Business Is Booming

Over the next few days, the feeling of being watched and followed in secret came and went intermittently.

Gallo couldn't quite figure out what the other party was really after. They were only monitoring him from the shadows, without making any contact.

Coin divination could only produce one of two results, yes or no; it couldn't reveal what the other party was actually thinking.

Gallo had considered using the knowledge from Subspace in his mind to thoroughly investigate the mysterious watcher's true identity.

He still had two unallocated points he could put into the Psionic route, but whenever the thought crossed his mind,

the knowledge that came from Subspace made his very nature recoil with fear.

It hasn't harmed me so far, and it's just been following me in secret... I'll put the points into Psionics if things ever become dangerous.

Gallo reassured himself. If either choice would bring danger, then he might as well keep leaving things alone.

The one thing that comforted him was that his business had been booming lately.

Gallo's reputation began to spread through the campus of Imperial Industrial University, rippling outward like waves on water.

At first, he had focused on university students, who had a high demand for his services and were still in school.

Aside from students at Imperial Industrial University, some people from outside the university had heard about him and come to ask for help. Their requests were usually simple book-finding services.

After all, Lubo Lane had so many bookstores. Aside from students, the other people who came there were mostly looking to buy books.

With Gallo around, it had become rare to find an empty table at Moonlight Cafe during the day.

Some university students would even sit near Gallo outside the cafe in their free time, despite having no requests of their own, just to listen as he explained books to other customers.

Sometimes, even when they had already read the books, hearing Gallo explain them to someone else gave them a different perspective.

Neither Gallo nor his customers minded having an audience.

Gallo's Knowledge Navigation business continued to grow steadily, and the money in his pockets increased day by day.

From the moment he sat down in the morning, a steady line would often form in front of his stall. It wasn't very long, but it never seemed to end.

Some students even came all the way there because of his reputation, just to test his nearly legendary "photographic memory" and "precise analysis."

The number of books Gallo had read grew at an astonishing rate.

Stur had practically become his personal "book porter." Besides him, several other students who had been impressed by Gallo's abilities were happy to borrow all kinds of books from the library for him.

It made Gallo feel as if people were feeding him knowledge.

As his reading grew exponentially, Gallo's understanding of the collections at the various bookstores deepened.

Eventually, he didn't even need customers to provide specific titles. All they had to do was describe their research topic or problem, and he could act like an experienced guide, pointing out the most suitable books and which bookstores carried them.

He could also provide professional explanations of their contents. With his analysis, customers could often understand and absorb a book's content and core ideas much faster. It was like having a mentor mark the key points for them.

But great success also brought great exhaustion.

The intense, highly precise mental work left Gallo feeling as if his brain had been hollowed out by the end of each day. Even on his way home, his mind often felt hazy.

To keep himself in good shape, he set a rule for himself: he would take an hour off from ten to eleven in the morning and another from three to four in the afternoon.

During those breaks, he stopped seeing customers and simply sat there quietly, drinking coffee provided by the cafe, chatting occasionally with the people around him, or just closing his eyes to rest.

Whenever he took a break, the three chairs around Gallo's table were left empty.

Only friends he was close to would sit there while he rested, checking to see whether he had enough energy to chat.

The afternoon sunlight filtered through the coal haze that hung over Tin City year-round, growing soft and thin.

Gallo had just finished his mandatory hour-long break. He sipped the now-lukewarm water in his cup, giving his tired brain a chance to catch its breath.

But as soon as his break ended, a figure hurried over to his table.

The newcomer was a female student wearing the dark blue uniform of Imperial Industrial University. The silver thread on her cuffs was a little worn, and faint shadows under her eyes showed that she had been staying up late.

She held a densely scribbled sheet of paper in her hand. Her fingertips had gone slightly white from gripping it so tightly.

"Are you... Mr. Gallo?"

Her voice held a note of hopeful uncertainty. Her gaze quickly swept over Gallo's youthful, almost boyish face and the crudely made sign beside him.

Because of his reputation, people called him "Mr. Gallo." It was hard to imagine anyone using such an honorific for a fourteen-year-old boy.

