I Think That's Pretty Scientific

Chapter 38: 037: One Who Dares to Speak, One Who Dares to Believe

“…Why is it always a child prodigy!” Kraft opened his eyes, sat up in bed, and rubbed his temples with a touch of irritation. He’d had another dream—and this time, the protagonist seemed even more outlandish than Dr. Higashikumo. Although he was two years older than Dr. Higashigumo, this little boy named Tong Di created things that were far more practical than Dr. Higashigumo’s inventions. Or rather, they were far more powerful in combat. In that regard, Kraft was actually quite pleased to have dreamed of him. It just was a bit of a blow to his ego. And compared to the unreasonable genius of that little loli, Dongyun, Tong Di’s genius at least made some sense—he’d built himself a learning helmet capable of directly pumping knowledge into his brain… Well, that learning helmet itself doesn’t make much sense. Still, it was a huge help to Kraft. Although he’d learned so many strange and bizarre inventions from his dreams, Kraft had often merely copied them by the book, with only a superficial understanding—or even no understanding at all—of their underlying principles. But with this learning helmet invented by Tong Di, Kraft could at least quickly grasp the principles behind those inventions; he wasn’t just copying them blindly, but could adapt them to better suit his own needs. For example, he once dreamed of an invention called the “Dragon Ball Radar.” As the name suggests, this device was designed to locate something called “Dragon Balls,” but in Kraft’s world, there were no such things as Dragon Balls. After he built the Dragon Ball Radar, he found it too dim even to use as a flashlight—it was completely useless. However, once he understood the principles behind the Dragon Ball Radar’s construction, he could modify its Dragon Ball-searching function and apply the radar’s capabilities to other areas. There are many similar inventions. Before, Kraft could only spend his time endlessly poring over the books and notes of the characters in his dreams; in scenes where there were no books, he had to rely on repeatedly replaying the creation process to gradually understand them. Now, with this learning helmet, things are different—Kraft can feed that knowledge directly into his brain, bit by bit. Well, it really is being poured in bit by bit… After finishing the learning helmet, Kraft tried it out and discovered that the device had certain requirements for its users. A child prodigy like Tong Di could effortlessly absorb a massive amount of knowledge all at once. But for an ordinary human brain like Kraft’s, it simply couldn’t handle too much knowledge being poured in at once. It wouldn’t exactly burst, but when too much information was fed in, his mind would turn to mush, his consciousness would grow hazy, and his thoughts would descend into chaos. By the time he finally came to his senses, he’d already forgotten most of the relevant knowledge—he wouldn’t even remember what he’d done during that period of mental confusion. It was somewhat similar to his early dream states, or the state exhibited by those thugs who went on crazy binges of alcohol and drugs. Even so, Kraft’s learning progress has improved significantly, especially in dreams where scientific books are placed in laboratories or rooms—it’s become much easier for him to understand the principles behind their inventions. After absorbing knowledge from several different worlds, Kraft also discovered that there were some differences in the rules governing each world. Yet he was able to ignore these differences; whenever he wanted to utilize the rules of a particular world, he could make those rules take effect when he crafted items. “So does that mean I have… superpowers?” Kraft looked down at his hands and muttered to himself, somewhat puzzled. However, this did explain why he was able to master that bizarre engineering technique of hand-rolling bronze tubes—it was likely some rule specific to the world of Azeroth. Since his dream world didn’t come with an instruction manual, Kraft could only piece things together bit by bit based on his own experiences. Of course, for Kraft, the underlying principles of how he could utilize the rules of the dream world weren’t really that important; he was far more interested in the mechanics behind the inventions and creations within the dream. “Kraft, Bruce Banner has entered New York.” Countless beams of light converged before Kraft, forming Angela’s ethereal image. This was a new feature Kraft had added for Angela after mastering a certain projection technique within the dream world. It didn’t even require a special projection device—as long as there was sufficient light, Angela could manipulate the light herself, adjusting it to the wavelength needed to project her virtual image. In short, yet another piece of technology that defies scientific logic… uh… technology. “Bruce Banner? Didn’t that guy hide away in some remote jungle? What’s he doing back in New York?” Kraft had always instructed Angela to keep a close eye on the Hulk, that walking disaster. According to previous intelligence, Bruce Banner had gone into hiding of his own accord to prevent the Hulk from causing further destruction—and, incidentally, to evade the U. S. military, which was hot on his trail. It’s quite ironic, really—General Ross, who’s been hot on Bruce Banner’s trail, happens to be her father, and his daughter, Betty Ross, is the type to forget her father when love is involved—or rather, the kind who’d risk everything for love. She resolutely turned her back on her own father for Bruce Banner’s sake. However, from Kraft’s perspective, General Ross’s actions were truly despicable, and being betrayed by his own daughter was nothing short of what he deserved. “Bruce Banner seems to have found a way to control the Hulk.” Angela had no idea that Kraft was inwardly ranting about the powerful American general at that moment. She maintained her usual icy demeanor, mechanically answering Kraft’s questions. Only when she was sparring with JARVIS online could one detect a hint of excitement on her face. “I tracked Bruce Banner’s recent emails and discovered he’s been using the screen name ‘Mr. Green’ to communicate online with someone named ‘Mr. Blue.’ He even sent some of his own blood to Mr. Blue, hoping he could help solve the Hulk problem. It now appears he’s succeeded.” “Mr. Blue, Mr. Green… did they know each other before?” “No. Based on the chat logs, it seems they’ve only ever communicated online.” Angela pulled up a few excerpts from the emails, and the content indeed confirmed that the two had never met in person. “WTF… Bruce Banner actually dared to send his blood to a guy he’s never even met? And he even offered to meet him in person—isn’t he afraid this might be a trap set by the military?” Kraft was dumbfounded. How could this middle-aged guy seem even more naive than a kid like him? Had the Hulk influenced him so much that he’d lost his mind? “But he succeeded, and Samuel Sterns—aka Mr. Blue—is definitely not with the military.” Angela ruthlessly shot down Kraft’s snarky remark, then added “However, the military has indeed tracked down Bruce Banner’s whereabouts, and they’re mobilizing troops to capture him. But according to my calculations, by the time the military arrives, Bruce Banner should have finished his treatment, so it’s unlikely the Hulk will show up.” Kraft shook his head. “Tsk, tsk. General Ross’s luck—I don’t know if it’s good or bad.”