Chapter 62: Deconstructing Jiang Zhe's Experiment

As soon as Jiang Zhe began to explain the third core point of the Ship of Theseus and the questions they were concerned about, everyone immediately focused their attention with intense concentration.

"A once-and-for-all solution? Isn't that just big talk?"

"The Ship of Theseus seemed to have been resolved, but that third core point was raised by Jiang Zhe; and then that third core point is linked to Cloning... Well, if it really can be solved, it truly will be recorded in the history books!"

"Yeah, this time it's different from before!"

"..."

It should be noted that in this world, the third paradox of the Ship of Theseus had been proposed by Jiang Zhe only tens of minutes ago.

This wasn't just a simple difficulty; it had elevated Plutarch's paradox to a twisted new level—directly linking it to the topic of [Is the cloned me still me?].

The experts in the lecture hall also knew that the third paradox could never avoid living examples.

The reason they were patiently watching Jiang Zhe's live stream was that some wanted to see Jiang Zhe sheepishly laugh it off and end the stream, or perhaps just mention it in passing.

But the crowd really never imagined that Jiang Zhe could solve it completely!

Inside the large screen.

Jiang Zhe said with a serious expression:

"The third paradox is the [Cloning] of the Ship of Theseus, making it impossible for people to distinguish whether it is still the original Ship of Theseus."

"When applied to us humans, it is [Cloning]."

He really wanted to play the video he had produced earlier, but he glanced at the time on his wrist; with only 15 minutes left until the end, there wasn't enough time.

"In the distant future, there also lives a person named [Jiang Zhe]."

"However, he is not a host, but a beast of burden oppressed by 996."

"He lives in the suburbs of Su City and works in Kyoto, 1000km away."

"Every day, he has to catch the subway to the city center and then take the [Super-fast Bullet Train] from the city center to work in Chaoyang, Kyoto."

Actually, when he spoke to this point, the bullet chats were full of confusion.

"Wait? Are you that rich?"

"Yeah, commuting 1000 kilometers every day to work, that's not reasonable, is it?"

"..."

Jiang Zhe received a bullet chat reminder from the director in his earpiece and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

"I said it's an example, an example; are you all really going to be that nitpicky?"

Hearing this, the audience couldn't help but smile awkwardly and continued to listen.

"Alright, back to the topic."

"In this distant future, the whole world has developed a [Smash and Reassemble Machine], and the authorities have installed these machines in the super-fast trains."

"The working principle of this machine is—"

"That future Jiang Zhe walks into the train; the train doesn't have an ordinary corridor, but a Departure Room."

"When the future Jiang Zhe walks into the Departure Room, his set destination is Chaoyang, Kyoto."

"Once he has selected his destination, he then presses the button."

"The equipment in the Departure Room begins to scan his entire body without missing a single detail, and it collects all the molecules, atoms, and even quark-level particles of his body."

"While the equipment is scanning, it simultaneously destroys every one of his cells on the other side."

"After the scan is completed, that future Jiang Zhe is completely destroyed, and the Departure Room is now empty."

"And then!"

"The train Departure Room equipment in Kyoto receives all the information from the future Jiang Zhe's body from Su City."

"Then the Kyoto train sends the collected information to the Arrival Room within the train."

"At that time, the Arrival Room uses the body data of the future Jiang Zhe to reconstruct his body."

"When all this is completed, the future Jiang Zhe walks out of the Arrival Room, feeling no different from when he was just in the Departure Room in Su City."

"His mood hasn't changed, he's still a little thirsty, and even the old scratch on his face is still there."

"From the moment future Jiang Zhe presses the button in the Su City Departure Room to the entire process in the Kyoto Arrival Room, it takes about five minutes."

"But for him, all of this is instantaneous—he presses the button in Su City, his vision goes dark, and then he's in Kyoto."

"Perhaps you think this technology is god-tier!"

"In reality, in the distant future, this is a very common technology; after all, everyone travels this way."

"It's not only convenient but also safer—no one has ever been injured by using this technology."

Having narrated to this point, Jiang Zhe revealed a mysterious smile.

Seeing this familiar smile, the audience was stunned, and a chilling feeling of dread washed over them.

"Here it comes, here it comes! Jiang Zhe's smile always makes my hair stand on end!"

"Good heavens, I've already guessed what's going to happen next."

