Yu Yanhui unconsciously pouted, and the scene from the previous battle flashed through her mind.
That kind of complete dominance in skill, timing, and combat mindset is... utterly meaningless!
"I wonder who is stronger, Shen Heng or them?"
Yu Yanhui at Shen Heng's quiet profile and muttered to herself.
Her direct, firsthand experience told her that Shen Heng seemed very strong, but in the end, the two had never directly fought each other.
"However, Wang Hu and his group are probably stronger, after all, they have the added advantage of their abilities..."
Yu Yanhui tried to convince herself with Rational Analysis, but her mind kept replaying Shen Heng's simple yet efficient moves.
She let out a soft breath, her gaze returning to the young man who was focused on the virtual images.
My gaze shifted and landed on the virtual screen that appeared extremely faint from this perspective.
"I wonder what Shen Heng is looking at..."
The noise was shut out.
Shen Heng leaned against the cold wall, his gaze fixed on the pale blue virtual pages in front of him.
With a flick of the fingertip, the page silently flips, revealing new content.
"... Behavioral decisions are not always the product of rationality. When individuals are in a specific emotional state, their behavioral patterns tend to lean in a direction consistent with that emotional tone. For example, in an anxious state, they are more likely to choose conservative strategies, while in a pleasant state, they may be more willing to take risks..."
"... The 'action-oriented' and 'state-oriented' theories suggest that individuals exhibit two different patterns under stress: action-oriented individuals can quickly detach from negative emotions and focus on goals and solutions; while state-oriented individuals are prone to emotional Rumination, their attention being occupied by their own state (such as irritability or doubt), leading to a loss of decision-making ability, or slow decision-making and decreased action..."
"... It is important to note that emotional intervention should be conducted discreetly when the target is emotionally stable... Overly abrupt emotional intervention can easily trigger psychological defense mechanisms, leading to alertness and resistance... but intervention will be much more effective when the target is already experiencing emotional fluctuations..."
Page after page of content flashed by in front of me.
After a long while, Shen Heng slowly raised his hand, and the light from the image quickly dissipated along with his movement.
His eyes were slightly lowered, and he quickly summarized and organized the knowledge he had acquired over the past few days in his mind.
The importance of discreet emotional intervention was something I learned from my previous experience using this skill.
The lower-level ones are alright; even if they sense it, they have no ability to resist.
But the higher levels are different. Even without specifically cultivating mental power, they possess considerable resistance when facing their own abilities.
Hmm... This is because of my own abilities; my level in manipulating emotions isn't very high. If I were S-Class, I probably wouldn't have much ability to resist the ordinary Calamity Beast I'm facing now.
Other aspects...
"State-oriented individuals are prone to emotional Rumination, which can be divided into two types: irritability and doubt. Does this mean that even within state-oriented individuals, there are different types?"
"If it's about being irritable, it's more likely to be those instinct-driven, mindless Calamity Beast; if it's about suspicion, it's more likely to be those more cunning, more adept at Calamity Beast..."
Previously, Shen Heng would typically instill fear in low-level Calamity Beast and rage in Calamity Beast of the same level, but theoretically, it seems he should...
"Should we actually evoke different emotions in these two types of Calamity Beast?"
"The irritable will be made even more irritable; the cunning will be met with suspicion or unease..."
"By providing them with different emotions that align with their instincts, we can better intervene in their emotions..."
"Then..."
"The influence of emotions on behavior, and how to use emotions to influence specific behaviors..."
Shen Heng lowered his eyes slightly, his mind racing as he recalled what he had seen over the past few days.
While emotions are not directly equivalent to behavior, the two are exceptionally closely related.
"Just as rage often corresponds to aggression, after inciting someone to be enraged, it's easy to incite them to attack through suggestion, but getting them to run away is much more difficult, and getting them to do anything complex while enraged is even more impossible. However..."
Shen Heng thought of another argument about "suggested receptivity":
"... When an individual is emotionally stable, their cues are highly sensitive; however, when they are in extreme emotional states, especially when their cognitive resources are heavily utilized, or when they lose consciousness, their psychological defenses may temporarily falter, making them more susceptible to externally implanted behavioral instructions..."
"So, to achieve a hypnotic effect, either you have to implant a mental command while the other person's emotions are still fluctuating wildly, or you have to knock them unconscious before implanting the command?"
"Hmm... this instruction can't be too outrageous, otherwise it will cause the other party to subconsciously resist."
"For example, causing the other person to commit suicide, or doing something they would never want to do..."
One idea after another slowly passed through Shen Heng's mind.
After a long while, he let out a soft breath, marking the temporary end to his studies on psychology over the past few days.
He raised his gaze and looked at the girl with braided hair who hurriedly looked away when she saw him looking at her. Shen Heng then shifted his gaze to Han Ling and Lin Zhaoran, who were still fighting, before looking out the window.
Although I've read a lot of theory, practical experience is what truly makes it useful.
Hypnosis... this is obviously not something you can use on your comrades or others, but the Calamity Beast...
Suddenly, Shen Heng's gaze was drawn to a scene outside the window.
A massive military transport plane slowly flew in through the towering Light Gate.
The transport plane landed slowly, and then the cabin door opened, and a large number of people disembarked...
Is this the fifth wave? Why are so many people being brought in these past two days?... Shen Heng looked at the figures slowly descending from the transport plane with some confusion.
Suddenly, a Distortion ripple flashed before Shen Heng's eyes.
The ripples were very faint and appeared for a very short time, but...
That was... Distortion or fluctuation in space?... Shen Heng frowned slightly.
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he looked at those figures once again.
His eyes closed, then quickly looked up again.
What appeared before him were figures, though slender, that emanated genuine fluctuations of Origin Power...
This is... the solution that headquarters came up with?