This approach is instrumental in defining how transactions are verified, ensuring they adhere to the network's evolving rules and standards. It is crucial to understand that this mechanism, while pivotal for operational integrity and security within the Bitcoin Core environment, does not play a direct role in the consensus-critical aspects of the network. Essentially, the choice of using a larger integer or an entirely different method for this purpose could be explored without impacting the fundamental consensus mechanisms that underpin the Bitcoin network. The flexibility in the implementation detail highlights the adaptability of Bitcoin Core's design to accommodate future changes or improvements in how transactions and scripts are processed and validated.