53: Only children make choices.

Inside the cabin.

Only the blood-red digits of the countdown remained, ticking silently.

Like the heartbeat of a devil.

Su Qingxue's fingers touched the cup of water Chen Mo offered her.

It was warm.

Yet her fingertip recoiled abruptly, as if she had been burned.

The last trace of color drained from her face, leaving her as pale as a sheet of paper.

"I..."

She opened her mouth, but her throat felt clogged with cotton, preventing any sound from escaping.

Shame, remorse, and a hint of panic she hadn't even realized herself.

Her professionalism, her logic, her judgment—all the things she prided herself on.

They had been utterly shattered by that man's madness.

And just moments ago, she had been using those ridiculous theories to question and challenge him.

"Drink it."

Chen Mo's voice was calm, devoid of mockery or pride.

It was as if the fierce argument they just had hadn't happened at all.

He pushed the cup forward again.

Su Qingxue's eyelashes trembled, and finally, she took the cup.

A warm sensation spread from her palm.

She did not drink; she just held it tightly.

"Now, tell me your assessment." Chen Mo looked at her, his gaze fixed on her beautiful eyes, which were also wide with shock.

Su Qingxue suddenly looked up.

She had expected him to take over everything, issuing commands with an "I told you so" attitude.

But he didn't.

He was still asking for her opinion.

Even after everyone had proven her wrong, he was still asking.

A complex emotion welled up in her heart.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down and revert to the professional criminal psychologist she was.

"This is... an unsolvable trolley problem."

Her voice was still a little hoarse, but her thoughts were clear.

"A, save the person. B, capture the criminal."

"He calculated our flight time precisely. When the countdown ends, that's when we arrive."

"If we choose A, rushing in to save Professor Yang, we will inevitably trigger a mechanism he set up, or waste the golden window for his capture. He will escape calmly and mock our incompetence."

"If we choose B, abandoning Professor Yang and focusing all our efforts on pursuing him, then Professor Yang will surely die. He will use the death of a national treasure scientist to prove our coldness and failure."

"No matter what we choose, we lose."

Li Hu's fists cracked audibly, and his jaw muscles bulged as he clenched his teeth.

"This damn guy is a lunatic!"

"No."

Chen Mo shook his head.

He looked at the arrogant countdown on the screen.

There was no anger in his eyes, only a cold, scalpel-like sharpness.

"He doesn't want us to lose."

"He just wants to see how I... choose."

"Because he gave me this exact choice before."

The air in the cabin instantly froze.

"That time, he kidnapped a school bus full of students and a truckload of high-risk viruses destined for the lab."

"He made me choose: save the people, or prevent the virus from spreading."

"What... what did you choose?" Su Qingxue's voice was trembling.

Chen Mo did not answer.

He just looked up and scanned everyone present.

"Only children make choices."

His voice was quiet, yet it exploded like a thunderclap in everyone's ears!

"I want both."

Audacity!

An indescribable audacity burst forth from his not-so-muscular body!

"Li Ke!"

"Here!" Li Ke straightened his back abruptly, as if electrocuted.

"Zoom in on the screen, focus on Professor Yang."

"Yes!"

On the screen, Professor Yang's terrified face was magnified to the extreme.

"'The Emperor' is a criminal artist who strives for perfection." Chen Mo's voice became cold and focused.

"The 'gift' he prepared for Professor Yang would absolutely not be some crudely assembled C4 package."

"That would be too ugly, it doesn't fit his aesthetic."

"His 'gift' must be a part of his entire work, a piece of art."

"Look at the details."

"The knots binding his wrists, the tape covering his mouth, even the chair he is sitting on!"

"Find what's wrong!"

Li Ke's eyes lit up instantly!

He understood!

"The Emperor's" provocation gave them a camera.

But this was also "The Emperor's" arrogance, allowing him to expose his "artwork" to them ahead of time!

"Understood! Give me ten minutes!"

Li Ke's fingers flew across the keyboard as if seizing.

Countless lines of code began frantically analyzing every frame of the video!

"Li Hu!"

"Present!"

"Check all equipment. Upon landing, you will lead a team as the first echelon. You have only one objective—charge into the seed vault and save Professor Yang."

