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Chapter 4216 Balance
Chapter 4216 Balance
However, they did not follow the usual customs clearance procedures.
Angel snapped his fingers lightly, and the surrounding air began to become humid. A moment later, a concentrated cloud of rain formed above the mouth of the glass bottle.
The raindrops, as smooth as silk threads, sank to the bottom of the glass bottle.
The water level in the bottle rose visibly.
In just a few seconds, it accurately reached the top mark.
As the scale reached the target, the crystal curtain that had been blocking their path vanished like burning paper, turning into countless points of light from bottom to top.
"Let's go," Angell gestured for everyone to proceed.
Soon after, they came to a long corridor with mottled walls.
At the end was a tightly locked door; without a doubt, the third puzzle had appeared.
As for the riddle, they don't need to find it.
Because the moment they touched the door, the entire mottled corridor began to "rain" softly.
Large amounts of plaster peeled off, followed by thousands of pieces of wallpaper falling to the ground.
The edges of these wallpaper fragments look as if they've been cut, and there are some broken chain symbols on them.
The moment everyone saw these fragments, they understood the mystery.
--puzzle!
That's right, it's about piecing these fragments together according to the clues provided.
Even the medium for the puzzle was already in front of them—the door itself!
When I touched it before, I felt that the surface was a little sticky. Undoubtedly, this stickiness was designed to stick the puzzle pieces together.
Looking at the dozens of meters of corridor floor covered with various jigsaw puzzle pieces, Gray Porcelain felt a strange and subtle feeling in his heart.
Are jigsaw puzzles difficult?
Not difficult.
However, like the crystal curtain in the second level, it is very time-consuming.
Logically, choosing to take the long corridor of mechanisms is meant to be a shortcut and save time. However, apart from the first one, the mechanisms seem to be quite time-consuming, which is clearly not right.
"You can taste the flavor now?" Angel's voice suddenly rang in Gray Porcelain's ear.
Gray Porcelain looked up at Angell.
Angell: "If you think about it from another angle, if you were the one who set the test: a shortcut and a long route. The shortcut is supposed to be a 'shortcut,' but if the challenger is allowed to have a smooth journey and save a lot of time, then the long route becomes a meaningless decoration. That's not a test, that's favoritism."
Under Angell's guidance, Gray Porcelain seemed to understand something and said softly, "What the question setter wants is never 'you win if you choose the right path,' but rather... balance."
Angell smiled and nodded, saying, "It seems you understand. That's right, it's about balance."
The short route is made up for by "puzzles that must take time"; the long route is made up for by "trials that can be skipped".
The two paths may seem very different in terms of the routes themselves, but when you factor in the time spent solving puzzles and thinking, the actual effort spent on the journey is not that different.
That's balance.
"However, the question setter won't create a shortcut out of nowhere. From the question setter's perspective, 'balance' is for the regular teams and takes care of the general public."
"But if you really have the ability to break the deadlock created by the balance, then this shortcut will become a real shortcut."
To put it bluntly, whether this is a shortcut or another time-consuming long road depends entirely on your ability to break the deadlock.
And coincidentally, they have this ability.
Just like in the Crystal Curtain level, Angel used his ability to fill the water bottle.
They also have the ability to break through this hurdle—
Angell gestured for Gray Porcelain to turn around.
Gray Porcelain turned his head and saw that Gabriel had floated to the beginning of the mottled corridor at some point. Countless tentacles extended from his body, and the slightly sticky tentacles glued all the puzzle pieces left on the floor together.
Floating along the way, sticky all the way.
When it returned to the gate, it was covered with all the puzzle pieces.
"Leave this simple puzzle to me."
Next, Gray Porcelain saw that the tentacles on Gabriel's body seemed to transform into countless hands, constantly sticking the puzzle pieces on the "hands" onto the door panel.
And each adhesion was a perfect match.
In just a few moments, thousands of puzzle pieces were put together.
The door opened as scheduled.
The whole process took less than a minute.
The gray porcelain was stunned. Even after they passed through the puzzle door and headed into new, unknown depths, it was still somewhat dazed.
“Gabriel’s computing power… is very strong,” Gray Porcelain murmured.
