Stelle raised the corner of her mouth. "Then you'd better not blink, everyone. Watch my performance."
"Everyone might not know yet, but I am the Galaxy's Strongest Decryption Emanator. Any treasure chest that has been locked is impossible to escape my hands."
Huohuo said weakly: "But there's no treasure chest right now…"
Stelle: "Small problem. The skills I've trained are meant to be put to great use in situations like this."
However, when she saw the layout inside the Pathfinding Guide, she still couldn't help muttering a few words in her heart.
She thought this Heliobus had some profound theory, but it was still just some old-fashioned underhanded methods.
"Done. It's that simple."
She casually guided the mechanism to the exit and sat waiting for the other party's predetermined evaluation… No—
Why couldn't she snatch the lines in advance?
And so, Stelle directly spoke before Fu Xuan could open her mouth.
"I guess what you're about to say next is: As the Dharma Eye has seen, you should understand that this puzzle has had only one answer from beginning to end, just like the path of destiny has only one."
Fu Xuan repeated it almost word for word.
Sushang and her bestie both looked at Stelle with admiration in their eyes.
Well done, sister. You seized the upper hand first.
However, Fu Xuan nodded slightly and unceremoniously used the topic to her advantage.
"The fact that you could say what was in my mind proves that you yourself have already realized where the problem lies, and furthermore proves that I am right."
Qingque's face showed embarrassment. "Our Master Diviner would never be so… shameless."
Stelle's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Little Sparrow with admiration.
A Heliobus that has left the body generally wouldn't take away the host's related memories. Qingque is really brave.
The laziness on Qingque's face had long since disappeared. She spoke seriously and with reason.
"For a puzzle that was designed from the very beginning, any other choice is a meaningless mistake."
"But the universe is not anyone's game, and no one has designed puzzles for us to solve."
"The universe does not have a single solution. Those of us within it can do anything."
"Even for the same day's work, I can hide in the book repository and read idle books, or I can find someone to play cards with. This is freedom."
Sushang: "She can say something so slacker-like so righteously and still make it sound so reasonable. The diviners of the Divination Commission really are cultured!"
If someone else had said this, one would inevitably associate it with sarcasm.
But the person saying this was Sushang, and on top of that there was that last line of cultured praise…
You had to believe she genuinely thought so. You really had to believe it.
Guinaifen had a different thought, her tone full of worry: "Sushang, wake up! You're about to have your brain taken over by a slacking Heliobus!"
"There isn't one. Where would a slacking Heliobus come from?" Sushang waved her hands repeatedly.
"Silence! Stop getting distracted!"
Fu Xuan stopped the two girls' meaningless interaction in her eyes. Her gaze returned to Qingque.
"Qingque, oh Qingque. For you, life seems to have countless choices."
"That's because every single one of your choices, just like every single one of your days, is a meaningless waste."
"But for me, different choices will bring completely different consequences."
Qingque spread her hands and shook her head helplessly. "That really is a typical Master Diviner statement with zero emotional intelligence."
Leon, who had been watching the show for a long time, smiled and asked a soul-searching question: "Master Diviner, didn't you just say that destiny has always had only one kind?"
"Then why are you now saying that different choices will bring completely different consequences?"
"The great Master Diviner can't have her left and right brain fighting each other. That would make people laugh."
"This seat, as the Master Diviner of the Xianzhou Luofu, bears heavy responsibilities!"
Fu Xuan raised both eyebrows, yet could not hide the slight gloom on her face.
"I must, day after day, day after day, sort out the complicated threads of destiny. Only by finding the optimal solution among different choices can I preserve this giant ship."
"Some seemingly beautiful forks in the road, when looked ahead, are only bottomless abysses. Some small paths are deeply submerged in darkness that cannot be calculated."
"And in the end… I realized that in truth, we have no other choice!"
"Only by stepping onto the sole path, only by rushing toward the optimal solution, even if it is filled with ashes and bitterness!"
"The path has always been only one!"
Huohuo looked at her companions and said in a low voice: "What do we do… I feel like we can't convince her."
"Stay calm, Huohuo."
Leon finished eating the melon. Unhurriedly, he took out a tissue to wipe the corner of his mouth and began to speak.
"Your argument is filled with obsession toward the optimal solution and the sole path, as well as catastrophic imagination toward the unknown."
"This mode of thinking, although it may stem from a great sense of responsibility and pressure,"
"is essentially static, pessimistic, and ignores the complexity and possibilities of reality."
"Day after day searching for the optimal solution and giving up on embracing uncertainty will gradually cause one to lose the ability to respond when unknown risks arrive—for example, the recent Stellaron Disaster."
"Identifying and evaluating multiple feasible paths, making the currently most responsible choice through collective cooperation, and rejecting dictatorship—this is what the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission should be doing."
"—Even if imperfect, destiny absolutely does not have only one path."
"Reducing destiny to a sole path and no other choice more often reflects the limitations of your cognition or a compromise of will, rather than objective reality."
"Repeatedly insisting that the path has always been only one is by no means a more pragmatic or resilient attitude when facing complex destiny."
"Using a man-made puzzle mini-game to proportionally compare and prove the rigor of the truth in your mouth—don't you find it laughable upon reflection?"
"Well said, bestie!"
Qingque's eyes sparkled as she lightly clapped her hands.
"Next, let me play a round with the Master Diviner. Master Diviner, please set the question."
Fu Xuan glanced at Leon and rearranged the sand table.
"No matter how many times you do it again, the outcome is still predetermined. I said it—the path has always been only one. It is not something that can be overturned just because certain people say a few words they think are rebuttals."
Qingque smiled and did not argue with her.
"Stelle, Miss Judge, give me a hand. Enter the sand table and follow my commands."
"No problem."
"…Alright."
The two entered the sand table and soon stood at the different positions Qingque had designated.
After the mechanism's preset commands were input, it followed the artificially altered predetermined trajectory and reached the end point.
Qingque turned to face Fu Xuan, smiling.
"This is the second solution, and also the second choice. I have created a different answer for this sand table."
"Master Diviner, puzzles are not something only you can design. On the path of destiny, I am also not the only one walking alone."
Fu Xuan was silent for a moment. Her shoulders suddenly shook.
"Hmph hmph hmph… Hahahaha—"
She was laughing maniacally.
"Qingque, oh Qingque. You think that by calling for help you have created a second path out of thin air?"
"You are merely substituting concepts. I can weave thousands upon thousands of such routes for you."
"But they all lead to the same end. What meaning do such choices have?"
Stelle looked at Fu Xuan with a hint of pity in her eyes.
"I see that you completely don't understand what Qingque is trying to express."
...