Half an hour later, Latham finally gained some understanding of the weak consciousness in his mind.

  It was indeed a faint consciousness generated by the sensor, but it still had a huge gap compared to what one might imagine as self-awareness.

  One could only say that this entity had some traits of human intelligence, with a certain ability to make logical judgments.

  Of course, it was far superior to the completely program-driven judgments made by a computer.

  Latham's feeling was that this was still a person—a lifeform capable of independent thought—but this lifeform was not complete. It was like a puppet that had no thoughts of its own and could only act according to orders.

  It was like a strange combination of some features of a computer and some human-like judgment abilities.

  With this deduction, Latham was fully satisfied.

  The reason computers can't replace the human brain is because they lack two things.

  One is emotion, though this factor is not worth mentioning since Latham could never believe that two machines could develop any intense emotions like romantic love.

  The other is judgment ability, and this refers not to programmatic judgment, but to the kind of subjective judgment that humans have.

  No matter how advanced human science becomes, these two major problems remain unsolved.

  However, now it seemed that the second issue might be on the verge of being solved.

  “Phew...” The hovering car finally came to a stop.

  Latham jumped out, not wanting to stay inside any longer, as he had already spotted Dr. Raka heading toward the classroom.

  “This is some magical mineral, and I can clearly feel it telling me a heart-wrenching, yet true story that has been buried beneath the dust of history...”

  Ten minutes later, a sporadic applause came from the audience as Schneider finished his speech.

  Dr. Raka stood up from his chair, nodded toward the speaker, and then pursed his thick lips. His deep voice came through: “Schneider, thank you for your speech, but if I remember correctly, the assignment I gave was an observation report, not a fantasy novel.”

  “Haha…”

  The audience erupted in laughter.

  “Oh, sorry, Doctor.” Schneider shrugged nervously and said, “But Doctor, this is my genuine feeling after seeing those minerals.”

  “Haha…” The laughter grew louder.

  Dr. Raka shook his head and said, “Alright, since you insist, you’ve failed this time. Next one…”

  “Oh…” Schneider held his head, looking dejected. However, few people showed sympathy, including Latham, who was about to stand up to read.

  Schneider was universally recognized as a genius in the school, and his credits had already far surpassed the excellent standard, so even if his score was zero this time, it wouldn't affect his future. But for others, aside from the geniuses, not many dared to waste opportunities.

  “Ahem…” Latham cleared his throat and began reading his observation report in as calm a tone as he could: “Entering the exhibition hall, the first thing I saw was an antique box, surrounded by inscriptions that were completely different from modern craftsmanship…”

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Ten minutes later, after Latham finished reading his report, he received some sparse applause.

  “Very good,” Dr. Raka sighed and said, “Latham, I believe you truly prepared well and put in a lot of effort.”

  “Ah, thank you, Doctor.” Latham smiled broadly, feeling extremely fortunate for his decision to have the sensor write the report for him.

  But then, Dr. Raka looked at him intently and asked, “However, can you tell me the truth? Did you really see the exhibits?”

  Latham froze, and his smile instantly stiffened. Of course, he had seen the exhibits, but his attention had been entirely on the small memory orb. He hadn’t cared at all about the other items. So this question was actually quite difficult to answer!

  “If I’m not mistaken, this report of yours includes at least twenty-eight pieces of material from the SkyNet, perhaps even more. I admit, you’ve worked very hard, but what I need is the truth, understand?”

  “Oh…” Latham looked at Raka’s expression and knew very well that the stern doctor would likely give him a failing grade now.

  Before today, Latham would have never dared to argue, because anyone else, except Schneider, would have been terrified by Dr. Raka’s sharp gaze. The boldness would vanish instantly.

  But now it was different. Since his mental power had reached level five, Latham had unexpectedly noticed that Dr. Raka's gaze wasn’t so fierce anymore.

  “Doctor!” Latham, unwilling to accept his fate, immediately called out.

  “What?” Dr. Raka was a bit surprised. In his impression, no one, except Schneider, dared to interrupt his decisions.

  After hesitating for a moment, Latham lifted his head and spoke with the most sincere tone he could muster: “Doctor, there were too many people in the exhibition hall this week. I wasn’t able to go until yesterday. But when I arrived, the items had already been stolen, and I didn’t see anything. I don’t want to deceive you, but I thought you’d prefer not to see an entirely blank observation report.”

  Looking into Latham’s clear eyes, Dr. Raka nodded slightly. He was, of course, aware of the theft of the ancient artifacts and had even cursed the shameless thief with his colleagues. After hearing Latham’s explanation, he chose to believe him.

  “Alright, this is an exception. I won’t hold it against you. Hmm, you’ve searched and organized so much information, showing your effort. So this time…” Dr. Raka stretched his words, building suspense before finally smiling and slowly saying, “Your grade is excellent.”

  “Wow…”

  A gasp followed by a burst of applause filled the hall. All the students cheered for Latham’s courage to argue and win.

  After all, to receive an excellent grade from Dr. Raka was an unimaginable feat. Throughout the entire school year, aside from a few recognized geniuses like Schneider, no one had ever heard of such a thing.