“I know, you want to grab the ***-1998 the moment I open the box and shoot me.” Two seconds later, Feng Bujue continued, “If I were the one being held hostage, I’d have the same thought.” He paused for half a second. “Unfortunately… I’m not.”

Before his words faded, he took a few more steps closer.

“To prevent you from doing something stupid, let me give you a heads-up.” Brother Jue went on, “I can tell you plainly… I’m already prepared for your attempt. If you make any rash moves, I won’t hesitate to react.” As he said this, a chilling smile suddenly crept into his tone, “…no matter how cold-blooded that ‘reaction’ may seem to ordinary people.”

“I… I understand…” Dr. Jonathan’s voice was trembling. “I… won’t… make any rash moves…”

“Good.” Feng Bujue said, “Open the box, Doctor.”

Upon hearing this, Jonathan swallowed hard, then took the key out of his pocket and inserted it into the lock of the safe.

During this process… his hands were shaking, and his body was shaking too. The instinct of an animal facing a deadly threat put his whole body in a tense, bowstring-taut state. Although his concentration was heightened as a result, the accuracy of his movements was reduced. The tension and fear made his actions slow and inefficient.

“Are you stalling for time, Doctor?” Feng Bujue asked. “Does it take this long to open a box?”

“No… I… I’m just…” Jonathan quickly looked at Brother Jue and shook his head in denial. “…my hands aren’t obeying me.”

“Hmph…” Feng Bujue snorted coldly. “You better make that qilin arm of yours stop acting up, or I’ll shoot it off.”

“I… I understand, I’ll open it right away.” Jonathan said, and hurriedly began to turn the combination lock on the safe.

“Oh, right… I might as well tell you, even if you are stalling for time… it’s useless.” At this point, Brother Jue glanced up at the monitor in the corner of the room again. “Assuming the people monitoring the situation noticed what was happening here the second we entered the room, and immediately issued an order to surround us… we still have about three minutes and thirty seconds before we’ll be threatened.”

The fact that he could give such a precise number meant he clearly had a basis for it; three minutes and thirty seconds… that was the shortest time it would take to reach the ***-1998 containment area from the B3 laboratory.

As early as when Feng Bujue turned on the communicator and spoke the first sentence on the public frequency, he had already calculated this step.

Announcing Dr. Jonathan’s name and location was both a test and a lure. Brother Jue took all factors into account, such as Steven’s reasoning ability, and the time required for the message to be relayed and executed. The reason he had been walking “leisurely” in the emergency passage earlier was because he was consciously controlling “time.” He was waiting for the B3 security personnel to converge on the laboratory, waiting for those guys to be almost there before he hijacked the doctor and retreated into the passage. In this way, by using the technical advantages of the emergency safety passage, he could buy a certain amount of “safe time.”

If this game were to be compared to playing chess, Steven could probably see the next two or three moves, while Feng Bujue… could see at least five moves ahead.

Relying on the information he had gleaned from Kozmo, his memories of his previous activity in B3, and the information he had obtained from Billy… Brother Jue had already constructed a very complex calculation model in his mind.

Every step he was currently planning and implementing, as well as the changes that could arise after each step, had been repeatedly scrutinized through zero-time-difference calculations. This ability of his… was already very close to Zero’s “prediction program,” but it was also different.

Because Brother Jue was a “person,” a highly “unprincipled” intelligent life form. The more unprincipled he was, the more “unpredictable” he was, and the more able he was to “adapt to circumstances.”

The key to everything was——“choice.”

Humans will make choices that contradict logic, common sense, correctness, or probability for various reasons. In the eyes of AI, these are all “mistakes,” “unreasonable.” But sometimes, these choices can lead to “better” results.

If the “future” calculated by Zero is a straight road, then the future calculated by Feng Bujue is a river with countless branches… he may not be able to see the exact end point, but he can greatly influence the outcome.

…………

Four minutes later, when Gore and Dan led a group of security personnel into the ***-1998 containment room, the room was already empty.

Gore looked at the surveillance camera that had been shot and destroyed with a rifle, sighed, and reported, “Sir, we still didn’t make it in time… Austin must have taken the doctor into the passage again.”

“I know.” Steven was so frustrated that he couldn’t even get angry, because he also knew that there was no point in getting angry at his own people. The current situation wasn’t that there was anything wrong on their side, it was just that the enemy was too cunning…

“Everyone, return to your original posts.” After a few seconds, Steven calmed himself down and gave an order to the other security personnel on a frequency that Brother Jue couldn’t receive, “Gore, Dan, you immediately lead the emergency team to guard Project B6, to prevent that lunatic from releasing something like 236 or 280.”

“Yes, sir.” After receiving the order, the security personnel began to take action.

In the next ten minutes or so, the entire base was shrouded in a rather oppressive atmosphere.

Feng Bujue was like a stubborn disease lurking in this base. Even though the Foundation’s personnel knew of his existence, they couldn’t do anything about him in the short term. They could only wait for him to reappear from the passage next time before they could respond.

Of course, Steven would never allow this situation to continue. In fact… shortly after he deduced that Brother Jue was using that passage, he had already contacted the higher authorities.

Soon, a team of three Level 5 security personnel would arrive here, take over command of the facility, and be responsible for catching this “Rudy Austin” rat.

However…

Steven never expected that twenty minutes after Brother Jue stole ***-1998, something incredible happened.

At that moment, the hidden door on the B7 monitoring level opened.

Feng Bujue, holding Billy in one arm and raising the other high above his head, walked out of the passage.

And not far behind Brother Jue was Dr. Jonathan, holding an assault rifle and “escorting” Brother Jue forward.

“Hey! Hey! Don’t get excited, take a good look…” As soon as Feng Bujue came out of the passage, he received a warm welcome from all the security personnel on that level—dozens of guns were pointed at him. “…I’ve already surrendered, everyone.”

“Do you think we’re idiots?” The next second, Steven, who was standing at the front of the crowd, said coldly.

Before his words faded, the muzzle of the gun in his hand had already turned towards Dr. Jonathan behind Brother Jue: “Dr. Jonathan! Please put down your weapon!”