The essence of deterrence was mutual destruction.
It was like nuclear deterrence. If you dropped a nuclear bomb on , I would absolutely have to drop nuclear bombs on every nuclear-ard nation in the world.
There was no other possibility!
In the Three-Body Problem, Luo Ji understood this principle, which was why the Trisolarans were Afraid to Throw a Stone at a Rat for Fear of Breaking the Vase.
Cheng Xin did not understand this principle, which was why the Trisolarans dared to ignore the deterrence.
In this high-stakes ga, the three Three-Star Players knew very well that they had less than six minutes to think. Once they missed this window, Qiu Yinong would use the Wheel of Ti, resetting ti to within one minute of the Future Lie being spoken, and Chen Ran would use Eternal Kingdom without hesitation.
That would turn all six of them into liars.
A question might arise here.
Since that was the case, why go through so much trouble? Could Chen Ran not just use Eternal Kingdom directly in this tiline?
He could not!
Back in the supermarket, Li Zixin had been instantly killed by a Three-Star Player before she could even finish speaking her skill command.
In this tiline, if Chen Ran dared to touch his Liar-Slayer, he would violate Future Lie Three and be instantly killed by a Three-Star Player. He simply had no opportunity to use Eternal Kingdom.
As for the person who enacted Judgnt on him, would they be tricked by the Wheel of Ti and Eternal Kingdom into violating Future Lie Three themselves?
It went back to the sa principle. The essence of deterrence was mutual destruction. If Chen Ran dared to touch his Liar-Slayer in this tiline, the three Three-Star Players would definitely dare to execute Judgnt on him.
Therefore, what Chen Ran actually needed to bypass was the Future Lie that stated he "cannot touch the Liar-Slayer after one minute".
Thus, he first had to let Qiu Yinong perform a Ti Reset, bringing them back to a point where he could logically and naturally use his Skill.
...
As ti passed.
None of the three Three-Star Players spoke a word. They were testing the depth of Chen Ran's understanding of deterrence.
Three minutes remained.
Two minutes remained.
Chen Ran remained completely silent. Seeing this, Diwu Zeyi sighed, "State your conditions."
He knew that Chen Ran clearly understood that the essence of deterrence was mutual destruction.
"Li Zhitong." Long Hui also struck up a tacitly coordinated conversation with Li Zhitong, using "Turned Upside Down" to ensure she would be unable to process the conditions Chen Ran was about to propose.
"You will kill Li Zhitong. After her death, you must retract your Skills. Furthermore, none of you are allowed to use the lies we told in the previous two Secret Rooms to activate Skills or carry out Judgnt. As an Exchange condition, I will not use Eternal Kingdom again before this Instance ends."
The three noticed that Chen Ran had said "before this Instance ends" rather than "before this Secret Room ends."
The difference was profound. If he had said "before this Secret Room ends," it would an that during the third Secret Room, Chen Ran would retain the ability to turn a battle of wits into a gunfight at any given mont.
But saying "before this Instance ends" ant a gunfight would never be possible again.
This was simply because if Chen Ran used Eternal Kingdom even once, the Future Lie he was stating right now would beco nothing more than empty words.
This proved that his proposal was completely sincere, without a trace of deception.
Moreover, during their earlier emotion-suppressed logical deductions, they had already deduced the proposal Chen Ran was bound to make. Comparing the two, the aning was largely the sa, but it was missing one specific clause...
This missing clause involved the fact that to kill Li Zhitong, they had to make her continuously lose Common Sense.
The problem was that there were currently six people. If they did not converse with Li Zhitong, that left five, aning one person would be left out.
Therefore, upon confirming that Li Zhitong could not process their subsequent words, the three n imdiately proposed a supplentary agreent.
For instance, the three of them needed to converse with each other to bypass the effects of "Silent Seal".
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
The three imdiately agreed. The Future Lie began to take effect. They had no ti to waste on further nonsense, because...
From Li Zhitong's perspective, her conversation with Long Hui just a mont ago felt like a ti skip.
She only heard...
Diwu Zeyi saying, "State your conditions."
And then it instantly shifted to the three Three-Star Players saying, "Agreed." As for what exactly Chen Ran had said in between, her mind had completely failed to process it.
'Why is this happening?'
'According to my deductions, Long Hui should definitely have protected !'
'But he took the initiative to chat with just now, which caused... to be unable to register Chen Ran's words. That ans...'
'What Chen Ran said was definitely related to , and they didn't want to hear it.'
'Conclusion: Long Hui is going to abandon !'
'What exactly is the reason that forces Long Hui to abandon ?!'
'It must be related to the "Future Lie Two" that I failed to process.'
'It seems my judgnt of the situation has been flawed from the very beginning.'
