Chapter 128: Esoteric Logic
Chapter 128: Esoteric Logic
Lu Xin listened, glancing calmly at Gecko. Gecko’s expression turned serious, and he quickly composed himself.
“It’s not as simple as just looking at the distance.”
He explained honestly: “Be it the black market here or the gathering places of drifters, they both revere and resent us people from Highwall City. What they revere is that nowadays, to varying degrees, they rely on Highwall City for survival. A lot of their food, daily necessities, even alcoholic drinks, come out of our Highwall City. Moreover, their armed capabilities are far inferior to ours.”
“But the resentment stems from an inherent conflict of interest, or perhaps simply because they can’t stand us. After all, in recent years, many of the people they gathered have been drawn away by Highwall City. Also, the orders from Highwall City restrict them, whether it’s robbery or whatever else they do. They’ve probably been building up a belly full of resentment for a long time.”
“Superficially, they usually obey Highwall City’s orders and cooperate with our work. But at special times, it’s very common for Highwall City people or fleets appearing in these areas to be quietly killed off by them…”
“… ”
As he spoke, Gecko lightly tapped the map. “There are only two of us, and the things we have on our vehicles aren’t insignificant.”
“In their eyes, we’re probably the most perfect fat sheep…”
“… ”
Lu Xin nodded and asked, “So if we go in, will it be very dangerous too?”
Gecko looked at Lu Xin and muttered, “Your words sound worried, but looking at you, you don’t seem worried…”
He sighed deeply, then chuckled. “Relax, the name ‘Qinggang’ still carries some deterrence.”
Saying this, he got out of the vehicle again to check the surroundings. He added, “However, to be safe, we should report in.”
“This way, even if something really happens to us here, at least someone will come looking.”
“… ”
As he spoke, he opened the trunk with practiced ease and pulled out a sturdy metal box. Inside it was a small signal receiver. After setting up the wiring, he made a call, reporting their precise location.
“The two missing agents have been located. Please report upward that they sacrificed themselves.”
“Suspect operatives of the Knights Order have entered Blackwater Town.”
“We are now preparing to enter Blackwater Town for investigation.”
“We will report back in three hours. If there’s no signal, it means we’ve encountered trouble.”
“… ”
After finishing the report, he packed the equipment, quickly got back in the vehicle, and sped away along the road.
…
…
“Latest briefing: The Special Operations Team has successfully located the two missing agents and has provisionally pinpointed the location of the Knights Order.”
“They have entered Blackwater Town to conduct the investigation!”
“… ”
Not even Lu Xin knew that the moment Gecko’s report reached Qinggang City, an emergency meeting was convened immediately.
Or rather, this meeting had been waiting for Gecko’s message to come through.
“… ”
“He really is seriously investigating this matter…”
In the spacious conference room, seated around the oval table were various bald professors and professional intelligence personnel.
Such a lineup usually only appeared when facing a war.
Hearing the briefing, many instinctively breathed a sigh of relief.
“But they’ve been out for less than a day…”
A disbelieving voice spoke up; it belonged to a chubby researcher wearing a wig. He lifted the wig to scratch his head, his expression indescribably strange. “With practically no intelligence support, they managed to find the bodies of two ‘missing’ agents thousands of miles away in the vast wilderness, and even preliminarily locked down the Knights Order’s position… This…”
“This simply isn’t logical, is it?”
“… ”
Listening to this, the faces of the other professors showed expressions similar to his.
It was clear that as researchers, they disliked phenomena that completely escaped their understanding.
Instinctively, many eyes turned towards the white-haired Professor Bai at the head of the table.
On the electronic display screens behind him were images of Mr. Su and Minister Shen; they too were closely following the proceedings.
“The abilities of Mental Aberrants sometimes do appear mysterious, but they are not entirely devoid of logic!”
Professor Bai also looked down at the latest briefing and said slowly, “You can try to understand how he managed it.”
The roomful of people frowned deeply.
A researcher with disheveled hair and an air of an Oracle sighed, “Studying this is useless…”
“Perhaps his ability is simply direct location?”
“… ”
“Heh!”
Professor Bai smiled, not particularly wanting to engage with her, and instead addressed the group, “Or, try to think about it—how could he have accomplished it?”
Several professors and researchers murmured among themselves for a moment.
At this point, Professor Chen, who wore glasses and whose hairline had receded to the back of his head, raised the pen in his hand and said, “Excluding the possibilities that he was omniscient and omnipotent and could instantly locate the knights, or that he had placed trackers on the knights long ago, there’s only one explanation for him finding the knights’ location so quickly…”
Here, he himself seemed a little unsure and paused before adding, “It might not be entirely rigorous, but it’s at least logical.”
Professor Bai smiled and said, “Lao Chen, we all know the deal. Go ahead.”
