Chapter 2268: Late Autumn in the Golden City (21)_1

Lex Luther suddenly became acutely aware of the madness of this city and its people.

What would you do if someone claimed that they intended to become a god?

The vast majority would dismiss it as a poor attempt at humor, and a small minority might just suggest that the madman seek psychiatric help.

Even Lex Luther simply followed his innate inclination, hoping to control the world in a manner that satisfied him, unleashing natural tendencies and pursuing desires.

On the other hand, Shiller saw art in it and was willing to pay an astonishing price to appreciate this aesthetic up close.

Undoubtedly, if Shiller saw through the plan, he would know that one day he would have to pay a substantial price — one that yields almost no return — for his involvement.

This was undoubtedly a trap. If Shiller didn't see it and fell into it, Lex would have said he deserved it. But if he saw the trap yet willingly jumped in, Lex could only question Shiller's sanity.

Shiller is not insane, a conclusion Lex drew long ago. Shiller Rodriguez may have many unusual traits, but these abnormal behaviors mainly stem from his lineage. He's not the deeply chaotic mad type; he's rational and clear-headed.

But perhaps not anymore.

The sober professor seemed to have disappeared, replaced by something indescribably strange occupying his body.

He complimented Lex's beautifully designed trap, decided to jump in, and duped Lex into reconstructing the erased trap, only to dive in without hesitation, leaving no opportunity for the trap's creator to back out. It was so resolute that Lex didn't even know who aspired to godhood.

The situation had become embarrassingly awkward.

Lex asked, Shiller accepted. So even if this was not a formal occasion, they now embodied the relationship of godfather and godson.

And yet, Lex had not yet become a god, had not even graduated, and apart from being his professor, Shiller was now his godfather. Once outside of the office and email exchanges, Shiller had no authority over him. Now, Shiller had become his sole guardian.

If it was the original Professor Shiller, it wouldn't be a problem. After some time together, Lex had thought he figured out the professor's temperament.

But this wasn't him. Lex didn't know who he was, or even what he was. He seemed a little like Shiller. He needed to look more closely to be certain.

Lex needed to understand him as quickly as possible and figure out how to coexist. Only then could he survive. He had to survive.

"May I ask..."

"I am not Arrogant. I am not the professor you know." Shiller stood up again, walked over to Lex, gently rested his hand on Lex's shoulder, and said, "But don't worry, I'm not as severe as him. I usually don't require a high academic level from my juniors. I just want them to be happy."

Before Lex could decide whether to trust the punctuation marks in his sentence, Schiller turned and called his butler and asked him to bring the bag of files from the second drawer of his office desk.

The butler quickly fetched them, and Lex recognized his picture in the file bag — his graduation file. This was the last big obstacle to his graduation. His postgraduate tutor had to sign the document before he could receive his degree certificate.

Shiller opened the file bag, pulled out the graduation file, took a pen from the butler, and signed his name on the last page.

Lex watched with disbelief as the eloquent cursive gradually receded from the paper's tail. He knew that when Shiller mentioned signing his name a day after graduation, it was just an excuse. His thesis has not yet received a full pass.

But now, he had graduated perfectly.

This was just a trap, Lex thought, to establish difference from Professor Shiller or to provide me with a sense of security. It's completely untrustworthy.

Although that didn't prove that Shiller was more approachable, Lex had managed to benefit, but he must carefully gauge the actual thickness of the sugar coat on the sugar-coated shell.

"Thank you very much, Professor." Lex nods, accepting the graduation file, and says, "I never thought that while everyone else praises your expertise, I would be able to appreciate the charm of psychology again, through close contact with you. I regret that I didn't learn more from you earlier."

This seemed like a completely polite courtesy, but the main point still revolved around one theme — how exactly did Shiller do it?

Shiller usually doesn't explain the principles to anyone because there are no principles to explain.

Shiller put the pen cap back on and sat in the main seat around the dining table with the pen, asking, "Do you know how I see the Mind Reading Technique?"

Lex weighed his response and answered: "I believe there might be such a magical ability in this world, but I'm unsure if you have actually encountered it. It feels very strange."

"From whom?"

"Clark Kent. He said when he focuses his attention, he can hear my inner thoughts."

"Do you think that's Mind Reading Technique?"

Lex furrowed his brows, "All I can say is the initial experience felt terrible. When his eyes looked at me, I felt absolutely defenseless."

"People overpraise mind-reading and under-estimate me," Shiller evaluated. "Being able to read thoughts, even all thoughts of the moment, does not mean that one can analyze another's personality."

Lex nodded his head, agreeing that there was merit in what Shiller said. Unless they live with a mind reader for a long period, and this mind reader also has a professional psychological knowledge and good summary ability, the mind reading of thoughts can be elevated to truly understanding a person.

Because people's thoughts in everyday life cannot fully reflect their personality, just like a nearly pure solution of impurities, no matter how much is collected without any scientific refinement, it will still be useless.