"Yes!" A raging fighting spirit ignited in Li Hu's eyes.

Chen Mo's gaze finally landed on Su Qingxue.

Su Qingxue's heart skipped a beat.

"You..."

"You come with me."

Chen Mo stood up and walked toward the other end of the cabin.

Su Qingxue paused for a moment, then immediately followed him.

"Aren't we saving him?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Capturing him is the real rescue."

Chen Mo stopped and looked back at her.

"Did you think this question was for us to choose?"

"No."

"This is an exam specifically for me."

"The switch for the bomb was never on Professor Yang, nor is it in the seed vault."

His gaze seemed to pierce Su Qingxue's soul.

"The switch is in his own hands."

"What he enjoys is watching me fall into a dilemma, watching the process of my agonizing choice."

"The moment I appear before him, the moment he believes the game has entered its final act, he will press that switch."

"Whether it's to celebrate his victory or to welcome his death."

Su Qingxue understood completely.

This was a deadly stalemate.

A fatal chess game revolving entirely around Chen Mo.

"Therefore, our mission is not to choose A or B in front of him."

Chen Mo's voice was extremely low, like a devil's whisper.

"It is to flip the entire chessboard... before he presses the switch!"

His words sent a jolt of cold electricity up Su Qingxue's spine!

She looked at the man before her.

He wasn't arrogant.

He was using his own life to leverage an impossible fulcrum!

"I need your profile."

Chen Mo interrupted her thoughts.

"After we land, where will he hide? How will he observe his 'masterpiece'?"

Su Qingxue didn't hesitate for a second.

"He won't be far. He needs the best 'observation deck,' a place that offers a full view of the situation while being absolutely safe."

Her brain raced.

"The seed vault is built inside the mountain, and the entrance faces an empty ice plain. There are no high vantage points nearby."

"Unless..."

"Unless he's not on the ground at all."

They spoke simultaneously!

A flicker of approval flashed in Chen Mo's eyes.

This was exactly what he wanted!

Just then!

"Team Leader Chen!!"

Li Ke's startled cry came again!

"I found it! The tape! The tape covering Professor Yang's mouth!"

Chen Mo and Su Qingxue whipped their heads around.

On the computer screen, the image of the tape was magnified hundreds of times!

On the surface of the silver-gray tape, there was a layer of extremely fine particles, almost invisible to the naked eye!

"This is... Pentaerythritol tetranitrate! PETN! It's the main component of plastic explosives!"

Li Ke's voice was shaking!

"The entire strip of tape... is an explosive!"

"What about the detonation method!" Chen Mo demanded sharply.

"I don't know! But the end of the tape is connected to an extremely small pressure sensor embedded in the armrest of the chair!"

"If external force tears it, or if the countdown hits zero, it will..."

Everyone gasped sharply!

Tear it, it explodes.

Don't tear it.

When the time runs out, it still explodes!

This was the true, unsolvable deadly stalemate!

Chen Mo's expression also became incredibly solemn.

He stared intently at the screen, as if trying to engrave that terrified face into his mind.

He closed his eyes.

The entire world instantly fell silent.

The roar of the cabin.

The nervous breathing of Li Ke and Li Hu.

Su Qingxue's pounding heart... everything receded.

In his world, only another sound remained.

Thump... thump... thump... It was a heartbeat.

Transmitted through the encrypted video signal that crossed half the globe.

He heard it.

He heard Professor Yang's heart, beating frantically due to fear, fast like a shattered drum.

He also heard.

Beyond the frame.

The heart of the man wearing the silver mask—steady, powerful, and full of joy and anticipation.

One fast, one slow.

Like a symphony of death.

But... Chen Mo's brow suddenly furrowed into a tight knot.

Against the backdrop of these two heartbeats, one fast and one slow.

He heard a third sound.

Thump-thump... thump-thump... thump-thump... Faint, rapid, filled with suppressed, extreme terror.

That wasn't Professor Yang's.

Nor was it "The Emperor's."

The sound came from another direction.

It came from the camera's... blind spot.

Chen Mo's eyes snapped open!

In his pupils was monstrous killing intent!

"In that room..."

"There is a third person."