Chapter 54: Quarrel

Su Xiucen lowered her head in silence.

Wang Yongxin continued to explain: "Fine, even if we don't consider a survival strategy for the whole group, and even if we don't utilize Cell No. 3, we could still avoid triggering the King's Trial by executing the judgment more fairly.

"Now we know that the King's Trial is only triggered if the fairness score drops to zero.

"If Uncle Ding had been more impartial during this process—adjusting the order of events so that the punishment each of us four prisoners received roughly matched our crimes—then by the time ten rounds of the game were completed, as long as the fairness score didn't drop to zero, he wouldn't have been in any danger, regardless of who lived or died.

"Stepping back even further, even if all of the above failed and the King's Trial was triggered, Uncle Ding would still have a way to survive.

"According to the rules of the King's Trial, the execution votes only take effect if they exceed one-half of the total prisoner votes.

"If Uncle Ding enters the cell to participate in the trial game, he would also be considered a prisoner and could cast an opposing vote for himself.

"Furthermore, as long as Uncle Ding can make the other prisoners feel grateful rather than completely alienating them, those prisoners won't all vote for execution.

"In either of these scenarios, Uncle Ding wouldn't die."

Lin Sizhi added: "Actually, there is another possibility, though it is quite demanding and difficult to achieve.

"If two or three high-intelligence spectators betting on the King appear, then no matter how much Uncle Ding struggles, he won't die."

Everyone froze; clearly, they hadn't considered this possibility before.

Lin Sizhi explained: "According to the rules of the fairness score, spectators can actually give unfair evaluations against their own will, though they will be penalized ten thousand minutes of visa time.

"If spectators betting on the King side cast unfair 'fair' votes, according to the game rules, each vote can pull the score back by a 20-point margin.

"A few such votes would be enough to pull the fairness score back to the safety line.

"Of course, this condition is too harsh; I believe it's almost impossible.

"Because the spectators on the King's side couldn't possibly guess the specific punishment that follows a fairness score of zero. What if it's just forcing the King into a cell or replacing the King? That wouldn't have much to do with them.

"In a state of uncertainty, the cost of forcing an insincere vote—ten thousand minutes of visa time every single time—is too high.

"Moreover, for spectators on the King's side to win, they have to constantly instigate the King, which already consumes a massive amount of visa time. If they were to force insincere votes on top of that, the input and output would be completely disproportionate.

"Even if one spectator did it, it's unlikely they would receive unanimous support from the other King-side spectators."

The long-silent Cai Zhiyuan spoke up: "Speaking of which, Lawyer Lin, I do have a question.

"Did you notice the issue with the fairness voting very early on?

"And did you guess that there was a mechanism to trigger the trial of the King?"

Lin Sizhi shook his head: "I guessed that the fairness voting might trigger some kind of mechanism within the game, but I couldn't guess exactly what it was.

"It's somewhat similar to the principles of dramatic writing: if a gun appears in the first act, it must go off in a later act. I think since the game designer included fairness voting, it must serve a purpose somewhere.

"The rules explicitly state that fairness voting brings no benefit to the spectators, so it can only be related to the five players on the field."

Su Xiucen lowered her head weakly, seemingly finally beginning to accept reality. Her voice shifted from questioning to pleading.

"Little Lawyer Lin, you are Spectator No. 5. According to Officer Cao, you intentionally cast two wrong votes."

Lin Sizhi nodded: "Yes."

"Why?"

Lin Sizhi explained calmly: "The first time was to verify the accuracy of this lie detector mechanism, to determine our subsequent game strategy.

"The second time was to correct the previous erroneous result, to prevent the first attempt from causing a deviation in the fairness score."

Su Xiucen's body trembled slightly: "But, if you realized this mechanism might exist long ago, and you guessed that you could delay its activation through insincere votes...

"Then, if you had intentionally cast a few more insincere votes, would it have been possible to delay the occurrence of the trial?"

Lin Sizhi thought for a moment but offered no defense: "That is correct."

Su Xiucen wanted to say more, but Wang Yongxin could no longer endure it.

He seemed to have reached his breaking point, slamming the table violently: "Enough!"

The previous games had already injured his throat and left his voice raspy; now, his voice rose in anger, sounding even more strained and desperate.

"What exactly are you trying to say? Do you want to put the three of us on trial just like a murderer?

"I'll answer for Lawyer Lin

"Even if he had cast several more insincere 'fair' votes, it would have been utterly meaningless!

"Even if the eighth vote temporarily delayed the King's Trial, what about the ninth? The tenth?

"Suppose Uncle Ding had killed us all by then; once the trial is triggered, he would still die immediately! Because dead prisoners automatically cast execution votes!

