"Actually, you didn't need to explain,"
He Ao looked at the blond youth and said slowly, "I just thought you were very good at questioning things. You didn't seem like someone who had received a formal education, and you specifically emphasized elementary school textbooks, so I asked casually. I have to say, though, you really are good at questioning things."
Hearing He Ao's words, the blond youth opened his mouth, but no sound came out for a moment.
He stared at He Ao's face. He could clearly sense the sincerity between He Ao's words. He Ao genuinely thought he was good at "questioning things," and there was even a hint of praise in it.
That left him unable to tell whether He Ao was mocking him or genuinely praising him.
Still, he had no intention of dwelling on the subject. Over the years, far too many people had mocked him during his "preaching."
He composed himself, looked at He Ao, and smiled. "Of course, I know you must think I'm rambling like a madman, doing nothing but questioning everything."
"I think some of what you said does make a lot of sense,"
He Ao said calmly. "Given the Federation's level of technology, the fact that it has neither developed nor explored the universe—and that even astronomy has withered away—is indeed very strange."
Before the blond youth mentioned it, He Ao had actually been influenced somewhat by the memories of the characters.
He had experienced many Copy Worlds and accumulated a great deal of knowledge and memories about the Federation, but his perspective had also been limited by those characters.
Although the knowledge of different characters could supplement and trigger one another, resolving some blind spots, He Ao would still be affected by "blind spots in thinking" shared by all the