Chapter 255: Hugo's Adventures in Wonderland (Part 1) (Patreon)

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"I believe that studying the concept of a 'Memory Palace' is meaningless since it cannot be proven or disproven," Hugo put down the book in his hand and looked at Brand across from him, then continued, "Dr. Brand, do you share the same view?"

"If you're referring to the paper Schiller published earlier, then I can only say, sorry, my research focuses on pathology. The aspects related to psychological theories should be discussed with Schiller himself."

However, it seemed that Hugo didn't perceive Brand's refusal to discuss the topic. He continued to talk to himself, "The Memory Palace technique, if I may consider it a mnemonic device, is a variation of the method of loci. It involves mentally constructing a building with categorized memories stored inside..."

"Human memory can certainly be categorized, organized, and classified, but to suggest constructing a specific building in one's mind to store and retrieve memories like browsing a library is an exaggeration. It is more of an imagination of great intellect."

"The human brain is not a mechanical storage device. 'Forgetting' is a crucial part of the brain's self-protection mechanism."

"If one were to truly build a library in their mind, it would mean they have disabled the function of forgetting. If that were the case, the information capacity and real-time processing power in their brain would exceed the limits of what their physical body can bear."

"Furthermore, no one can prove the existence of such a construct because even if you opened their skull and examined the brain, you wouldn't be able to see whether such a building exists in their conscious space."

While Brand was jotting down patient notes, he replied, "But you also can't disprove it because you cannot deny that there are individuals who claim to possess such abilities and have better memory than others."

"I've said it before, I acknowledge it as a mnemonic technique that might indeed help organize scattered memories and categorize them effectively, but it is nowhere near as extravagant as some papers boast, claiming to build a vast structure to store countless information for convenient retrieval..."

"What's even more absurd is that some papers mention the presence of living beings or personified representations of personalities within the Memory Palace, suggesting communication between them. It is completely baseless."

Hugo spoke calmly and logically, pushing his glasses up and looking at the book in his hand. "However, it seems our Professor Rodriguez greatly admires it."

"But it's true, people are always fascinated by concepts that resemble fantasy novels. If you exaggerate them a bit and describe them in an entertaining manner, your book will surely sell well."

"Forgive my frankness, but in the realm of academia, this theory does not hold up. Perhaps there are extremely rare geniuses who can achieve something similar, but their proportion within the human population is negligible from a probabilistic perspective. Hence, it lacks any research value."

Hugo placed the book down once again, causing it to collide with the table and emit a dull sound. He continued, "Perhaps our Professor Schiller is one of those incredibly rare geniuses. I wonder if he will find his counterpart in his lifetime and substantiate his extraordinary theory with evidence to maintain his current academic standing..."

Brand detected the mockery in Hugo's tone but chose not to refute. He silently bowed his head and continued writing patient notes.

Not being affirmed or even responded to did not discourage Hugo from indulging in conversation. After all, his social relations were poor in his previous position, and hardly anyone was willing to talk to him, let alone professionals in this field.

So he didn't mind that Brand merely played the role of a silent listener. He went on, "Compared to these unrealistic theories, I find 'emotions' that are more externalized and easily observable to have more research value."

"In fact, the current topic I'm working on is the Amplification Theory of Emotions. I've always believed that human emotions have a strong spectral characteristic, and once they are systematized and amplified through certain means, remarkable things can be achieved..."

"And there's telepathy, which is also based on this theory. When strong emotions are generated, they produce a certain brainwave. Perhaps when these brainwaves interact with each other, true mind reading can be achieved."

"Perhaps it goes even further, allowing one to enter another person's mind and manipulate their thoughts..."

Hugo's tone became increasingly excited, revealing his confidence in this theory.

This was not just his imagination. The difference between Hugo and other psychologists was that he not only had expertise in psychology but also was a proficient physicist and biologist.

His support for this theory went beyond writing papers or conducting theoretical research. He had practical skills in biological dissection and mechanical design.

Driven by the urgency to prove his theory, Hugo had conducted many unethical and cruel experiments, the details of which need not be mentioned, but they did yield some results.

However, just as he was at a crucial stage in his research, his unethical experiments were discovered, leading to his dismissal from his previous institution, and he ended up here.

Being in Gotham further fueled Hugo's research motivation. It was a lawless place, and more importantly, Schiller Rodriguez, who was more authoritative, higher in status, and more famous in academia, was also here.

