Warhammer: The Time Traveler

Chapter 141 Pain and Pleasure (Eleventh Update)
Thus, a peculiar cycle of "pain and pleasure" was formed.

The electric shocks caused intense physical discomfort, but with each correct recitation and each understanding of a new binary phrase, a sense of accomplishment that came from the brain itself, a feeling of overcoming difficulties, and a hope of getting closer to saving his mother would arise spontaneously.

He began to view electric shocks as a harsh, but absolutely effective, "correction mentor."

He no longer feared making mistakes, but focused on how to avoid them.

Like a greedy sponge, he frantically absorbed the difficult knowledge under the "whip" of the electric current.

His study habits seem quite peculiar to outsiders.

Sometimes his brow furrowed in concentration, sometimes a brief look of joy appeared on his face after successfully deciphering a complex sequence, and sometimes his body trembled violently due to an unavoidable mistake, he shook his head with a grimace, and then immediately threw himself into the next attempt.

Sweat soaked his clothes, and the mental exhaustion made him look tired, but the flame burning in his eyes for his mother remained strong, and even became more refined and determined under this repeated "tempering".

That afternoon, David had just finished a round of practice and was leaning against the wall, catching his breath. Rebecca strolled over and tossed him a can of synthetic protein drink.

"Your brain hasn't been fried yet?" she said, looking at David's sweaty hair. "You were shaking like you had a short circuit just now."

David took the drink and gave a wry smile: "Not bad, I got shocked less often than yesterday."

“That’s impressive,” Rebecca squatted down next to him. “You didn’t even collapse after all that.”

Dorothy walked over and put down a vial of nutrients without saying a word. David nodded and stuffed the vial into his pocket.

At the other end of the room, Pila, while adjusting his robotic arm, interjected, "If you ask me, this learning method is pretty ruthless. They just cram data into your brain, and if you make a mistake, they give you an electric shock, like they're debugging a machine."

Mann leaned against the weapon case, wiping his smart pistol. Hearing this, he looked up at David and said, "As long as it can hold up." Then he lowered his head and continued wiping the gun.

In the corner, Qiwei and Sasha were debugging a set of sensing devices. Sasha looked at David, who was studying not far away, and said softly, "I don't understand. The boss can use cross-dimensional technology, but he wants him to learn binary language in the most primitive way."

Qi Wei replied without looking up, "Why not just write the knowledge directly into the brain? Why make the biological brain do what machines should do?"

She tapped the sensor in front of her. "Using an implant to transcode would only take a few milliseconds, but now it's like solving calculus with an abacus."

“The efficiency is terribly low.” Sasha shook her head. “But the boss must have his reasons.”

Qi Wei finally looked up and glanced at him: "Maybe it's to make him understand the most basic logic first. Just like learning to fight by practicing the basics first, instead of directly installing a combat prosthetic body."

The two remained silent for a moment before continuing their work.

In this technologically advanced era, this back-to-basics training method has become the most perplexing thing.

Falco returned from outside, carrying a bag of supplies.

He glanced at David and silently placed two more cans of synthetic beverage in the food storage area.

No one said anything unnecessary, but everyone expressed their approval in their own way.

In this abandoned outpost, this is the most direct form of care—unpretentious and unsentimental, just like life in Night City itself, rough but real.

Of all the characters, Lucy's inner changes were the most subtle and profound.

At first, she maintained her usual distance from David. Night City was full of stories of struggle for survival, and her own past was heavy enough that she had no time to dwell on others.

But David's daily cycle of learning, alternating between "pain" and "gain," gradually attracted her attention.

She saw how he quickly recovered after the electric shock, how he precisely corrected his mistakes in the next attempt, and how, when utterly exhausted, he would simply look silently in his mother's direction, and then his eyes would sharpen again.

She began to observe him unintentionally.

Observe the lines of his tightly pursed lips, observe his fingers trembling slightly from intense concentration, and observe the fleeting, almost imperceptible relief and satisfaction on his face after occasionally overcoming a difficult problem.

Lucy's past is filled with darkness, betrayal, and fear of the unknown beyond the Black Wall.

She endured unimaginable suffering in order to survive and gain freedom.

But David's insistence was motivated by something quite... honorable, even somewhat contrary to the laws of Night City.

Is it merely out of family affection? To repay the mother's kindness in raising her?
This seemingly simple and pure motivation appears so out of place in the context of Night City, yet it is also so...attractive.

It touched a soft, almost forgotten corner of Lucy's heart that was deeply hidden.

Once, after David finished a round of intense study, he was leaning against the wall, panting, his face pale, clearly exhausted, when Lucy happened to pass by with a glass of water.

She paused for a moment and handed the water glass to him.

"Replenish fluids. Too much electrolyte loss can affect nerve conduction efficiency." Her tone remained calm, revealing little emotion.

David looked up in surprise, saw it was Lucy, took the water glass, and said softly, "Thank you... I'll be careful."

Lucy nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

But at that moment, she caught something in David's eyes besides exhaustion and determination—a fleeting moment of bewilderment and warmth revealed by this small act of care.

This made her realize that this boy, who was under inhuman academic pressure, still retained the emotions and vulnerabilities of an ordinary person.

This realization fueled her curiosity about David.

She still habitually stayed in the shadows, but the time she spent lingering on David had unconsciously increased.

She wanted to understand where the seemingly simple yet incredibly powerful force that sustained this boy through such an agonizing learning process came from.

David Martinez, who went to such lengths for his mother, what kind of person is he?

For David, everything outside seemed to be cut off.

His world shrank to its extreme: the stern "mentor" in front of him, the roaring sea of ​​binary code in his mind, the intermittent electric shocks in his body, and the ever-burning lighthouse in his heart—to learn it and cure his mother.

His apprenticeship unfolds in a unique way: pain is the driving force, hope is the reward, and the unwavering goal of saving his mother is the only guiding light that sustains him through this infernal realm of knowledge.

He walked this path, enduring pain but also moving forward, each step firm and solid.

(End of this chapter)