Core Understanding

"You take your time reading. I'm not in a hurry to get back to school.

Campus access closes at nine in the evening. After nine, pitiful college students like us have to sort out our own lodging outside.

And the hotels and inns near Imperial Industrial University are terrifyingly expensive!"

Stur complained in a pitiful tone.

Gallo merely rolled his eyes at him. Every citizen of the Iron Glory Empire knew that getting into Imperial Industrial University meant a bright future lay ahead.

Most students who graduated from here would be selected by various departments of the Imperial government. Even those with the least desirable prospects would become highly paid engineers at major industrial enterprises.

Simply put, Imperial Industrial University was a place dedicated to cultivating elites for the Iron Glory Empire.

Even if Stur was currently living in straitened circumstances, his promising future and his status as a current Imperial Industrial University student were enough to earn him respect anywhere in the Iron Glory Empire.

Gallo opened The Charm of Industrial Computing.

It was a thick tome that, under normal circumstances, might have taken him several days to work through.

But now, he discovered that he was reading at an astonishing speed.

His eyes swept over the pages, and the words seemed to leap into his mind of their own accord, rapidly understood and absorbed. This was the effect of Learning LV2.

Even more frighteningly, after closing the book, he could not only recount its general contents but could clearly "see" the page and line numbers of certain important passages. This was the improvement brought by Memory LV2.

This was not merely having a good memory. It was practically a superpower.

Suppressing his excitement, he used the time while Stur was still enjoying his cake and coffee to read the thick copy of The Charm of Industrial Computing.

His brain seemed to have become an efficient information-processing center. By the time Stur finished the last Madeleine Cake and sucked the grease from the cake paper off his fingers—

He wiped his hands with a napkin, then drank the remaining coffee in his cup.

Gallo had also reached the final page. After scanning it for a few seconds, he closed the entire book.

"You finished it?" Stur asked doubtfully at first, then burst into laughter.

He muttered to himself, "What am I even thinking... How could that be possible? Even if you went to middle school, the contents of this book are far too profound for you.

Even ordinary students from the Engineering Department or mathematics department would find it difficult to understand the industrial concepts and logical algorithms mentioned by Mr. Babbage in this book."

Gallo was still looking down at the thick book in his hands, but he was actually checking his status panel.

Below the panel, on the line for assignable points, his available points had increased by "1."

Although Gallo was a transmigrator, his system was far too simplistic. He had to explore and figure out every function on his own.

For instance, he had previously had no idea how to obtain assignable points.

The only possible reason for this sudden increase was that he had finished reading The Charm of Industrial Computing.

Could it be because I chose the Wisdom Path, and after finishing such a thick book, the system automatically gave me one assignable point?

He silently pondered this, though it was only a guess.

Returning the book to Stur across from him, Gallo raised his head, looked seriously at him, and said, "Actually... I've already finished reading this book."

The air fell silent, and Stur suddenly let out a shrill laugh.

"Hahaha... You mean... haha... you mean you finished the entire book? A book this thick?"

Stur wiped away the tears of laughter at the corners of his eyes.

He continued, "Even if you have an excellent memory, that doesn't mean you can finish reading this book. Reading and memorization are two different things... Hahaha... Why am I even telling you this... Forget it."

Gallo looked unconvinced. "You can ask me anything about the contents of this book!"

"Sure!" Stur became serious as well. He asked, "The simplest question: what was Mr. Babbage trying to express through this book?"

Gallo suddenly paused. It was indeed a simple question, but also a difficult one to answer. He had originally expected Stur to ask something like:

What was written on a certain page, or on a certain line.

That way, Gallo could rely on his exceptional memory to recite the book's contents without making a single mistake.

But the question Stur had asked could not be answered merely with Gallo's superb memory.

Gallo needed to truly understand the book's contents in order to summarize and answer the question. Simply remembering its words was useless.

"Give me a moment. Let me think about how to answer," Gallo said. Stur watched him with interest.

Gallo called up his status panel again. Looking at Learning LV2 under the Wisdom Path, he assigned the one point he had just obtained to Learning.

Learning LV2 immediately became [Learning LV3].

If his guess was correct...

