GBP Chapter 1411 Reasoning
Chapter 1411 Reasoning
Xiao Ce saw the appearance of the axe ox, smiled slightly, and then said, "What, are they not trustworthy?"
Axe-Bull nodded, then said, "Of course!"
After finishing speaking, Axe Ox seemed to have thought of something and said to Xiao Ce, "However, Your Highness, any decision you make is always correct and there will be no problem... I believe in you, you believe in him, and I believe in him too."
Xiao Ce smiled at the axe-wielding ox and said, "Clever!"
The two chatted and laughed until they returned to his residence, and had just entered his bedchamber.
Xiao Ce then spotted a familiar figure...
"Pan'er?"
Upon seeing the person who had arrived, Xiao Ce's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible surprise and a sense of relief after exhaustion.
The figure turned around instantly upon hearing the sound.
A bright smile bloomed on Yin Pan'er's exquisitely beautiful face!
Like the first ray of sunshine in early spring melting the ice and snow, it instantly illuminated the entire space.
She put down what she was holding and quickly came to greet her.
"Your Highness! You're back!"
Yin Pan'er's voice was clear and melodious, carrying undisguised longing and concern.
She looked Xiao Ce up and down, her gaze lingering on his slightly tired but still sharp eyes and brows!
"Your Highness, Hu Yidao is fully capable of handling things independently in India, and the matter in the Slavic country has also been resolved. I received your message and rushed back."
"Judging from your expression... you've gone to deal with another tricky situation?"
She reached out and naturally straightened Xiao Ce's slightly disheveled collar, the gentle touch of her fingertips dispelling the chill emanating from the metal cell...
Xiao Ce took her hand and gently pulled her into his arms.
He held her soft, warm body in his arms, the unique, comforting fragrance emanating from Yin Pan'er lingering around his nose!
The tension of scheming and navigating every step with Xiao Dingshan finally receded like the tide.
He lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss, full of longing and comfort, on her smooth forehead.
"Yes, I just went to see Xiao Dingshan."
The two embraced and sat down on a specially made leather sofa nearby...
This sofa was made when Xiao Ce first came to the Northern Desert Prince's Mansion.
Now, it really feels like a different world.
Yin Pan'er nestled beside him, tilting her head back, her bright eyes fixed intently on him, waiting for him to continue.
No need for many words; this tacit understanding is the strongest bond between them.
Xiao Ce did not hide anything and recounted the entire process of his confrontation with Xiao Dingshan in the prison cell, including the other party's description of the "Stardust Remnants," the "Creation Ship" being trapped, the planetary energy maze, and the android project!
He also told Yin Pan'er the tempting yet trap-filled "cooperation" proposal he made at the end, as well as the three harsh rules he proposed, especially the last one, the "shackles of consciousness."
He had absolutely no secrets from Yin Pan'er...
Yin Pan'er listened quietly, her delicate brows furrowing slightly, her expression growing more and more serious as she listened.
When he heard Xiao Ce make the request for "consciousness shackles"!
When Xiao Dingshan reluctantly agreed after only a brief resistance, a sharp glint flashed in her eyes, which seemed to hold starlight.
"It's a scam!"
Yin Pan'er said decisively, her voice clear and firm!
Looking at Xiao Ce, he said, "There's definitely something fishy going on! People like Xiao Dingshan are inherently greedy and cunning like interstellar hyenas, with a predatory nature ingrained in their genes!"
'Consciousness shackles'? This is tantamount to handing over the power of life and death entirely to you, placing their souls on the chopping block!
This is more humiliating and deadly than killing them outright! This is not cooperation at all; it is utter submission and enslavement!
Given his personality, how could he possibly give in so easily?
Even if they temporarily yield to save their lives, they will inevitably bargain or fight to the death, showing extreme humiliation and resentment, and may even try to find loopholes in the rules.
But he only symbolically shouted out the slave contract before immediately accepting it in despair?
This is so fake! It's ridiculously fake!
He's putting on this act of enduring humiliation to lower your guard, to make you think he's completely under your control and powerless to resist!
Seeing his wife's insightful and indignant expression, Xiao Ce's cold and stern brows finally relaxed completely, and he looked at Yin Pan'er with a smile.