"I am." Gallo set down his cup and gave her a reassuring smile, calm and composed like an adult, despite his age. "What can I help you with?"

When the people nearby saw Gallo starting work again, those who had been quietly drinking coffee and chatting began to gather around, hoping to listen in.

Watching Gallo work had somehow become a relaxing way for them to pass the time.

"I need to find some books about... about 'the effects of high-frequency oscillations on the microscopic fatigue of precision metal components.'"

The student rattled off the cumbersome topic at great speed, then added in a somewhat dejected tone:

"I've been looking for three days. I've gone to the library and several large bookstores, but either the material is too old or it's all too general. I can't find any cutting-edge research focused on my topic.

My research report is due next week."

Her anxiety was almost palpable.

Gallo didn't answer immediately. He gently closed his eyes.

In an instant, his brain seemed to transform into a magnificent library reading room. The ghostly images of countless shelves in Lubo Lane's forty-one bookstores flew past and rearranged themselves.

Book titles, authors, publishers, even the approximate colors of book covers and the sections where they were shelved—all lined up like soldiers awaiting inspection under an unseen commander, rapidly cross-referencing and filtering for connections.

"High-frequency oscillations," "metal fatigue," "precision components"... Each keyword was like a key, slotting precisely into the locks of his memory.

A few seconds later, Gallo opened his eyes, his gaze certain.

"Mechanical Fatigue: Theory and Frontier Applications, by Morris Hopkins. The third chapter is devoted to crack initiation under vibration loads.

"It's on the third shelf from the east on the second floor of New Knowledge Journal Press. Green spine."

He spoke evenly and clearly, and the girl quickly wrote down every word in the pocket notebook she carried with her.

"Applied Physics Review: Materials Volume, second issue this year, page 178. There's a short article titled Evolution of Alloy Surface Damage.

"The data is very recent. It's in the periodicals section at John Joe Bookstore. They probably haven't sold out yet."

The student's eyes gradually lit up. The people around them could hear the scratching of her pen as she hurriedly took notes.

"And..." Gallo paused briefly, seeming to search for something more obscure.

"There's a book called Case Analysis of Industrial Resonance Failure on a corner shelf at Metallurgy Literature Bookstore.

"The cover's a little worn. It was published five years ago.

"But it contains real cases of metal fatigue caused by oscillations at specific frequencies during industrial production.

"Different factories use different production equipment and make different products, but the analysis of the underlying mechanisms should give you a lot to work with."

Gallo had read all of these books while explaining them to other people recently, or Stur and the others had borrowed them for him from the university library.

So he directly linked their contents to the girl's needs.

"That's wonderful! Thank you so much!" The student thanked him repeatedly, excitedly writing down the information. Then she quickly took two one-Fenso coins from her purse and placed them solemnly in front of Gallo. "This is the fee for finding the books. Thank you so much!"

Gallo smiled as he collected the coins. "Good luck with your research."

The student hurried off, her steps much lighter than when she had arrived.

As Gallo finished working, several people nearby began whispering, discussing the books he had just mentioned.

Those who had read them vouched for his recommendations. And yet even the many others who had already seen Gallo fulfill customers' requests with perfect solutions couldn't help marveling at what had just happened.

Gallo watched the student across from him get up and leave. Another person who had been waiting took her seat.

"Professor Vanason, I haven't seen you in the last couple of days." Gallo looked at the man now seated across from him. He was a professor in the History Department at Imperial Industrial University.

The professor had hurried over, only to find that Gallo already had a customer. He'd had no choice but to wait in line.

There was unmistakable worry on his face, though there were many more people gathered around Gallo now.

"Gallo." He didn't even bother with small talk, lowering his voice as he said, "Jeffrey went home, but his office has practically been emptied!

"All his materials, including the private collection of books he treasured so much, are gone!

"I asked the department chair about it, but all he said was that Jeffrey had taken leave through the proper channels."

Perhaps because he saw that the older man was Gallo's friend, the people nearby consciously moved away, giving the two of them space to talk in private.

