153: Logical transactions

The bridge after the surgery was thick with a weary atmosphere, a mixture of blood, sweat, and ozone.

Reno's vital signs had been forcibly stabilized, but that chip known as the stasis sliver had turned his body into an unknown source emitting an eerie, faint glow.

"Now is not the time for rest." Eve's voice broke the silence. She was already standing before the encrypted tactical data pad seized from the enemy. "It's unknown how long Reno's evolutionary state can be maintained. We must crack this as soon as possible to know what we're facing next."

Her fingers tapped rapidly on the console, and strings of complex data streams cascaded across the screen like waterfalls.

A few minutes later, she stopped, her silver eyes reflecting a line of red warnings.

"How is it?" Chen Feng's voice was somewhat raspy.

"The encryption is very complex, fusing my race's technological concepts with military encryption protocols." Eve's tone carried a hint of both professional confidence and gravity. "I'm ninety percent sure I can crack it, but it requires a 'brute-force enumeration deduction'."

"Get to the point."

"The point is, the required computing power is about a million times that of this junk ship's mainframe," Eve said, turning around and emphasizing every word.

"A million times?" Captain Fili, standing nearby, let out a strange cry, his four eyes widening like copper bells. "Are you joking? Unless we can find an Alliance military computing center, this is just a piece of scrap metal! What are we going to use to calculate? Our brains?"

Chen Feng ignored his noisy chatter, simply watching Eve quietly.

"Reno's seventy-two-hour limit has less than sixty-eight hours remaining." He calmly stated the facts. "We don't have time to look for any physical equipment."

Eve's lips pressed into a thin line; she knew Chen Feng was right. She could identify the problem, but she couldn't provide the tools to solve it.

"I'll find a way."

After Chen Feng spoke, he closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank into a sea of stars composed of pure information—the Interstellar Exchange.

This time, he didn't enter the dazzling commodity area but went directly into the "Intangible Assets" section of the "Service" market.

He bypassed the expensive commercial computing power leasing services; those required physical terminal access and astronomical amounts of credit points.

In the search bar, he entered three keywords: "Computing Power," "Conceptual Payment," and "Instant Delivery."

Countless pieces of information flashed by until, finally, a peculiar seller ID caught his attention.

Logical Weave.

"A silicon-based hive-mind civilization?" Chen Feng quickly browsed their profile in his mind. "They don't accept credit points; the currency for trade is... 'unseen logical paradoxes or philosophical dilemmas'?"

The payment for the transaction was the knowledge itself used to "broaden the boundaries of thought."

A slight curve appeared at the corner of Chen Feng's mouth.

He opened his eyes and looked at Eve and Fili. "I've found the computing power, but it requires paying a... special fee."

"What fee? You still have money?" Fili asked in disbelief.

"A paradox they haven't heard of."

Fili froze as if he were hearing some fairy tale. "A... story? Are you crazy? Exchanging a story for a million times the computing power?"

"Prepare to receive the data." Chen Feng didn't explain; he began to rapidly construct a concept in his mind. "Can an omniscient and omnipotent god create a stone that He Himself cannot lift?"

"An entry-level paradox, a classic case in the history of cosmic philosophy. Value: zero." Eve poured cold water on the idea without mercy. "If that's all you can think of, we might as well discuss how to manually dismantle this ship to use as an escape raft."

Chen Feng's expression didn't change in the slightest.

His gaze fell upon the cold-emanating Geas Marker on his left wrist.

The Collector... experience... existence... a wild thought formed like a lightning bolt in his mind.

"Eve, help me refine a logical model." Chen Feng spoke extremely fast. "Suppose there is an ultimate Collector whose sole purpose for existence is 'experience'..."

"...If it successfully 'experiences' 'complete non-existence,' which is absolute nothingness..."

Eve's eyes lit up. She instantly understood Chen Feng's intention and immediately picked up the thread: "...Then, did it complete the ultimate collection of its own existence, or did the collection fail completely because it itself no longer exists?"

"It completed the act of 'experiencing nothingness,' but the concept of 'completion' requires a 'subject' to confirm it. When the subject is 'nothingness,' does 'completion' itself still hold true?" Chen Feng added.

"The paradox is established." Eve's breathing became a bit rapid. "This is a self-referential paradox about 'existence' and 'action,' exploiting a logical loop hole in the identity of the observer and the actor!"

Chen Feng immediately submitted this exquisite paradox, refined by the two of them, to Logical Weave through the Interstellar Exchange.

In the Interstellar Exchange's virtual interface, the constantly rotating geometric avatar representing the seller instantly froze.

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

Just as Fili thought it was another scam, a message mixed with high-frequency data streams, expressing "extreme appreciation" and "delight," surged into Chen Feng's consciousness!

[Transaction Established]

The next second, a massive torrent of information, incomprehensible and invisible to mortals, crossed endless dimensions like the Milky Way pouring down from the highest heavens, instantly flooding the lucky dice's pitiful mainframe system!

"It's here!" Eve let out a cry of surprise, her hands becoming phantoms on the console. "Guiding the computing power! Starting the decryption!"

On the bridge's main screen, the data bar representing the decryption progress advanced at a frantic, visible speed!

10%... 30%... 70%... 95%... However, this powerful flow of data, strong enough to warp reality, also formed a signal source as bright as a supernova in the dark universe.

Just as the progress bar reached 99%—

"Warning! Warning! High-intensity space-folding reaction detected! Right next to us!"

The piercing alarm suddenly tore through the entire bridge!

Fili lunged to the porthole in terror. In the dark universe to the side of the ship, a massive spatial rift was torn open, and a huge, sinister vessel, like a giant beast awakening from the abyss, exited sub-space travel and appeared beside them!