Rebirth of the Super Battleship-Chapter 743: Reverse Deduction
“I have crossed swords with Luka Two and know him to some extent, but that understanding is not deep. In order to decode the arrangements he left behind, I need to know every piece of information about him, including his life experiences, his style of action, and his past deeds. I need you to tell me all of it. At the same time, I will persuade Ruto to help you with the Spatial Bomb matter as well.”
After agreeing to Xiao Yu’s request, Ares had completely shed those traits of an ordinary man. In this moment, he once again became a superior. Powerful confidence filled him, and the intense aura he exuded made every word he spoke carry the weight of a thousand kilograms.
His appearance had not changed at all; he was even still wearing the slightly worn clothes from working in the fields. Yet he seemed like a completely different person.
“Very good. Then come with me now. This spaceship will take you to the Solar. There, you will have your own private office. I will fully cooperate with your work.” Xiao Yu said.
“Wait a moment, I still have something I need to do.” Ares paused slightly and turned on the image recording device set to the side. He stood in front of Xiao Yu, facing the recording device, and said, “Dear, I am going to be a hero and save our civilization.”
After saying this, he boarded Xiao Yu’s spaceship and never looked back.
“Ruto… my old friend, it is time for us to contribute to the civilization. Your son died in the war against the Divine Ark Civilization, but I know you certainly do not want your loved ones now to die in the war against the Sweepers Civilization. So stand up and let’s contribute our strength to our Divine Ark Civilization…”
Ares successfully persuaded Ruto. Half an hour later, the two of them appeared together in the conference hall of the Solar.
Ares and Ruto were dressed very plainly, even somewhat down-and-out, yet no one present, whether it was Luka Three or Luka Four, or Number Five, or the upper echelons of the Social Committee and the Military Committee, dared to harbor the slightest contempt for these two. They knew that, after all of Xiao Yu’s attempts had ended in failure, and after the efforts of Jason, Luka Three, and Number Five had also failed, these two were the final hope of saving the civilization.
“I believe everyone here knows something about these two.” Xiao Yu said. “This is Ares, the one who once led the Level 5 Civilization Alliance in opposition to us. In that war, even when I joined forces with Number Two, we were still at a strategic disadvantage. If not for my Specter companion appearing in the end, our Divine Ark Civilization might very well have been defeated. There is no need for me to say much more about Ares’s abilities. From now on, he will take on the task of decoding the arrangements left behind by Luka Two.”
“This one… everyone may be less familiar with. He was the most outstanding scientist of the original Pegasus Civilization. Back when the Level 5 Civilization had reached its peak, he used his extraordinary scientific thinking to develop the spatial fluctuation weapon, which belongs to the scope of Level 6 Civilizations. Although he has been away from the scientific world for many years and much of his knowledge can no longer keep up with the current situation, his scientific thinking remains. What we need is precisely his scientific thinking. After a two-year study period, Ruto will take the lead in deciphering the technologies of the Spatial Bomb and black lightning. Luka Three, Number Five, the two of you must fully cooperate with his work.”
Once the tasks were assigned, everyone withdrew one after another. Luka Three and Number Five felt not the slightest displeasure at the sudden appearance of someone to lead their work. At this point, all personal honor and disgrace had to be cast aside. The only great task that mattered now was saving a civilization already teetering on the brink, on the verge of extinction at any moment.
Xiao Yu handed over all the information on Luka Two, as well as some of his own conjectures and Jason’s conjectures, all to Ares for reference. During this period, Ares immersed himself in Luka Two’s world, feeling his state of mind, simulating his train of thought, and trying to uncover his true purpose.
As the saying goes, it is your opponent who knows you best. Ares had once crossed swords with Luka Two. As his former opponent, there was no one who understood Luka Two better than Ares.
Ruto, meanwhile, under the guidance of Luka Three and Number Five, began studying day and night. He had been away from the scientific community for far too long, and there were simply too many gaps in his knowledge. In fact, the level of his knowledge was still stuck at the peak of the Level 5 Civilization. As for the technology of Level 6 Civilizations, he was almost entirely ignorant. The task of Luka Three and Number Five was to pass on all the necessary knowledge to him in the short span of two years.
