New Gods of North America.

Chapter 644 Birds
Thinking that the agents involved in the investigation should have a day or two of rest, Wayne didn't cause much trouble after Inessa went out to buy supplies in the carriage driven by "Whale Oil."

Seeing Doug feeding the birds, Wayne also took the time to interact with the peregrine falcon. The games they played were much more advanced than before. They would first let the peregrine falcon fly over from a distance, and then Wayne would throw small pieces of meat high into the air before it got close, so that the peregrine falcon could snatch them away as it flew by.

The detective agency now has so many birds that they could almost run a small zoo.

To be honest, compared to other species, neither peregrine falcons nor owls are particularly friendly. Their temperament is somewhat like that of a proud "scholar-official," capable of following commands but not particularly good as pets, only slightly better than a pigeon, which is not very intelligent.

The most dog-like of all is the parrot. Sometimes it will rub its head against you and let you pet it. When it's not doing anything, it likes to rub against people and wander around. However, the "crack" sound it makes when it snatches nuts is a little scary. It can speak simple words, but its daily speech is usually incoherent.

As for those crows nominally under Lina's command, who knows what those guys are thinking all day? Wayne just hopes they don't cause any trouble.

Speaking of crows… Wayne pointed to the flock of crows standing on the wooden frame next to them, watching the peregrine falcon being trained, “Why does that one look so much bigger than the others? Is it the leader of the crows?”

Doug's expression was slightly helpless: "It's a raven, not from the same flock as these crows. Once, Miss Lina was probably disturbed by the noise, so she sent Peter to herd the crows back into their cages. I don't know what happened to it then, but it seems to have been beaten into submission and hasn't dared to run away since its injuries healed..."

"..."

Wayne didn't know how to comment on its plight, so he could only nod and say, "I see."

The rest of the time passed leisurely. Aside from the slight emanation of the "wise sage" aura emanating from Lina while she was processing the extraordinary materials for the "slingshot," which startled the peregrine falcon, causing it to brake suddenly and crash mid-air, resulting in it being mocked and bullied by the crows, the overall situation was relatively peaceful.
With the cultists' matter settled, the onboarding training for the newly recruited agents was put back on the agenda. However, the last batch of prospective members recruited by Connor in Kansas City could arrive in Richmond at any time. At the moment, dealing with gangs did not require highly professional cooperation, so for the time being, only some basic knowledge and standardization content was arranged. The rest would be carried out all at once after everyone arrived.

The peregrine falcons seemed to have performed quite well today, so Wayne went to the kitchen with one falcon perched on one hand and a parrot on the other shoulder to ask the chef for extra food for them.

Besides preparing dinner, Chef Parker was also working on the garlic pills that everyone would take tonight. It's unclear whether the stuff was working or not, but none of the agents who were bitten by rats showed any signs of illness so far. The medication hasn't been stopped yet, and they plan to have everyone take it for at least a week—even those who weren't bitten need to take precautions.

"Sharpening" and "Airflow" happened to be still in the cafeteria, enjoying drinks, food, and conversation with the two new members.
When they heard Wayne tell the chef that they needed to continue preparing that stuff, the jerky in their hands suddenly lost its appeal. "Seriously, boss? We're going to eat that stuff for a whole week?"

“It’s at least a week,” Wayne corrected, turning back. “Or let’s set a deadline, and stop whenever we’ve dealt with the Sailors’ Gang or that Ellan gang.”

"Sharpening" almost stood up on the spot: "How about you give me a list, boss, and I'll get a few buddies to take care of them tonight? When that stuff is made into meatballs, you don't feel anything when you first eat it, but afterwards you feel like you're breathing garlic for at least half a day. It's so annoying..."

"No rush, no rush. Even if allicin tastes terrible, it's still better than getting the plague or tetanus. If you get sent to the hospital, be careful the doctor might use bloodletting or something, which would be even more troublesome."

Wayne also wanted to confirm the clinical efficacy of allicin, "That stuff should be quite effective in preventing wound infections. You can't even buy it on the market, so you'll have to get used to it."

His response was a chorus of groans. Taking a rare break, the agents relaxed in various ways. Besides drinking and chatting, some slept in their dorms, read books or art books, while others reportedly went shopping in the city, and some even went fishing.
Wayne wandered around for a while, letting the two birds fly away with the food, before returning to the archives room that was being used as an office. He prepared to carefully organize the "flashes of inspiration" that still lingered in his mind after facing the "wise sage."

After spreading out his paper and pen, Wayne pondered for a long time and finally understood why there were so many extraordinary doctrines and schools of thought in this world.

The extraordinary knowledge he gained from the "wise sages" was partly akin to "enlightenment," much like suddenly realizing, in a moment while learning to swim, how to find the "balance point" to float above the water. Regardless of whether he could actually achieve it, he at least knew which directions to take and how to exert effort.

The other group seems to have grasped the "basis" for making certain judgments. Just like a person who has seen ice cubes and drunk coffee, when they encounter similar items again, they can tell whether they have encountered the same thing just by looking at the shape or smelling the aroma. From then on, it is difficult for them to confuse glass with ice cubes or to think that hot cocoa is coffee.

Although one may understand it mentally, describing it in words is not something that can be done in a few sentences. Inconsistencies are inevitable in expression. Furthermore, different people may interpret the same words differently, and translation between different languages ​​can easily lead to ambiguity and vagueness. Some people might even take the opportunity to insert their own biases.
Over thousands of years, what was originally useful information has likely been piled up into mountains of rubbish code. Later generations may not have the same experiences and insights. If some content remains uncorrected without proper understanding, then we might have to simply copy and continue using it...

No wonder that even with Inessa and Lina helping to guide them, they often could only "discuss the matter at hand," saying things that sounded somewhat "superficial."

This is similar to how the core point of "walking a tightrope" is simply "maintaining balance." People with a foundation might understand it after hearing just a few words, but if you don't explain the movements in detail and let them gradually master the essentials through basic training, and then just tell a novice this and put them on the field, it's only a matter of time before they fall.

Therefore, Wayne could only record some vague concepts first, such as "the various fields are not naturally formed, but are the result of 'division'", "all fields have the characteristic of 'two sides of the same coin,' but characteristics are not disadvantages, they are not mutually exclusive, and there is no inherent superiority or inferiority among them, it all depends on how they are used," and so on, trying his best to express the meaning clearly.
As for how to break through to the intermediate level, he now had a vague idea of ​​what to do.

It feels somewhat like an abstract version of the evolutionary history of human transportation.

Being able to walk upright and move on its own is only the "basic" basis for survival.
Learning to use tools like livestock or horse-drawn carriages to move around the land and make more efficient use of the natural laws is what it means to "get started".

If we want to continue developing, whether we want to go to the sky or dive into the sea, we need to truly understand the existence of "gravity."
Otherwise, no matter how fast the dots on the paper move or how wide they cover, as long as they cannot escape the constraints of the two-dimensional plane, the world they perceive will never be able to transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional.

Wayne pondered for a while, pen in his mouth.

Theoretically speaking, the three elements of force are magnitude, direction, and point of application. He himself has never been able to break through this, which must mean that he hasn't done something right in some extraordinary way.

Leaving aside Inessa and Lina, he simply didn't believe that all the mid-level and higher cult members were academic geniuses.
There should be some other approach, like "letting nature take its course" or "using force to make things happen."

Just like birds, even though they don't understand aerodynamics, they can still instinctively understand what "wind" is.

(End of this chapter)