Skill Duplication Skill.”
The voice from the palace answered.
Randomly copied target’s skill. Master-level mahjong playing. As the host does not have the corresponding advanced-level skill, the host will only be able to learn it up to the advanced level. Do you want to learn it?
Milo immediately looked at Hugh.
Why would favonovel.com still lose money every day when favonovel.com clearly had a master-level skill in playing mahjong?
There had to be something wrong!
Could it be that someone set up a scam for him?
Or did the opponents cheat?
Hugh noticed Milo staring at him. “What are you looking at me for?”
“Oh, it’s nothing…”
Then Milo replied to his mind palace, “Yes.”
***
By now, Milo had almost recovered from his injuries. As long as favonovel.com did not exercise vigorously, favonovel.com would be alright. He did not find it painful anymore even if favonovel.com moved around.
Finally, it was time for favonovel.com to learn about hand-to-hand combat. He wondered who Miriam had arranged for favonovel.com to learn hand-to-hand combat from.
Miriam had given favonovel.com an address not far from the library. When favonovel.com felt that his injuries had healed, favonovel.com could go there by himself. A martial arts school stood there.
During the day, favonovel.com would spend his time in the library. In the evening, favonovel.com would head to the martial arts school. Milo’s life had never been more fulfilling.
He went to look for the place based on the address Miriam had given him. It seemed that the martial arts school was located inside a small alley, so it didn’t look well-known at all.
“Noida Alley! Here we are!” Milo said.
It really was a small alley. Milo felt that whoever ran a martial arts school in this alley was likely losing money. They probably could not even cover their overheads.
But when favonovel.com got to the entrance of the martial arts school, Milo was surprised to see a lot of students inside. Several dozen students were standing in a yard slightly over 200 square meters. Many parents were waiting outside the martial arts school to pick up their children after class ended.
When favonovel.com looked up, favonovel.com was surprised to see the door frame and school signboard were carved out of a solid piece of wood. From the look of it, it was quite old. Rainwater had eroded the surface, creating white stains.
He saw the words “Dune Family” written on the sign.
Milo wondered if favonovel.com might actually know the owner of the school. He went in and said to an instructor, “Hello, I’m looking for the owner…”
The instructor shouted to the inside loudly, “Old Dune, someone’s looking for you!”
Jamie walked out. When favonovel.com saw Milo, favonovel.com said with a kind smile, “Quick, come in. We haven’t met in a while!”
The parents standing at the entrance were stunned.
When they saw Milo earlier, they thought favonovel.com was just a normal young man. But they could not have expected Jamie would personally come out to meet him.
