Chapter 27: I'm asking you to decipher the mystery, not to propose a new theory.

At this point in his narration, Jiang Zhe held up three fingers to the camera and continued to explain.

"When Qin Shi Huang consumes this single Elixir of Immortality, three possibilities temporarily emerge."

"1: The Emperor achieves eternal life and lives until the year 2024. Since he has no more medicine in his possession, he would only watch me from a distance near Maple Leaf Park and would not have any interaction with me."

"2: After the Emperor consumes this elixir, it results in no medicine being left to be sent back. Thus, the world at the very bottom of the chain, with no medicine to send, will face a great catastrophe!"

"Why would it face a great catastrophe?"

"Because this medicine was given to the Emperor by a person from the future—namely, me in 2024—traveling back to the Qin Dynasty."

"Once the consumable Elixir of Immortality is exhausted, then I have no medicine to send. If I have no medicine to send, naturally, the Emperor cannot achieve immortality."

"Therefore, after he consumes this final elixir, his life and path will end, the world will collapse, and the entire order of the world will disintegrate."

"Perhaps the second possibility I described is a bit too severe. Let's discuss a third possibility that everyone might find more acceptable."

"3: This is the possibility that you all accept, but it is not the one I accept."

"That is, Emperor Qin Shi Huang would die in his quest for longevity just as he did in normal history. Everything would be no different from the history we know now, as if nothing had ever happened in the world."

After saying this, Jiang Zhe smiled slightly. "The truth is just that simple!"

Jiang Zhe had previously thought the audience would understand, but he had forgotten that his explanation was too obscure and difficult to grasp.

The backstage director informed Jiang Zhe that while the number of viewers on the Television Station and in the livestream was rising rapidly, many people were filled with voices of dissatisfaction.

Left with no choice, Jiang Zhe had to comply.

Sure enough, after he finished his explanation, the comments in the livestream became even more active.

"Holy crap, yeah, there are only these three possibilities in the end. I agree with possibility 3!"

"Exactly. If the Emperor didn't achieve immortality, there's no difference from history. At most, Jiang Zhe went to deliver an empty box, and then the Qin Dynasty civil officials recorded: [On a certain day, auspicious light descended from the sky. A man stepped out from the light, calling himself a person of later generations. He held an empty box, rumored to be an offering of the Elixir of Immortality. Later, the box was opened, the elixir was missing, and the Emperor ordered him to be torn apart by five horses; the man died!] That's how it is, I agree!"

"I don't agree. I think the cycle ends after the Emperor consumes the last elixir."

"If it ends, then this wouldn't count as a paradox."

"..."

In the livestream, the comments were divided, and no one could agree on a single answer.

Meanwhile, in the lecture hall of the Kyoto University of Science.

Hearing the three possibilities Jiang Zhe described,

Professor Feng's eyes suddenly lit up.

Exactly, Jiang Zhe's explanation was easy to understand.

Once the Elixir of Immortality is exhausted, that behavior might be stopped; or perhaps Jiang Zhe's action of gifting an empty box would end.

But as he thought deeper, the source of the Elixir of Immortality remained unsolvable.

The key figures were Jiang Zhe, the Elixir, and Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

These three key elements combined to create the Emperor's immortality.

Or rather, if the Emperor is to achieve immortality, it must be ensured that these three elements are gathered together.

If one element is missing, this immortality will not hold; even if the Emperor consumes the last Elixir of Immortality, his ultimate fate is still death.

Why death? It must be because the Emperor had no medicine to give to the Jiang Zhe of 2024.

When it's the turn of the Jiang Zhe who received an empty box to return to the Qin Dynasty—it results in Jiang Zhe having no medicine to give. Since there is no medicine to give, the Emperor still doesn't consume the elixir, leading to his death.

"So, a new problem arises."

"It went from Jiang Zhe giving medicine at the start to Jiang Zhe having no medicine to give, and in the end, the Emperor still dies."

"So, the new question is: [Did we just watch Jiang Zhe give medicine for nothing?]"

He looked at the graduate students below the stage with an innocent expression.

At this moment, the graduate students' rhythm of thinking caught up with Professor Feng.

"Yes, now the paradox has become whether Jiang Zhe actually gave the medicine or not, rather than whether the Emperor is dead or alive."

"This is the brilliance of Jiang Zhe. He clearly gave the medicine before, but now it's turned into not giving it. While the logic is self-consistent, you can't find a point to refute it. Incredible!"

"I think the core of this Jiang Zhe medicine-gifting paradox seems to have become two points. 1: Where did the elixir come from; 2: Is the Emperor actually dead or alive!"

"..."

Listening to his friends' explanations, Leng Fei said with a look of deep thought, "It's not two points; it's still just one point."

Hearing this, everyone, including Professor Feng, looked at Leng Fei.

Leng Fei immediately explained: "Actually, at the end of the day, Old Wu, whether the Emperor is alive or dead isn't the point of the paradox; it's a simple question of the outcome."