Angel nodded: Indeed, it was precisely because Gabriel possessed powerful computing capabilities, coupled with its countless tentacles, that it created this miracle of rapid puzzle-solving.
Gabriel also heard Gray Porcelain's whisper and was about to say something smug when Gray Porcelain added, "However, strong computing power doesn't necessarily mean intelligence."
Gabriel immediately manipulated the illusion puppet to retort: "Some people are good with words but not with their hands and feet. They don't even dare to face the book demon."
Gray Porcelain turned his head away: "Normally, strong computing power and intelligence are directly proportional, but you are an exception; I don't know where your computing power goes?"
Gabriel: "Of course, it should be used where it's useful!"
Gray Porcelain: "For example?"
Gabriel: "For example... manipulating puppets to talk. Do you think the puppets Mr. Angor created could talk so easily?"
Gray Porcelain: "..." You're ruthless! By dragging Mr. Angel into this, isn't its rebuttal just rebutting Angel?
Gray Porcelain paused for a moment, then said, "See you in the team chat!"
"Come on, come on!"
After that, they stopped talking, but even without opening the text box, Angel knew that their bickering war had moved from offline to online.
It's quite peculiar; generally, if you can't win online, you go offline to compete.
They are completely reversed.
Angel didn't check the team chat either; he figured if there was any important news—like information from the rabbit girl's side—they would tell him on their own.
We continued on our journey.
It must be said that the long corridor of mechanisms perfectly matches its name.
Not long after, they encountered another puzzle.
The puzzle is somewhat like a "choose one of two statues" situation. A light curtain blocks their way, and there is a very complex symbol on the light curtain, which looks a bit like a flower in full bloom, but each petal extends outward in a winding vine.
Below this symbol is a question in the common script: what does this symbol mean in Zurkovessa?
There are five options:
"1. A fleeting sadness and pity, a subtle and restrained blossoming and contrast."
2. Without malice, a secret, slight pleasure felt in the misfortune or failure of others.
3. A special kind of homesickness, longing for distant places I have never been.
4. Individuals exist because of the group.
5. The poetic bystander.
Each respondent has only one chance to answer the question by clicking the corresponding option.
If you answer the question incorrectly, the blocking light curtain will remain stationary and will not open again.
This may seem like a multiple-choice question about language, but it's actually an "open-book exam."
Because in this corridor, dozens of books were piled on the floor, each with a different title, but the content was basically the same: an analysis of Zurkov's savant.
In other words, they could answer the question simply by reading these books.
"This is another time-consuming problem."
Looking at the dozens of thick-covered books on the floor, Gray Porcelain couldn't help but sigh: "However, there aren't many books in total. If my computing power is sufficient, I should be able to finish reading them quickly..."
As Gray Porcelain spoke, he subconsciously turned to look at Gabriel.
Gabriel looked at the book on the ground, hesitating whether or not to flip through it.
At this moment, Angel spoke up: "Have you forgotten... the commander?"
Although none of the three people present understood the strange Zurkodsa script, Angel guessed that the rabbit girl might be able to read it.
Or rather, Laplace's true self should know.
After all, he was a giant who had lived for ten thousand years and witnessed countless civilizations in the Sea of Empty Mirrors.
The rabbit girl shared knowledge about the original body, so she should also know a thing or two about it.
Upon hearing Angel's reminder, Gabriel and Gray Porcelain immediately opened the team chat and began communicating with the rabbit girl.
During their communication, Angell casually picked up a book titled "Basic Analysis of Zurzkodesa" and flipped through a few pages.
A moment later, Angell silently closed the book.
This so-called "open-book exam" is a complete trap!
The Zurikodessa language comes from a stream-of-consciousness group called the "Zuri." They communicate through consciousness, but their written language relies on "intuition."
It can also be understood as...association.
Simply put, it is a special kind of symbol without a fixed vocabulary, and each symbol can be associated with certain things by the Zuri life form.
Then, different symbols are combined together, which is called superposition association.
Most importantly, the symbol is not fixed. Although there are common symbols, everyone can customize their own symbols at will.
Such customized symbols are understandable for people of the same ancestral origin.
Because customized symbols do not exist in isolation, they also combine with other symbols and then create associations.
Zu Ri Shengming's greatest strength is association.
