"In fact, even as we speak, I've involuntarily started to think… that each of us has characteristics that contradict its laws, which means…" Feng Bujue paused for breath, "Now, as long as I enter that thing's 'range of effect,' I'll be erased because of some characteristic of my own." His gaze swept over the three people in front of him. "But, the three of you still 'don't know' the laws of that thing, and as long as you maintain that state, you can approach and touch it. So…"

"Wait…" Honghu had been closely following Feng Bujue's train of thought, and when he heard this, he said, "According to you, to make this object 'effective,' you need someone who knows its properties to stand within its effective range." He paused. "But, the only person who currently knows its properties… is you, and you'll die if you enter that range."

Qiufeng took over the conversation and said, "Does that mean… you have to sacrifice yourself to trigger it?"

Ji Chang also said, "Also, you said that each of us has something about us that contradicts the object's laws. That's the same as saying… no one can trigger this thing alive. Because when we don't know its properties, we can't trigger its effects, and once we do know, we'll be in the same situation as you."

"That's right, that's the key point. I have a way to make that object effective while keeping everyone alive," Feng Bujue replied.

The three teammates' faces didn't show too much surprise or doubt, only a focused expression.

Feng Bujue was very satisfied with their reaction. It was easy to talk to smart people. He didn't need to explain too much, and they could trust and understand what he meant.

"First, I need one of you to pick up that object and place it in a specific place. During this process, his mind should be as blank as possible, without thinking too much." Feng Bujue directly began to explain his strategy, "After the thing is placed, the actor will listen to my instructions and walk to the edge of the object's range of effect. At this time, I will say a sentence to him. The content of the sentence is a description of some objective fact." He paused for half a second, then continued, "If nothing unexpected happens, the object will take effect the moment that sentence is finished. And in those few seconds, the actor shouldn't have time to realize what characteristic is causing him to be erased."

"Understood." Honghu continued, "As long as the actor immediately flees the effective range of that thing after hearing your words. Then, the effect of the object will only act on the information object you described, and will not erase the actor."

"When the actor realizes the contradiction between himself and that item, he will already have left its range, and thus be safe." Qiufeng said thoughtfully, "Hmm… so, that object is triggered by the 'cognition' of an observer within a certain range…"

Ji Chang didn't express an opinion. He was silent for a few seconds before saying something else: "Crazy Brother… you can come up with such a strategy in such a short time, and you still call yourself 'a mediocre puzzle solver'?"

"I was just being polite…" Feng Bujue also knew that at this point, it was impossible to continue pretending to be stupid.

"You're being too modest…" Honghu pushed up his glasses, "Among the four of us, only you know the properties of that object, and that property cannot be easily told to others. That is to say… how to solve this step of the puzzle without casualties can only be planned by you alone.

"Thriller Paradise's scripts are randomly generated based on the data of all players in the team. Our four's knowledge, strength, skills, equipment, etc., are all within the scope of consideration. From this, it can be seen that your strategic ability has been affirmed by the system. At least, the optical brain thinks that you have a more than 50% chance of solving this puzzle independently."

"Hmph… I guess Crazy Brother originally wanted to play dumb and follow behind us so-called 'big shots' to be a nobody." