The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4643 Desperate Escape (5)

Chapter 4643 A Desperate Escape (Fifteen)

"...In conclusion, Professor, this is a very simple game theory puzzle. The problem is, we might be the first to arrive, which means we might need to shed more blood." Bruce paced in front of the device. "At least we need to show them that we've tried our best to sacrifice and that we want to achieve this goal. Otherwise, they might not even donate blood. The key is building trust..."

“You’re right,” Schiller nodded, “but I have a question. Would you like to hear a shorter version or the full version?”

"Uh, what's the difference?"

"The difference is whether we talk as we walk or we talk before we walk."

"Go?" Bruce asked, somewhat surprised. "Where to?"

“Next stage,” Schiller said.

“But…” Bruce turned to look at the mechanism, “Aren’t we going to play this level?”

"That's what I'm going to talk about."

“Then I’d like to hear both versions, let’s talk about it right here.” Bruce looked around and then said, “I can’t see any reason not to play this level. Although, as you predicted, being the first to come might not be a good idea, the consequences of failing this level without knowing what the mechanism does could be terrible.”

"The short reason is that, for whatever reason, if I bleed you again, all our mutual friends will definitely lock us both up in a mental hospital, there is no other possibility."

Bruce never expected this reason. He opened his mouth, then said, "But it's not like you're the one bleeding me out."

“Then they’ll think I didn’t stop you,” Schiller said. “Don’t you know how much psychological trauma that incident left on them? They’re practically on guard against it.”

"But it probably won't get out..."

"It's not just the two of us involved in this game. The other players will definitely discuss this part after they leave. How are you going to keep it from the Justice League?"

Before Bruce could say anything more, Schiller interrupted him, saying, "And no matter how much blood we bleed, this game is still unwinnable."

Bruce paused for a moment. He seemed to go over the process in his mind again and said, "Really? If things go according to my plan, this should be entirely successful."

“Look, the groups that arrived first are just like us. They must be smart and have a strong sense of sacrifice, otherwise they would never have arrived first. Such people can think of the key points and are willing to shed more blood.”

"Those who arrive later are either not as smart or not as well connected, which is why they are hindered by various mechanisms and arrive later. However, seeing that there is already so much blood, and they don't have to give too much themselves, they will definitely be willing to do so for the sake of winning the game."

"In my opinion, the level designer made a very clever design. The smart people who arrive first can figure out the whole process, so they feel that there is hope of completing it. In addition, due to their personality, they will not hesitate to make sacrifices. The later ones may not be able to figure it out, but seeing that they are almost finished, they feel that sacrificing a little is nothing. The two sides cooperate with each other. Although the process may be difficult, they can still complete it in the end."

“From a game theory perspective, that is indeed the case,” Schiller said. “But unfortunately, the world is not just about behavioral analysis and logic. Emotion is an unavoidable factor that adds countless variables to all game theories. Just like you can’t predict whether someone might get so caught up in a game that they smash the chessboard to kill their opponent.”

Schiller sighed softly and said, "If this were a single-player game and the number of bad guys didn't exceed half, it would be possible. But the biggest problem is that this is a two-player game."

"From the perspective of evolutionary and sociological theories, everything that humans depend on for survival follows the principle of 'use it or lose it' in the process of evolution. Humans will not do things that consume energy but do not produce any benefits."

“Emotional communication may seem to consume a lot of energy and have no practical benefits, but in reality, it can strengthen the bonds between social animals, making them more united and more group-oriented.”

"Human beings' social nature makes them more prone to emotional fluctuations when facing their own kind, which helps them open the door to emotional communication and establish deeper connections with their peers. This is a human instinct."

“Emotional thinking is always belittled, and expressing emotions before reasoning is always criticized. However, the fact that humanity has made no progress in this area over the years proves that this instinct is unbreakable and almost unchangeable.”

"Furthermore, given the current situation, when players are paired up, the probability of emotional thinking and emotional outbursts is too high. Even if one rationally knows that this is how the game is played and that doing so will lead to victory, the actual execution is far from ideal."

"Some people will be angry and decide to let this bullshit rule go to hell; some people will be sad and feel that they should not let their friends make this sacrifice; some people will feel sorry and feel that it is better to just lose the game and start another one than to have so much blood drained from them."

"In this situation, the number of possible variables will definitely be greater than the number of situations where the game is played according to the rules. You can also infer from this model that even if we assume a medium probability, the blood that ends up in the container will definitely not be enough."