In Ingres's words, this writing system can be understood as: a system of personalized, intuitive understanding combined with logically combined symbols.
The core is not to use uniform symbols to correspond to fixed semantics or sounds, but to rely on "symbols of tacit understanding" created by each person, which are logically matched to allow users to make their own associations and interpretations. There are no completely fixed standard answers, but the results of association are generally similar.
In short, it is a very messy but somewhat "logical" piece of writing.
Perhaps only a stream-of-consciousness group like the Zuri Life can perfectly accept it.
It would be very difficult for others to learn this script.
Because you can only learn common symbols, and you also need to have a strong ability to understand and associate, and you must also understand the values of "Zuji Life".
Because if your values conflict with theirs, it's difficult for you to understand the meaning they're trying to convey through symbols.
It can be said that this kind of writing is very difficult.
There is no standard answer at all.
This question is a complete trap...
Of course, Ingres believed that the symbols on the screen must include some "common symbols," which should be found in the book.
Find all the common symbols, and then rely on your associative abilities; perhaps you can find the answer.
But it goes without saying that this will take a considerable amount of time.
It's better to just pick one randomly, guess right and leave, guess wrong and turn back...
Of course, for the average challenger, the sunk cost of turning back now is too great. But if you stubbornly try to emulate Zuzrkovsky, thinking you have a strong ability to make connections, and end up coming up with an answer that turns out to be wrong... that kind of damage is far more impactful than sunk costs.
While Angel was silently complaining about the problem, Gray Porcelain suddenly exclaimed with delight, "I've got it! The captain has solved the final answer!"
Angel was taken aback, and immediately opened the team chat to take a look.
The long string of text at the beginning is in the style of descriptive symbols, with Gray Porcelain and Gabriel exchanging their own words.
It's a very abstract description, but fortunately, the bunny girl really knows "Zurkod Savin," so the abstract description didn't hinder her understanding of the symbol.
"Rabbit Hole Chief: The two most crucial aspects of Zurikov's Saviour are association and understanding the personality of each Zuri being. Because each Zuri being has a different personality, their customized symbols bear the marks of their own personality..."
"Clever Gray Porcelain: But we only have symbols, not the character of the person who wrote them?"
"Rabbit Hole Chief: You can tell a lot about a person's personality. Some public symbols have certain tendencies. Look at which public symbols this Zuji life uses, the order in which they are arranged, the aesthetic appeal of the symbols... These can all help you understand the personality and values of the Zuji life who wrote the symbols."
Amidst the shocked expressions of Gray Porcelain and Gabriel, the bunny girl analyzed the general situation of the symbol.
From the perspective of axial symmetry and petal aesthetics, it is the life writing of Zu Ri, who is a bit obsessive-compulsive but has a very kind and beautiful heart, and whose personality tends to be neutral in thinking.
So, overly emotional or overly rational associations won't work.
To understand this from an objective perspective, and considering the fundamental values of the Zuri tribe, the rabbit girl ultimately arrived at the answer to this symbol—the individual exists because of the group.
After giving the answer, she also made a comment: "The translation of this common phrase is actually a little off. According to the personality bias of the Zuji people who wrote this symbol, the correct translation should be: I exist because of us."
"But it doesn't matter, as long as the general meaning is correct."
After all, Zuji Life's attitude towards interpretive translation is so casual that slight deviations from the intended meaning are inevitable. As long as the general direction is correct, there is no problem.
After the rabbit girl gave her answer, everyone accepted it without question and immediately selected "4. Individuals exist because of the group".
The light screen vanished instantly.
This level has been successfully cleared.
However, with the passing of this challenge, even Gabriel sensed the malice of the question setter.
"This puzzle is very difficult. Could it be the most difficult puzzle in the entire mechanism corridor?" Gray Porcelain asked.
After all, Angell had said before that the easy questions that took up time at the beginning might be to lure in challengers, and then suddenly present a difficult question to turn them away.
If this logic is correct, then this is the most difficult question, and the rest might be easier.
Angel shook his head: "I don't know, but I personally think that the most difficult questions shouldn't give you a chance to guess."
This multiple-choice question was difficult.
But if you're extremely lucky, you might just guess right.