Hugo and Schiller's research directions were not exactly opposite but rather unrelated, and in some aspects even conflicting.

In recent years, Schiller's most outstanding publication was his research on the Memory Palace. In this paper, he elaborated on the concept and extended it into various branches, almost making it his own specialized field.

No one had ever before perfected this theory so comprehensively and logically. In recent years, many in the industry believed it would be the future direction of psychology. However, Hugo disregarded it.

Schiller's research focused on how humans can delve deeper into their own consciousness and thoughts, and how to control their own minds. On the other hand, Hugo's research was about connecting and manipulating one person's mind with another person's.

Hugo firmly believed that his theory was the future direction of human development. More importantly, if he truly mastered this technique and could freely manipulate others' minds, there would be nothing in this world that he couldn't achieve.

Driven by his ambition and various reasons, Hugo's research enthusiasm was running high. However, he faced his first challenge: he needed subjects for his experiments.

Since he had become a doctor at Arkham Asylum, what could be better experimental subjects than the patients?

When Schiller left, there was no formal handover with Hugo. There wasn't much to hand over here because the asylum barely had any actual patients.

Aware that the patients in the asylum were either gang leaders, their family members, or lovers, Hugo didn't act rashly. He knew that using this group of people as subjects could lead to the same predicament as before—being discovered and hunted down.

Hugo believed it was better to be cautious until he perfected his technique.

However, he did inherit Copperpot's medical records, treatment reports, and schedule from Schiller. Among these materials, Hugo discovered that although the mental hospital had few actual patients, there were a few with unique conditions in Schiller's treatment records.

The first case Hugo came across was about Copperpot, which happened to be the one he was most interested in.

Teenagers had less mature minds and weaker psychological defenses, making them ideal targets. Moreover, from Copperpot's medical records, it was clear that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, which meant he already had a mental disorder. Even if Hugo's experiments had adverse effects, he could attribute them to Copperpot's preexisting condition.

In this way, Hugo scheduled a follow-up appointment with Copperpot over the phone. Copperpot was unaware of Schiller's departure and thought it was just a colleague of Dr. Schiller calling.

He didn't think much of it, assuming Dr. Schiller was too busy and had asked a friend to fill in.

Lately, his condition had improved significantly, so he didn't attach much importance to routine check-ups. That's what Copperpot thought until he saw Hugo wheeling a strange machine out of the preparation room.

It was an egg-shaped device with a row of circular indicator lights on its surface.

"What is this?" Copperpot asked.

"This is a new type of therapy device," Hugo told Copperpot. "It's normal that you haven't seen it before because it's the most advanced mental therapy equipment in the world, not just in Gotham, but throughout the entire East Coast."

Copperpot narrowed his eyes, but Hugo didn't pay attention to his suspicion. Instead, he said to Copperpot, "Don't worry about it. You don't need to touch it with your body, and I won't do anything to you with it. I'm just placing it here beside you, so you don't need to feel nervous..."

"Alright, next, we'll start with a simple hypnosis test..."

Copperpot furrowed his brow even tighter and said, "Dr. Schiller never did any hypnosis tests on me..."

"I looked at your medical records," Hugo took a medical file from the side and said, "I have absolutely no intention of discrediting Professor Rodriguez. It's just that I can see he lacks experience in teenage psychology research, while I happen to have some expertise in this area."

"Don't worry, I'll keep my distance from you, and this machine will never come near you. You just need to sit in the chair and imagine based on my words. I promise it will be quick, less than 10 minutes."

After speaking, Hugo pressed a button on the peculiar-shaped machine, and when the indicator lights on it started flashing, Copperpot slowly closed his eyes. Meanwhile, Hugo walked over to the machine and pulled out several cables connected to adhesive patches from behind, then proceeded to stick them on his own head one by one.

As the machine hummed louder, Copperpot's brow furrowed even more, and an invisible force filled the room. The brainwaves of Copperpot and Hugo were amplified and gradually merged together.

Consciousness fell from darkness, and amidst flickering white light, Hugo found himself in Copperpot's mind.

He wasn't particularly surprised because he had been able to do this before. Now, his research had taken another step forward.

Before Hugo could make any further movements, he uttered a confused sound, "Huh?"

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 256: Hugo's Adventures in Wonderland (Part 2)