Even those who recognized Vanason as an authority in the university's History Department didn't approach him to bother him at a time like this.

Gallo could see that Professor Vanason was uneasy, so he tried to reassure him. "Weren't you hoping Professor Jeffrey would take some time off and rest at home?

"Maybe Professor Jeffrey is recuperating and getting himself back into shape."

Professor Vanason shook his head. "It's not the same... Even if he was going home, he didn't need to take all the documents from his office with him."

Gallo thought it over for a while, then asked if the professor knew Jeffrey's home address.

"Our offices are close together, and we see each other at work almost every day unless one of us is away on a trip. But we've never visited each other's homes.

"I only know which street he lives on. As for the exact number..." Professor Vanason thought for a moment before continuing, "I can find out at the university."

Gallo nodded. "So you haven't seen Professor Jeffrey at all in the last couple of days?"

Professor Vanason sighed. "I haven't seen him since I returned the research notes on the ancient pictographic symbols of the Askia Dynasty. He must have taken some things out of his office that night, then asked a student to file for leave with the department the next day."

Gallo slipped his hand into the left pocket of his shirt, then took out an ordinary-looking one-Fenso coin in Professor Vanason's view.

"Professor, I'd like to divine whether Professor Jeffrey is in danger right now."

Vanason froze for a moment. "Divine?"

Gallo nodded firmly. He flicked the coin into the air until it reached brow height. It looked like black gold to Gallo, but perfectly ordinary to everyone else.

When the coin landed on the back of his hand, he immediately covered it with his other hand. Before tossing it, he had silently asked himself, Is Professor Jeffrey in danger right now?

When he lifted his hand, the coin was heads.

This was the first time Gallo had used coin divination to divine the fate of the Law of Causality for someone else.

He also wanted to use Professor Vanason to check whether the result of this divination was accurate.

Gallo took a deep breath, put the coin back in his pocket, and said solemnly, "Professor Jeffrey is in danger.

"If you're going to his home, you should go as soon as possible."

Vanason looked at Gallo. His Adam's apple bobbed once as he swallowed, and he stared at him blankly. "That was your divination? With a coin?

"But coin divination only has two possible results, heads or tails. No matter which way you look at it, it's fifty-fifty!"

Gallo smiled. "My divinations have a very high success rate. I've even thought about adding divination to my list of services and writing it on my sign.

"The fee would be entirely up to the customer."

Professor Vanason gave a light cough. As a university professor, he wasn't very interested in divination. But no diviner could earn a service fee by trying to fool customers with a coin toss.

He stood up, deciding to head back to the university right away and find out where Professor Jeffrey lived. As for the divination Gallo had just performed, Professor Vanason didn't take it seriously at all.

In his eyes, Gallo was an extraordinary young man with an exceptional memory and ability to learn from books. A person with abilities beyond the ordinary could be allowed a few little quirks.

After Vanason left, still full of worry, another person took a seat in front of Gallo's stall.

He was somewhat plump, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and had a friendly smile.

"Mr. Gallo, I'm the owner of Aofan Bookstore, Moron Aofan." His tone was so polite that it bordered on humility.

"Business at my shop has improved quite a bit lately, especially for books on obscure subjects. It's all thanks to your recommendations."

Gallo immediately understood. Over the last few days, he had been directing students to books, and without realizing it, had become the best salesperson for the bookstores on the street.

"You're too kind, Mr. Aofan. I was only doing what I was supposed to." Gallo remained polite.

In fact, he'd recognized the other man as soon as he sat down. Just last week, he had applied for a job at Aofan's store, only to be turned down outright.

"No, no, this is absolutely thanks to you." The owner of Aofan Bookstore rubbed his hands together and lowered his voice. "I see you sitting out here in the wind and sun every day. It must be exhausting.

"Why not come work at my store?

"I'll make you assistant manager, with a daily wage of fifteen Copper Nils!

"The job is easy. The staff will take care of the chores, and all you'll need to do is keep an eye on the store. You can still read during your free time!"