Shido Masayoshi, cognitive psychology, the Kirijo Institute, movie time, late-night television—there must be some connection between them.

So Airi found Kirijo Mitsuru again and asked to meet the head of the Kirijo Group. Her request was naturally met, and soon Airi met Kirijo Mitsuru's father, Kirijo Takeji.

"Hello, Silver Witch."

Sitting behind the desk was Kirijo Takeji, a dark-haired man in his forties or fifties with an eye patch on his left eye. He looked very calm. He crossed his hands in front of him and stared at Ai Li.

"May I ask what you want to see me about this time?"

"I won't say any more nonsense."

Ellie was clearly not interested in being polite.

"I just want to ask for information about 'Cognition Science'."

When he heard Ai Li's straightforward question, Kirijo Takeji's expression changed suddenly, and then he returned to his original calm.

"I didn't expect you to find this place so quickly... It's beyond my expectation. It seems that the name of the Silver Witch is well-deserved."

"I haven't been a magic attack master for nothing these past few years."

Ai Li leaned back in her chair and stared at Kirijo Takeji.

"You don't mean to say you know nothing."

"Of course not."

Kirijo Takeji shook his head, then he took a deep breath.

"Since you have found me, I will no longer hide anything, but I don't know much... Is that okay?"

In response to Takeji Kirijo's question, Ai Li just made a gesture.

"please."

"Okay, then first please take a look at this document."

As he spoke, Kirijo Takeji took out a document from the safe under him and handed it to Ai Li. Ai Li took the document and started reading it. At the same time, Kirijo Takeji also spoke.

"This story started thirteen years ago, when the Holy Annihilation Legacy was discovered on Genshin Island, and the artificial island management company preserved it. At first, they didn't know what the Legacy was for, they only knew it was a very mysterious thing. But after that, someone in the agency that was studying the Holy Annihilation Legacy suddenly developed a strange power that could summon some mysterious and powerful beings..."

"You mean... Persona?"

Hearing this, Ai Li raised her eyebrows, and Kirijo Takeji nodded.

"After that, the Artificial Island Management Company analyzed the relics of the Holy Annihilator and found that it could connect to another world... the spiritual world, do you understand what I mean?"

"The collective unconsciousness of all mankind - the Alaya-vijnana. Well, this is not the first time I've heard of this."

"That's right."

As he spoke, Kirijo Takeharu seemed a little excited.

"When the artificial island management company discovered this, they started 'cognitive science' - the world of human cognition, the essence of things that humans cognize, and the connection and psychological research with the inner spirit of humans. The world in shadow time is actually the world created by the cognition of everyone on the 12th artificial island. I think you have also seen, Miss Ellie, those shadow monsters... The essence that forms them is actually the spiritual elements of humans, anger, sadness, pain..."

Ellie glanced at the document silently and looked up.

"So, what is the job of the Kirijo Research Institute?"

"At that time, 'cognitive science' was divided into several parts, namely the study of how the 'spiritual world' operates and affects reality, how to change other people's cognition, and artificial synthesis of Persona - in the end, this is the mission of our Kirijo Research Institute."

"Artificially synthesized Persona?"

Hearing this, Ai Li frowned slightly, and Kirijo Takeji nodded.

"That's right, Miss Airi, you should have known that Persona is the embodiment of a person's inner essence. Their spirit and essence call out the corresponding existence and summon it to fight... But so far, only a very small number of people have such qualifications. The work undertaken by our Kirijo Research Institute at that time was to study shadows and artificially synthesize Persona, but an accident occurred halfway..."

Kirijo Takeharu shook his head helplessly.

"I think you know what happened next. Because many people were killed and injured, the institute was closed and the research work was terminated."

"And what about the rest of epistemology?"

"I'm not sure about this. My security clearance is not high enough to get other research progress on 'Cognitive Science', but I heard that part of it should have been completed."

"Change your perception..."

Looking at the document in front of her, Ai Li suddenly had an idea. According to the notice of the Phantom Thieves, they hope to steal Kamoshida's desire and make him confess everything to the police. So does this count as changing cognition? If so, does that mean that the Phantom Thieves have obtained some of the research results of "cognitive science"?

Of course, Ai Li knew that the mental influence during the shadow time would affect the person herself, just like Yukiko Amagi. After she pushed the other Yukiko Amagi down, the original Yukiko Amagi saw her like a mouse seeing a cat. You have to know that before this, Ai Li had never met the original body, but it was obvious that everything she did to the other Yukiko Amagi, even if the original body knew nothing about it, would make it subconsciously fear and submit to herself.

