Not long after, crisp footsteps were heard at the end of the corridor, and the rhythm of the soles hitting the floor was getting closer. Perry subconsciously raised his head and looked at the door. The next moment, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes —— it was Henry's brother, Mike. This unexpected visitor made Perry unable to react for a while.
Unlike the doctor in a white coat yesterday, Mike looked like a sophisticated businessman today: his well-cut dark suit set off his slender figure, the tie at the collar was tied meticulously, and his leather shoes were polished and reflected a slight light under the light. He carried a black briefcase, and the whole person looked both capable and full of elite temperament.
"Hey, Henry!" Mike showed his unique and friendly smile as soon as he saw Perry. He walked briskly, almost trotting to Perry's bedside, and patted Perry on the shoulder, with a relaxed and slightly playful tone: "Are you happy to see me?"
Perry was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting Mike to appear here. He came back to his senses, frowned slightly, and asked with confusion: "Mike? Why are you here?" His eyes swept over Mike, especially on the other's exquisite clothes and briefcase, and he couldn't help but blurt out, "And... Aren't you a doctor? Why are you dressed like this?"
Mike grinned, revealing a row of neat white teeth. He casually put the briefcase on the chair next to him, and then put his hands in his suit pants pockets, looking confident: "You said this dress, of course it is prepared for the Kingdom of Atara! That place is super friendly to businessmen, If you don't dress up well, you won't get the preferential treatment there. "He just finished speaking, and suddenly changed the subject, with a mischievous smile on his face, "However, this time I came here mainly because of you. I have 'heard' about your affairs from Crocker. As a brother, how could I not come to see you? Besides, I don't feel comfortable letting you face these dangerous things alone. If you have any accidents, Mom will scold me to death. "
Hearing this, Perry was slightly stunned, frowned and asked: "Crocker? She told you?" He subconsciously turned his head to look at Crocker standing beside him.
Crocker immediately put on an indignant expression and muttered: "What do you mean by tell? It was obviously because he threatened me and pestered me, so I had to tell him! Otherwise, do you think I am willing to say more?"
Mike completely ignored Crocker's complaints, still smiling at Perry, calmly, as if he didn't hear anything. He waved his hand and said in a caring tone like an older brother: "Okay, don't worry about those small details. Your focus now is to quickly solve your own troubles, otherwise you will not be in a coma for a week." At this point, he deliberately paused, with a threatening tone, "Also, don't let mom know, otherwise she will just lock you up at home for 'recuperation', you know."
He didn't know what kind of "recuperation" would be, but he could still tell from Mike's tone that this was not a good thing. Perry's face changed immediately, and the whole Everyone got nervous: "Wait, wait... you mean... everyone in the family knows about this?"
Mike raised his eyebrows and put on a soothing gesture: "No, don't be nervous, not yet." He raised a smug smile at the corner of his mouth, but his tone was a little lower, "But you have to hurry up. Mom already knows about your amnesia, which has made her worried enough. If she knows that you are in trouble, she will probably come to my house and scold me for not taking good care of you."
Perry breathed a sigh of relief, but the sense of relief only lasted for a moment. He whispered: "Mom... what kind of person is she?"
Hearing this question, Mike was stunned, as if he didn't expect Perry to suddenly mention his mother. He frowned slightly, and after a moment he showed a helpless smile: "Are you serious? You really forgot everything." As he said, he adjusted his sitting posture, leaned back in the chair, looked at the ceiling, and seemed to be immersed in memories.
"Mom is the one who worries the most," Mike said slowly, with a tone of tenderness that could not be concealed, "especially for the two of us, she wanted to keep an eye on us all the time. When you were a child, you were naughty and always came back covered in mud. She scolded you harshly, but she would always help you wash your clothes and tell you not to make trouble next time. She is very gentle and strong, and always keeps everything in order at home."
Mike paused, his eyes softened, and a nostalgic smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Once, the cat we raised was sick, and she was worried about it. I didn't sleep all night. You slept like a pig, but she stayed up all night holding the cat, not even having breakfast, and insisted on accompanying us to the parent-teacher meeting at school the next day. At that time, I asked her to go back and rest, but she said, "I can handle the family affairs, you just need to study with peace of mind."
He said here, turned his eyes to Perry, as if waiting for his response, "Do you really have no memory at all?"
Perry lowered his head, and he whispered with some apology: "I'm sorry... I really don't remember. "After all, he is not the real Henry.
Mike frowned, with a little dissatisfaction in his expression, but more of helplessness and heartache: "You actually forgot everything! You know, mom loves you the most. Every time you make a mistake, she intercedes for you, but now you can't even remember what she looks like?" He curled his lips, and there was a hint of exaggerated "anger" in his tone, "No! You have to make up for it! Otherwise, even you will be forgotten in our family!"
As Mike spoke, he pouted his lips pretending to be angry, as if he was using this relaxed way to cover up the loss in his heart. However, the deep concern in his eyes could not be concealed no matter what.
