According to Morris, the standard by which the god of wisdom bestows his blessing... ...seems to be: a very subtle thing.
"In most people's impressions, followers of the God of Wisdom must be great scholars with profound knowledge, or eccentric geniuses with amazing talents in a certain field. This perception is certainly not wrong. After all, most followers of the God of Wisdom do meet the two conditions of 'erudition' and 'intelligence', but everything is not absolute."
Morris sat on a chair near the door of the captain's room and explained seriously while ignoring Shirley's subtle expression beside him.
“First of all, being favored by the God of Wisdom does not necessarily require a very high level of knowledge, just like Agou now - it learns very quickly, but compared with the regular believers who have truly passed the three rounds of exams of the church, its current academic level is obviously not enough, but it is still regarded by Lahmu. In other city-states, there are also many believers and even saints who later became famous, who received enlightenment before they mastered advanced knowledge.
"The most notable example is Professor Colfrey, a saint who lived more than 200 years ago. This great scholar received revelation when he was 16 years old. At that time, he was a dock laborer and could not even read. Only after receiving revelation did he have the opportunity to access knowledge from books."
"There is another completely opposite example. There was once a famous scholar in the city-state of Moko who wanted to gain the favor of the God of Wisdom throughout his life. He passed almost all the examinations of the Academy of Truth, but he never saw the glory of Lahm until his death. Afterwards, the Academy of Truth posthumously awarded this scholar the honorary title of Saint. There are more than one similar cases."
Duncan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It sounds like the God of Wisdom's admissions standards are somewhat arbitrary?"
"It can't be said that we do whatever we want. After all, what I said above can only be considered a minority of cases. Otherwise, the Academy of Truth would not use the unified examination as an effective means to initially screen believers," Morris shook his head. "It can only be said that God is so unpredictable, even the four true gods are the same. They have their own standards for measuring the world, and mortals have only happened to summarize a few of the laws over thousands of years.
Duncan listened to Morris's serious explanation but did not say anything. He just sat there thoughtfully, with other ideas in his mind.
There may be nothing wrong with the old man’s previous examples, but his final conclusion is still debatable.
The behavior patterns of the gods are really unpredictable. Are there other reasons behind those "exceptions" or even "outrageous" situations when Lahm is watching over them
Unconsciously, the strange dark space and the communication information he saw in the darkness reappeared in his mind.
The individual "LH-02", who is suspected to be the god of wisdom Lahem, mentioned at the end of the communication that "those few words really made him very concerned.
If that information really happened in real time, if LH-02 was really Lahem, if everything was really as Duncan thought... then the so-called "gods" in the mouths of all living beings in the world were really worth his careful consideration.
While thinking, he raised his eyelids involuntarily, and his eyes fell on "Agou.
Just as Morris said, although Agou showed amazing learning talent, his current "academic level" was far behind those famous scholars in the Academy of Truth. However, Agou, who had just gotten rid of his "illiterate stage", was directly observed by the God of Wisdom, Lahm. This was an honor that thousands of students in the Academy of Truth would never dare to think about in their lifetime.
Although for Agou, this is not a good thing.
So what attracted Laheem? Was it Agou's "talent"? His spirit of learning? Or...
Because it is a mutant individual belonging to the deep "cluster"
The Deep Hound that got the heart just happened to meet the identification criteria of LH-02
Agou shrank back involuntarily. Duncan's silent gaze made him feel creepy. He held back for a long time before he could not help but speak: "Captain", you..."
Duncan did not respond to Agou, but turned to look at Morris and said: "According to your judgment, Shirley might have suddenly passed the standards of the God of Wisdom and been accepted by Lahem at some point."
Morris was stunned for a moment, and immediately shook his head: "There is no such possibility!"
"Are you sure?" Duncan said seriously, "You just said that Lahem's criteria are not so absolute. Sometimes even illiterate people can be chosen by him."
“Although there are exceptions to the God of Wisdom’s criteria, there is at least one thing: never making a mistake and never being rejected once.
People will not have a second chance. Although there are few examples in history of being explicitly rejected by the God of Wisdom, at least..."
