Chapter 1193: The Puzzle's Revelation
Even a 20,000-piece puzzle would be a challenge—but the map fragments were a puzzle consisting of not just 20,000, but rather over 100,000 pieces.
There were no identifying marks on the backs of those fragments, and Zhang Lie himself had no clue what the final product would look like. This drastically increased the difficulty of the puzzle; it would be a Herculean task.
Even so, Zhang Lie had managed to finish half the puzzle within half a day—and perfectly accurately, as well.
Furthermore, a large number of the pieces were identical in size and shape, and even the best supercomputer in the Milky Way would need over 36 hours to accomplish such a feat.
As Zhang Lie continued piecing together the puzzle, however, he felt as though something was amiss.
Li Qianlin said, "I made some porridge. Won't you have a little?"
Zhang Lie frowned. "Once I finish the puzzle."
Ordinary genetic hunters would be perfectly fine even if they fasted for a day, let alone Zhang Lie.
Sun Mengmeng asked, "Is this map important?"
Zhang Lie hedged. "To speak of its importance, it is indeed quite important; to speak of its unimportance, it is indeed quite unimportant."
Sun Mengmeng asked again, "More important than eating?"
Zhang Lie shrugged. "I've been collecting these pieces for so long. I do want to know the secret they hide."
Li Qianlin smiled. "I'll bring the porridge in, then. Let me know when you're done."
Regardless of what Zhang Lie was doing—piecing together a puzzle, cultivating, even lying in bed and doing nothing—as long as he wasn't out there gallivanting through the wilderness and was staying somewhere she could accompany him, Li Qianlin would be happy.
Sun Mengmeng urged, "You can finish the puzzle tomorrow. There's no need to finish it immediately—it's not going to run off, after all."
Zhang Lie replied seriously, "While piecing together the puzzle, I came up with an idea as to what the answer could be, and I'd like to verify it."
Sun Mengmeng sighed. "Do you need some help?"
Zhang Lie didn't respond. He continued with the puzzle.
Sun Mengmeng suggested, "Why don't we call Yang Ze and Li Feng over? There are just too many pieces."
Zhang Lie shook his head. "Too many cooks will spoil the broth. Two or three people would be ideal."
Li Qianlin came back with a bowl of porridge and joined in the fun.
As Zhang Lie pieced together more of the puzzle, an unusual expression came over him, and he began to frown more and more deeply.
When they were halfway done with the puzzle, Zhang Lie murmured to himself, "No, this can't be—something has to be wrong."
As they neared completion, Zhang Lie began to grow faster and faster.
By the time they were three quarters of the way finished, Zhang Lie mumbled again, "Surely not... They must only look alike."
Li Qianlin and Sun Mengmeng stopped as they glanced at Zhang Lie in worry.
Sun Mengmeng asked, "Captain, are you alright?"
Li Qianlin added, "You've been going at this for two days. Isn't it time to rest?"
Zhang Lie shook his head. "No, we're almost done. I think I know what this puzzle will end up being, and if I don't confirm it for myself, I won't be able to rest."
Li Qianlin and Sun Mengmeng didn't dissuade Zhang Lie any further.
After all, given his strength and constitution, it wouldn't be a challenge for him to fight for two consecutive days, let alone finish a puzzle. Zhang Lie had eaten something in the meantime, and he had even rested a little near the start. With the two women supervising him, nothing would go wrong.
By the time the puzzle was four-fifths complete, Sun Mengmeng stretched and announced excitedly, "Zhang Lie, we're almost done!"
However, Zhang Lie's face was dark. He was furiously piecing together the remaining parts of the puzzle, as though obsessed.
Sun Mengmeng was shocked by his behavior. "Captain? Zhang Lie?"
As the three of them worked together, the puzzle finally neared completion.
The last stretch took fewer than three hours. As more of the puzzle was completed, it became clearer where the remaining pieces would go.
As they looked at the completed puzzle, a sense of accomplishment welled up in Sun Mengmeng and Li Qianlin's hearts. Just as they were about to cheer in jubilation, Zhang Lie slammed down on the puzzle with a fist and sent the pieces flying.
Sun Mengmeng and Li Qianlin were stupefied.
"What's the matter, Zhang Lie?" Li Qianlin called out.
The two of them found that something really seemed to be amiss with Zhang Lie.
"No, it can't be. There must be something wrong with this map—it has to be fake! That can't be where the map is pointing! Could the king of chaos have done something?"
No, that couldn't be. The king of chaos had mentioned that he had tried to collect the map fragments as well, only to lose his patience.
Could the king of chaos have collected the entire map and then modified it? But there was no reason for him to do so, and no reason for him to lie to Zhang Lie.
"Again. We must have made a mistake. Let's do the puzzle again!" As though obsessed, Zhang Lie scattered the pieces of the puzzle and began redoing it.
Sun Mengmeng and Li Qianlin glanced at each other. In silence, they helped restore the scattered pieces of the puzzle.
Both of them had seen the completed puzzle, and neither thought that there was anything wrong.
Clearly, Zhang Lie knew more than they did, but neither of them tried to assuage their curiosity.
Zhang Lie mumbled to himself, "Perhaps there's a second way to assemble the puzzle? If we do it again, there won't be a problem."
The three of them restored the puzzle as it had been, no different from before. Zhang Lie inclined his head to the ceiling and began to laugh.
Sun Mengmeng and Li Qianlin glanced at each other again in worry.
Li Qianlin called out, "Zhang Lie, don't frighten us so!"
Sun Mengmeng asked, "Captain, there's no need to be so agitated. It's just a puzzle, isn't it?"
Li Qianlin promised, "There really might be a second way to assemble the puzzle. We can try again, if you'd like."
Zhang Lie continued to smile. "No, there's no other way. This time, I contemplated all other possibilities in my head."
The second time Zhang Lie completed the puzzle, he was simultaneously assembling a hundred other cases with his mind.
"I tried all possible combinations, and even different ways of looking at or thinking about the puzzle. In the end, I concluded that this was the only possibility."
Sun Mengmeng and Li Qianlin didn't know what to say, nor what Zhang Lie had found from the map to react in such an adverse fashion.
Zhang Lie consoled them, "There's no need to worry. I'm fine—I just feel a little like a fool."
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