Bruce frowned deeply, seemingly judging based on Schiller's words. He said, "But the requirements might not be that high, right?"

"After going through the previous rounds, what more can you expect?" Schiller said. "Besides, the probability you've deduced needs to be reduced by another level. The only other contestants we know besides ourselves are Anatoly and Lucifer. I can tell you definitively that no matter where they are ranked, they won't give us a single drop."

"Why is that?" Bruce asked, puzzled. "I can understand losing control of my emotions, and accidents are possible. But that doctor didn't seem like..."

Bruce was obviously implying that Anatoly "didn't seem like such a selfish person." In fact, based on what he knew of Anatoly's deeds, he was extremely self-sacrificing; otherwise, why would he have risked his life to blow up Gotham?

Although he ultimately survived, the risk was extremely high; he probably couldn't have been 100% certain he wouldn't have died when he took the plunge. He must have been prepared to sacrifice himself. Why would someone like that be unwilling to donate blood?

Schiller stared intently at Bruce. Bruce felt a chill run down his spine from his gaze. Just as he opened his mouth to ask a question, Schiller said, "Your upbringing has influenced you more profoundly than I imagined."

"What, Professor?"

“That wasn’t a sacrifice,” Schiller said. “Everything we did throughout the entire mission wasn’t a sacrifice.”

"what is that?"

“…exploitation.” Anatoly tidied Lucifer’s feathers and said softly, “To sacrifice oneself so that people can live better lives is called sacrifice. To have to accept pain and death so that others can be spared is called exploitation.”

“I still don’t quite understand the difference.” Lucifer lay on the ground. The passage he had just climbed up was too narrow, his wings were a little scratched, and he was quite tired. So the first thing he did when he arrived in the hall was to lie down and rest.

“Lucifer, I think you’ve long realized how many terrible things you’ve done. So you must have thought about why we can still be friends. Is it really just because I pity you?”

"Isn't that so?" Lucifer asked hesitantly.

"Although I always say that you only create things out of thin air and don't know how to gain anything through your own efforts, I don't hate that. I have enjoyed many of the conveniences you bring and still feel at ease. This is because you don't obtain these things by harming others; you create them out of thin air."

"In other words, neither you nor I have harmed anyone while enjoying these conveniences. Even the bar you conjured up couldn't steal customers from others due to poor management. Although you gained a lot, you didn't exploit anyone. I keep bringing this up mainly because I'm worried about my friend's lack of self-reliance, not because I really hate him."

Lucifer still seemed somewhat bewildered, so Anatoly shifted his position, sitting cross-legged on the ground, and continued, "Those Soviet soldiers you met, they were heroes who sacrificed themselves voluntarily, that's no problem. But at the same time, they were also victims exploited by the invaders, that's equally important."

"To defend their homes and enable their loved ones to live a better life, they voluntarily went to the battlefield and sacrificed their lives; this is called sacrifice. However, in order to prevent their loved ones from being harmed by the invaders, they had no choice but to endure all of this; this is called exploitation."

"People often only see the former and praise how brave and fearless they are. But we must also understand the latter; without evil aggressors and unjust wars, they would not have had to suffer all of this."

"Or rather, every victim in this world has such two sides. Like Batman, he voluntarily stood up to uphold justice and peace in the Dark City, making him a hero with a spirit of sacrifice. But similarly, the darkness of Gotham forced him to bear the pain for many people, and he was also being exploited."

After tidying Lucifer's feathers, Anatoly stood up. Lucifer, having rested for a while, felt much better and got up from the ground. The two stood before the enormous machine.

“I admire all the people who donate blood here,” Anatoly said. “They are very smart, they figured out the whole game, and they are also very selfless, leaving us plenty of room to maneuver.”

"But I also sympathize with them, because they have no other choice. In order to prevent those who come after them from bleeding themselves dry, they choose to almost drain themselves dry. This causes serious damage to their health and is an extremely terrible form of exploitation."

“I’m afraid I’ll never be able to compromise on this kind of thing—we have to help them,” Anatoly said softly. He looked up at the enormous machine, and his expression made Lucifer somewhat afraid. He even took a step back and wrapped himself in his wings again.

“Let’s see what this mechanism is all about,” Anatoly said, staring at the scales. “If anyone is watching this place, he’d better be prepared to bleed.”