Fortunately, the interface remained unchanged until He Tang swam to the other side.
"Can you hear me over there?" Ke Xun shouted towards the other side.
"Yes!" He Tang's voice sounded faint, as if it came from a distance, but it was still barely audible.
"Look into that hole at the exit, can you see anything?" Ke Xun called out.
He Tang turned her head and glanced into the terrifyingly dark hole, shivered a few times, and shook her head at Ke Xun: "I can't see anything, it's too dark!"
"Okay, then change your clothes. We'll turn our backs, and call us when you're done."
He Tang took off her soaking wet undershirt, put on her outer garment wrapped in Ke Xun's waterproof jacket, and then called out.
Ke Xun and Zhu Haowen turned around, exchanged a glance, and Ke Xun said, "Then let's try the method of freezing water. Let's begin."
Zhu Haowen nodded, waiting for Ke Xun to operate, but Ke Xun looked at him and said, "You do it, you do it. I don't know the specifics of that law."
Zhu Haowen was speechless, feeling that this kid must be thinking of something else. He decided not to argue with him for the time being, and opened the operation interface in front of him. A book icon popped up a dialog box, which read: "[Please state the law you want to apply]."
"Under standard atmospheric pressure, water will freeze below zero degrees Celsius," Zhu Haowen tried to say.
A line of text flashed below the dialog box: "[Law passed. Please go to the item box to select the item you want to use.]"
Zhu Haowen clicked the box icon, and a dialog box also popped up, which read: "[Please state the name of the item you want to use]." Seeing
Zhu Haowen hesitate, Ke Xun quickly asked, "What's wrong?" He could see Zhu Haowen's interface on the screen in front of him; interfaces for group members were shared.
Zhu Haowen turned to look at him: "We've overlooked a crucial issue. Rome wasn't built in a day. No matter what tools we use, it will take a very long time to completely freeze this pool of unknown depth, while our time is extremely limited. The time flow in this painting is different from the real world. If time here is disordered and chaotic, it might be nighttime soon. And if we can't cross the pool before night falls, death may await us."
"Then we'll just need a piece of ice," Ke Xun said. "We don't need to freeze the entire pool; we just need a piece big enough to hold one person. That person can sit on the ice and paddle across." Zhu
Haowen secretly praised Ke Xun's quick thinking and said to the box-shaped dialogue box, "Ice."
The dialogue box displayed a line of text: ["Ice" is for carrying objects; this is a violation and will not be approved.] "
Hey, ice is formed from frozen water, which is essentially using water, so how is that against the rules?!" Ke Xun exclaimed in surprise. "Besides, this is completely different from swimming across; it doesn't violate any requirements."
Zhu Haowen thought for a moment and then said to the box-shaped dialog box again, "I need ice formed from water in the pool."
The question requires that objects "other than water in the pool" are not allowed, so ice that isn't formed from water in the pool is likely also not allowed.
The box-shaped dialog box displayed: [Existing materials in the room cannot be extracted as props.]
Zhu Haowen frowned, but Ke Xun remained surprisingly calm, scratching his ear thoughtfully. "This hint is interesting," he said. "If ice formed from the pool water doesn't work, it should logically indicate a violation and refuse the request, just like before. But now it says it can't extract it. There's clearly no ice in this room. What it means by 'extract' is that it can't extract water, then make ice in its toolbox and provide it to us. Do you think that's the meaning?" Zhu
Haowen's brow relaxed slightly, and he nodded. "Yes, so it likely means that ice made from pool water might not be against the rules, but it just can't extract the pool water to make ice. So—we can request the ice-making tool and make ice ourselves using the pool water."
"That's it!" Ke Xun snapped his fingers. "Ask it for an ice maker, a large-capacity one!"
Zhu Haowen then said to the box-shaped dialogue box, "Large-capacity ice maker."
