191: New research topic and the concept of "energy programming"

The surge in Excellence's power did not breed even the slightest hint of arrogance or complacency in him. On the contrary, the experience of going deep underground and engaging in Resonance with the ancient core was like opening a window before his eyes to an infinitely vast universe, allowing him to truly see the bottomless ocean of potential hidden behind his own abilities. That gift of ancient knowledge from the core, though fragmented, pointed straight to the source, like brilliant gems scattered on a beach, piecing together a vast and mysterious star map in his heart, igniting an unprecedented, insatiable thirst for knowledge and desire for exploration.

He was no longer satisfied with merely learning and applying "Energy Linguistics" as a kind of "foreign language"—that is, simply imitating, reproducing, and conducting basic "dialogues." A grander, more systematic, and more creative yearning began to sprout and grow within him. He took the initiative to find Evelyn and, in a tone that still carried childishness but was exceptionally serious, made a request that surprised and delighted even Evelyn.

"Sister Evelyn," Excellence said, gesturing with his hands while struggling to find the right words to express the vague yet exciting concept in his mind, "I always feel... that what we're learning now, 'Energy Linguistics,' seems... it seems like we're just learning individual 'words' and the simplest 'sentences.' But, that time underground, the feeling that 'big guy' (referring to the ancient core) gave me had... had something more complex and more powerful!" His eyes sparkled. "It's just like... just like computer programming! Energy can also be like computer programs; you can set conditions in advance, let it judge for itself when to do what, let it run in loops, and you can even... you can even package some commonly used functions together and just call them directly when you want to use them! Wouldn't that be more powerful and efficient?"

This ingenious idea of combining energy manipulation with computer programming concepts caused a surge of immense surprise and gratification in Evelyn's heart after her brief astonishment! This was by no means just a childish whim; it marked a qualitative leap in Excellence's thinking pattern—he had begun to transition from passively "using" and "adapting" his own abilities to actively "architecting," "designing," and "optimizing" his own capability system! This was a critical step from "user" to "engineer" and even "architect"!

Evelyn immediately realized the immense potential contained in this idea. Without any hesitation, she quickly adjusted the original training plan and began to introduce the most basic and core concepts of computer science and systems engineering into Excellence's training in a simple and easy-to-understand way. She officially upgraded the training project from "Energy Linguistics" to a more forward-looking and challenging concept—"Energy Programming."

Architecting "Energy Programs": Brain-Burning and Fun Coexist

This was a path no one had ever walked before, full of unknowns and challenges. Evelyn and Excellence were like two explorers, hand in hand, groping their way forward in an unknown territory. Their "laboratory" had turned into a room filled with huge electronic blackboards and holographic projectors, covered with various complex flowcharts, logic diagrams, and energy field simulation maps.

They attempted to deconstruct intangible energy operations using highly abstract and modeled methods:

Energy Variables: They first needed to define the most basic "energy data units." Evelyn guided Excellence to define energy fluctuations with stable characteristics, composed of different frequencies, amplitudes, and phases, as the most basic "Energy Variables," just like integers, floating-point numbers, or strings in programming, which are The Foundation for all complex operations.

Control Structures: This was the most core and brain-burning part. They began to conceive the "logic" of energy operation. For example, "conditional branching structures"—"if" a certain frequency of energy impact is detected (condition), "then" automatically concentrate the shield's energy at the impact point to reinforce it (execution branch one), "otherwise" maintain a uniform distribution (execution branch two). Another example is "loop structures"—letting an "energy scan" program run continuously at fixed time intervals (e.g., once per second) until a "stop" command is received.

Function Encapsulation: To improve the reusability and maintainability of the "code" (Evelyn's words), they tried to "encapsulate" some commonly used, functionally relatively independent energy operations. For example, packaging a series of operations needed to build a standard energy shield—such as stable output, form maintenance, and intensity adjustment—into a "function" named "Generate Energy Shield"; encapsulating the process of scanning for a specific energy signature and issuing an alert into an "Energy Radar Scan" function. In the future, when needed, one only needs to "call" this function name and pass in the necessary parameters (such as scan range, sensitivity), without having to rewrite the complex underlying code every time.