This can be considered a change of perception to some extent, but the Phantom Thieves' approach seems to be a little different...

"Thank you very much."

After making sure that she could not get any more information from Takeji Kirijo, Ai Li stood up and prepared to leave, but at this moment, Takeji Kirijo spoke hurriedly.

"Please wait, Miss Ellie, I have one more thing I want to remind you of."

"oh?"

"Please be careful of Jitsuki Shuji."

"he?"

Hearing the name, Ellie raised her eyebrows.

"Why?"

"I know that you and Yue Yukari are good friends. In fact, the person in charge of the artificial synthesis Persona experiment was Yue Yukari's father, Yue Yu Eiichiro. After the accident, although it was announced that Yue Yu Eiichiro died accidentally, I suspect that his death was most likely caused by Izuki Shuji."

"What's your basis for saying that?"

"That's not the case, but I heard that Jiyue Shuji and Yue Yu Yongyilang seemed to have a disagreement on the experimental goals and plans... As for the specific situation, I was not at the research institute at the time, so I really don't have any clues."

"I understand. Then, regarding the legacy of the Saint Annihilator..."

"I'm sorry, this is top secret of the Artificial Island Management Association, and I don't know the details."

"All right."

Although she did not get all the clues from Takeji Kirijo, based on the information that Ai Li had at present, she had almost seen through the connection behind these events.

"It's going to rain again next week..."

Returning to her room in the Iwatodai branch, Ai Li looked at the weather forecast and whispered. She was not worried about not having enough time, but it was related to her ability and face. If the Silver Witch could not solve these incidents, then her reputation would be greatly affected.

"Boom boom boom."

Just as Ellie was thinking about where to start next, there was a sudden knock on the door, interrupting Ellie's thoughts. She stood up, walked to the door and opened it.

Standing outside the door was a lively-looking girl with a brown ponytail, wearing a Gekkoukan uniform and red headphones.

"Oh, Miss Ellie, I'm sorry to bother you..."

"Nothing, what do you want from me?"

Looking at the ponytail girl in front of her, Ai Li looked at her in confusion. This girl was Kotone Shiomi, who entered the Iwatodai branch with her on the night she arrived at the 12th artificial island. After that, she also became a member of SEES, but Ai Li was not particularly familiar with her. They only acted together when they attacked Tartarus.

In general, the impression that Shiomi Kotone left on Airi was that she was a very lively and cheerful type, and she even often livened up the atmosphere in the team during the strategy. Moreover, she had a good figure and was very cute...

But strictly speaking, because of her different status and her "crazy" performance in several battles, everyone except Xia Yin and Jie Tong was a little afraid of her. Ai Li didn't care much about this, after all, she still had to maintain her image.

“Well… it’s like this…”

Looking at the white-haired, red-eyed girl in front of her, Kotone Shiomi was also a little nervous. Ai Li didn't know that after coming to the twelfth artificial island, Kotone Shiomi awakened the power of Persona. At the same time, she also came to the "Velvet Room", where she received Igor's guidance. Under Igor's guidance, Kotone Shiomi learned that she needed to build good relationships with people around her to get promoted, and among these people, only Ai Li's "desire" was the most difficult to improve.

In fact, before this, Kotone Shiomi didn't dare to come to find Ai Li. On the one hand, the ruthless and cold-bloodedness of this girl when fighting made her nervous. On the other hand, Ai Li seemed to have a certain aura. Just by being glanced at by her, Kotone Shiomi felt so nervous that she broke out in cold sweats.

Just a while ago, after hard training, Shiomi Kotone finally became a little braver, so she dared to come up to Ai Li.

"Um... I want to ask, if it's possible, would you like to go shopping with me tomorrow?"

"Um?"

Hearing this, Ai Li looked at her curiously.

Could this be... a date invitation?

It's so rare that a girl would take the initiative to invite me out on a date. It would be a shame not to go!

It is a shame for a man not to eat the meat that is right in his mouth!

"……May I?"

Seeing that Ai Li remained silent, Shiomi Kotone asked again cautiously. She had no idea that at this moment Ai Li had already gone through the entire process in her mind, from what movie to watch to which hotel room to book.

In response to Shiomi Kotone's question, Ai Li thought for a moment and nodded.

"Of course."

Since you came to me yourself, don't blame me for being rude!