Chapter 245 - 110: Anniversary Grand Gift Pack
To be honest, Chen Zhou imagined countless possibilities before solving the puzzle.
He thought the cube might contain a piece of gum, a condom, a button cell battery, or a high-quality counterfeit Yuan Shikai coin.
He also considered that it might hold precious medicines like an amoxicillin capsule, a quick-acting heart-saving pill, or Angong Niuhuang pills.
He imagined it might contain several seeds, a block of precious metal, or gemstones.
He even considered it might hold a magical capsule that could enhance strength and speed or extend life.
Never did he expect that, after almost half a month of effort, the cube would contain merely ten short words.
If these ten words were a cheap internet joke or a sarcastic remark, or even another complex formula, he could accept them calmly.
But upon seeing "Permission to cheat using space-time slicing," Chen Zhou felt a chill crawling up his spine and tingling on his scalp, making his hair stand on end.
Using the power from rewards to slice through wood and stone had always been a source of great pride for him.
This massive cutting ability, effective every fifteen days, saved him immense energy and time during challenges.
Without this "BUG," he wouldn't have been able to build such a tidy wooden house before the earthquake, let alone lay wooden floors in cave dwellings, create carts, earthen mills, and foot-pedaled rice pounders, or make numerous wooden models for experiments.
Indeed, since arriving on the island, the combined effects of all the rewards couldn't compare to this "cutting machine."
Not to mention, simply cutting the steel plate inside the safe into a steel pickax head couldn't be done without this "BUG." Using a rope saw to grind open the steel plate or slowly scratching the steel with rough stones, even working eight hours a day for ten years, Chen Zhou might not complete this task.
Since discovering and practically using this "BUG," Chen Zhou had been comfortably cutting wood and stone, saving time and energy, and improving his quality of life.
Perhaps he was subconsciously worried about losing this powerful aid; he hardly ever considered what would happen if the cutting machine became unusable one day.
Even if the thought occasionally emerged, it would be swiftly suppressed and never brought up again.
But avoidance isn't a solution, and he knew very well this power wasn't his; it was stolen.
Therefore, when the safe arrived last time, even though he could have left it on the beach for fifteen days to slice, he didn't do it—
Worried that the Space-Time Administration Bureau would discover his use of the bug, he moved the safe away and chose violent dismantling instead of an easier method.
After opening the safe and receiving the reward, he still clung to the hope that the subsequent slicing wasn't affected because the Space-Time Administration Bureau hadn't discovered or didn't care about his actions.
Until now, seeing the words clearly projected on the table shattered all his fantasies and hopes.
This brief message was like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, dragging him back to reality.
The fact is, as a participant in this "cross-time large-scale reality show," his every move is visible.
If cheating using the "BUG" escaped punishment, it might be because someone enjoyed the pleasure when his "cleverness" succeeded.
And such pleasure, at the moment when those words appeared on the table, would suddenly vanish, turning into fear and panic.
Chen Zhou thought, if he hadn't dismantled the safe himself last time but had used space-time slicing instead.
Leaving the safe on the beach for 15 days might have led to the shocking discovery that the wood stone walls and safe were untouched, and the invisible cutting power generated by rewards might completely disappear starting from that reward.
Silent, he quietly watched the writing on the table until it slowly faded away.
The dreamy blue in the cave was tinged by the yellow light of the oil lamp. Chen Zhou exhaled deeply and sat on the chair.
From this moment on, past self-deception and pride were now in the past.
This line of words held no weight, couldn't leave any mark in this world, seemed more nonsensical and useless than any reward before, yet it was the most important of all rewards.
It symbolized the "organizers'" approval of Chen Zhou's use of loophole cheating.
Meaning, from now on, Chen Zhou no longer needs to use space-time slicing with a mindset of cautious hope and constant anxiety, nor does he need to avoid thinking about losing this "convenient cutting method."
Ha~
With a soft chuckle, his palm brushed over the empty table. Chen Zhou scratched his messy hair and muttered to himself.
"This reward is really something...
I wonder if it's a prank, a tease, a patch, or a true reward to ease my mind?"
"If I hadn't solved this puzzle and given up midway, what would have happened later?
Would the ability for space-time slicing be directly canceled, or punishment be imposed, or even more extreme, forcefully stopping the challenge?"
...
On September 24th, after solving the complex cube, Chen Zhou sat in front of the desk for a very long time.
He had myriad thoughts in his mind, sometimes pondering the reasons for participating in the challenge;
sometimes worrying if such special rewards would still be available in the future;
sometimes he seemed to return to the moment of turning the cube, replaying those 117 moves and figuring out how they should be completed.
After heavy mental labor, faced with those words that shook his mind, his inner self grew weary. At some point, he lay on the desk, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.