Morris said this, glancing at Shirley. "At least when Agou was about to be 'taken away', Shirley was able to pull him back to the real world with her own ability. This is the most clear rejection of a mortal by the God of Wisdom that I can imagine."
Duncan glanced at Shirley with a complicated expression, but the latter seemed a little confused. The girl looked left and right, and after a long while she said, "So?"
"So you still have to do your homework," Duncan said without hesitation, "Don't think of using the excuse of helping Agou block the divine inspiration as an excuse to refuse to study."
"ah… "
The God of Wisdom has made it clear that "I don't want this brain of mine..."
"In this world, more than 100% of the people have no chance to enter the Academy of Truth, 100% of the people take the exam just to get a diploma, and almost 100% of the people will never become a saint of Lahem or receive his attention in their entire life," Duncan looked quietly into Shirley's eyes, his expression and tone as serious as ever, "Do you think that I decided to teach you to read and write in order to make you a great scholar like Morris?"
Shirley was startled by Duncan's serious look. She opened her mouth several times but couldn't say anything. After a moment, she slowly lowered her eyelids: "I... I know... I'm sorry, I was willful..."
"It's okay. You are still a child in my eyes... Children can be willful," Duncan shook his head gently, "Relax, I'm not scolding you, I'm just thinking...
What will Agou do in the future? "
"I was lying down obediently beside him. Agou looked up blankly, as if he didn't follow Duncan's train of thought. "What will happen to me in the future?"
Duncan stared into its eyes: "Have you ever thought that you might be stared at by Lahem for the third or fourth time in the future? Agou was stunned for a moment, then he realized that the look in his eyes... It didn't have any eyes, but its whole body trembled visibly.
"Then...then I can't read books anymore?" It asked nervously.
"The God of Wisdom cannot be a shadow attracted by books. As a god, he has noticed you," Morris responded. The old scholar shook his head with a serious look in his eyes. "I can't guess the will of the sleeve, but since he has shown interest in you once, there is no guarantee that he will look for you again in the future. This is the same even if you continue to study in the future, or even..."
The old scholar paused for a moment, with a slightly strange look on his face, as if he didn't know whether to describe the god he believed in in this way, but in the end he shook his head and said, "You can even say that as long as you are still 'thinking', your mind will always remain in the sight of the God of Wisdom. When he will look at you again depends entirely on his will."
The red light in Agou's eyes trembled noticeably.
Duncan couldn't help but feel some strange emotions in his heart after hearing what Morris said - why did Lahem's "blessing" seem like a curse from an evil god after hearing this description
But he thought about it and felt that if he put his perspective on a deep demon, then the blessing of any righteous god would be no different from the curse of an evil god...
This time, even Alice, who had been silent the whole time, reacted. She suddenly asked, "Won't Ah Gou live in danger every day from now on?"
"There is danger, but as long as the connection between it and Shirley is still there, this danger may not be fatal." Duncan shook his head, "From Agou's description and mine.
Well, from my guess, Lahem has no ill intentions. He may not even realize that the mind that just appeared in his sight belongs to a deep demon. Based on this, he probably won't use a more 'violent' method to 'take' Ah Gou away."
After listening to Duncan's judgment, Agou could only lower his head, with a hint of sadness in his tone: "Ah... It seems that this is the only way to think."
"Don't worry. You and Shirley still have my marks on them. Even if the worst happens and Shirley can't hold you back, I should be able to sense it," Duncan comforted the anxious dog. "Although I haven't tried it, I don't mind trying to snatch a person... or a dog... from a 'righteous god.'"
"And I will definitely hold you back," Shirley said immediately, patting her chest and shaking the symbiotic chain in her hand. "Don't worry, Agou. This is a brain of mine that has been explicitly rejected by the God of Wisdom! It's definitely enough to be your safety anchor!"
Agou was about to be moved after hearing Duncan's words, but then he was caught off guard by Shirley's confident and proud attitude. He could only look up at her blankly:
"You... this isn't anything to be proud of, right?"
Shirley didn't answer, but just smiled foolishly.
But she just clenched the chain with her fingers, tightening again and again.