I can see experience bars after being transported to another world.

He didn't go on.

Lu Yuan didn't answer, because Hank was telling the truth; if he hadn't regained consciousness at that time...

Hank's rationality was simply not up to the task of withstanding the subsequent shocks.

At best, they'll be relegated to logistics; at worst, they'll go insane or become alienated.

"I've come to see you this time."

Hank looked up and smiled, but his eyes didn't quite convey a smile.

"Approach it with a 'let's give it a try' attitude."

"After all, improving one's rationality is really too difficult."

The room was silent for a few seconds.

Beren remained silent, his fingers resting on the end of his cane, and sighed softly.

"Hank is right, young man."

Buren spoke, his tone calm.

"Let me add a few more words."

He placed the wine glass on the table.

"Reason is an unavoidable door for all extraordinary paths, whether it's knowledge, the supernatural, or faith; there is no path that can avoid paying this price."

"To significantly improve one's sanity, most people can only start training from childhood."

"But this kind of training."

The old man shook his head.

"It is extremely resource-intensive, especially at certain stages, where living monsters are needed to assist."

"Alive, not dead."

Hank nodded, clearly having heard of it.

"Once pollution exceeds the standard, the consequences are irreversible; pollution or death are things that ordinary people can't even touch."

"That's why you see those established families, why each generation is more capable than the last."

Buren smiled.

"They have resources far beyond those of ordinary people. Like Kel, if I weren't exceptionally gifted with inscriptions, he might never have even entered the field in his entire life."

Kai didn't say anything, but listened very attentively.

"Once you reach a young age, there are only a few paths left for you to improve your rationality."

"First, choose a suitable path, and then tap into your own potential."

Second, an extremely rare permanent potion.

Third, extraordinary weapons.

"Fourth, the auxiliary items provided by the inscription master. I know about this because I'm in this line of work."

The old man sighed.

"It's almost impossible to maintain rationality in the face of pollution and the bizarre."

He glanced at Hank.

"The reason is simple: the pollution is extremely serious."

This was the first time Kai'er had spoken up since she entered the room.

"teacher."

He looked at Burren, his brow furrowed.

"Wouldn't it be very difficult for someone like me, who hasn't received any training, to walk the path of extraordinary achievement?"

Beren was taken aback for a moment, then smiled helplessly.

"Won't."

"Because there is a vast difference between extraordinary knowledge and extraordinary strangeness."

The old man did not elaborate further.

But everyone understood the weight of those words.

The different approaches are inherently unequal.

These are the underlying rules of this world; they've never been a secret.

Hank took another sip of his drink.

Lu Yuan spoke at this moment.

He frowned.

"My situation is indeed a bit special."

"They were quite rational. The path they chose was also relatively dangerous."

He paused.

"But I think it's because I'm more talented."

Hank sighed.

It wasn't heavy, but you could tell he already guessed it.

"Captain, you are an exception."

Lu Yuan nodded.

"but."

He looked at Hank.

"I can't guarantee I can directly improve your sanity. I can tell you about some of the things I've tried before. Maybe they'll be helpful."

Perhaps.

Hank stared at him for two seconds, then smiled and picked up his glass.

"What the captain said is true. Please tell me, I'm listening."

Lu Yuan sat up a little straighter.

Buren and Kel also quieted down.

Buren was also curious.

He had known Lu Yuan for quite some time, and the longer he knew him, the more he discovered the unique qualities of this young captain.

The old man didn't ask, but he listened.

Needless to say, for a novice like Kel, any word spoken in this room could be a gem.

Lu Yuan thought for a moment.

My fingers tapped unconsciously on the table.

Then he opened his mouth.

The first question, and also the only question.

"Can you sense the presence of reason?"

Lu Yuan paused for a moment before speaking.

"It's about yourself; can you sense where it is?"

Hank was stunned.

He did not answer immediately.

His expression changed, showing a hint of confusion and bewilderment. After a few seconds, Hank finally spoke.

"Captain, what you mean by 'feeling'..."

He paused for a moment.

"Is it the kind of thing where you can see a place in your mind?"

Lu Yuan looked at him.

He didn't say anything.

Hank then continued speaking.

"I have something to tell you."

"A few years ago, it was a Level 1 mission."

"A law firm in the city, the lawyers there keep Nightmares at home, which are eerie creatures that can drain people's sanity and create environments in the dark."

"That lawyer won the case under the Imperial Code using that thing."

"We surrounded that law firm."

Hank took a sip of his drink, his eyes not on the glass.

"I'm on the periphery, responsible for maintaining the barrier of sanity."

"It turns out there was a Nightmare that was missed."

"That thing is with me..."

He gestured with his hand.

"I bumped right into him."

"That was the first time in my life that I had suffered such severe mental trauma."

Hank unconsciously touched his left temple with his finger.

