According to Morris, the standard by which the God of Wisdom bestows blessings...seems to be a very subtle thing.

"In most people's impressions, followers of the God of Wisdom must be great scholars with profound knowledge, or eccentric geniuses with amazing talents in a certain field. This perception is certainly not wrong. After all, most followers of the God of Wisdom do meet the two conditions of 'erudition' and 'intelligence'. However, nothing is absolute."

Morris sat on a chair near the door of the captain's room and explained seriously while ignoring Shirley's subtle expression beside him.

"First, to be favored by the God of Wisdom, you don't necessarily need a very high level of knowledge. Just like Agou now - he is learning very quickly, but compared to the 'formal believers' who have passed three rounds of exams of the church, his current academic level is obviously not enough. However, he still received the attention of Lahem. In other city-states, there are also many believers and even saints who later became famous. They were enlightened before they mastered advanced knowledge.

"The most notable example is the saint Professor Korflod who lived more than 200 years ago. This great scholar received revelation when he was 16 years old. At that time, he was a dock laborer and could not even read. It was only after receiving revelation that he had the opportunity to access knowledge from books.

"There is another completely opposite example. There was once a famous scholar in the city-state of Moko who wanted to gain the favor of the God of Wisdom throughout his life. He passed almost all the examinations of the Academy of Truth, but he never saw the glory of Lahm until his death. Afterwards, the Academy of Truth posthumously awarded this scholar the honorary title of Saint. There are more than one similar cases."

Duncan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It sounds like... the God of Wisdom's 'enrollment standards' are somewhat arbitrary?"

"It can't be said that it's arbitrary. After all, what I said above can only be considered 'a few cases'. Otherwise, the Academy of Truth would not use the unified examination as an effective means to initially screen believers." Morris shook his head. "It can only be said that God is so unpredictable, even the four true gods are the same. They have their own standards for measuring the world, and mortals have only happened to summarize a few of the laws over thousands of years."

Duncan listened to Morris's serious explanation but did not say anything. He just sat there thoughtfully, with other ideas in his mind.

There may be nothing wrong with the old gentleman’s explanations and examples in the previous part, but his final “conclusion”... is still debatable.

Is it true that the behavior patterns of the gods are unpredictable? Are there other reasons behind those "exceptions" or even "outrageous" situations when Lahem was watching?

Unconsciously, the strange dark space and the communication information he saw in the darkness reappeared in his mind.

The words mentioned by the individual "LH-02", who was suspected to be the god of wisdom Lahm, at the end of the communication... really made him extremely concerned.

If the information really happened in real time, if LH-02 was really Laheem, if everything was really as Duncan thought... then the so-called "gods" in the mouths of all living beings in the world were really worth his careful consideration.

While thinking, he raised his eyelids involuntarily and his eyes fell on Agou.

Just as Morris said, although Agou showed amazing learning talent, his current "academic level" is far from those famous scholars in the Academy of Truth. However, Agou, who had just gotten rid of illiteracy not long ago, has received the direct attention of the God of Wisdom Lahm - this is an honor that thousands of students in the Academy of Truth would never dare to think about in their lifetime (although it seems that this is not a good thing for Agou).

So what attracted Laheem? Was it Agou's "talent"? Was it his desire to learn? Or was it...

Because it was a mutant individual belonging to the Deep "cluster"? The Deep Hound that had gained a "heart" just happened to meet the identification criteria of LH-02?

Agou couldn't help but shrink his body. Duncan's silent gaze made him feel creepy. After a long while, he couldn't help but speak: "Captain, you..."

Duncan did not respond to Agou, but turned to look at Morris: "In your opinion, is it possible that Shirley suddenly passed the 'standard' of the God of Wisdom at some point and was accepted by Lahem?"

Morris was stunned for a moment, and immediately shook his head: "There is no such possibility!"

"Are you sure?" Duncan said seriously, "You just said that Lahem's 'judgment criteria' are not so absolute. Sometimes even illiterate people can be suddenly favored."

"Although there are exceptions to the God of Wisdom's judgment criteria, at least there is one thing that has never been wrong - those who have been rejected once will not have a second chance. Although there are few examples of people being explicitly rejected by the God of Wisdom in history, at least..."