He then reached out and gently pinched Yin Pan'er's cheek with admiration and affection.
"Smart! As expected of my Pan'er, she saw the key point at a glance."
Seeing Xiao Ce's expression, Yin Pan'er finally realized that Xiao Ce couldn't possibly be unaware of all this...
At this moment, Xiao Ce leaned back slightly, sinking into the soft sofa back, his eyes becoming deep and playful!
"I deliberately threw out the condition of 'consciousness shackles'."
This is like a touchstone.
If he is truly desperate and genuinely seeking cooperation for a glimmer of hope, his reaction to such humiliating terms that completely strip him of his autonomy would likely be extreme anger, fear, struggle, and bargaining...
They even went so far as to provoke me again in order to gain a sliver of room for maneuver.
That's the true reaction of someone with nowhere else to turn. Although it's full of reluctance, it might actually make me consider giving him a more lenient collaborator status, rather than a complete slave.
After a pause, Xiao Ce continued with an icy gaze, "But he didn't."
He acted too quickly; his humiliation and compromise were superficial, more like he was eager to finish the play so I could leave quickly and he could make his backup plan.
His quick agreement proves that he never intended to actually fulfill the clause; he must have a way to circumvent it, or...
He didn't care about the shackles at all, because he was confident that he could complete one of his reversal plans before the shackles took effect, or by taking advantage of this seemingly cooperative opportunity.
What he needs is simply for me to temporarily believe he's willing to cooperate, thus giving him a chance to leave his cage and return to the creation base.
A look of sudden realization flashed in Yin Pan'er's eyes, which then transformed into deep admiration for her husband and a hint of worry.
"So...you deliberately dangled this pie in the sky for him, using the mental shackles to force him to slip up and confirm that he had ulterior motives?"
Then...
Will it count?
You want to use the opportunity of him thinking you've taken the bait to find out his true intentions and hidden plans?
"You still understand me."
Xiao Ce's smile deepened, and he tightened his grip on Yin Pan'er's hand, his eyes gleaming with the light of a hunter locking onto his prey.
“He wants a pretext for cooperation, a chance to escape the cage, an opportunity to turn against me when I let my guard down... Fine, I'll give him everything. If he wants to act, I'll play along to the end.”
"I just want to see what this guy is up to!"
"He thought returning to the Creation Base was his home turf, his chance. But I'm not the same person I used to be... I possess the secrets of the Hidden Dragon Arsenal..."
After listening to Xiao Ce's words, Yin Pan'er nodded and then said to him, "Your Highness, no matter what happens, I will stand by you through thick and thin..."
Hearing Yin Pan'er say this, Xiao Ce also embraced her with affection!
Nestled in Xiao Ce's warm embrace, Yin Pan'er felt his steady heartbeat. The tacit understanding and determination he showed after seeing through Xiao Dingshan's conspiracy filled her heart with peace.
However, Xiao Ce had barely finished speaking about "using a counter-strategy" when...
A deeper thought surfaced in her clear eyes, like a morning star suddenly illuminating the night sky.
"Your Highness..."
Yin Pan'er tilted her head slightly, her fingers unconsciously stroking Xiao Ce's chest, her voice carrying a cautious exploration of the unknown: "Pan'er just pondered Your Highness's words and Xiao Dingshan's remarks, and I feel there's something fishy about them..."
"Or rather... there is another possibility that we have overlooked."
"Oh?"
Xiao Ce lowered his head, his deep gaze falling on her earnest little face, and asked, "Oh? What did Pan'er think of? Tell me."
He loved watching her think; the wisdom gleaming in her eyes always gave him unexpected perspectives.
And many things are truly a matter of being blinded by those directly involved...
Yin Pan'er sat up straighter, her expression becoming more focused: "Your Highness, we have been following Xiao Dingshan's logic all along."
He said he was an earlier Fallen One, leaving behind the Dragon Armory and the Starlink Nexus, while they, the Star Hunters, were later arrivals who stumbled into the trap.
Xiao Dingshan exaggerated the terrifying consequences of unlocking the Star Network's core mechanism and offered the bait of cooperation, attempting to return to the Creation Base...
But have we ever considered that Xiao Dingshan's words might be, as he himself admitted, 'part true and part false'?
