Chapter 596: A Game of Werewolf

Alhaitham simply refused to ask. His view was:

["Scholars naturally pursue the limits of knowledge. But I have no interest in the gods themselves, so naturally I can't muster that kind of fanatic attitude."]

["Treating people as lifeless objects to extract knowledge from—if that's what they call academic progress, the Akademiya might as well just shut down."]

Well said! The readers were completely convinced too. They never expected that, in the end, Alhaitham would still get to act cool.

Though Alhaitham had no interest in the gods, everyone else absolutely adored the Dendro Archon—no matter which version of the Dendro Archon, they loved them all.

Ahem, let's not talk about that. Instead... how about we beg you? Would you please let us tell you what's going on?

This matter has been bottled up in our hearts, and it feels a little uncomfortable not saying it out loud.

Unfortunately, Alhaitham just wouldn't ask. He opposed the Akademiya simply because the Akademiya had violated the "rules."

Alhaitham "would not" help someone just because they were pitiful—otherwise, could one person really save everyone in all of Teyvat?

That statement was technically correct, but it wasn't something everyone liked hearing—for example, Kaveh.

As an idealist, Kaveh was bound to have a fierce debate with Alhaitham.

However, how could someone in architecture possibly out-debate Alhaitham, a linguist?

One was an idealist, the other a realist—their bickering was practically routine.

But in a way, although Kaveh wasn't his match in arguments, if you judged by actions rather than words, Alhaitham had already lost.

No matter what he said, the things Alhaitham did—both now and in the future—had actually helped a lot of people.

Though he claimed he wouldn't go around saving others, in reality, the number of people he had directly or indirectly saved was far from small.

[Paimon sharply comments on Alhaitham: "I've been wanting to say this for a while—the Akademiya has a lot of bad people, but you're different... You're the weird one in the Akademiya!"]

Along the way, Alhaitham had "attacked" Paimon plenty of times. This was one of the rare chances Paimon had to "attack" him back.

Unfortunately, Alhaitham didn't take the hit at all. In his view, being "special" was also a kind of asset—why bother "fitting in"?

[Paimon sighs: "You've got such a great mindset. I'm actually starting to admire you a little. If Miss Shani could be like you, she wouldn't have to live so cautiously..."]

Shani agreed with this point, but unfortunately, she couldn't do it.

Shani was also a realist. She knew her own limits very well—without Alhaitham's abilities, trying to stand out would be impossible.

Alhaitham could act this way because he had the personal capability and charisma. For someone without ability to do the same, they'd just be a weirdo.

To Paimon's words, Alhaitham merely replied lightly: "It's just that my personality is better than hers. You don't need to mind it."

This line left everyone speechless. Alhaitham's mentality was truly invincible.

Someone was attacking him, yet he smoothly turned the attack into a compliment. As expected of a genius from the Haravatat Darshan?

As for personality and mindset, those things were actually tied to ability as well.

Without ability, one easily becomes timid and submissive; with ability, one becomes much more generous.

Coincidentally, Alhaitham not only had ability—he had long achieved financial freedom. He would never become submissive for the sake of "survival."

Back to the story: Alhaitham and the Traveler brought Razak back to Aaru Village to share intelligence with everyone.

[Candace: "Hm? Who is this?"]

[Alhaitham replied: "Unfortunately, he's too young to be Isak's grandfather. However, he is one of the targets we were looking for."]

The readers were momentarily stunned by Alhaitham's way of introducing him.

This... was Alhaitham making a joke? His sense of humor was so peculiar...

For the scant humor Alhaitham had left, everyone actually didn't find it funny.

But somehow, the serious way he said it was far funnier than the joke itself, so the readers still laughed.

To think that someone with such a cool, icy demeanor would say cold humor—look how stable Cyno's iceberg persona is in comparison.

[Cyno: "In other words, that abandoned hospital for scale disease was once an Akademiya base used for extracting canned knowledge from gods."]

After "knowledge, shared with you," Cyno gave his summary. It was an excellent summary—Cyno in work mode was indeed extremely reliable.

At the same time, Cyno noticed a problem: the canned knowledge of gods had existed for a long time, meaning this "hospital" had been operating for quite a while.

So why had it suddenly been evacuated in such a hurry recently?

If they had to name the biggest recent change... it would be them arriving in the desert, right?

But how exactly did the other side know about these intelligence reports and their actions?

[Candace: "In situations like this, it's usually that, right—an 'inside spy.'"]

[Paimon: "Eh? Are our relationships that fake?"]

This line inexplicably made the readers laugh. The way Paimon said it so innocently and goofily was really cute.

As for the idea of an inside spy, the readers didn't believe it—mainly because no one looked like the type to be a spy.

Yes, it was just pure intuition. As for reasons, they hadn't thought of any yet.

Conveniently, the Alhaitham in the story had already analyzed the cause, so the readers didn't even need to think—this was the power of an external brain.

The readers gave up on their own brains and quietly listened—this was the charm of an external brain.

They didn't even dare imagine how much smoother things would have gone during the previous Sabzeruz Festival if Alhaitham had been there as an external brain.

The Lumine in the story also started giving up on thinking. Having an external brain really was different—just listen to what Alhaitham and the others had to say.

[Alhaitham said: "It seems none of you have realized where the problem lies yet."]

[Traveler chimed in: "You have a lead?"]

Don't underestimate this line—it at least proved that the Traveler was still thinking, just without any clear direction.

When acting alongside smart people, Lumine would use her brain—it's just that most of the time, before she figured out what was going on, the problem was already solved.

[Alhaitham: "Cyno, they can predict our actions because you are here."]

Upon hearing this, both the real-world Cyno and the Cyno in the story furrowed their brows.

Earlier, everyone had been suspecting an inside spy—now Alhaitham saying this was basically calling him the spy, right?

This was outright questioning Cyno's character!

[Cyno: "Watch your words, or don't blame me for getting rough."]

[Alhaitham: "Do you still remember who you are, Cyno? The 'General Mahamatra.'"]

Alhaitham confidently led the team in spotting the werewolf, and Cyno really was the one wearing the "jackal hat."