Zhushi Jiu raised his head from despair, like a traveler who had been lost in the desert and suddenly stumbled upon an oasis. The hope of survival was right in front of him.
He asked, “Why?”
The man’s words were calm, but the meaning behind them sent chills down Zhushi Jiu’s spine. This terrifying man was entrusting the heavy responsibility of “human hope” to him, a fake “foresighter” who was full of lies.
…He sensed the deep pessimism and despair hidden behind the man’s seemingly firm words.
How powerful was the World Enemy?
Zhushi Jiu didn’t continue to ponder this possibility, as the man said, “Come, as long as you can guess what’s on the table, I’ll remove your blindfold and believe you have the ability to foresee the future.”
His thoughts were interrupted.
The key now was to guess what was on the table. If he could guess correctly, he could make the other party believe he was a superpowered foreseer, and possibly prevent the doomsday that would arrive in eight hours.
…Zhushi Jiu smiled wryly, how was he supposed to guess correctly?
“How many chances do I have?”
The man replied, “Once. You need to make me believe you can foresee the future, not that you’re guessing through elimination.”
Zhushi Jiu smiled bitterly and asked again, “If I don’t get it right, will you tell me the answer?”
The middle-aged man responded coldly, “No. If you don’t get it right, I won’t tell you any information. I said it before, I won’t let any enemy know what they want to know, including this ‘small game’ we’re playing.”
“Damn.” Zhushi Jiu’s thoughts were filled with despair.
He was completely numb.
Although things had taken an unexpected turn, if he couldn’t guess correctly, it would all be meaningless. If the man would tell him the answer if he didn’t get it right, then he would definitely start over from the beginning, but the man was being cautious to this extent, making it hard to imagine.
He couldn’t wait until the next time; he had to get the information he wanted and die in this timeline, otherwise, he couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to perform flawlessly in the next timeline.
“How much time do I have?” Zhushi Jiu confirmed.
The man was silent for a moment, as if thinking, and then said, “It’s currently 2:45, and you have until 9:00. You have six hours and fifteen minutes, hope your foresight ability can take effect within this time.”
“Why only until 9:00?” Zhushi Jiu noticed the specific time.
The middle-aged man didn’t answer, and instead said coldly, “You have six hours and fourteen minutes left.”
Damn.
Zhushi Jiu’s brain started racing wildly.
What was on the table? He couldn’t see anything, but he had heard the sound of the man placing the object on the table.
At least it was a hard object.
Was this clue enough? Of course not.
“I said before, my foresight ability is not controllable, so…”
The man replied, “Don’t say that again. No matter how long, I’ll wait. If you waste your time on such useless chatter, then you’ll accept your punishment at 9:00.”
This wasn’t useless chatter.
Zhushi Jiu thought to himself.
He wondered why the man wanted to decide the final result at 9:00. The simplest answer was that his time was only enough until 9:00.
From 9:00 to 10:00, the Black Troop would prepare for battle against the World Enemy. This was valuable information, even if he died in this timeline.
The more pressing issue now was how to accurately guess what was on the table in this situation.
Zhushi Jiu’s inner self calmed down.
The greatest benefit he gained from learning archery was not the enhancement of his combat power, but the ability to quickly enter a calm state. Under the additive effect of his calm state, he pushed away all complex thoughts.
He focused on thinking about this seemingly impossible question.
Was it really impossible to answer?
Not necessarily.
Naturally, he thought back to his experience of being interrogated in the fourth timeline.
That was the first time he saw the middle-aged man, and also the last time.
Li Hua let him remember the man who made him die miserably, so he remembered him, including his appearance, clothing, and the objects he carried.
He still remembered that the middle-aged man was wearing a black coat, a business-like Western suit with a fitted waistcoat, and a tall, imposing frame that made his clothes look powerful.
He remembered that the man had something resembling a walkie-talkie on his waist, and his hands were empty, so was it the walkie-talkie?
This was just one possibility.
He could only make inferences based on the information he currently had, and even then, he couldn’t be certain whether the man had changed his clothes in this timeline or intentionally brought something for the test. If that was the case, then no matter how he guessed, it would be useless.
So he could only hope that this thing was something from his memories.
Walkie-talkie…
He could only guess up to this point with no information.
No way out.
Should he take a risk?
Want to take a risk?
Zhushi Jiu was about to respond, but he suddenly stopped himself.
A scene flashed in his mind.
Earlier, when talking to the man, the man casually mentioned, “You have six hours and fourteen minutes left.”
This was a countdown.
The man casually mentioned his remaining time.
This proved that the man could see the time at any moment.
There was no clock in the interrogation room.
Zhushi Jiu recalled that during the fourth timeline, he had confirmed the time of the final doomsday when he was being tortured, but he couldn’t accurately confirm the time because there were no timekeeping devices in the interrogation room, not even a watch on the man’s hand.
At this moment, his memories surged like a tide.
He also remembered that the man would gesture to his subordinates to activate the electric current every time, and Zhushi Jiu clearly remembered that the man’s hand didn’t have a watch. Moreover, during the fourth timeline, he had asked the man about the time, but the man never answered.
So how did the man confirm the time now?
The object on the table was something that allowed the man to see the time at any moment.
What was it?
Was it a timer, a watch, an alarm clock, or something else?
There were many possibilities, but he only had one chance.
In the silent air, Zhushi Jiu listened carefully.
He didn’t hear the sound of a ticking clock.
It shouldn’t be a watch or an alarm clock.
Was it a phone?
Should he answer that?
Zhushi Jiu opened his mouth.
No way.
He couldn’t answer that, because in this timeline, he only had one chance, and if he guessed wrong, even if he perfectly replicated without any butterfly effect, he would only have one chance in the next timeline…
He couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to walk this path flawlessly in the next timeline.
So, to maximize his chances in this timeline, he thought of a second way to answer.
—”I saw my future death.”
Zhushi Jiu murmured.
The middle-aged man remained silent.
Zhushi Jiu said, “I saw a future where I answered ‘phone’, but the result was wrong.”
This was the perfect, loophole-free answer Zhushi Jiu had thought of.
The middle-aged man said he only had one chance to guess.
But Zhushi Jiu thought of a more ingenious way to circumvent this rule.
That was to answer in reverse, like this.
If the object on the table was a phone, then it would prove that his foresight ability was fake, because he foresaw a future where he answered “phone” and got it wrong.
Then the man should immediately end the test.
But if the man immediately ended the test, then Zhushi Jiu would know the answer to the test—that the object on the table was indeed a phone.
This way, in the next timeline, he would be able to answer perfectly.
But if the object on the table wasn’t a phone, then it would match his “prophecy” of a failed result. The middle-aged man wouldn’t be able to end the test, because his prophecy wasn’t wrong, and the object on the table was indeed not a phone.
This way, he would fundamentally not be able to prove his foresight ability!
And because he didn’t directly answer, he wouldn’t waste his one chance.
If the answer wasn’t a phone, then after confirming, he could still guess again!
Thanks to “Drifting Fish”, “Dancing Smoke”, and “Yellow Dog” for their support! Also, thank you to everyone who has been commenting and discussing the plot. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I’ll try to answer without spoiling the story!
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