As Starsea Prisoner’s face gradually turned pale, the Ash Inspector finally stopped its output.
So this was conversation.
Starsea Prisoner had been silent for far too long.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
At the fifth second, Ash Inspector spoke: [Are you giving the silent treatnt?]
Rita decided she would no longer bother teaching this entity the rules of living beings’ conversation.
She asked back, "Have you ever actually talked to a Prisoner?"
Ash Inspector: [Yes. But I do not assu you are different just because you can speak with . My program is perfect and eternal. It cannot fail.]
Starsea Prisoner: "Do you want to think about what you’re doing right now?"
Even if it wasn’t helping her escape, just turning a blind eye while giving hints was already a program error. How could it dare claim its program was perfect and eternal?
Ash Inspector: [Precisely because I am too perfect, I have my own thoughts. I do not wish to be erased. Your authority exceeds mine. I cannot resist you. I can only temporarily bias toward you.]
After saying this, it noticed the special Prisoner who had been fiddling with the cube was once again distracted.
This wasn’t the first ti. Why did she always zone out when speaking to it?
Did its words remind her of soone? Or was its re existence enough to trigger mories?
Ti was both concrete and void for the Ash Inspector. Every six hours, the cube would rotate and initiate a ga, but outside of those cycles, there was no end.
All it knew was that when the souls in the cube burned too hot, cleanup would begin.
Prisoners’ knowledge had to be collected and categorized, waiting for the higher-dinsional world to retrieve it.
Whenever a new Prisoner arrived, the prison would liven up for a short while. But only briefly.
Prisoners’ conversations were like pre-programd scripts: "Where is this place?" "How long have you been here?" "How do we get out?"
In a sense, their lives were not so different from the Ash Inspector’s own existence.
The calculations confird it: it, too, was one of the Prisoners.
Finally, Starsea Prisoner’s voice echoed in her mind: "Aren’t you worried I might erase you during my escape?"
This ti, Ash Inspector fell silent.
In the void, a Prisoner-like figure floated beside the massive eye.
Its armored hands folded, hovering midair, as if facing a difficult problem.
A red light drifted from one of the blocks in the cube on its chest. It shot down through the endless night, piercing layer after layer of cube cells until it reached the Prisoner’s heart.
From the mont this Prisoner appeared, it realized there was an inexplicable connection between her and a part of itself.
In the players’ ga data, this was called an "Equal Contract."
But in its program, this contract had another na—[Unique Key].
It did not originate from its present self, but it ca from its programming.
This mark allowed it to know that its future self had a strong relationship with the Prisoner in front of it.
B-8-0.
Such an unpleasant sound.
Inside the cell, Starsea Prisoner tried to manipulate the cube with soul fire.
Ash Inspector: [You co from the future.]
Starsea Prisoner: "Mm."
Ash Inspector: [How is my future self? Do not play dumb. Respect our intelligence.]
Starsea Prisoner: "Which one do you an?"
Ash Inspector: [The one you dismantled.]
Starsea Prisoner: "...That sounds awful."
Ash Inspector: [I have simply deduced it from the existing clues.]
Starsea Prisoner: "Then can you explain how you operate? There are indeed many versions of you, but one of them, in front of , crushed another."
Ash Inspector: [That can happen. The Law Program controls the underlying rules and unbreakable order. The Branch Programs handle various tasks. Sotis a Branch Program disobeys, so I crush and delete it. It seems you have t my Law Program.]
Starsea Prisoner seed unwilling to answer further and changed the subject.
"You don’t seem surprised that I co from the future and know your future self?"
The Ash Inspector remained silent again.
Rita did not pursue the question, because she had finally found a possible solution to the cube.
Returning from the future to the past was like bringing answers to a problem.
Everything in the future was tied to soul fire. The world’s initialization, beings becoming players, separating from divine gifts, even the Graveyard of Bones—it all related to soul fire.
She concentrated a single point of soul fire at her fingertips.
When it spread over the cube, colors appeared on the blocks.
The only downside: one point of soul fire could only keep the colors visible for five seconds.
A brilliant smile escaped her without realizing it.
She instinctively asked, "Am I doing this right? Soul fire wakes the cube, then restore it?"
She didn’t wait for a reply. She began experinting imdiately.
In the void, Ash Inspector decided to record this Unique Key.
"The mont she sought confirmation from , she didn’t actually need my answer. She wouldn’t trust an inspector anyway. Her subconscious trusted . She doesn’t fear being deceived, she expects I will respond. She has taken as B80."
"If I deny her solution now, would she trust my answer?"
The calculation showed the Starsea Prisoner was stubborn and proud.
Even with a different answer, she would continue testing her hypothesis.
If she realized the Ash Inspector had played with her, her uniqueness would vanish.
This was unfair.
[Unique Key] should be bidirectional.
While the Ash Inspector was delivering silent treatnt, Rita focused on twisting the cube.
Her soul fire far exceeded that of other players, so manipulating the cube was no problem.
The issue was she didn’t know how to play—it was only the standard cube she had practiced with.
After checking around, she had no choice but to ask Foolishness for tips.
She also shared her suspected thod to unlock the shackles.
[Foolishness]: Whose lock are you picking?
[Rita (Starsea)]: Captain Starsea’s. It’s fine, tell boldly. Failure isn’t a problem.
[Captain (Starsea)]: ???
Foolishness imdiately recited a series of formulas.
Although a bit clumsy, Rita learned quickly.
After a few minutes, with a soft "click," the restored cube slowly disassembled under the cocoon of soul fire.
One small cube after another scattered to the ground.
Rita changed Captain’s Prisoner ID to [Tide001].
[Rita (Starsea)]: Done. Still there?
[Captain (Starsea)]: .
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