"The instant that Nightmare burrowed into my brain."

He paused, as if considering what to say next.

"I saw a place."

"How should I put it, it's empty."

"Near nothingness."

"Like an empty room, except that room is in my own head."

"At that time, I was almost completely out of my mind, so there was nothing there. I could only stay awake by sheer willpower."

"But there really is nothing there."

Hank repeated it again.

"But I remember that place."

"Clearly and distinctly."

"Since then, I've always carried a full load of potions when I go on missions."

"I've never dared to let my reason run wild again."

After he finished speaking, he scratched his head and looked at Lu Yuan with a hint of helplessness.

"There."

"Maybe it's just my rationality?"

Lu Yuan did not answer his question immediately.

But he had already made his own judgment.

He continued Hank's words.

"You just said that you got through it all by sheer willpower."

Do you think willpower and reason are the same thing?

Hank hadn't thought about that.

It was Kai'er who spoke first.

This child, despite having the least seniority in the room, is the most daring to ask questions.

Isn't reason something invisible and intangible?

Kai'er looked at Lu Yuan, her tone serious.

"Similar to willpower, the stronger the willpower, the longer one can persevere?"

Lu Yuan shook his head.

"Reason is reason, and will is will; these two things are very different."

He stopped, thinking about how to make his point clearer.

"Before me."

He paused for a moment.

"I worked as a doctor for a while and had contact with some patients."

"I discovered something."

"The depth of illusion is directly linked to rationality."

"But if the body has already undergone mutation, even if he still retains his own consciousness."

Lu Yuan glanced at Hank.

"He can no longer be human."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Lu Yuan continued.

"Those tasks you've gone through, every time you persevered through sheer willpower."

"Willpower did allow you to hold on for a few more minutes, that's true, but the real reason is that you still had some rationality left."

"And it truly kept you from going insane, from dying, and from becoming alienated."

"It's not willpower either."

Hank's lips moved slightly, but he didn't make a sound.

Lu Yuan paused for a moment, then organized his thoughts appropriately.

"The Night's Watch, or people like you."

"Willpower far surpasses your reason."

"So you think willpower works."

"But that's the scope of what 'works'."

"It's actually very small."

Hank sat there without saying a word.

He replayed his past missions in his mind.

His first solo mission. It was against ghouls, and when his sanity was about to run out, he managed to survive by biting his tongue. At the time, he thought it was his willpower that saved him.

The second time, the third time, and every time after that, every time he was on the verge of collapse, he told himself, "Just hold on a little longer." And he pulled through every single time.

He wanted to use these examples to refute Lu Yuan.

That's undeniable.

Because according to the standard given by Lu Yuan, the judgments for hallucination and alienation always matched.

He didn't go crazy or become alienated during those dozens of times, not because he was biting his tongue.

It wasn't just him.

He thought of his brothers who had transferred to logistics: Craig, Miller, and old Bart.

When they were carried back, they were all more lucid than the last, some cursing, some crying, some laughing; none of them had lost their minds.

But they can no longer leave the wild, because their bodies have changed.

He remembered the wooden sign that hung on the training ground when he first joined the army.

Half of the paint has already peeled off.

There are four characters engraved on it.

Willpower is above all else.

That statement has been unquestioned for decades.

All the newcomers have memorized it.

Veterans would talk about it at the dinner table.

Every morning, the instructors at the training ground would tap on that wooden sign and have them repeat it.

just now.

He was opposite the young captain, who was at the second rank, at a table with a half-empty bottle of fruit wine.

Gently, without any hostility.

A hole was poked in it.

There was a few seconds of silence.

Hank looked up.

I chuckled, a self-deprecating laugh.

"Captain, what you said is a bit harsh."

He paused for a moment.

"Doesn't that mean..."

"All these years of training my willpower have been for nothing?"

At this point, Buren put down his wine glass.

"It can't be said that the training was in vain."

The old man's voice was not loud.

"The ability to maintain consciousness for a period of time after alienation is indeed due to willpower. Is this willpower useful? Yes, it is."

"But... I'm just asking you to restrain yourself, so you don't cause trouble for your teammates when they're executing you..."

He paused, his brow furrowing, as if he were contemplating something he hadn't thought about carefully before.

"Moreover, if the supernatural wants to improve their rationality, it is difficult to acquire in-depth knowledge without extremely professional study."

"But deep learning itself is dangerous."

"The ability to discern certain knowledge."

The old man glanced at Hank.

"The bizarre and extraordinary nature of it is so great that it cannot even be detected in advance."

Hank interjected. "But it's not entirely impossible. I know a senior colleague..."

He remembered something and gestured with his hand.

"He survived for five years with a supernatural weapon, and his sanity remained perfectly stable."

Buren shook his head.

"You said it yourself, that's a prop carrying it for him."

The old man's tone remained unchanged.