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"Ten minutes is indeed enough for you to defuse the bomb," Shi Xu said. "However, the premise for accomplishing this task is that you find the right place."
Old Shao's expression tightened as he heard Xu Yiman's voice through the earpiece: "Old Shao, the demolition team hasn't found any bombs or anything suspicious in the drainage ditch."
"What happened?" Jiang He looked at Old Shao.
Old Shao shook his head. "The bomb is not in the sewer."
"Of course," Shi Xu said, picking up a coffee pot nearby and filling everyone's cups. "This is a place where even a three-year-old child could think to hide a bomb. Whether you call me a bomb expert, I don't know if you are insulting me or insulting the title of expert."
"Jiang He, how do you feel right now?" Shi Xu asked. "With less than ten minutes left, are you still planning to guess again?"
A drop of sweat trickled down Jiang He's forehead. After facing off against Shi Xu so many times, he had always been slightly outmatched. Now, sitting face to face with Shi Xu, could he really lose to him? He thought of Wang Chao, who had initially pushed for him to join the criminal police team. Jiang He suddenly felt he had to win this round; he could not let Shi Xu escape this time.
"Wait," Jiang He said. "From the beginning, I shouldn't have calculated it this way. This is wrong; I've been missing the point. There must be another optimal solution to this problem. What we're playing now is a game where one person dies or a hundred thousand die. But if we change our perspective, there’s a better way to solve it."
Shi Xu nodded and placed his watch on the table. "You have seven minutes left to present your insights."
Jiang He watched the second hand of the watch silently ticking away and said, "Finding and defusing a bomb that could kill a hundred thousand people in seven minutes is not easy. However, finding and removing a bomb from one person's body within that time frame is something we can accomplish."
Upon hearing Jiang He's words, Shi Xu clapped his hands. "So you're not foolish after all. I hope that before the new year arrives, we can enjoy the tail end of this old year properly."
"Exactly," Old Shao added, looking at Shi Xu. "Perhaps in the new year, the residents of Dragon City will receive good news: the most notorious serial killer since Dragon City was established will be imprisoned."
"The most notorious serial killer," Shi Xu remarked. "That's quite an adjective. I've often wondered how others would refer to me after my death. I quite like being called the most notorious serial killer. In fact, in this world, it's hard to distinguish who truly is a deviant."
Jiang He ignored their conversation and closed his eyes, muttering to himself: "You've already admitted that Shui Xinlan is somewhere in this square; she can't be too far from us. The largest shopping center near the square has been closed; it's a good hiding place but too far away. There are cinemas and hotpot restaurants still open around here."
Old Shao and Shi Xu also paid no attention to Jiang He; they chatted like old friends who hadn't seen each other in years, appearing quite friendly as if they were merely discussing recent weather rather than the lives of a hundred thousand people in the square.
Shi Xu continued to express his views on what he considered to be the nature of perversion. "In reality, what you call perversion is simply my difference from this world. But who decided how people should live from the very beginning? No one. Laws and morals are merely conventions agreed upon by people; some accept them, while others do not."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Those who do not conform to the law are labeled as perverts by you, but in truth, you are the real perverts. In this world, aside from humans, isn't every other animal subject to the law of the jungle? Lions eat zebras, tigers eat goats, sharks eat small fish—when have you ever called that perverse?"
Old Shao disagreed with Shi Xu's perspective. "And that is precisely what makes humanity different. Humans possess wisdom, and wisdom inevitably gives rise to society. Humans have relinquished a part of their power to form a contract that everyone recognizes, ensuring that their wisdom is not used against one another in conflict but rather allows each to perform their designated roles without the constant fear of being harmed by their own kind. Any intelligent species would do the same; that is evolution, not some nonsense about the law of the jungle."
Shi Xu glanced at his watch. "Five more minutes. In fact, I am almost inclined to agree with your viewpoint, but the truth is that not everyone sees things as clearly as you do. What rights? What relinquishment? What contract? Those are not concepts they wish to understand. What they want is to unleash their primal instincts within the bounds of the law."