Perry looked at Mike's expression, and his heart was full of mixed feelings. He could feel Mike's care, and the affection from the heart made him feel warm, but also made him feel deeply guilty. He knew that this warmth did not belong to him, but to Henry. If one day Mike knew that the "brother" in front of him was just a stranger possessed in Henry's body... then, how would Mike react?
This thought made Perry's heart heavy, and he even felt a little mean. However, he couldn't stop - in order to survive, he had to continue to play this role well, even if this warmth was stolen from him.
He took a deep breath, forced himself to smile, and said in a low and sincere voice: "Mike, thank you." He looked at the other person seriously, with a hint of gratitude and apology in his tone, "Although I don't remember you and mom, I can feel... You are a good brother, really."
Mike was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he laughed. He reached out and patted Perry's shoulder hard, and said with a smile: "Nonsense! Of course I am a good brother. Even if you don't remember anything, I won't abandon you. This is my duty as a brother."
Perry just nodded, with a complicated expression. Mike didn't seem to notice, and continued to talk about the past with great interest. He talked about some interesting things when they were young, and his voice was full of nostalgia, but Perry's thoughts had drifted away. He lowered his eyelids, as if he was listening carefully to Mike's story, but in fact he was calling the system Eno in his heart.
"Eno..." Perry muttered in his mind, waiting for the familiar response.
The system's voice did not appear for a long time, and Perry's doubts became stronger.
Just as he was wondering, Eno's mechanical voice finally came, [In order to save energy, I will enter sleep mode as long as I don't need it. This can reduce energy waste. And, by the way, I can only appear for a maximum of three hours a day. ]
"Is that so..." Perry frowned slightly, and a helpless smile barely appeared at the corner of his mouth, "There's nothing I can do about it."
He paused, thought quickly in his heart, and whispered: "By the way, now that Mike mentioned Henry's matter, can you help me analyze some of Henry's memories from his conversation?"
[Of course. ] Eno's voice was calm and confident, [But let me remind you of one thing first-the system interface is already available, and now it is my version, the functions and information display methods will be different. ]
As Eno's voice fell, a brand new system interface slowly emerged in Perry's mind. This interface is simple but not without a sense of technology. Compared with the previous simple design, it is completely new and has a more intuitive visual effect.
[Low Level System
• Upgrade: Lv1 → Lv5 (50/5000)
• Energy: 990/1000
• Skills: Analysis Lv1 → Lv2 (200/1000) ]
The data was arranged neatly and clearly, and the progress bar of each column emitted a faint fluorescence, allowing Perry to see his current status at a glance. He couldn't help but sighed: "Oh, this is much better, more intuitive... Now it's easier to know how to upgrade."
[Well, I used the previous retention settings and optimized them.] Eno's tone was as plain as ever, with a unique mechanical rationality, [so that you can master what you need to do faster. ]
Perry was about to nod in praise, but heard Eno's tone paused slightly, and then added: [But I want to remind you that each call to the system will consume 10 points of energy, including checking your own information. ]
"What?!" Perry's expression froze, as if he was splashed with a basin of cold water. His eyes widened, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, "Even checking your own status will deduct energy? This is too harsh!"
He looked down at the energy display and couldn't help frowning. Although there are still 990 points at the moment, this consumption method is not optimistic in the long run. He muttered, "It seems that I have to use the system sparingly in the future, otherwise it will be troublesome if I run out of energy by accident."
[It's okay,] Eno responded calmly, [When I enter sleep mode, I will recover energy at a slow rate, about 5 points per hour. ]
Perry was stunned, and after hearing the recovery speed, he couldn't help but sighed: "Only 5 points in an hour... This is too slow." He rubbed his forehead and muttered helplessly, "But at least it is automatic recovery, which is much better than no recovery at all. It seems that the upgrade of this system is not completely costless..."
His thoughts have not completely calmed down, and he suddenly thought of the previous conversation with Mike. A bold idea emerged in his mind, and he hurriedly asked: "By the way, Eno, if I want to extract Henry's memory fragments from Mike's conversation, how much energy will it consume?"
[Analyzing memory fragments belongs to the analysis skill behavior,] Eno quickly replied, [This requires 50 energy points, and will also increase 50 skill experience points for the 'analysis' skill. ]
"50 energy points?" Perry repeated thoughtfully, frowning slightly, but then relaxed. A relieved smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "That sounds reasonable. Although 50 energy points are not small, at least the increase in skill experience points can allow you to quickly upgrade your skills... It seems worth it."
He pondered for a moment, and his eyes fell on the skill bar on the system interface again. The experience points required for skill upgrades seemed to be more than he thought, and if the "Analysis" skill could reach a higher level, perhaps more abilities could be unlocked. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but raise his head and look somewhere in the void, with a tentative tone: "Then if I want to use skills continuously, such as extracting multiple memory fragments, will the energy be deducted at once?"
