Elder brother's garrison

Page 1116

It's because this old man had been bringing her food and drinks, showing concern and asking after her well-being, that she felt completely embarrassed to refuse his requests now.

As expected, experience matters...

At this moment, Xiao Bai deeply realized what it meant to be beholden to those who offer food or gifts.

"As for reference books, could you please give me a copy?"

While Xiaobai and Ella were chatting, Luo Lian, carrying the scroll, walked over to Xiaobai and asked Ella and her grandfather.

"Of course, we have many copies of these reference books here."

Before Ella could even open her mouth to answer...

Grandpa Ella, who was sitting in the chair, spoke up first, nodding with a smile, and took out several reference books from the table, handing them to Luo Lian with a grin.

He handed it over.

Ella's grandfather looked at Luo Lian thoughtfully and then spoke.

"Little girl, if you find anything you don't understand while watching, feel free to ask me anytime."

"Thank you." Luo Lian didn't say anything more.

After nodding and accepting the reference book from Grandpa Ella with both hands, Luo Lian hugged the reference book in her arms and smiled at Xiao Bai with great satisfaction.

Although this strange turn of events, with the sudden exam, wasn't exactly pleasant for a novice, it was exactly what Luo Lian, who had come specifically for rune knowledge, wanted.

The large laboratory has many tables and chairs, including soft sofas and coffee tables, so Xiaobai and the others don't need to worry about the exam venue.

Xiaobai had just walked to the coffee table with her test paper and sat down for a few seconds when, with a few whooshing sounds, the ship girls rushed to her side.

"Admiral, this exam is so difficult..." Wisconsin said to Xiaobai with a helpless expression, tossing the exam paper in her hand.

"After all, it's knowledge I've never encountered before..." Xiaobai nodded.

“So this is the rune knowledge the Admiral was talking about… It’s actually quite complicated.” Missouri sat on the other side of Xiaobai, holding the test paper and carefully browsing through the questions. She gave Xiaobai a wry smile. “Hmm, I always felt that Missouri was just not cut out for this kind of knowledge.”

"……"noob.

"It's...it's so hard." Changchun, holding his books, sat down opposite Xiaobai, feeling embarrassed.

"I give up."

Saratoga, having failed to secure a spot near Little White, simply closed "Higher Rune Annotations," then slammed his forehead against the brick-thick book with a thud. He then turned to his side, hugged Iowa's waist, and began to sleep as if in a huff.

Saratoga's decisive and uncompromising approach to things she doesn't like is quite charming in a way.

Xiao Bai thought to himself.

I subconsciously turned to the first page of the reference book in my hand.

The book in Xiaobai's hand is "The Great Dictionary of Runes," but the publisher and author are not listed on the pages.

Come to think of it.

This book was probably written by Ella's elders for their descendants to study and reference, so naturally it wasn't published by a publishing house.

The contents of the "Rune Dictionary" are just like those of a regular dictionary, mainly recording the meanings of various complex and profound runes. The Rune Dictionary is very thick and includes a great many rune fonts. Xiaobai flipped through a few pages of the dictionary and unexpectedly found the rune font from the Rune Key.

"Hmm... Just as Lianlian predicted, that circle of runes means 'to activate'."

Xiao Bai stared at the meaning of the rune font for a while, then closed the "Great Dictionary of Runes" and opened another book, "Advanced Rune Annotations," to read.

The content of this second book is different from that of the "Great Dictionary of Runes". The "Advanced Rune Commentary" not only explains the meaning of runes, but also focuses on the concepts and applications of rune knowledge.

If the Great Dictionary of Runes is a supplementary tool, then this book, Advanced Rune Commentary, is a proper textbook.

For example, it's on the very first page of "Higher Rune Annotations".

Xiao Bai saw a line of explanation about runes.

"Rune language is a high-level language that visualizes the user's behavioral concepts, such as opening, closing, pushing, and stopping. If the user does not successfully infuse the specific conceptual behavior into the rune language when inscribing it, then the rune language drawn will only be ordinary scribbles."

The opening ceremony was met with a lightning strike.

Xiao Bai tilted his head as he looked at the words in "Annotations on Advanced Runes".

"Uh... what does this mean?"

Xiao Bai looked at the explanation in the book with a bit of confusion.

"Haha, Little White, were you also confused by the first sentence?"

Ella popped her head out from behind the sofa, saw Xiaobai's bewildered expression, and couldn't help but laugh heartily, as if she had found a companion.

"Hmm... Ella, what exactly does this passage in the book mean?"

Xiao Bai pointed to the passage he hadn't understood and asked Ella.

"What this passage means is that runic language is a language that executes the writer's ideas and behaviors."

Ella smiled at Little White and said.

"For example, if I want to write a rune that has the effect of rotation, then I not only have to draw the appearance of the rune perfectly, but also, while drawing the rune, I, as the writer, must perfectly imagine the concept of rotation in my mind. Even the slightest difference or the slightest distraction will not work."

"Huh? I have to imagine it too?"

“Yes, rotation is actually a relatively simple concept. Some advanced rune concepts are much more complicated to visualize. That’s why we say that runic language is a language that truly tests one’s talent.” Ella lowered her head somewhat helplessly as she said this. “Because to use this language, one must first thoroughly understand and master the runes, and secondly, one needs a strong imagination…”

"That's really something."

Xiao Bai lowered his head thoughtfully, looking at the long explanation in "Annotations on Advanced Runes".

It's quite unexpected that a language could possess the special power to concretize the concepts of an actor's actions.

Xiao Bai was thinking.

Then, for some reason, my gaze unconsciously drifted up and looked towards Grandpa Ella's desk.