'Which ans that from this point on, Long Hui will no longer converse with to bypass the Skill effects of "Silent Seal".'
'I can only deduce information about the Instance...'
'But there's a problem here. If they take the first step and state the exact deductions I was planning to make, wouldn't that an...'
'The content of my spoken deductions would turn into a re repetition of theirs.'
'If I can't bypass "Silent Seal" that way, then I can only make obscure and unconventional deductions...'
'However, I must be careful. Deductions themselves don't constitute lies, but if they touch upon Common Sense, the spoken content might turn into a lie.'
'I also have to operate the computer while enduring the effects of "Turned Upside Down". I must be extrely, extrely careful.'
Thinking of this.
Li Zhitong said aloud, "The BOSS of this Instance might be a woman. Since we got off at The Hospital and it relates to a heart, that indicates the confrontation in the third Secret Room will very likely involve a puzzle about the heart."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw that Diwu Zeyi had produced a Lighter from nowhere. He flicked it on, and in a re instant, the Alice in Wonderland Syndro produced by "Mount Tai Crushing Down" took effect on her. The tiny fla began to expand endlessly...
In a flash, raging flas appeared in the Secret Room once again, suffocating her and scorching her soul.
'Damn "Emperor Erges from the Three Rivers"!'
'This is bad!'
'I looked at Diwu Zeyi, which counts as the first action. That ans I won't be able to process the subsequent second action.'
Realizing this.
She imdiately voiced her deduction: "Since the main storyline is related to The Hospital, it ans a certain doctor or executive within it was bribed by a wealthy person to intercept and steal the heart ant for the subway worker's Child."
At this mont, her own brain was completely incapable of registering the words she was speaking.
Thus, by the ti Li Zhitong snapped out of her daze, she found herself staring at the countdown tir on her arm.
This was the first action.
Therefore, her brain would not be able to process her subsequent second action.
Figuring this out, Li Zhitong felt as though the sky were collapsing. She had no idea whether she had just made a deduction or not, and any future deductions she made would also be rejected by her brain.
With no other option, she could only turn her head, attempting to break out of this passive situation.
But when she regained her senses once more, she found herself looking at Chen Ran.
She had no idea how much ti had passed, or whether the countdown on her arm had already ended.
'This can't go on!'
'I seem to have only one path left, and that is to continuously deduce information about the Instance.'
'But if I do that, it's highly likely that my second deduction won't be processed, which will cause my third attempt...'
'To very likely be the exact sa words I used in my second deduction. Then it wouldn't be a deduction anymore, but rely an emphasis of my previous one, which ans I wouldn't be able to bypass "Silent Seal".'
'How can there be such disgusting Skills?! "Silent Seal" is disgusting, "Turned Upside Down" is disgusting, but the most sickening of all is Diwu Zeyi's "Emperor Erges from the Three Rivers".'
Only at this very mont did she finally realize just how terrifying the coordination between these three Skills truly was. Without Chen Ran's Eternal Kingdom, Diwu Zeyi was essentially invincible.
'No wonder both Long Hui and Dorje wanted to kill Diwu Zeyi first.'
'Wait.'
'Who... am I?'
'This is bad!'
"Chen Ran used Eternal Kingdom! The three of us should join forces to deal with them!"
No one answered her.
"Long Hui, what are you thinking?! As long as I'm alive, even if Diwu Zeyi has taken control of your Skill, we can converse with each other! You can bypass 'Silent Seal' and quietly watch the others get played to death by Diwu Zeyi!"
Still, no one spoke.
At the sa ti, because she failed to process this information, she ended up repeating those very words.
There was still no answer.
She grew frantic, roaring aloud as she felt the shadow of death gradually envelop her. She forgot her own Skill, forgot her age, forgot her gender, and forgot where she was...
'Who am I?'
'Where am I?'
'And who are they?'
'What are we doing?'
'What is this square thing on the table in front of ? There seems to be text on it, but I seem to have forgotten what it ans...'
"What is your na?" Diwu Zeyi asked slowly, causing Li Zhitong's gaze to turn vacant as she sank into deep thought.
'What is my na?'
'How strange. I clearly wanted to answer "I don't know" just now, but right as I was about to, my body started trembling violently.'
'It feels like absolute terror!'
When she snapped back to reality once more, she noticed that The Youth playing with the Lighter now held a Paper Plane. The Youth breathed onto the Paper Plane once, and then again.
He threw it toward her.
As the Paper Plane glided through the air, it continuously transford. It grew into a mythical Kunpeng, stretching for fifty thousand kiloters.
Trailing flas from its tail, the Paper Plane looked like a phoenix spreading its wings as it dive-bombed right at her.
"No!"
"No!"
Li Zhitong instinctively dodged the colossal behemoth, only to step into empty air. From the suspended floor, she plumted straight into the abyss...
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