Rubik’s Cube

Chapter 68

The four of them went through another three or four rooms. Ji Yushi left marks in each of them.

While climbing up, Lin Xinlan asked, “Advisor Ji, can you estimate how many levels this Rubik’s Cube has?”

Enthusiasts would be familiar with 3x3x3 through to 9x9x9 Rubik’s Cubes. If you went even further, there was also the 17x17x17, but perhaps it was one even greater than that.

Ji Yushi who followed closely behind answered, “I can’t.”

Lin Xinlan seemed to be surprised by this answer. He looked back at him.

Ji Yushi wasn’t omnipotent. Those closely involved cannot see clearly. Moreover, as they passed through the rooms one after another, there was still a question of whether the mission’s Rubik’s Cube was the same as the Rubik’s Cube they were familiar with in reality.

He couldn’t be certain. More and more, he started to feel confused. He however didn’t show anything on the surface.

Everyone’s mental state was important. It was too early for him to tell the others this.

This was especially so while everyone was very eager to solve the mystery ahead.

They reached a room with a grey ball.

Duan Wen retrieved the grey ball and repeated what he had done countless times before. To avoid accidentally falling through when the hole opens, everyone immediately moved away from the place where the entrance to the room below would appear as soon as they entered the room and got ready to check the rooms.

This time, as soon as everyone moved away, they heard a ‘beep—-”

Immediately afterwards, something fell from the round hole above. Accompanying it was a strong bloody smell as well the sound of blood and flesh splattering.

Duan Wen had pressed the switch for the room above.

Everyone dodged to avoid it.

Several human bodies had fallen from the hole above. No, they should be referred to as severed body parts. Half bodies with intestines hanging out, severed limbs, blood mixed with different clumps of flesh, severed fingers….it was like a scene of massacre.

What was even more terrifying was that they were still squirming around. They seemed to have only just died.

Faced with a scene like this, Ji Yushi felt nauseous.

He reflexively turned around and leaned against the wall. He breathed lightly to calm himself.

“Damn!”

“Fuck!”

Everyone had been splattered by the blood. Song Qinglan brushed off the bloody flesh from his clothes with a poor expression.

He looked at the round hole above, “Grey!”

There were likely a lot of grey in this area. What they had probably encountered was the consequences of entering a room with a time difference.

“I recognise them.” Ji Yushi turned back. He had already readjusted his state, “After I separated from Li Chun and the others, I met their teammate Zoe. Their squad had also separated. I didn’t expect them to go the opposite direction.”

The black and gold uniform as well as the symbol on the arm that could be faintly distinguished. It was clear that they were Zoe’s teammates.

This scene reminded the members of the seventh squad, and it also reminded Lin Xinlan.

In this Rubik’s Cube, it was purely luck that they had survived. Something like this may have similarly happened to their teammates.

Lin Xinlan asked, “Are we going to continue?”

He sounded like he was starting to disagree with the seventh squad’s approach.

Ji Yushi didn’t speak.

Song Qinglan glanced at him and he spoke in his usual tone, “Regardless of whether or not we’re continuing, we should leave this place for now.”

*

Everyone entered a new room. The colour of the ball here was purple which was adjacent to grey. That bloody scene earlier that been too stimulating. Their relaxed atmosphere from earlier had once again become tense.

Duan Wen asked, “Cap Song, should we try and find a way out?”

Song Qinglan took off his blood-stained black combat uniform, revealing the grey tank top underneath. He used his top to wipe away the blood on his face.

He had stood the closest just now and was hit the hardest. Not to mention Ji Yushi, even Duan Wen who was similarly bloody moved away from him.

In a blink of an eye, they were all in a rather sorry state.

After Song Qinglan was done cleaning his face, he tossed his shirt aside, “Haven’t we always been finding a way out?”

Duan Wen froze.

That’s right. Even if Lin Xinlan didn’t know, how could he not know?

In the missions arranged by this damned Tianqiong, there was no such thing as not completing it or abstaining. The only way out was to complete the task.

Lin Xinlan had also taken off his top. He shook it off and then put it on again.

He was different from Song Qinglan who appeared slim with clothes but was quite muscular without. Although he wasn’t considered skinny, he was quite thin, “It’s time for us to stop and think about what we should do from now on. Since the movement patterns are almost the same, there is no need for us to walk around like headless flies. Besides, as I had said before, there are still many other squads here. Even if you start joining them, their movements will disrupt it. Continuing like this is pointless.”

Lin Xinlan’s words weren’t unreasonable.

Song Qinglan however turned around and looked towards Ji Yushi.

He was waiting for Ji Yushi’s opinion and, along the way, he also had an urge to wipe off the blood on Ji Yushi’s face.

Ji Yushi didn’t have much blood on him but because of his obsession with cleanliness, his expression didn’t appear to be all that good. His face was as cold as ice.

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: “……….”