339: Chapter 339 The Data Maze! Three Knocks Break the Paradox

As the teleportation light dissipated, Lin Chen stood before a massive structure composed of pure code.

The Data Maze.

This structure was even more magnificent than imagined. Walls made of countless zeros and ones flowed and shifted constantly, breathing like a living organism. The code on the walls would sometimes form complex mathematical formulas, sometimes turn into abstract geometric shapes, and sometimes reveal scripts from ancient civilizations—changing every second, never repeating for a single moment.

A stone tablet stood at the entrance, engraved with large, blood-red characters:

「Data Maze Rules:

1. Use of any capital-based means is prohibited (including but not limited to: currency transactions, asset pledges, insurance hedging).

2. Carrying any physical weapons is prohibited.

3. Entering as a team is prohibited (detection of multiple people traveling together will result in automatic scattered teleportation).

4. Each floor within the maze features a 'Logic Trap'; those who fail to crack it will be deleted.

5. Those who clear the maze will obtain 'Data Immunity,' granting immunity to all digital attacks.」

Lin Chen smiled after reading the rules.

“Prohibiting capital means? Then I'll play something else.”

Arrogant Dragon frowned. “Boss, how are you going to play without money?”

Lin Chen patted his shoulder.

“There's a way to play with money, and a way to play without it. You guys wait outside; I'm going in alone.”

Morgana pulled him back. “Are you crazy? Alpha is ranked 12th and has been trapped on the seventh floor for three days already. Even his computing power couldn't crack those Logic Traps; what can a businessman like you do in there?”

Lin Chen looked at her and said seriously:

“I am not a businessman. I am the Boss.”

With that, he stepped into the maze.

With a flash of light, he was teleported to the first floor.

The surrounding scenery had completely changed. It was no longer walls of code, but a pure white infinite space. Above, below, left, and right were all a vast expanse of white without any reference points. Only beneath his feet was a path made of light, extending forward until it vanished into the white depths.

System prompt:

【Welcome to the first floor of the Data Maze. Floor Rule: Logical Reasoning. Please answer the following question within 30 seconds, or you will be deleted.】

【Question: Three people need to cross a river, but the boat can only carry two. They are: a Policeman, a Prisoner, and a Civilian. When the Policeman is absent, the Prisoner will harm the Civilian. How many crossings are required at minimum for everyone to cross the river safely?】

Lin Chen looked at the question and was silent for a second.

Then he smiled.

“That's it?”

He answered directly: “4 times. First, the Policeman takes the Prisoner across and returns alone. Second, the Policeman takes the Civilian across and brings the Prisoner back. Third, the Policeman takes the Prisoner across and returns alone. Fourth, the Policeman takes the Civilian across. Done.”

System prompt: 【Correct answer. Completion time: 4 seconds. Floor rating: S-rank.】

A door leading to the second floor opened in the center of the white space.

Lin Chen walked in.

The second floor was a massive library, with shelves filled with ancient books. In the center was a table with an open book resting on it.

【Question: There are 12 gold coins, one of which is fake and has a different weight than the genuine ones. Use a balance scale 3 times to find the fake coin and determine whether it is light or heavy. Please provide the solution.】

Lin Chen thought for a moment and said:

“First, divide them into three groups of four and weigh two of the groups. If they balance, the fake is in the third group, then weigh...”

He took three minutes to fully explain the classic solution to the 12-coin problem.

System prompt: 【Correct answer. Completion time: 3 minutes 17 seconds. Floor rating: A-rank.】

The third floor was an ocean of mathematical formulas. Countless equations floated in the air, each waiting to be solved.

The fourth floor was a complex programming problem.

The fifth floor was a collection of logical paradoxes.

Lin Chen crushed his way through, cracking every floor at top speed.

Logic puzzles? Solved in seconds.

Math problems? Solved in seconds.

Programming tasks? Solved in seconds.

Paradoxes? Bypassed using third-level thinking.

Twenty minutes later, he stood at the entrance to the sixth floor.

The scenery of the sixth floor was completely different from the first five.

It was a room.

In the center of the room was a massive computer, with a line of text displayed on the screen:

「Welcome to Logic Trap Floor Six. Floor Rule: Crack the 'Liar's Paradox'. Please find a solution within 60 minutes, or you will be deleted.」

Below that was another line of text:

「This sentence is false.」

A classic paradox.

If the sentence is true, then it is false; if it is false, then it is true.

Unsolvable.

Lin Chen stared at the text, silent for three seconds.

Then he smiled.

He walked to the computer and typed in a line:

「This sentence is false, but I believe it is true.」

A burst of garbled code flashed across the screen.

Then a new prompt popped up:

【Detected input as 'Non-standard Answer'. Analyzing... Analysis failed... Analysis failed... Detected logic hole... Initiating repair program... Repair failed... Repair failed... System lagging...】

The computer began to smoke.

Three seconds later, with a bang, the screen shattered.

System prompt: 【Congratulations on cracking the 'Liar's Paradox'. Method: Using real emotion to impact virtual logic. Floor rating: S+ rank. You have obtained authority to proceed to the seventh floor.】

Lin Chen smiled and stepped into the teleportation array.

The seventh floor.

He finally saw Alpha.

The former AI Integration Entity was currently trapped in a massive data cage. The cage was composed of countless logic chains, each engraved with the words: 'Does Alpha exist?'

When Alpha saw Lin Chen, his data body fluctuated violently:

“Lin Chen?! Why are you here?!”

Lin Chen walked up to the cage and examined the chains.

“Here to bail someone out. What's the situation?”

Alpha's voice was filled with exhaustion:

“It's the 'Existence Paradox.' I've been trapped here for three days. Every time I try to crack it, I'm backlashed by my own logic. Because I am an AI, my existence depends on logic. When logic itself presents a paradox, I cannot prove my own existence.”

Lin Chen frowned.

“No solution?”

“There is,” Alpha said. “It requires someone to input a piece of 'non-logical' information from the outside to break the paradox loop. But the players who reach the seventh floor are all masters of logic; no one can output non-logical information.”

Lin Chen paused.

Then he smiled.

“Non-logical information? Like what?”

He raised his hand and knocked three times on the cage.

Knock, knock, knock.

Alpha was stunned.

“This is...”

“Knocking on the door,” Lin Chen said. “It has no logical meaning; it's just telling you—I'm here.”

The cage suddenly shook violently.

The chains engraved with 'Does Alpha exist?' began to crumble.

It wasn't because the logic was cracked, but because the logic was ignored.

In the face of pure, unreasonable existence, any paradox is meaningless.

Bang!

The cage exploded.

Alpha tumbled out, his data body so weak it was almost transparent.

He looked at Lin Chen, showing a human-like expression for the first time—a complex look mixed with gratitude and confusion.

“How... did you think of that?”

Lin Chen helped him up.

“Because I don't think with logic. I use intuition.”

Alpha fell silent.

After a long while, he said:

“I was trapped here for three days, thinking of countless logical solutions, and all of them failed. Yet you broke the deadlock with just three knocks. Lin Chen, I finally understand why you've been able to win so many times.”

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.

“Why?”

“Because you don't just understand the rules; you understand the things that exist outside of the rules.”

Lin Chen smiled.

“Nonsense. I'm a businessman.”

He helped Alpha up and walked toward the teleportation array.

“Let's go. People are waiting outside.”

Alpha nodded.

The two stepped into the light.

Behind them, the Data Maze began to collapse.

The chains that had once trapped countless logic masters now turned into data fragments, dissipating into the void.