"Furthermore, even if Lawyer Lin guessed that something might happen when the fairness score drops to zero, who knows exactly what would happen before the 'King's Trial' mechanism is actually triggered?

"Maybe it's making Uncle Ding enter a cell? Maybe it's switching the King's identity?

"In the face of all this uncertainty, hasn't Lawyer Lin done enough as a spectator?

"Moreover, you think Lawyer Lin should have cast insincere 'pro-trial' votes to prevent the mechanism from triggering, but is that fair to me and Cai Zhiyuan?

"I don't care what you think, but I know that Lawyer Lin is our savior.

"If Lawyer Lin had done as you suggested, the two of us would have been dead long ago! Uncle Ding would have killed us long ago!"

Su Xiucen shook her head: "Brother Ding is a good man, he wouldn't kill anyone!"

Wang Yongxin roared: "He wouldn't kill anyone? Then how did Zhang Peng die?

"If he were as good as you think, why didn't he enter Cell No. 3 himself, and why didn't he let anyone else enter Cell No. 3?

"The spectators said they would give him five hundred thousand minutes of visa time if he killed us all!

"You didn't see his expression then, but I did—he was indeed seriously considering that!

"Perhaps you think Lawyer Lin hasn't done enough, but just how much is enough?

"Lawyer Lin's three speeches have already exposed the core secret of this game. Uncle Ding won't listen; what else can he do?

"Have Lawyer Lin spend tens of thousands of minutes of visa time writing a short essay?

"If we calculate the words I said to him when I advised him to enter the cell at 1,000 minutes per word, that would be hundreds of thousands of minutes! How did Uncle Ding answer me?

"He asked me: 'On what grounds?'

"He wouldn't even listen to me when I spoke to him covered in wounds; why do you think he would listen to Lawyer Lin writing a few dozen words as 'Spectator No. 5'?

"So, is there something wrong with us wanting to live?

"There is only one chance to vote in the King's Trial; once it's missed, it's gone forever! He has let us down time and time again—on what grounds should we continue to trust him unconditionally!"

Wang Yongxin's outburst startled everyone, leaving them speechless for a moment.

Still fuming, Wang Yongxin added: "I'm not saying I'm more noble than him. Perhaps if I were the King, I would have died even sooner.

"I am probably the most selfish person in this community, but if others treat me with the same selfishness, I find it perfectly reasonable.

"If I were Uncle Ding, I would accept my losses.

"Since I chose the path of selfishness to earn the most visa time, shouldn't I bear the corresponding consequences?

"What business in this world offers profit without risk?

"As for fairness? Of course, it's incredibly unfair, but so what?

"How naive must you be to still be looking for fairness in this world?

"Fairness, fairness... where is there so much fairness in this world?

"I said it long ago: the New World is not a utopia. There is only one rule in this world: find every possible way, by any means necessary, to survive!

"In every game, I have been seriously analyzing the optimal strategies for you, telling you as much as possible how to increase your chances of survival.

"And what have you been doing? 'This won't work,' 'that isn't right'—always obsessing over trivialities endlessly.

"This is a life-and-death game where you could die at any moment, not a reality TV show, alright? Gentlemen, ladies?

"Are we going to repeat this stupid process every time someone dies?

"I've had enough. From now on, I don't want to discuss these boring issues with you, and I don't care what you think of me!

"If you think I'm just a villain who must pay with my life for merely protecting myself during the game, then fine! I welcome you to use any means to kill me!"

After finishing, Wang Yongxin broke into an uncontrollable, violent coughing fit.

Then, he turned and went upstairs to his room, refusing to participate in the discussion any longer.

Another long silence followed.

Fu Chen looked at Su Xiucen and comforted her: "Auntie Su, please try to calm down.

"I believe everyone is equally heartbroken about Uncle Ding.

"But Wang Yongxin and Cai Zhiyuan have just returned from the brink of death; being judged as if they were murderers is something no normal person can emotionally accept.

"You really shouldn't have said those things to them.

"I believe we cannot judge those who have experienced this life-and-death game by conventional moral standards. As the saying goes: never test human nature, because human nature cannot withstand the test.

"At times like this, we must be even more calm, rational, and united in trust.

"If we start fighting amongst ourselves, how can we deal with those terrifying imitators?"

Fu Chen's words brought a flicker of life back to the deathly hall.

Su Xiucen held Ding Wenqiang's visa bracelet in her hands and nodded gloomily: "I understand.

"Xiao Fu, you are a good child. Thank you."

Up to this point, there had been little discussion regarding the details of the 'King's Trial,' far less in-depth than their previous discussions.

Perhaps it was because Ding Wenqiang's death made most people resistant to the topic, so even when they tried to force the conversation, it was difficult to sustain.

Fu Chen sighed: "Let's stop here for today. Everyone is tired; get some rest."

(End of Chapter)