The dialogue box displayed a line of text: ["Large-capacity ice maker" is a complex mechanical structure. Please return to the Law Book and state the laws it applies to.] "Damn it! "
Ke Xun couldn't help but curse. "This is outrageous! So they're the ones who call the shots! It's just like that saying online—if I say your refrigerator doesn't work, do I have to learn how to make one before I'm qualified to say that? It's like we have to know how to make a refrigerator before we can use an ice cube. Are we going to have to draw the structural diagram of an ice maker and write chemical formulas later?"
"Not necessarily," Zhu Haowen said. "Since the rules include assumptions, they won't make us write any chemical formulas or manufacturing diagrams, because assumptions aren't necessarily valid."
"Then do you know the rules that apply to ice makers?" Ke Xun asked him.
Zhu Haowen glanced at him: "I'm just a computer science major."
Ke Xun squatted down and drew circles: "I never expected that I'd have to take exams even after entering a painting. Is this world beyond redemption? Don't academic underachievers deserve to live?"
Zhu Haowen listened thoughtfully: "This is a bit like the survival-of-the-fittest system some schools use to categorize students. Through exams or daily academic performance, students are divided into good and bad classes. Good students are in one class, and bad students are in another. Good students get special attention, while bad students are left to fend for themselves." "Extinguish."
Ke Xun nodded: "That's how it was in our class. Before the college entrance exam, we were divided into high-achieving and low-achieving classes. Before the middle school entrance exam, although we weren't divided into classes, the teachers would put the good students in the front row of the classroom and throw the low-achieving students in the back. I was a special sports student, so the teachers basically ignored me. One of my buddies was bad at studying, so he was thrown into the last row. It was really like the sky was high and the emperor was far away. During class, as long as you didn't shout, you could do whatever you wanted in the back, and the teachers wouldn't bother with you."
Zhu Haowen guessed that perhaps it was because he was ignored by the teachers that his rather smart brain was wasted. He said, "Some schools and even parents believe that grades represent everything. This is reflected in this painting in an even more extreme way: 'students' who 'do well' can live, while 'students' who 'do poorly' can only die. This is probably another extreme satire of the education system by Cheng Shi."
"His resentment is really heavy," Ke Xun looked up at the calm surface of the pool, "but it's not incomprehensible, after all, his son died because of this."
Zhu Haowen was silent for a moment, then said, "No, perhaps the real Cheng Shi and his son didn't have such deep resentment or extreme thoughts. It was all exaggerated and amplified infinitely by the behind-the-scenes forces of the painting.
"If the resentment that all the painters of the paintings we've visited put into their paintings is equivalent to a short fuse, then the resentment reflected in the paintings is the cannon shaft connected to the fuse."
"Once the fuse is lit, it only produces a tiny spark, but it's connected to the cannon. That tiny spark can trigger a deafening roar and cause destruction.
"So, I feel that the artists of each painting are being used as 'fuse,' and what's truly disgusting is the cannon itself, created by the forces behind the paintings.
"Let's not think about that problem now; we need to find a way to get through this as quickly as possible. I know the general principle of an ice maker: compression, condensation, throttling, evaporation, and repeated cycles, but I don't know the more detailed steps."
"Let's try it first. If it doesn't work, we'll think of something else." Ke Xun stood up.
Zhu Haowen followed instructions and returned to the rulebook page, recounting all the knowledge he knew about refrigeration principles. However, several steps were still missing, preventing the creation of a complete refrigeration device.
Ke Xun scratched his head: "Don't you think this painting is a bit too deliberately difficult? The restriction against using props is a bit too contrived."
Zhu Haowen replied: "The resentment depicted in the painting is so extreme; it's an exaggerated and extreme reinterpretation of the resentment towards the program.
The underlying intention is probably this: since schools always force students to rigidly learn and apply these principles and rules, being overly dogmatic and neglecting flexible practice and practical application, as if simply memorizing the rules solves everything, then the painting simply refuses to allow viewers to use any props that can directly solve problems, only giving us these rules, allowing us to use the rules and relatively simple props to solve all problems."
"These simple props for assisting the rules are just like the beakers, glass rods, and alcohol lamps students use in experiments. It's impossible to achieve the purpose of a complex experiment simply by using a beaker.
"When Chengshi drew this picture, he was already insane. In his chaotic thought system at the time, it was impossible for him to organize something so dialectical and logical. So, as we just speculated, these extreme and almost unreasonable resentments are all processed and amplified by the forces behind the painting, undergoing a secondary creation."
"Wait—beaker, glass rod..." Ke Xun raised an eyebrow, as if he had thought of something. After a moment's thought, his eyes lit up. "You reminded me! Can saltpeter be used to make ice?"
Zhu Haowen's eyes also lit up: "Ammonium nitrate works even better. It seems you're not a bad student after all."
Ke Xun smiled and winked: "I accidentally saw a post online about how ancient people made iced drinks using saltpeter. I was even planning to try making shaved ice using the ancient method, but I gave up because I couldn't buy ammonium nitrate." Zhu Haowen: "
..." So it was all for food.
Without further delay, the two immediately entered the operation page. The rule that "ammonium nitrate absorbs a lot of heat when it dissolves in water, which can cause the water to freeze" was approved, and they obtained a large amount of ammonium nitrate powder, a basin, and a container for scooping water.
—Simple props like these, lacking complex principles and operational complexity, can all be provided by the prop box.
There's one basin, large and small; the large one resembles a large, round bathtub, while the small one is like a single-person bathtub. Fortunately, as long as they aren't used for bathing, the prop box seems to basically meet the needs of the two, providing them with the props they want—of course, some items in the room cannot be provided as props. They
filled the two large basins with water using a scooping container, placed the small basin inside, and then poured the water and ammonium nitrate powder into the large basin according to the correct proportions.
During the cooling and ice-making process, Zhu Haowen suddenly received a request for help. Because the help function is only for individuals, his interface couldn't be shared with Ke Xun at this moment, and his voice was also muted, only the person requesting help could hear it.
Ke Xun waited for a while, and finally saw Zhu Haowen's gaze fall on him, so he asked, "Who requested help?"
"Luo Yi, he and Deng Lin are in a group, and they encountered a problem," Zhu Haowen said.
"Did you solve it?" Ke Xun asked.
"Solved." "Zhu Haowen said.
Ke Xun didn't ask any further questions, pointing to the ice that had already formed in the basin: "Make two more pieces, so they don't melt halfway across and become unbearable."
The two spent some more time making three large and thick pieces of ice, and Ke Xun said to Zhu Haowen: "Okay, you can go now, be careful."
Zhu Haowen looked at him: "You go first, I'll float across using salt water."
Ke Xun laughed: "You're not a good swimmer, stop arguing, hurry up and get across, the ice will melt soon."
Zhu Haowen: "Do you know the law?"
Ke Xun: "Of course I do—salt water has greater buoyancy than fresh water, it's that simple! Hurry up."
Zhu Haowen: "What if this method doesn't work? Floating in salt water is almost like swimming, what if that doesn't work?"
Ke Xun: "Then you can help me figure out a way when you get to the other side." "Saying this, he kicked several pieces of ice into the pool, then grabbed Zhu Haowen's arm, not allowing him to struggle, and pressed him directly onto the ice.
Zhu Haowen frowned helplessly, glanced at him, and had no choice but to stop delaying. He knelt on the ice, paddling with both hands, slowly drifting towards the other side of the pool with the other two pieces of floating ice.
After Zhu Haowen successfully reached the other side, Ke Xun also got the salt and kept pouring it into the pool. This process took a long time. Ke Xun didn't dare to determine the salinity of the pool water by tasting it, so he simply took off his clothes and prepared to go into the water to personally feel the buoyancy.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the water, a warning popped up on the interface, and a line of bright red text kept jumping and flashing: [Warning - Operation violation, please cancel as soon as possible! Countdown 30 seconds!]
Ke Xun quickly climbed out of the pool, wiped the water off his face, and looked across.
Zhu Haowen on the other side frowned and stared at him.
The method of drifting across by the buoyancy of salt water was indeed not recognized; it was judged as the same method as swimming."