Xiao Yu also joined in this endeavor. In terms of depth of knowledge, Xiao Yu might not match certain scientists in particular fields, but in terms of breadth of knowledge, no one could compare to him. Xiao Yu even transferred leading experts from various fields out of the Central Research Academy of Science to form a dedicated teaching team of three hundred people to draw up a study plan for Ruto. All the knowledge required by every discipline related to Ruto’s research area was to be taught to him by the most outstanding individuals in each respective field.
Ruto did not disappoint Xiao Yu’s expectations. Although the final result had yet to emerge, Ruto’s impressive learning ability at this stage already pleasantly surprised Xiao Yu. It did not take him the full two years. In just one and a half years, Ruto had completed his study phase. His knowledge reserves had reached a level comparable to those of Luka Three and Number Five. At that point, the scientific thinking that stemmed more from innate talent began to take the leading role, and official research work began in earnest.
At this time, Ares also lifted his head from the vast sea of data.
“Have you gained anything?” Xiao Yu asked.
Ares nodded lightly. “I think I have more or less grasped Luka Two’s line of thought. There are still a few aspects that need to be verified, though. For that, Ruto’s research must reach a certain stage before he can answer them for me.”
“That is good.” Xiao Yu said. “Ruto’s current research is progressing very smoothly. At this rate, actually developing the Spatial Bomb in the end will not be too difficult.”
“There is one thing I find very regrettable.” Ares said with a soft sigh. “Jason’s talent was not low. He was still young, with a great deal of potential yet to be tapped. Unfortunately, he fell into a cognitive dead end. From the very beginning, he set out on the wrong path and chose the wrong method.”
“Then what is your method?” Xiao Yu asked. “And what is your final conclusion?”
“It is impossible for me to fully reconstruct Luka Two’s thinking. I can only restore the truth to the greatest extent possible according to my own deductions. Moreover, since several key points remain unverified, I do not have any so-called final conclusion at present. It is entirely possible that once Ruto’s research clarifies certain issues, it will ultimately prove my deductions wrong.” Ares slowly shook his head as he spoke. “As for my method, it is very simple, reverse deduction.”
“Reverse deduction?” Xiao Yu asked with interest. “How do you reverse-deduce?”
“Jason chose an analytical approach that was completely different from mine. He started with the three known conditions of moving stars, the Spatial Bomb, and black lightning, and tried to infer the hidden links among these three in order to reconstruct Luka Two’s thinking. Under normal circumstances, this would be the simplest and most feasible approach. But in reality, it proved unworkable. Jason used his life to point out the wrong path for me so that I could avoid it. Therefore, I chose another approach.” Ares spoke calmly, without any expression on his face.
“In his message, Luka Two said that if our Divine Ark Civilization met with failure, and all attempts ended in failure, we could rely on the arrangements he left behind to gain a chance to continue the civilization. This clearly refers to escape. By using his method, we can obtain an opportunity to flee. So, I first assume that Luka Two’s arrangements are absolutely effective, that is to say, we assume that by following Luka Two’s arrangements, we will definitely be able to escape.”
“Assume the result is correct first, then reason backwards from the result and finally integrate all the factors together… that is an excellent attempt. Continue.” Xiao Yu said.
“Before I go on, I need to ask you a question.” Ares said. “What is the greatest threat the Sweepers Civilization poses to us?”
“Without question, the Neutron War Star.” Xiao Yu replied. “Without the Neutron War Star, the Sweepers Civilization could not possibly be our match. Even without the biological army, relying only on my own control and five hundred million warships would be enough to completely destroy their conventional warships, including those spherical warships.”
“Very well, then we can make a second step in our reasoning. Luka Two’s arrangements allow us to escape, and the greatest threat the Sweepers Civilization poses to us is the Neutron War Star. We therefore have reason to believe that Luka Two’s arrangements are aimed at the Neutron War Star. Since we have assumed the result is correct, we can arrive at the following conclusion, by following Luka Two’s arrangements, we can temporarily delay the Neutron War Star and ultimately gain the chance to escape.”
“Yes, as long as we can delay the Neutron War Star, we can obtain the opportunity to flee. Because the Sweepers Civilization’s conventional fleet is no match for us at all.” Xiao Yu said. “Jason and I, as well as the other problem-solvers, all thought of this step, but it does not mean much in itself. The real key is how these three known conditions can be linked to the outcome of delaying the Neutron War Star. That is the crux of the matter.”
“Exactly. That is the key problem and the first difficulty in the reasoning. This leads to a third question, how can we pose a threat to the Neutron War Star?” Ares said slowly.
