Chapter 68 Chapter 68 (2/2)
He said, “This is the seventeenth room we’ve been to.”
Duan Wen was surprised, “It’s already the seventeenth?”
Lin Xinlin, “Yes, it should be about that.”
No one noticed that Song Qinglan had at some point in time quietly placed his hand back inside his pant pockets.
Ji Yushi for now didn’t pay any attention to the filth on him, “Have you noticed that we appear to be approaching the centre of this Rubik’s Cube?”
More and more greys, interlaced with blues, reds, greens, purples as well as the occasional yellow. The six colours gathered in this vicinity.
With this reminder, everyone seemed to realise it too.
“We’re approaching the centre? It really seems to be like that!”
“What would be there?”
“I don’t know.” Ji Yushi’s expression didn’t change, “In fact, I have been thinking about it along the way. Using the usual Rubik’s Cube as an example, it only has six faces and the centre part is fixed. Inside the cube is a central block which acts as the pivot in which the other blocks rotate around. Except for those six faces, there shouldn’t be any colour the more you advance towards the centre but as we approached the centre, we still encountered rooms of different colours. It seems that this place is made up of countless cubes, not just the outer layer forming the six faces.”
Ji Yushi rarely said that he didn’t know.
As soon as he said this, everyone was a little worried, but they were then relieved after hearing his analysis.
“Based on how the rooms moved, it appears to be different to how a block in a Rubik’s Cube would move.” Ji Yushi said, “Top – right, bottom – left, left – back, right – front, front- bottom, bottom – top…..When the room moves, every direction is the opposite. No matter how many levels this Rubik’s Cube has, this method of movement cannot be applied to it.”
Song Qinglan thought of something, “Could it be like ‘Chaos’? The so-called mission should only be taken literally and doesn’t really have any special meaning to it. As you know, it is an artificial intelligence, it’s not that clever.”
Duan Wen threw out some profanities, “Yes! Isn’t this also the same as that ‘Ouroboros’? What a fucking scam. Let’s not be led into another ditch and try something else?!”
Ji Yushi didn’t speak.
If they really were thinking in the wrong direction, then all the records they made as they went through those seventeen rooms would have been completely meaningless.
What Chaos, what Ouroboros? Lin Xinlan didn’t know what they were talking about, but he wasn’t curious and he didn’t ask.
He was a qualified Guardian and was particularly concerned about the integrity of time and space. He just asked, “What about the time difference? Does the time difference in the different rooms have any meaning?”
This could be a breakthrough point.
“I don’t know.” Ji Yushi once again shook his head, “Sorry.”
Lin Xinlan only raised the question for everyone to think about together. He didn’t mind Ji Yushi’s answer, and just said thoughtfully, “It’s okay.”
This was Ji Yushi’s second time saying ‘I don’t know’.
After speaking, he lowered his head and turned on his communicator. He seemed to be wanting to sort out the current situation using the drawings on the holographic projection.
He however heard Song Qinglan’s slightly irate tone, “Why are you apologising?”
Everyone was taken aback. They all looked over.
Ji Yushi raised his head. His eyes met with Song Qinglan’s.
Song Qinglan wore a tank top, revealing his bare sturdy arms and broad shoulders. Coupled with his tall height and slight stubble, he looked very much like a thug.
It was a little like when they first met, a little aggressive and overbearing.
Ji Yushi felt like he had returned to that moment.
But Song Qinglan said, “It is not your responsibility to connect the clues and complete the mission. Who said that those who are smart and have good memory must be responsible for solving the problem? Ji Yushi, you are human, not a supercomputer or a god. There is no need to apologise for not being able to answer a question no one else knows.”
Ji Yushi’s eyes revealed some surprise, “But…..”
Song Qinglan cut him off, “You’re thinking that you wasted everyone’s time?”
Ji Yushi, “A little.”
Song Qinglan wasn’t frustrated when he heard this, and he also didn’t seem to mind the fact that they hadn’t made any progress. He just lightly chuckled.
Duan Wen was embarrassed. Even Lin Xinlan reacted. They had unknowingly placed all the responsibility onto Ji Yushi alone.
Probably because he had gotten used to it in the previous missions, even Ji Yushi himself didn’t notice anything wrong.
He didn’t expect the captain Song Qinglan to say something like this.
Yes, he has hyperthymesia and his intelligence was high, but it didn’t mean that he was responsible for figuring out the way to clear the mission in every mission.
“Even if the thought process was wrong, it can’t be regarded as a waste of time. At the very least, we now understand how the rooms here move and how to move around the rooms safely.” Song Qinglan continued, “Staying behind now, is it because those couple of corpses scared you?”
Duan Wen refuted immediately, “That’s not it, that was just disgusting. How could I be afraid of that?”
Lin Xinlan who didn’t want to continue, “…….”
He felt even more like an outsider.
Song Qinglan said, “Since we are already close to the so-called centre, why don’t we continue? If this is really a super cube made up of countless rooms, have you thought about what colour the middle piece could be? Would it have all six colours or would it be a plain white block? In case there is some sort of secret hidden there, wouldn’t it be too early giving up now? Or do you plan on staying around here waiting for the eggs to hatch by itself?”
He clapped his hands, “Get up and liven up! Let’s take a look at this central block.”
Sensing Ji Yushi’s gaze, Song Qinglan asked, “You have something to say?”
Ji Yushi said, “…….I want to rest for ten minutes.”
Song Qinglan looked at his watch, “Alright. Then everyone can rest here for twenty minutes.”
Duan Wen: “……….”
Lin Xinlan: “……….”