135: The Logic of a Madman

"So, this is the 'treasure' you scavenged from a junk pile that's supposed to overturn the universe's value system?"

Inside the Higher Academy's advanced observation room, Aris Thorne's voice carried a hint of cat-and-mouse playfulness. He stood with arms crossed, looking at Chen Feng with great interest—or more accurately, at the unremarkable suitcase by Chen Feng's feet.

Chen Feng ignored his mockery, instead pointing at the massive energy flow monitor on the wall with a look of feigned astonishment. On it, the pure blue data stream flowed like a calm stream, without a single ripple of interference.

"My goodness, Dr. Thorne." Chen Feng's voice was filled with perfectly timed shock and a hint of... ecstasy. "The purity of the laws here is too high! It's simply... simply like an unpolished diamond!"

He rubbed his hands together excitedly, like a believer witnessing a miracle.

"What's wrong?" Aris's brow furrowed slightly; Chen Feng's reaction was beyond his expectations.

"My equipment! My equipment is being interfered with!" Chen Feng pointed at his suitcase, his tone urgent. "It can't be deployed in such a 'perfect' environment! A 'Field Calibration' must be performed!"

"Field Calibration?" Aris repeated, the term piquing his interest.

"Yes!" Chen Feng's eyes were terrifyingly bright. "My core device, which I call the 'Reality Potentiality Disruptor,' essentially seeks order within chaos! Therefore, it needs to be in an unstable, high-energy field on the brink of collapse to activate its truest... most wonderful form!"

His finger suddenly snapped around, pointing toward the deepest corner of the laboratory. There, a menacing-looking spherical machine was emitting a dangerous hum, encased in over a dozen layers of translucent force fields.

Chen Feng's voice was full of temptation: "Like... that!"

Aris's expression changed instantly.

"Are you insane?" For the first time, his voice lost its elegance and became shrill. "That is the 'Conceptual Fission Reactor'! My most precious collection! Any hint of external interference could turn half of Free Port into dust!"

"Oh, is that so?" Chen Feng immediately retracted all his fervor, his face showing extreme, undisguised disappointment. He slowly closed his suitcase, picked it up, and turned to leave.

"Since you have no interest in the scenery at the true forefront of universal theory, Doctor, then I suppose our exchange ends here."

His pace wasn't fast, but every step felt like it was treading on Aris's paranoid and proud heart.

"Stop!"

Sure enough, Aris's voice, thick with suppressed rage, came from behind him.

Chen Feng stopped but did not turn around.

"Why should I believe you?" Aris's voice squeezed through his teeth.

"You don't need to believe me, Doctor." Chen Feng turned around, a pitying smile on his face. "You only need to believe your own eyes. Don't you want to see for yourself what kind of magnificent sparks will bloom when a 'real' concept and a 'relative' concept resonate at the critical point?"

"Resonance..." Aris muttered to himself, the wariness in his eyes being consumed by a frantic thirst for knowledge.

"An unprecedented theory, a miracle witnessed by no one." Chen Feng's voice was like a devil's whisper. "And you will be the first witness."

Five minutes later, in Laboratory Area A, in front of the reactor.

Aris ultimately could not resist the fatal temptation. He personally led Chen Feng to the reactor, his face a mixture of excitement and tension.

"I'm warning you, Feng," Aris confirmed one last time. "To stabilize the possible resonance, I must use both hands to operate the console for thirty seconds of 'High-Dimensional Energy Guidance.' During these thirty seconds, I cannot be distracted, nor can I move."

This was exactly what Chen Feng wanted.

"Of course, I understand," Chen Feng replied respectfully.

But Aris cunningly added: "And during the experiment, you and your case must stay by my side. I need to be able to see your every move at all times."

"Naturally." Chen Feng immediately seized the opportunity, a look of difficulty appearing on his face. "However, Doctor, there is one more small problem."

"Speak!"

"To ensure the absolute purity of the 'conceptual field,' any... any other biological field will cause fatal interference. Especially..." Chen Feng's gaze drifted toward the doll-like Eve at the distant workbench, "especially that damned Silence Field on 'sample zero'! It's like a piece of charcoal that will suck away all our light!"

A flash of hesitation appeared in Aris's eyes. That was the final line of defense protecting his most precious 'collection.'

But the desire to witness a new theory and the greed for that unknown scenery ultimately triumphed over everything.

"Hmph, stupid carbon-based lifeforms," he muttered contemptuously, seemingly finding an excuse for his compromise.

He strode to the main console and pressed an inconspicuous button on the virtual screen with a pale finger.

In the distance, the invisible force field around Eve's workbench, which isolated everything, quietly vanished like a popped soap bubble.

Aris turned back, giving Chen Feng a smile mixed with anticipation and threat.

"Prepare your equipment, Professor Feng."

"It's showtime."

With that, he turned around and placed both hands firmly on the reactor's console, his eyes fixed on the rapidly climbing data stream as he began to guide the world-destroying energy with total concentration.

At that very moment.

At the instant Aris turned his back and poured his entire soul into this fake experiment.

A blood-red emergency message flashed across Chen Feng's retina like a blade.

Sender: Su Li.

The content was only one sentence.

"Reno's unit signal is critical; they are launching the general offensive!"

Chen Feng's breath hitched for a moment, his heart feeling as if it were being gripped hard by an icy hand.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the metallic taste rising in his throat. All the feigned fervor on his face instantly vanished, leaving only a calmness like ten-thousand-year-old ice.

He slowly reached into the inner pocket disguised as a vintage pocket watch and took out the true 'key'.

The metal Rubik's cube that constantly flickered between solid and phantom forms.

The [schrödingers lockpick].