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 dicines 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 tal, 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 rely 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-ti 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 imnse energy and ti 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 nurous wooden models for experints.
Indeed, since arriving on the island, the combined effects of all the rewards couldn't compare to this "cutting machine."
Not to ntion, 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 ti 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 beca unusable one day.
Even if the thought occasionally erged, 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 ti, even though he could have left it on the beach for fifteen days to slice, he didn't do it—
Worried that the Space-Ti Administration Bureau would discover his use of the bug, he moved the safe away and chose violent dismantling instead of an easier thod.
After opening the safe and receiving the reward, he still clung to the hope that the subsequent slicing wasn't affected because the Space-Ti 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 ssage 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-ti large-scale reality show," his every move is visible.
If cheating using the "BUG" escaped punishnt, it might be because soone enjoyed the pleasure when his "cleverness" succeeded.
And such pleasure, at the mont 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 ti but had used space-ti 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 mont 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, seed 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.
aning, from now on, Chen Zhou no longer needs to use space-ti slicing with a mindset of cautious hope and constant anxiety, nor does he need to avoid thinking about losing this "convenient cutting thod."
Ha~
With a soft chuckle, his palm brushed over the empty table. Chen Zhou scratched his ssy hair and muttered to himself.
"This reward is really sothing...
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-ti slicing be directly canceled, or punishnt be imposed, or even more extre, forcefully stopping the challenge?"
...
On September 24th, after solving the complex cube, Chen Zhou sat in front of the desk for a very long ti.
He had myriad thoughts in his mind, sotis pondering the reasons for participating in the challenge;
sotis worrying if such special rewards would still be available in the future;
sotis he seed to return to the mont of turning the cube, replaying those 117 moves and figuring out how they should be completed.
After heavy ntal labor, faced with those words that shook his mind, his inner self grew weary. At so point, he lay on the desk, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
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