Eno paused for a moment, then replied: [Each act of analyzing memory will calculate the energy consumption independently, and even if it is used continuously, energy will be deducted one by one. However, skill experience points will also be accumulated accordingly. If you are careful enough, you can use the remaining energy to plan each step. ]
"Sure enough, there is such a limit..." Perry murmured in a low voice, staring at the energy value with mixed feelings. He understood that although the energy was still sufficient now, if he encountered an emergency in the future, these limits would likely become his biggest stumbling block.
At this time, Mike noticed that Perry looked a little dazed, and couldn't help frowning, with a bit of blame in his tone: "Hey, Henry, I'm talking to you! Why are you absent-minded? Is my story so boring that you are distracted?"
Perry suddenly came back to his senses, waved his hands quickly, and showed an apologetic smile: "No! Of course not, I'm listening!" His tone seemed a little hurried, trying to hide his guilty conscience.
Mike stared at Perry for a while, and raised a slightly suspicious smile: "Hmph, okay. Since you are still listening, then tell me more, so that you don't forget your previous embarrassment."
Perry nodded, pretending to listen carefully, and secretly said to Eno in his mind: "As long as he mentions Henry again, you use analytical skills to extract memories."
[Understood.] Eno's voice was steady and firm.
Perry tried to suppress the uneasiness in his heart and decided to follow Mike's rhythm first. He adjusted his sitting position slightly, his eyes revealed some doubts, and asked: "Mike, then... am I coming to this academy to become a magician?"
Mike was stunned, his eyebrows slightly raised, and then he showed a surprised expression: "What? You even forget your own preferences?" He tapped the table with his fingers, his tone revealed helplessness and a hint of teasing, "I really admire you. You came here because you like plants! And this is not just an ordinary liking, it's simply obsession, right?"
"Obsession?" Perry pretended to be confused, but secretly paid attention to Eno's movements in his heart. He laughed and said, "Haha, really? No wonder, why am I so fascinated by plants?"
Mike shook his head and showed an expression of "How could you forget" on his face: "Of course it's because of uncle's influence! Didn't you raise a lot of plants when you were a child? And they were all very dangerous species. Dad and Mom were very worried, but our uncle thought you were very talented and taught you a lot of things. Later, you insisted on coming to this college to study. Your family was very opposed to it, but you insisted on coming despite the pressure. Do you remember what you said? 'The dream of thought should not be bound by reality!' These are your original words."
He sighed and pointed at himself: "Don't forget, I was dragged by you to come here to work. After all, Mom saw that this school was recruiting doctors and asked me to come here to work."
Perry smiled a little embarrassedly on the surface, but was thinking about the next steps in his heart. He was about to ask something else when Eno's prompt suddenly came to his mind: [Analysis completed, extracting memory...]
Instantly, a blurry picture flooded into Perry's mind.
In his memory, he saw a sunny garden with young Henry standing in it, surrounded by various strange and dangerous plants. He held a small carnivorous plant in his hands, with a focused and enthusiastic expression on his face. Henry's mother stood not far away, frowning, her tone full of worry: "Henry, these plants are too dangerous, why do you have to raise them?"
Henry raised his head and said firmly: "Because they have their own lives, I want to understand them and protect them."
The mother wanted to say something else, at this time, Henry's uncle came over, looking at Henry with gentle and appreciative eyes: "Don't worry, this child has talent. His understanding of these plants is far beyond ordinary people, so don't stop him."
The scene changed, Henry had grown up a little, he and a kind-looking man, Henry's uncle, studied plants together, listening to his uncle's explanation of knowledge and legends about botany. One day when time passed quickly, the uncle left and never came back. Henry stood in the garden, holding the notebook left by his uncle tightly, with a firm look in his eyes: "I will become a botanist, I promise you."
The next scene is full of conflicts. Henry's father needs to adhere to the family rules because of his grandfather, and he requires Henry to learn swordsmanship. He said firmly: "If you want to learn those things about plants, follow the rules first. Defeat me like your brothers and sisters, and take this red cloth from my arm, then you can choose freely."
Henry clenched his fist unwillingly and began to train day after day. While he was working hard to learn swordsmanship, he also used plants as his weapons. Finally, at the age of 14, he barely succeeded in removing the red cloth from his father's arm with the help of plants. Although this victory was not perfect, his father still fulfilled his promise and let him go to the academy to study. However, his father also put forward a harsh condition: "You can't give up halfway. If one day you give up, I will let you come back and join the army."
At the end of the picture, Henry stood at the gate of the academy with Teresa and Alaric, with youthful smiles on their faces. They looked close, like old friends who had known each other for a long time. Henry looked at the vegetation in the distance, his eyes full of longing: "I will definitely become a botanist, and I want others to recognize me."
...
Perry suddenly came back to his senses and found that his palms were slightly sweaty. He clenched his fists to cover up, lowered his head and calmed down.
"What's wrong?" Mike looked at him in confusion.
Perry forced a smile and said as if nothing had happened: "It's okay, I remembered some memories..." However, he couldn't help muttering in his heart: Things are getting worse and worse. Henry wants to be a botanist, but I just want to be a chef!