Gallo began to reprocess the entirety of The Charm of Industrial Computing recorded in his memory. Learning LV3 immediately enhanced his already formidable reading comprehension.

Because the book's contents were already stored in his mind, it took only a short while for Gallo to understand the entire book through [Learning LV3].

"The core of this book," Gallo began, his pace steady and his phrasing clear, like a professor lecturing in a university hall.

"Rather than being about 'computation,' it is more accurately a prophecy of a new form of 'industrial development' and a 'philosophy of management.'"

The mocking expression on Stur's face instantly vanished, and the upturn of his lips slowly relaxed.

Gallo continued, "Professor Babbage believed that the rapid development of industry in the current era had brought not only advances in steam power, but also unprecedented complexity in production processes and social coordination.

Traditional, experience-based, vague management had already become a shackle restricting the further growth of the industrial behemoth."

He paused, as though organizing the key points in his mind. "Therefore, he proposed that we establish a precise system of 'computing' for the industrial world.

This was not merely mathematical calculation. It also included:

First, the 'computable' analysis of production processes: for example, converting every step of manufacturing a part... from raw material input and labor-hour consumption to machine wear and quality inspection... into quantifiable data.

Second, 'optimization' models for resource allocation: how should production lines be arranged to achieve maximum efficiency?

How should inventory be managed so that it met production needs without tying up funds?

This book proposed some preliminary mathematical models to explore these issues.

Third, and most boldly, he foresaw the beginnings of 'automated decision-making': he believed that once we turned the rules of industrial activity into data, it would be possible to design some sort of mechanical or logical device.

One that could replace the human brain in processing this massive amount of information, and even make basic management decisions... For example, automatically triggering a procurement order when inventory fell below a certain level."

Seeing the growing astonishment in Stur's eyes, Gallo gave his final summary:

"So, in Professor Babbage's view, the so-called 'charm' lies in using calm, precise computational logic to master the passion and opportunities of the industrial age.

It would allow the light of reason to pierce through coal smoke and steam, illuminating a path toward a more efficient and controllable future.

He believed this would be the core of the next great industrial expansion after the industrial development brought about by steam power."

After speaking, Gallo picked up his coffee, took a sip, and added, "Of course, the book uses many mathematical formulas and logical deductions to support these views. What I described is only the framework of his ideas."

Stur had completely forgotten how dismissive he had been of Gallo's claim to have finished an entire book.

He stared blankly at Gallo, taking several seconds to recover.

"Gods above..."

He murmured, "You... You really just flipped through this book?

Your summary is more precise than the reading reports of some experienced upperclassmen in our department!

You grasped its essence, especially the points about 'management philosophy' and 'automated decision-making'!"

Stur's tone changed from testing him to sincere admiration, even carrying intense excitement. "That's right!

That's what my professor values!

Our current project is to draw on this very idea and try to establish a predictive model for the maintenance cycles and production cycles of a new type of industrial production line!

Heavens, Gallo, you... you're a genius!"

Gallo calmly accepted his praise, though he understood that it was not entirely talent. It was the efficient learning and information integration granted by the system.

But he also felt that when comprehending this knowledge, [Learning Lv3] truly allowed him to grasp the core concepts more quickly, rather than merely memorizing them by rote.

This brief "test" had undoubtedly elevated his standing in Stur's eyes from a "useful street kid" to an "extraordinary talent worth being surprised by and getting to know more deeply."

"I'll come here again tomorrow. Do you have any other books?

If it's convenient, could you lend me some tomorrow?" Gallo wrapped the four remaining Madeleine Cakes on his plate in a sheet of greaseproof paper provided by the café waiter and carried them in his hand.

Tightening his collar, he spoke to Stur.

"Of course! Of course!

But... you'll be coming again tomorrow?" Stur looked at the boy before him, his voice full of anticipation. He continued, "I need to go back tonight and organize my report.

What you just said, your understanding of the core of this book, gave me an excellent direction. You've helped me tremendously. Those two Fenso were so worth it!"

Gallo said, "More importantly, you treated me to cake and coffee. This is my service in return.

And tomorrow... even every day after that, unless something unusual happens, I'll come here..."

As he walked toward the street, he turned back and said to Stur, "To work here and make money!"