Professor Chen nodded, stood up, and marked the location of Blackwater Town on the map on the writing board behind him. “Blackwater Town is at least seven hundred kilometers from Qinggang City. They reached this place in a single day. That can only mean one thing…”
He extended the pen in his hand, drawing a long, straight line, “He was heading there from the very start.”
The professors watched him intently.
The fat man wearing a wig asked, “Why would he go there?”
“Two possibilities!” Professor Chen declared.
“One: he knew they would be there.
“Two: he deduced they would be there.”
“Deduced?”
A faint ripple of murmurs went through the Conference Room.
“Yes. Deduced.”
Professor Chen emphasized the word, then traced several circles on the map with his finger. “Think about it—after escaping Satellite City No. 2, apart from their initial half-hour stop, that Knights Order must have been desperate to flee. But survival in The Wilderness presents major problems: food, water, gasoline—all crucial for long-distance travel.”
“So, as a disciplined knights, I believe they absolutely needed a suitable Gathering Point. They wouldn’t go near Qinggang; too many of our people are there. Too far away, they wouldn’t make it…”
He circled several nearby Gathering Points as he spoke. “So, realistically, they could only choose from these locations.”
“Our initial investigation already confirmed they fled southward…”
“Therefore,” he concluded, “Blackwater Town is the only place south of Qinggang City that fits these criteria.”
Silence fell over the Conference Room following Professor Chen’s words.
Professor Bai, seated at the head of the table, nodded with a smile.
“I have a question…”
A female Researcher in a White Lab Coat spoke up. “There are many places where they could procure gasoline, food, and water. They might not have chosen Blackwater. For concealment or safety, smaller Gathering Points might have been better.”
“But what they needed to replenish,” Professor Chen replied softly, placing both hands firmly on the table, “wasn’t just that. Among them was a Puppet-Type Ability User. This is a fairly well-understood power system. We all know that a Stage 1 Puppet-Type Ability User can control a maximum of ten Psycho-modified Humans. Without those Psycho-modified Humans nearby, their combat ability is severely limited.”
“Since they were fleeing,” he continued, “they needed to be prepared to face pursuers.”
“Therefore,” Professor Chen reasoned, “that Puppet-Type Ability User would have been desperate to replenish his ranks of Psycho-modified Humans.”
“Investigations at Satellite City No. 2 reveal six Psycho-modified Humans were destroyed during the ambush on Colonel Chen and the Lone Soldier. Another three were found during battlefield cleanup below the Southern Wall. We have reason to suspect that Puppet-Type Ability User was nearly out of Psycho-modified Humans. Even adding in our two Special Agents captured at the wall, the numbers would have been insufficient.”
“So, any Gathering Point they selected had to fulfill another essential condition besides basic provisions.”
He paused for effect. “The Labor Market!”
He stressed these two words, then added,
“Among the locations meeting the basic supply criteria, only Blackwater Town could satisfy this condition.”
The Conference Room grew very quiet once more.
“So, my deduction is this…” Professor Chen continued deliberately. “The Lone Soldier possessed all the intelligence on this Knights Order and the most detailed surrounding military maps. Furthermore, shortly after leaving the city, they received intelligence from the Investigation Team at an abandoned city ten kilometers out, confirming the knights had fled south.”
“If, at that moment, he rapidly synthesized and analyzed the data, ultimately deducing the likelihood that the knights were heading to Blackwater Town to resupply, then led Gecko on the fastest route there… and further validated his deduction by discovering our two missing Special Agents not far from Blackwater…”
He gave a light tap on the table. “…Then everything is explained.”
For a moment, the Conference Room was silent as a tomb.
“Very good.”
After a pause, Professor Bai at the head of the table nodded gently. “We can proceed with this line of analysis for now.”
Many in the room nodded silently. Some even breathed an internal sigh of relief: “So it can be rationally explained after all…”
Only the female mystic Researcher rubbed her face in resignation and muttered, “I still maintain he directly pinpointed them…”
Everyone else exchanged glances but ignored her, burying themselves in their analysis notes.
“Another thing…”
Just as the Conference Room finally settled into a busy quiet, a girl in military uniform raised her hand gently.
“What arrangements are we making regarding their investigation inside Blackwater Town?”
Before Professor Bai could answer, he turned to look at Minister Shen on the screen.
“Full surveillance!” Minister Shen’s voice emanated from the screen with icy authority. “Order the Special Dispatch Team to immediately approach the periphery of Blackwater Town. They are to stage ten (li – Chinese measurement for approx 500 meters) outside. Upon receiving any distress signal, they are to breach immediately…”
He seemed to ponder for a second before adding coldly, “If necessary, authorize the use of long-range Plasma Weapons.”
“Just flatten the damned place.”