Chapter 885: Logic Short-Circuit
"Here's what I'm thinking..." I gestured with my hands. "Let's start with the rules of White Sheep's game. Don't you think there's something weird about it?"
"Weird? What's weird?" Jiang Ruoxue said. "It sounds like a great way to make a fortune. Both the 'Zodiacs' and the 'participants' have a chance to profit. Not bad."
"Yes... from the perspective of a 'Bank,' it's pretty good..." I said. "But as an 'Earth Sheep Game,' it's just too strange..."
"I don't quite get it..." Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. "Maybe my brain is still fuzzy..."
"No, no... it really is hard to grasp." I carefully organized my thoughts. "Ruoxue, listen. We've seen so many 'Earth-level' games, and we've not only learned how difficult they are, but also that each 'Zodiac' has its own traits. For an 'Earth Sheep Game,' the first thing is that it can't kill people, and second, there's no 'lying'."
"Huh...?" Jiang Ruoxue thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, that's true..."
"For an 'Earth-level Zodiac' to advance, they need to kill, so the games they design must center around death. White Sheep understands these rules better than I do; he couldn't make a mistake like that." I said. "So we need to think in reverse..."
"Think in reverse...?"
"Yes, I used your way of thinking, starting directly from the 'outcome.' That means this game *can* kill people, and White Sheep has also been 'lying' in the game—we just haven't noticed it yet."
"But the core of this game is 'Dao,'" Jiang Ruoxue asked, puzzled. "How would he kill anyone? Besides, I built the logic of those lights. They depend on the nearby 'Zodiacs.' How could White Sheep lie?"
Yes... that's exactly the hidden truth of this game.
White Sheep is a monster.
"Do you remember what White Sheep said..." My voice trembled slightly. "That the twelve statues were built on the logic of the twelve nearby 'Zodiac games,' and the display screen was built on the logic of the statues..."
"Yeah..."
Three seconds after she said that, Jiang Ruoxue's eyes went wide.
"Holy crap!" she exclaimed. "That bastard White Sheep... did he use 'causality' to incorporate all the games of the surrounding 'Zodiacs' into his own game?!"
"Yes..." I still couldn't control the tremor in my voice. "I'm afraid that's the only explanation... If a 'participant' chooses to join a nearby 'Zodiac's' game in order to control the 'lights,' any casualties they suffer would count toward White Sheep's tally... after all, it's all part of this game. The 'cause of death' for those people might come from the 'Zodiac' host of that other game, but they are also within a larger game... their actions are all part of the process of this game, and this game is 'Blissful Bank.'"
"Oh my god!!" Jiang Ruoxue cried out. "So... White Sheep isn't just tricking the 'participants'... he's also tricking the twelve nearby 'Zodiacs'?"
"No..." I swallowed hard and said slowly, "He's not tricking 'twelve.' He's tricking 'eleven.'"
"Eleven...?"
"Ruoxue... guess which 'Sheep' is closest to us?" I said.
"Ah..." Jiang Ruoxue broke out in a cold sweat again, whether from weakness or shock. "Are you saying... that 'Sheep' statue was always meant to represent White Sheep himself?"
"This is what I mean by 'logic short-circuit,'" I said. "Ruoxue, part of your weakness comes from the 'enormous game field,' and the other part comes from this 'logic short-circuit.'"
"What exactly is a logic short-circuit?" Jiang Ruoxue asked.
"Ruoxue... according to your understanding, among White Sheep's three modes—'Gambling,' 'Lottery,' and 'Bank'—which one makes the most money?" I asked.
Jiang Ruoxue thought for a moment and replied, "Probably the 'Bank'? Once it reaches a certain scale and has 'large orders' every day, earning dozens or even hundreds of 'Dao' a day would be no problem."
"Wrong," I said. "Neither 'Gambling' nor the 'Bank' are White Sheep's most profitable ventures. His only sure-win method is the 'Lottery.' That idea is simply absurd."
"Really?" Jiang Ruoxue said. "According to what you said... someone will eventually win the 'Lottery.' Even if the probability is tiny, it's possible. White Sheep can't have a 'guaranteed profit.'"
"Have you noticed something?" I asked. "When White Sheep explained the regular 'Gambling' rules, every winner had to pay a 'venue fee.' But with the 'Lottery,' there's no such fee. The winner takes the entire prize pool, and White Sheep just breaks even. Why would he do that?"
"You mean..."
"White Sheep's probability of losing is lower than you can imagine," I said. "Because of your 'causality,' he *is* the eighth light."
"I still don't understand..."
"Let me give you an example." I gestured with my hands to Jiang Ruoxue. "Suppose I have incredible luck. All the other 'Zodiacs' are guessed correctly, and only the 'eighth light' representing the Sheep remains. How should I guess?"
Jiang Ruoxue didn't speak, just watched me quietly.
"Suppose the eighth light of the 'Lottery' chooses 'Red.' That means I think 'Earth Sheep wins.' But if I guess correctly, Earth Sheep can't win. When Earth Sheep thinks he's about to lose, the display screen can only show a green light."
"Wha—wait a minute..." Jiang Ruoxue covered her forehead with her hand. "I'm getting confused..."
"It's okay. Take your time. I'll help you sort it out."
"So... if that's the case, wouldn't choosing 'Green' be fine? Choosing 'Green' means we think 'Earth Sheep will lose,' and Earth Sheep really will lose, because we guessed right."
"That's exactly the problem!" I exclaimed. "Because your 'causality' determines the color of the 'lights' based on the 'Zodiac's' victory or defeat, but the outcome of this game is entirely up to him! He can decide that he's just temporarily holding all the 'Dao' from the 'participants' and not taking a single one, returning it all to the 'participants.' This could even be considered a kind of 'zero-sum deposit' within the 'Bank.' I suspect that even if he really lost all the 'Dao,' your display screen would just treat it as the 'Zodiac' neither winning nor losing and show a white light!"
"Ah... so you're saying the 'Lottery' income isn't even recorded, it's just set aside outside..." Jiang Ruoxue was stunned. "That means... win or loss depends entirely on how the 'Zodiac' judges it... guessing red shows a green light... guessing green shows a white light... And if someone guesses white..."
"Guessing white, White Sheep can decide he wins, and show a red light," I said. "No matter how you guess the eighth light, White Sheep can always bypass your choice."
"Then isn't that a dead end?" Jiang Ruoxue said.
"No... there's a very absurd solution," I said. "That is, if three people all guess the other eleven lights correctly, and then for the eighth 'Sheep' light, they each choose 'Red,' 'White,' and 'Green,' blocking off all of Earth Sheep's paths. But you'd better hope that doesn't happen, because it would create a huge paradox. You'd probably pass out."
"This..." Jiang Ruoxue sighed helplessly. "But honestly... even if someone goes through all that trouble to win the 'Lottery,' White Sheep still wouldn't lose anything..."
"Yes. Those people would die countless times just to guess the other eleven lights correctly. That's the huge lie White Sheep has embedded in this game."