Life's Fragility

Prison No. 18 was as quiet as ever at night.

When Qing Chen returned to the training area, Li Shutong was standing steadily on the horizontal bar, quietly looking at the reader, which contained the Outer World endgame chess notation that Lin Xiaoxiao had exported for him.

Upon seeing Qing Chen return, the teacher smiled and said, "Judging from your expression, it seems you've encountered some trouble?"

Qing Chen tossed the USB drive in his hand to Lin Xiaoxiao, then said to Li Shutong, "These are all the classical music scores I could find in the Outer World. I should be able to exchange them for a chance to make a deal with you, teacher."

"Oh?" Li Shutong's interest was piqued. "So, what do you want to exchange with me this time to help you get through this difficult time?"

Qing Chen shook his head. "I've said it before, I walk my own path, so please consider this trading opportunity on credit, teacher."

Li Shutong leaped off the horizontal bar, but his body floated lightly in the air, like a weightless feather.

It landed on the ground without making a sound.

He said with a smile, "I've hardly ever owed anyone anything in my life, so owing someone something really doesn't feel good. You should think about what else you need while you're at it, so I can have the chance to repay this debt."

"Does the teacher owe anyone else?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"I do owe them," Li Shutong smiled. "They hate me to the core now, so it's not good to see them again. I'll repay them in the next life."

Qing Chen felt there was a story behind this.

Li Shutong said, "I can see that you've run into a big problem this time. But I won't help you. Even if you trade this opportunity with me, I still won't help. The fact that you're so clear-headed and haven't begged me shows that I wasn't wrong about you before."

Qing Chen understood that Li Shutong would help him establish himself in Inner World and expand his influence.

But once they actually encounter danger, the other party will stop caring.

Lin Xiaoxiao muttered from the side, "Boss, you really don't care. Let's see if you'll be sad when he dies in the Outer World."

Li Shutong laughed, "There is a kind of eagle in this world called the Azure Falcon. When they grow up, even airships can't catch them. But when they are young, they are very timid and dare not fly into the sky on their own. So when the time is right, the adult Azure Falcon will grab the chicks and push them off the cliff one by one."

"Those that spread their wings live, while those that continue to cower fall to their deaths off the cliff. On average, Azure Falcon hatches about two broods before one survives," Li Shutong continued. "But the one that survives, from the moment it can fly, becomes the master of the sky."

Qing Chen asked curiously, "There's no such thing as Azure Falcon in the Outer World. Is he very powerful?"

"Of course they're formidable," Li Shutong recalled. "Even humans wouldn't dare provoke them without the protection of a Class A airship. Years ago, when I was facing my third Life and Death Trial, I accidentally entered their territory and was chased for over thirty miles by one of the Azure Falcon. I almost died there."

Qing Chen found it quite amusing that someone like Li Shutong, in his youth, would also be chased all over the place...

At this moment, Li Shutong suddenly said, "Forbidden Zone are not only created after the death of extraordinary beings. Even some powerful creatures can create them. For example, after the death of this Azure Falcon, the plants around its corpse will become stronger and even develop aggressiveness, because stronger plants need more nutrients."

"Is there any way to suppress the Forbidden Zone?" Qing Chen asked. "It's very much like a state of increasing entropy. If the Forbidden Zone are allowed to spread unchecked, won't there be no soil left for human habitation in a few hundred years?"

Entropy increase, taking the Forbidden Zone the Inner World as an example, roughly means that it is constantly increasing in a disorderly manner, but will not decrease due to natural laws.

Until one day, it engulfed the whole world.

The Tribunal of Taboos could only curb its rate of increase, but could not eliminate it.

"There's no way to suppress it," Li Shutong said. "Perhaps this is the principle of Earth's purification. Maybe one day, huge creatures similar to dinosaurs will reappear on Earth, and birds of prey like the Azure Falcon will be like pterosaurs from ancient times. At that time, Earth will be a completely different place."

"How should humans conduct themselves?" Qing Chen asked.

"Perhaps only the extraordinary could survive back then," Li Shutong smiled. "Humans always think they are the masters here, but time will tell you that there are no true masters. How about we go out for a trip? I'll take you to see the real Forbidden Zone."

Qing Chen shook his head. "Let's wait until next time, teacher. I need to think about how to deal with things after my return these next two days."

Lin Xiaoxiao clearly noticed that Li Shutong had a look of regret on his face.

But then Li Shutong said, "Have you thought about how to deal with this?"

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "Kill him."

"Then do you know how to kill someone?" Li Shutong asked.

"I don't know, but I can learn," Qing Chen replied.

Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan remarked that the conversation between these two was incredibly straightforward and direct.

Qing Chen said, "I came up with a plan: Ye Wan would spar with me for the past two days, and I would memorize all the fighting techniques and all the reactions my enemies would make when I fight. The idea was to use an exhaustive approach to gain the upper hand in battle. But I later realized that while the method was feasible, there wasn't enough time."

"Just like when you play chess, right?" Li Shutong said thoughtfully. Exhaustive search is a method of solving problems by brute force.

When your opponent makes a move, you should think of "all" possible responses and all possible variations your opponent might make, and then choose the optimal solution.

When Qing Chen plays chess, he memorizes all the variations in the endgame. The moment his opponent makes a move, he knows how many ways there are to respond.

Ye Wan asked, "With your Breathing Technique and your own continuous practice, you already have the physical foundation of a soldier, but if the opponent is equipped with mechanical limbs, you still have no advantage."

"Is it enough?" Qing Chen asked.

"It's enough," Ye Wan replied, "But can your reaction keep up? I mean, once your mind understands how many choices you have, can you quickly select the most correct one, and then your body react accordingly?"

At this moment, Li Shutong interrupted, saying, "The human body has many bones: 29 skull bones, 51 trunk bones, including 26 vertebrae, 64 upper limb bones, and 62 femur bones."

"The human body has 12 large joints and 210 small joints."

"The human body has about 639 muscles, which are composed of about 6 billion muscle fibers," Li Shutong said. "The human body has more variations than chess, so don't try to exhaust all the variations in two days. In fact, to kill someone, one move is enough."

Qing Chen listened as Li Shutong continued, "Ye Wan, you only need to teach him one move, and then tell him how many possible reactions the enemy will have. That will make things much simpler."

Ye Wan thought for a moment, "Boss, is one move enough?"

Li Shutong laughed and said, "That's enough. After all... life is very fragile."

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "Two nights might still not be enough time."

Li Shutong waved his hand dismissively. "Then lock all the prisoners in their own cells, only allowing them to come out for meals, and the rest of the time they can go back to their cells. That way, you can train during the day too."

Qing Chen was stunned. Although the other party said they would not help him, they still made such a big fuss.

Thank you Zeyuan the Great Papa for becoming a new ally of this book! What a generous boss! (I'm a little curious about who Zeyuan is...)

Thank you so much to "A Doubting L" and "True Weird Uncle" for the generous donations! You're so kind, sir!

The bosses are making a fortune!