"What happened?"

"An accident must have happened!"

"Nonsense, I want you to explain it; don't I already know that?"

"..."

"But, something strange happened!"

"On New Year's Day in that future, the future Jiang Zhe was about to head from Su City to Kyoto. I heard he had taken a godmother there, and she said she wanted to marry her daughter to him."

"So he walked into the Departure Room with a heart full of trepidation and unease—"

"He was wondering if his godmother was just looking for an opportunity to introduce her daughter to him and had some improper designs on him?"

"After all, the future Jiang Zhe's looks were still top-tier."

"However, no matter how good he looks, he's not as handsome as all you Ji Shuai and Ji Shu in front of your TVs, computers, and phones!"

As his words fell, all the viewers in front of their screens and the experts couldn't help but smile.

Many fans actually preferred this style; traditional, serious commentary was already outdated.

In the lecture hall.

Professor Hua Yunfeng looked at Leng Fei below the stage: "What on earth is a 'Ji Shu'? Does it mean a collection of uncles?"

"This..." Leng Fei's mouth twitched. What the hell would you do with a collection of uncles?

He looked at Professor Hua Yunfeng's appearance; he couldn't exactly call him handsome—in fact, he was completely unrelated to the word.

So he went against his conscience and said, "It just means a very handsome uncle. Jiang Zhe is saying you are a Ji Shu."

Professor Feng frowned and asked, "Then does Ji Shuai mean a handsome guy?"

Leng Fei nodded repeatedly, "Yes."

Hearing this, the two old men were first stunned, then couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"I'm a Ji Shu, hahaha; Old Feng, look at me, am I handsome? I'm a Ji Shu!"

"Handsome, very handsome, so handsome I almost fell in love with you."

"Really? Not lying?"

"Holy crap, Old Yunfeng, what's with that expression? Why do you look so expectant?"

"I don't..."

The old experts in the first row below the stage looked at Professor Hua Yunfeng with even stranger expressions.

...

In the large screen.

Jiang Zhe's voice continued.

"Then, in this state of unease, he flusteredly pressed the button in the Departure Room."

"At the instant the button was activated, the future Jiang Zhe's heart rate suddenly reached a peak; it was almost an instant of extreme high pressure, which directly caused a small accident."

"He thought he would hear the sound of the instrument scanning as usual, but he wasn't teleported."

"He thought his vision would go dark and he'd instantly arrive in Kyoto, but he didn't."

"When he walked out of the Departure Room, he was eerily still in Su City."

"After encountering this situation, he panicked; after all, he was the first person in the world to encounter this."

"So the future Jiang Zhe hurriedly went to find the customer service staff to tell them the equipment was broken."

"When he reached the customer service office, he asked a staff member, [Hello, that equipment is broken. I wasn't teleported. I have to go to Kyoto for a blind date now, and I'm in a hurry. Please give me a new Departure Room.]"

"The female staff member glanced at the usage records and told him: [No, your scanning equipment is working normally. It collected all your body data. However, the cell destruction machine that was supposed to work in sync with the scanning equipment seems to have malfunctioned, but it's no big deal.]"

"The future Jiang Zhe panicked. He was unsure, and a feeling of unease washed over him. He then hurriedly said: [That's impossible, I'm clearly still here! Quickly let me use another Departure Room, hurry up, I'm in a rush.]"

"Under his repeated demands, the customer service staff couldn't take it anymore."

"The staff member directly opened the surveillance footage, which showed the future Jiang Zhe in Kyoto."

"The staff member smiled slightly, [It's just that the cell destruction equipment broke, but the scanning equipment was indeed working normally. If you don't believe me, look: this is the surveillance footage of you in the Kyoto Arrival Room. Right now, you've bought a high-sugar drink from the vending machine and just walked out. It looks like your blind date won't be a failure now!]"

"As a result, that future Jiang Zhe was instantly struck with shock, his eyes losing focus; he felt as if an even larger conspiracy was waiting for him!"

As the words fell, the viewers in front of the screens and the experts couldn't help but look serious.

As the story progressed to this point, the core of the thought experiment had already appeared.

Visible to the naked eye—two identical future Jiang Zhes were living in the same world.

In this situation, one of them must inevitably die!

Who would it be?

Everyone became increasingly curious!