Jiang He was still calculating. "These places are unlikely; you are not that kind of person. You do everything in a high-profile manner, as if you can’t wait to share your worldview with us. You are actually a very lonely person; on one hand, you feel the world does not deserve you, and on the other hand, you feel out of place in it. Each time, you create elaborate methods of killing as a way to vent your inner loneliness."
Old Shao noticed that Jiang He was using the criminal psychology notes he had previously dismissed. A warmth spread through him; unknowingly, Jiang He had been influenced by him—or perhaps he had influenced Jiang He without realizing it.
Old Shao did not interrupt Jiang He but continued talking with Shi Xu. "Do you believe that laws truly restrain the evil within people? Isn’t that precisely the purpose of laws?"
"I certainly agree," Shi Xu replied. "They call me a Criminal Consultant for a reason. In reality, everyone has thought about killing someone at some point; in fact, everyone is capable of it. After laws were established, they no longer fear the law itself but rather how to evade it after committing murder."
"You know what I've done, right?" Shi Xu said. "I've killed a few people."
"A few innocent people," Old Shao added. "They did nothing wrong and never harmed anyone."
"And that is exactly what I want to convey to you," Shi Xu stated. "Do crowds possess the ability to think?"
Shi Xu seemed to be pressing Old Shao for an answer; he was aggressive and quickly provided his own: "My answer is no. When each person is an independent individual, they may retain a shred of independent thought. But once they form a group, all semblance of independent thinking vanishes. Those who hold power over discourse dictate what they believe; if you say east, they will believe it’s east—even if later proven to be west—out of their ridiculous pride, they will never admit they were wrong and thus become followers of those who control discourse."
"Just like the story I fabricated about these three innocent people," Shi Xu suddenly laughed. "Even if they just moved their fingers to check the police announcements, they would see that everything I said was a lie. But they refuse to do so because they simply don’t care. Look at these indifferent people; they only need to pretend to be righteous for others to see—they don’t care about the truth at all. They just need to express their righteous opinions online as if that makes them good people."
"I’ve said before that in an internet society, concepts like justice and sympathy have become cheap commodities; nowadays, having mindless fans means having control over everything. You only need to guide them slightly for these foolish individuals to do anything for you. First and foremost, you must repeatedly refine your fanbase, eliminating those who possess even a modicum of rationality; what remains will be your greatest weapon."
"Just a reminder," Shi Xu said, looking at Jiang He. "There are only three minutes left."
Old Shao remarked, "So you keep sending your fans to complete tasks just to filter out those who listen to you the most."
"Exactly," Shi Xu nodded. "Living in this world, we must admit that fools occupy the vast majority of society. What disappoints me is that among these people are even PhDs from our best universities. It pains me to see a PhD's intelligence reduced to this level."
As Shi Xu spoke, his eyes seemed to shine with intensity. "The world I envision is one of great harmony, where everyone is exceptional, each person has significant value, and can create their own wealth for society."
At that moment, Jiang He finally spoke up. "I figured it out—Bell Tower! It has to be Bell Tower. Those two large Bell Towers are the best places to hide people. Shui Xinlan must be in one of those Bell Towers!"
"Let's move," Old Shao immediately shouted.
"There's only two minutes left," Shi Xu said with a smirk. "It seems you're clever enough to guess where I've hidden Shui Xinlan. But with only two minutes to go upstairs and defuse the bomb, I think this won't be an easy task. Jiang He, you're still a step behind; you'll always be a step behind."
Old Shao then said to Shi Xu, "The biggest flaw of smart people is that they dislike other clever individuals but despise fools even more. Of course, in the eyes of someone as smart as you, ordinary people are all fools. Yet sometimes, fools have foolish ways of doing things."
Before Jiang He could understand what Old Shao meant, he suddenly pressed one of the buttons—the very button that would signal Shui Xinlan's death.
Jiang He immediately turned to look out the window at the Bell Tower, but nothing happened; there was no explosion as rumored.
"You have indeed failed," Old Shao said.
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