On Ella's grandfather's desk were a large number of draft papers and several sheets of snow-white Xuan paper. In a conspicuous place, there were also several delicate calligraphy brushes standing on the desk.

These brushes all have traces of ink on them.

Xiao Bai blinked.

Xiao Bai glanced silently at the ballpoint pens on Ella's grandfather's desk, then looked up and surveyed the strange rune-covered papers hanging in the large laboratory.

"what?"

Xiao Bai spoke up and discovered a strange phenomenon.

All paper that involves rune drawing.

All of them were drawn with a brush, and the ink color was somewhat peculiar, with a shimmering light shining through the black.

Ordinary draft paper unrelated to rune drawing was entirely written on with ordinary ballpoint pens and pencils, resulting in much more ordinary ink and handwriting.

"Ella," Xiaobai turned to Ella and asked.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Um, when you write runes, are there any restrictions on the pen or ink?"

“Yes,” Ella nodded. “When drawing runes, you have to use special ink, otherwise the runes will be ineffective.”

really.

"Ella, could you write me any rune?"

Xiao Bai asked Ella.

"Eh? Um... I, I'm not very skilled... Um... But, okay."

Ella hesitated for a moment, initially feeling a little embarrassed, but looking into Xiaobai's bright eyes, she nodded. Ella walked to the table and chair where she had been sitting, picked up a calligraphy brush that had been drying in the inkstone, and walked back to Xiaobai.

"Then I'll just write one randomly."

Ella picked up the brush, took a deep breath, and then, with a serious and focused look, carefully drew a simple rune on the draft paper that Xiaobai handed her.

Xiao Bai silently watched Ella's movements, his expression gradually changing with surprise.

Just as Ella was drawing runes, Xiaobai secretly activated the Admiral Network to observe Ella's physical condition.

In Xiaobai's network of admirals, just as Ella put down her pen...

Ella's spiritual power was surging out of her body inch by inch as she drew the runes, and then slowly poured into the runes she was drawing stroke by stroke.

The process of this mental energy infusion was quite covert. If Xiaobai hadn't been keeping a close eye on Ella's physical condition, even with such a vast network of admirals, he wouldn't have been able to detect it.

"It's finished."

After finishing writing a rune, Ella let out a tired sigh, as if she had exerted a lot of effort. She put the brush down beside her, picked up the rune she had written, and handed it to Xiaobai.

“Little White, this rune is the rotation rune I was just talking about,” Ella said to Little White.

"Oh, oh..." Xiaobai took the rune that Ella handed over with both hands and nodded.

Xiao Bai looked down and examined Ella's runes.

The rune drawn by Ella has simple strokes and ordinary handwriting, but every time you look at it, you can feel the rotation of gears meshing within it.

It was a truly amazing visual experience.

Xiaobai put down the draft paper.

Xiaobai understood.

Xiaobai has figured out how Ella's rune language works.

If Xiaobai's judgment is correct.

This so-called rune should be a technique that uses special ink to draw certain special shapes while infusing the user's mental energy into a concept!

Go to the hospital to get checked out. Today I made steamed egg custard.

Chapter 1435 Awesome!

Mental power is a very mysterious thing.

First of all, it is not something that humans are born with. Rather, it is a peculiar ability that only selected admirals can possess by taking special mental drugs. It is used solely to link ship girls and exchange information.

Because of its usefulness, this ability is generally referred to by humans as the Admiral Network.

Just now, when Ella was drawing runes.

Xiao Bai could clearly observe that, unintentionally, as Ella concentrated and her pen moved powerfully, her Admiral Network—that is, her mental energy—was being transmitted from her body in strands and slowly injected into the runes she was drawing.

After Ella's spiritual power was successfully infused into the rune, the rune she had drawn truly seemed to be given a unique soul, coming to life in Xiaobai's eyes and producing a magical sense of "rotation".

Xiao Bai suddenly understood.

Before witnessing Ella drawing runes with his own eyes, Xiaobai always thought that this mysterious knowledge of runes was something very distant from him, and quite complex and magical.

But it wasn't until now that Xiaobai truly realized it.

It turns out that runic language is something that is so close to me.

Xiao Bai picked up the calligraphy brush that Ella had placed on the table, held it up to his eyes, and carefully examined the black ink at the tip of the brush.

The ink on this calligraphy brush, though dark, faintly gleamed with a mysterious luster. Xiao Bai released his Admiral Network to carefully sense the tip of the brush, and quickly detected a hidden, deep-sea aura within the ink.

really.

The raw materials for this runic ink likely contain components similar to deep-sea metals.

Xiaobai put the calligraphy brush back on the table.

Xiaobai wasn't surprised that the ink contained deep-sea ingredients.

After all, deep-sea metals are a new type of energy that has not yet been fully explored by human technology.

And as Xiaobai already knew.

High-ranking deep-sea amphibious ships—also known as deep-sea deans—are inherently high-level beings possessing innate mental power. They were also the first in the world to master the method of using mental power to command disobedient subordinates, so the high compatibility between deep-sea metals and mental power isn't actually surprising.

If you think about it.

The ink used to draw runes should be the energy source of the runes, and the user's drawing method and the unintentional injection of spiritual power should just be ways of driving this energy that exists within the ink in various forms and shapes.

That's it!

Xiao Bai held the brush, looking at the runes drawn by Ella, and revealed a knowing expression.

Just as Xiaobai's head was spinning rapidly.

Beside Xiaobai.

Ella felt a little embarrassed as she watched Xiaobai holding the paper with the runes she had drawn, the brush in hand, nodding and humming earnestly from time to time.