Morris paused here and glanced at Shirley.

"At least when Agou was about to be 'taken away', Shirley was able to pull him back to the real world with her own ability. This is the most clear 'rejection' that the God of Wisdom has given to a mortal that I can imagine."

Duncan glanced at Shirley with a complicated expression, but the latter seemed a little confused. The girl looked left and right, and after a long while she said, "So?"

"So you still have to do your homework," Duncan said without hesitation, "Don't use the excuse of 'helping Agou block the divine revelation' to refuse to study."

"Ah——" Shirley suddenly looked sad. This time her mind was a little faster than usual. "You just said that I'm not good at studying. The God of Wisdom has made it clear that he doesn't want my brain..."

"More than 90% of people in this world don't have the opportunity to enter the Academy of Truth, 60% of people only take the exam to get a diploma, and almost 100% of people will never become a saint of Lahem or receive His attention in their entire lives," Duncan stared into Shirley's eyes quietly, his expression and tone as serious as ever. "Do you think that I decided to teach you to read and write in order to make you a great scholar like Morris?"

Shirley was startled by Duncan's serious look. She opened her mouth several times but couldn't say anything. After a moment, she slowly lowered her eyelids: "I... I know... I'm sorry, I was willful..."

"It's okay. You are still a child in my eyes. Children can be willful." Duncan shook his head gently. "Relax. I am not scolding you. I am just thinking...what should Agou do in the future."

"Me?" Agou, who was lying obediently beside him, looked up blankly, as if he didn't follow Duncan's train of thought, "What's wrong with my future?"

Duncan looked into its eyes. "Have you ever thought that you might be watched by Lahmu a third or fourth time in the future?"

Agou was stunned for a moment before he reacted. His eyes... he had no eyes, but his whole body trembled visibly.

"Then...then I can't read books anymore?" Its tone was nervous.

"The God of Wisdom is not a 'shadow' attracted by books. As a god, He has noticed you," Morris responded. The old scholar shook his head with a serious look in his eyes. "I can't guess His will, but since He has shown an interest in you once, there is no guarantee that He will look for you again in the future. This is the same even if you stop studying in the future, or even..."

The old scholar paused for a moment, with a slightly strange look on his face, as if he didn't know whether he should describe the god he believed in in this way. But in the end, he shook his head and said, "You can even say that as long as you are still 'thinking', your mind will always remain in the sight of the God of Wisdom. When He will cast His gaze on you again depends entirely on His will."

The red light in Agou's eyes trembled noticeably.

After hearing what Morris said, Duncan couldn't help but feel some strange emotions in his heart - why did this description make Lahem's "blessing" seem like the curse of an evil god?

But he thought about it and felt that if he put his perspective on a deep demon, then the blessing of any righteous god would be no different from the curse of an evil god...

This time, even Alice, who had been silent the whole time, reacted. She suddenly said, "Will Ah Gou be living in danger every day from now on?"

"There is danger, but as long as the connection between it and Shirley is still there, this danger may not be fatal." Duncan shook his head. "From Agou's description and my... well, my guess, Lahem has no ill intentions. He may not even realize that the 'mind' that just appeared in his sight belongs to a deep demon. Based on this, he probably won't use a more 'drastic' method to 'take' Agou away."

After listening to Duncan's judgment, Agou could only lower his head, with a hint of sadness in his tone: "Ah...it seems that this is the only way to think."

"Don't worry. You and Shirley still have my marks on them. Even if the worst happens and Shirley can't hold you back, I should be able to sense it," Duncan comforted the anxious dog. "Although I haven't tried it, I don't mind trying to snatch a person... or a dog from a 'righteous god'."

"And I will definitely hold you back!" Shirley also said immediately, patting her chest and shaking the symbiotic chain in her hand, "Don't worry, Agou, this is a brain that has been explicitly rejected by the God of Wisdom! It is definitely enough to be your safety anchor!"

Agou was about to be moved after hearing Duncan's words, but was caught off guard by Shirley's confident and proud attitude. He could only look up at her blankly: "You... this is not something to be proud of, right?"

Shirley didn't answer, but just smiled foolishly.

But she just clenched the chain with her fingers, tightening again and again.

★Illustration 39★