Even more shockingly, he completely distorted the crucial truth?
Xiao Ce frowned slightly, signaling her to continue.
Yin Pan'er's words were like a key, trying to unlock a corner of his mind that had not yet been touched.
"Your Highness, please consider..."
Yin Pan'er's voice was clear and powerful, with logical and coherent structure: "That 'him,' the one he called a 'Stardust Remnant,' a 'Pioneer'!"
If what Siu Ding-shan said is true, they are 'lost souls' who arrived here earlier!
Are they on the run or searching for something...?
He built the Hidden Dragon Arsenal in preparation for either 'liquidation' or 'return journey'.
So, what was the purpose of the Star Network Hub he left behind—this 'core navigation and communication center' that Xiao Dingshan feared to the very depths of his soul—actively calling out with its signal pulses?
She paused, then continued her analysis with a glint of wisdom in her eyes: "Xiao Dingshan said it was a declaration about 'abundance' and 'no man's land,' which lured these hyenas."
But is this really reasonable?
Would a fugitive, someone who needs to hide, build shelters, and prepare for unknown threats, actively send out such conspicuous signals claiming the place to be rich, thus attracting potential, possibly more powerful, enemies?
This is tantamount to lighting a campfire in the dark, attracting wild beasts! This doesn't make sense for a fugitive or a cautious builder!
Xiao Ce's eyes suddenly narrowed.
He had been so caught up in Xiao Dingshan's narrative that he hadn't bothered to investigate this point thoroughly!
Yes, why would someone who needs to remain hidden actively expose their location?
Seeing Xiao Ce's reaction, Yin Pan'er knew she had touched a nerve and continued to probe: "So, is there a more reasonable explanation: the signal emitted by the Star Network Hub was not a declaration at all! But a distress signal!"
"Call for help?" Xiao Ce repeated in a low voice, the thought exploding in his mind like a thunderclap.
“Yes! SOS!” Yin Pan’er’s tone became increasingly certain. “That ‘Pioneer,’ he might not be a fugitive, but a guardian of this planet! Or at least, he has some profound, protective connection to this planet. He descended here, possibly to protect its unique energy and the spark of civilization. He built the Hidden Dragon Arsenal for defense! And the Star Network Hub, as the core hub, is likely one of its most important functions: when the guardian encounters a devastating threat that it cannot handle alone, it can send a high-level SOS signal to the outside world—possibly his home civilization, or perhaps his allies—to summon reinforcements to his aid!”
This bold hypothesis instantly and completely reversed the perspective of the entire event! Xiao Ce felt as if the originally chaotic and complex fragments of clues in his mind were being rearranged and recombined by a powerful force, and a completely different, yet more convincing, picture was slowly unfolding.
"Continue!" Xiao Ce's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible excitement as he gripped Yin Pan'er's hand tightly.
Encouraged, Yin Pan'er spoke faster and explained and analyzed with clearer thinking!
"So, where does the threat come from? Are Xiao Dingshan and his so-called 'interstellar hunters' really innocent lost souls lured in by the 'accidental' signal?"
Is it possible...that they were following some kind of clue, or perhaps they were part of that devastating threat?!
"Think about Xiao Dingshan's description of how they were trapped. Without any warning, they crashed into that so-called quagmire of rules, their spatial coordinates locked..."
Doesn't this sound like some kind of extremely powerful, pre-programmed planetary defense system has been triggered?
A trap specifically designed to imprison or even eliminate certain intruders?
The terrifying imagery of Xiao Dingshan describing his imprisonment flashed through Xiao Ce's mind: a "quagmire of rules" that "imprisoned all attempts and actions to escape"...
This is absolutely not a natural phenomenon! This is clearly a spatial confinement technology controlled by some powerful will!
If this will belongs to the guardian "him" and its purpose is to protect the planet... then the identity of Xiao Dingshan and his group, who are trapped, as "intruders" becomes obvious!
"so..."
Yin Pan'er's voice, sharp as if she had seen through the truth, began to deduce the truth from Xiao Ce!
"The truth of the story is probably like this: Long ago, the Guardian came to this planet by chance."
He then made contact with the people here and discovered the extraordinary nature of this planet. This person, in order to protect this planet containing miraculous energy and its unique civilization…”