This process was undoubtedly extremely brain-burning for Excellence. He would often sit in front of the electronic blackboard filled with complex symbols and arrows for hours, his little brows tightly furrowed, muttering to himself, immersed in an ocean of logic. Many times, he would manage to construct a seemingly perfect "Energy Program" logic in his mind, but once he started the actual operation, it would often lead to the meticulously condensed energy structure instantly losing control and collapsing due to an extremely subtle logic loophole (bug)—such as improper loop condition settings causing infinite energy accumulation, or conflicts in the priority of conditional judgments—sometimes even with a soft "pop," blowing him black in the face, his hair standing on end, looking like a pitiful little beggar.

But Excellence never tired of it. Every failure was like solving an interesting puzzle, deepening his understanding of the laws of energy operation. That drive to never give up until the problem was solved, and the immense joy derived from it, often made even Evelyn, who was observing and guiding him, sigh in admiration, marveling that this child was born to explore the unknown.

Fun Practice: The Ingenious Ideas of "Product Manager" Su Mu

In the spare time from their intense and serious "R&D" work, Su Mu played the crucial role of "Product Manager" and "Chief Tester." She could always come up with some imaginative, seemingly "off-the-wall" requirements, bringing endless fun and challenges to Excellence's "Energy Programming" practice.

For example, on a training day with simulated rain, Su Mu would wipe the water droplets from her face and shout at Excellence: "Excellence! Stop always pondering those combat programs! Can you write a practical 'Energy Automatic Umbrella' program? Look at this rain—the kind that automatically generates an energy barrier above your head when it senses raindrops! How convenient!"

Or, when she had been working at her desk for a long time and was rubbing her sore neck, she would half-jokingly complain: "Ouch, my neck is about to go stiff! When will our 'great programmer' be able to develop an 'Energy Massage Chair' module? The kind that comes with hot compress and precise acupoint stimulation functions!"

Excellence would often respond to these "unprofessional" demands with a helpless eye roll, complaining: "Squad leader! Energy is very precise and precious, okay! It's not meant to be used as umbrellas and massage chairs! What a waste!" But in private, the curiosity and desire for expression typical of a child his age, along with his deep-seated closeness to and gratitude for Su Mu, often drove him to secretly try.

He actually did once, behind Evelyn's back, use his spare time to secretly tinker with a miniature "Energy Massage Patch" program. He tried to use an extremely weak energy field with a specific vibration frequency to simulate the effect of a massage. The result was predictable; his control over intensity and frequency was far from reaching the level of fine detail. When he first let Su Mu "try it out," the energy patch didn't produce a comfortable massage sensation, but an unbearable, strange itch as if countless little insects were crawling over her! Su Mu jumped up from her chair in an instant, laughing and running around the room, and finally held her stomach and went to "complain" to Evelyn, which left Evelyn laughing and crying, having no choice but to add a theory class for Excellence on biological Perception and energy safety thresholds.

Fruitful Results: Towards the Door of the "Architect"

In this atmosphere combining high-intensity brainstorming and fun practice, Excellence's understanding and control of his abilities deepened at a tremendous pace. He successfully wrote and optimized several practical "Energy Mini-Programs":

Intelligent Energy Shield: No longer a simple static barrier, but a dynamic protection system that can run continuously for one hour and automatically sense the intensity and direction of external energy impacts, adjusting local defense intensity in real-time.

Energy Radar: A reconnaissance program that can scan for specific energy characteristics (Evelyn injected a small amount of known The Foundation equipment energy signature data) and issue tiered alerts once a matching target is found.

The most astonishing attempt was when, under Evelyn's close supervision and guidance, Excellence tried to inject a tiny, extremely weak fragment of consciousness representing "simple movement instructions" into an energy loop structure he had carefully constructed that could sustain itself for a short time. Miraculously, this energy structure actually, while detached from Excellence's direct control, autonomously and clumsily imitated the flapping wings of a bird for a few minutes before finally dissipating due to energy exhaustion! Although this was only the most primitive prototype, it meant that Excellence had touched the edge of that mysterious realm of "Energy Life" creation!

The concept of "Energy Programming" opened a brand-new door for Excellence's ability development. He was steadily moving from an ability "user" who relied on instinct and simple rules to an "architect" and "creator" capable of designing rules and creating systems. This growth placed him at an unprecedented height, accumulating deep confidence and diverse means of response for facing more complex and arduous challenges in the future.