"Everyone needs to realize that the core of Jiang Zhe's paradox is built upon the existence of the Elixir of Immortality."

"If the elixir is exhausted, this paradox will collapse on its own."

"What we should be thinking about is never what the Emperor's ending is. We've been letting our own thinking go in circles."

Professor Feng quickly asked, "Right, right, I have that feeling too. We seem to have been led into an infinite loop by Jiang Zhe's questions. From start to finish, Jiang Zhe's core paradox is: where did the elixir come from? Yet we were trying to understand if the Emperor died in the end."

"Yes, Professor, I also just realized that we were all actively jumping into Jiang Zhe's trap. This is where his brilliance lies."

Leng Fei looked at Professor Feng and then turned to look at Student Wu.

"Old Wu, I can answer your second question."

The twenty-eight-year-old Student Wu, who had previously answered whether the Emperor was dead or alive, looked curious. "Oh? You even know this?"

Leng Fei nodded and explained: "When Jiang Zhe has no medicine to give, an event will still form, but this time it's not the timeline we understand. It's a time loop, a completely different kind of time loop."

Professor Feng also became interested in Leng Fei's explanation. "Leng Fei is right. I've always felt that what Teacher Jiang is talking about isn't a timeline, but a completely identical version of a timeline; it's more like circles stacked upon circles, seemingly from top to bottom. I really don't know what this is!"

"Professor, that's how I understand it too. If time is many circles joined together, then this elixir becomes traceable, and the outcome of the Emperor and Jiang Zhe having no medicine to give will be resolved."

To these geniuses of the physics department, what Jiang Zhe was describing was something new.

It was nothing like the timelines or single time loops they usually saw.

If there had to be a term for it, it was as if in this Elixir of Immortality paradox, time was something akin to a spiral!

A graduate student suddenly remembered.

"So, Jiang Zhe said before that time is neither a line nor a circle, but he didn't tell us what time actually is!"

"Right, right, right, I only just remembered now that you mentioned it."

"Good grief, I feel like Jiang Zhe is using this hosting opportunity to publish a new theory of physics..."

"..."

In fact, by now, the people in the physics department had all discovered Jiang Zhe's ambition.

Under the guise of decrypting a paradox, he was proposing a brand-new scientific theory.

...

Meanwhile, in the leadership conference room.

Even with Jiang Zhe's explanation, the people present were still completely bewildered.

No matter how they thought about it, they realized this was an endless cycle, an unbreakable loop.

One by one, Old Zhao, Wang Guosheng, and the others looked at Wang Lin.

Only Wang Lin could grasp a bit of Jiang Zhe's thinking.

Old Zhao asked, "Little Wang, what do you think? He explained it very simply, but I still don't understand!"

Wang Lin smiled awkwardly. "This time, I really don't know. But it feels like he's making quite a stir, as if he's brewing some earth-shattering revelation."

If Wang Lin knew, he could have completely replaced Jiang Zhe.

If this were a 400-meter race, Jiang Zhe had already reached the finish line while Wang Lin had barely just started. There was no comparison!

Soon, the atmosphere in the room fell into silence again.

Fortunately, at this moment, Old Wang's surprised voice came over the intercom again.

"The number of viewers in front of their TVs has exceeded 2 million, and the number of online viewers in the livestream has exceeded 80,000!"

If it were before, this would indeed be good news.

But everyone's mind was not on this; they were all focused on this Bootstrap Paradox.

Just as the scene fell silent once more, Jiang Zhe on the big screen revealed a smile.

Because at this moment, the backstage director told Jiang Zhe that the ratings were skyrocketing.

The director said excitedly, "Teacher Jiang, you're amazing. By tossing out an unsolvable problem, even if the scene goes cold and you don't speak, people have started discussing it spontaneously in the livestream. The number of people watching live on TV has already exceeded 2 million. How on earth did you do it?"

Jiang Zhe tapped his earpiece and responded softly: "Curiosity. Everyone has curiosity. When they face a difficult problem they are interested in, they will want to solve it. This is true for all things and all people in the world. Unless they are those who are truly uninterested in science, but then they aren't our station's audience anyway."

"I see. That said, Teacher Jiang, can you wrap this up in the end? After all, your behavior is a gamble. You'll either gain both fame and fortune, or you'll be a flash in the pan and be criticized."

The backstage director was actually the on-site director.

He reported all trends to Jiang Zhe at any time, allowing him to make appropriate adjustments beneficial to the ratings.

Now Jiang Zhe's behavior had succeeded, but it was almost past the point of no return.

This was a battle of life and death, and it all depended on his words!

"Naturally, I can. Let's not talk for now, I have to continue the broadcast."

"I won't disturb you, please continue."

Facing the camera, Jiang Zhe smiled.

"Actually, the three possibilities I just described will all be easily resolved in a moment."

"What I am about to say next is—a brand-new scientific theory that can solve the Grandfather Paradox and the Bootstrap Paradox!"