Clark has never expressed any opinions about Lex's personality, although the thoughts about becoming a god have always existed in Lex's mind, it seems like Clark completely ignored them.

Lex was very sure that as long as Clark knew about his ideas, Clark would definitely be outraged and stop him because it was indeed absurd. Furthermore, it could be foreseen that this idea may potentially harm the society and disrupt the uneventful lives of ordinary people. As soon as Clark knew about this, he would definitely not allow it.

But he didn't know.

How could he not know? Lex thought along these lines. Maybe as Shiller said, mind-readers can't fully read everyone's thoughts. Even if they could, they wouldn't want to, because it's exhausting to take on the thoughts and emotions of others.

So the effectiveness of the mind-reading technique had indeed been overestimated. An accurate assessment of a person's character could not be achieved by reading a few thoughts.

But obviously, it was not possible to judge based solely on facial expressions, language, or actions without relying on mind-reading technique. The question returned to its origin - on what basis did Shiller make his assessments?

"Do you remember what I told you?" Shiller looked at Lex and asked: "I appreciate the part of your personality and thought that has artistic beauty. When you are moved by some form of art, are you more moved by the technique or are you simply touched by the atmosphere?"

Lex thought about it and shook his head, "I am rarely moved, almost never. But if I were, I believe art should be something more abstract. I would stand there, feel a certain conveyance and indoctrination, and then resonate with it."

"Then the fact is just that." When Shiller stared at Lex with his gray eyes, Lex felt that Shiller was not looking at him. Those unfocused eyes seemed to be capturing something scattered around the room.

"What I see in you is artistic. I was moved by what you conveyed to me and then made judgments, rather than first making rational judgments and then being moved."

Lex seemed enlightened, and then he curiously asked, "Is that the case with everyone?"

Shiller withdrew his gaze and said, "Lex, you must understand that geniuses in this world are very few. It is incredibly rare to have special geniuses who can constantly establish connections with others and emit atmosphere."

"I understand." Lex nodded and said, "Is this what you often refer to as psychoanalysis?"

"This isn't what the industry commonly refers to as psychoanalysis, but it indeed is mine." Shiller tapped his finger on the edge of the table and said, "To me, the evidence is there, but people who do not have this sense will never capture it, so they regard this as theology."

"Indeed, it is very magical." Lex also went back and sat down, but he didn't face the dining table. Instead, he turned sideways and looked at Shiller, placing his hands on his knees, asked, "Your assessments are amazingly accurate and I am indeed honored. Now, only one question remains, what do you want to do?"

Shiller showed a smile and looked at Lex, "What do you think I want to do?"

Lex started to tie up more than a hundred knots in his mind about what he was going to say, eliminating all potentially aggressive or ambiguous parts before he spoke.

"I believe you're unsatisfied with my perfunctory attitude towards psychology in my academic career, which is the cause. Then, in my conception, you found yourself placed in a position that sufficiently reflects my arrogance and pride, which further discomforts you."

"Boring." Shiller commented.

Lex was left with no choice but to lay down his last card.

"You find me interesting and therefore, you want to influence me and manipulate me."

But Shiller shook his head.

Lex frowned. He could not think of any other answers. It was actually already cruel enough, but Shiller still asked him to think again.

"As I said, there are very few geniuses with whom I can connect. Admiring the atmosphere they create is, to me, an aesthetic pleasure. I'm willing to pay a high price for it."

Lex then understood.

So whether it was Bruce Wayne or John Constantine, they all belonged to this group of geniuses. Shiller constantly interacted with them, invested considerable energy but got nothing in return. It wasn't because Shiller was so kind, but rather because it was an exchange of material value and emotional value.

However, the biggest weakness of emotional value was that people would eventually lose interest. That's why he has gone from one to another.

Lex thought, now it's my turn.

But still, this was an excellent opportunity that Lex could hardly suppress his excitement about, because Shiller just demonstrated through his actions that he was almost prepared to pay this ticket price without any boundaries or restrictions.

Lex was actually not ready to graduate yet. He guessed that Shiller might not have even read his thesis at all. But he signed without even knowing his academic level. This could be regarded as some form of academic impropriety, but he didn't care.

Moreover, he went so far as to play such childish tricks as repeating. Lex didn't feel any heavy sense of morality from him, much less any sense of morality that was similar to what Clark had, as if he were in a moral vacuum.

If he had to say, what Lex felt from him was a childlike innocence and cruelty. He was not constrained by law and moral limits, and only pursued the enjoyment of his own nature.

But Shiller was not really just a child. He was extremely powerful and could almost do anything in the world.

And he, Lex Luther, unlike Bruce Wayne or Constantine, was not restrained by morality or their overly strong motherly instincts.

If this was essentially an equal exchange, why couldn't he take advantage of it?