It turns out that Philon's laboratory is not in his mansion, but in the courtyard outside the mansion. There is a not-so-wide room with the label "Philon's Laboratory" specially written on the door.
By the time Fisher was taken over by the maid, Philon had also taken off his suit jacket, revealing the leather straps covering his body, which were used to fix his prosthetic hand and gas mask. If
Instead of the scary-looking gas mask on his face, he should be an elegant Nari gentleman.
Even after a period of tidying up, the room still looked a bit messy. There were many large steam machines placed on the experimental bench at the back like a workshop. In front of the workshop were two huge bookshelves filled with books.
Fisher scanned the books above and saw with sharp eyes a book he had published before, called "Good and Evil: A First Look at Ethics."
"Ah, Mr. Fisher's book made me study for a long time, especially the views and interpretations of classical utilitarianism..."
Philon noticed Fisher's gaze, then took down the plain dark red book, and said with some emotion, "Who would have thought that the author of this wise book was still a student of the Royal Academy at that time?
.”
"It quotes the thoughts of many teachers. I just connected them together..."
Fisher scanned the book covered with many notes and knew that Philon had read his own work many times.
Mainly because at that time, although many scholars had already discussed ethics, represented by many professors at the Royal Academy, there was no book that could synthesize their views and discussions, so Fisher spent a semester compiling all the social science professors.
I sat through all the classes, compiled my notes, and wrote this introduction to ethics.
Although those professors were very happy that the views they represented were compiled into a volume, they still couldn't help but stare when they saw Fisher's "author's comments" criticizing their views at the end of the volume.
That's a group of lovely old guys.
"Haha, Mr. Fisher is being humble. I want to talk to you more about ethics later, but now, let's talk about the disease we mentioned before...compared to blue mania.
In other words, I still prefer to call this disease 'lost soul syndrome'."
"Aphansia?"
Fisher took a chair and sat down at his desk. He looked at Philon and saw that he pulled out a small stack of manuscripts from under the desk lamp. Fisher saw the human body he had drawn with pencil on it.
Structure diagram.
"How much does Mr. Fisher already know about the patient's condition?"
"After the onset of the disease, the blood turns blue, and the person is basically unconscious. He has a tendency to attack living things... no, it should be living people. Also, the magic circuits in their bodies have completely disappeared."
Philon nodded and handed the manuscript to Fisher. It contained dense records of many experimental cases. The conclusions reached were probably similar to Fisher's. However, Philon also investigated a lot of information about the patients before they became ill.
itinerary.
"You call these patients aphanos. Do you believe in the theory that magic comes from the soul?"
"It's not a belief, Mr. Fisher, this is a fact... There has always been a theory of souls in the Southern Continent. At first, I thought that the souls they believed in were just like illusory spirits created by magic in the circus, but before
An exploration made me see the fact that the soul exists..."
Philon raised a finger and continued,
"When I first landed on the Southern Continent, I was just an external scholar accompanying me. I accidentally got separated from my team and got lost in the wilderness. The wilderness was very cold at night, and just when I was about to freeze to death,
Several shining shadows of demi-humans suddenly appeared in the sky. They seemed to be talking, but I couldn't hear clearly. I thought it was an illusion of dying, so I followed the direction of their fingers, and it turned out that I was actually on the river.
Bian found the lost team."
Fisher tapped his fingers on the table, thinking about Philon's words.
"The most important thing is that I witnessed those souls carving magic later."
"Carving magic?"
"Yes, they carved magic to keep the demi-humans foraging in the wild so that they would not freeze to death. They have magic circuits in their bodies that can release the engraved magic, but the magic circuits of those patients have completely disappeared because of the loss of their souls.
Take away their magic circuits."
Fisher's expression changed. All current magic theories indicate that the source of a creature's ability to engrave magic is its own magic circuit. Many scholars also believe that magic circuits exist in the body, but cannot be observed temporarily.
But if according to Philon's words, the soul can use magic, it means that the magic circuit does not exist in the body, but in the soul.
Then this can also explain why the magic circuits in those patients will completely disappear. The real pathogenesis of the disease lies not in the magic circuits but in the soul. The disappearance of the magic circuits is only a symptom of the disappearance of the soul.
As the conversation with Philon deepened, Fisher gradually understood the soul theory he had researched. In the face of his many years of experimental data and evidence, Fisher could hardly find any point that could refute him.
"If the cause of this disease is the disappearance of the soul, then what exactly causes their soul to disappear?"
Philon held out a finger and explained,
"It's despair... You see, before every patient develops the disease, they have experienced a huge life ordeal."
"La Baschere, her property was stolen by robbers, and her daughter was killed by a female gangster..."
"Jack, his wife cheated on him, and he teamed up with his mistress to take away all his property..."
"...."
Philon read out the experiences of each case, and then said, "It seems that they have no intersection, and according to traditional pathology, it is impossible for them to come into contact with any suspicious items."
Fisher suddenly thought of the group of humans he met in Corili's cave before. The maid in their family also fell ill. According to the other party, her only daughter died in the textile factory in Nali before she fell ill.
I see...
Fisher's eyes flickered, and then he followed Philon's words,
"The reason why souls disappear is because the despair generated by the brain breeds unstable conditions, and then some external force can take advantage of it and take away their souls..."
"Yes, that's exactly what I guessed."
"So, there are three questions now: how was the soul taken away, who was the subject who took the soul, and what is the purpose of taking the soul?"
Fisher looked at the pathology on it carefully. Although the guess was there, he felt more and more absurd. Based on the current inference, this is not like a disease, but more like a deliberate action by people.
If it is an intelligent subject, then there are probably only two types: humans and demi-humans. However, the human academic community has not even affirmed the existence of souls. Where can we find the means to take away their souls? Judging from the current primitive level of demi-humans, then
It is even less likely that he is a demi-human.
And judging from the cases of Philon and Kerken, many cases occurred at the same time and were thousands of kilometers apart.
Who can have such great power to commit crimes across thousands of miles, it is estimated that the three countries of the Western Continent will be wiped out by him.
"Ever since humans entered the Southern Continent in large numbers, I haven't seen those demi-human souls in the wilderness that guide people's paths for a long time..."
Philon's gas mask spurted out some steam, and he leaned on the chair, and then sighed,
"Who could take so many souls from multiple places at the same time?"
Fisher was slightly startled after hearing Philon's words, and then raised his eyes to glance at him, but could not see his eyes clearly because of the reflection of the light from the desk lamp on his frame.
Why does he only focus on who he is and not care about other issues?