Chapter 882: Simple Logic
I knew I had done my absolute best to find Aries as quickly as possible. From the moment I noticed he had vanished from the venue to locating him, it took nearly five hours in total. Yet I still felt that I had arrived too late.
When we arrived at Aries' new game venue, the first thing we saw was Aries himself, who had completely changed. He no longer wore a mask; in its place was an icy, goat-like face. His suit was now immaculate, and just standing there, he exuded a considerable sense of pressure on those around him. However, it seemed he had run into some trouble. A few "Participants" were currently standing in front of Aries, shouting something.
"Why aren't you talking?" a woman asked. "What exactly is your game?"
The "Participants" kept peppering Aries with questions, but Aries had his eyes slightly closed and remained completely silent.
It suddenly occurred to me that White Snake had told us, "Aries designed a game full of loopholes, and it could violate the rules at any moment." Could it be that he had been stalling for time all along?
"What's wrong with this Earthly Ram?" the people in front whispered among themselves. "Can't he hear us?"
"Hey..." another person spoke up. "Don't just stay silent. 'Rams' are rare enough as it is... We finally found an 'Earthly Ram,' so at least let us see something?"
Aries closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then opened them and said, "I'm sorry, but the game already has a 'VIP' reservation. I can only serve guests in batches. Until the reservation holder arrives, you won't be able to proceed with the game."
Only then did I notice that Aries' eyes were also strange. They were a grayish-white, like a real goat's, with pitch-black rectangular pupils. And... his voice seemed to have changed as well. Was it because a goat's throat structure was different from a human's?
"A reservation...?" one person was taken aback. "Your game requires a 'reservation'?"
"Yes. This will be a game unlike any you've ever seen," Aries said. "I will prioritize serving 'VIPs' rather than ordinary people."
After saying this, Aries turned his head slightly, his gaze cutting through the crowd and landing on Jiang Ruoxue and me.
"They're here," Aries said with a hint of relief. "Now, everyone, please wait a moment. You can participate in the next batch of the game."
Jiang Ruoxue and I quickly made our way through the crowd to Aries' side. He gave us a slight nod, then turned and opened the door to the building.
Once inside, we realized this place seemed to be a fairly large bank. The center of the building had been cleared out, leaving an empty little plaza. In the middle of the plaza, twelve wooden animal statues were arranged from left to right. In front of each statue stood a table.
On each table, two vertical lines were drawn, dividing the surface into three sections, labeled "Win," "Lose," and "Kill." Among them, "Win" and "Lose" occupied the largest area, while "Kill" took up the smallest. The order of the animal statues went from Rat to Pig, apparently covering the entire Chinese Zodiac.
At the base of each zodiac statue, there were three lights—one red, one white, and one green. Meanwhile, above the bank counter in the distance, a display screen hung. This screen hovered like an eagle circling in the sky, fixedly watching the twelve zodiac statues.
"Aries..." I called out, snapping back to reality. "Did we arrive early enough?"
"All in all, it's not too late," Aries said. "If you hadn't shown up, I would have been carried away by 'Vermilion Bird' today. After all, I chose my game venue at the intersection with the highest number of 'Participants.'"
"I don't quite understand..." Jiang Ruoxue stretched lazily and said, "You're so smart. Why didn't you just design a stable 'Earth-level Game'? Why take the risk of waiting for the two of us to come?"
"Great rewards come from great risks," Aries said. "High risk naturally brings high returns. Right now, most 'Earth-level' games either use intricate mechanisms or have the 'Zodiac' participate in person. The first option is safer but yields slow results. The second option can speed things up, but it also puts oneself in a dangerous position. Since I'm in a hurry, I can't choose either of those."
"So you chose 'Cause and Effect'?" Jiang Ruoxue looked at the twelve statues in the venue. "Are you planning to imbue all these statues with 'Cause and Effect'?"
"'Cause and Effect' isn't quite accurate," Aries said. "I only need the simplest logical relationships."
"What kind of logical relationships?" Jiang Ruoxue asked.
Aries walked over to a statue of a "Rat" and spoke, "I'll explain the logic to you now. You can decide how to apply the 'Cause and Effect.'"
"Alright."
"This statue represents the nearest 'Earthly Rat' to me," Aries said. "And I need this prop to meet the following conditions: once the 'Earthly Rat's' game begins, the white light under the statue will turn on. If the 'Zodiac' wins that game, the red light alone will turn on. If the 'Participant' wins, the green light alone will turn on. All twelve statues in front of you will operate according to this logic."
"Huh...?" Jiang Ruoxue and I both paused slightly. "That's it?"
"That's for normal situations," Aries said. "But there are also special circumstances."
"Go on..." Jiang Ruoxue said.
"If a 'Zodiac' dies, all three lights will flash," Aries said. "The flashing will last for more than five minutes."
Jiang Ruoxue nodded after hearing this, then stepped forward to examine the lights.
"Are all these lights... connected to the wiring?" she asked. "I can only manipulate 'Cause and Effect'; I can't do anything supernatural. If there's no electricity, these lights won't turn on."
"Of course," Aries said. "All the lights are wired up, and the display screen behind me is also functional."
"Then what is the display screen behind you for?" I asked.
"That's the second feature of this game," Aries said. "First, let's add the 'Cause and Effect' to these statues."
"Alright, that's not difficult." Jiang Ruoxue nodded, glancing back and forth at the wooden statues before her.
These statues were quite finely crafted. Though made of carved wood, each animal was lifelike, even with the fine hairs carved out.
Jiang Ruoxue walked from left to right, said a few words to each statue, and gradually the lights began to turn on.
At that moment, I felt that this bank wasn't just a game venue; it was more like a giant chessboard. Aries only needed to stand in this venue each day to know the status of the twelve nearest 'Zodiacs.'
Besides, according to this logic, even if the closest 'Zodiac' to him got gambled to death, the second-closest 'Zodiac' would then become the "nearest," and the game facilities would continue to function. Coupled with the tables placed in front of the 'Zodiacs,' I speculated that Aries' game venue was likely a 'casino.'
This was a somewhat novel idea, but not a particularly perfect one. Although I didn't know exactly what would be better, if it were Aries... he should be able to design a better game, right?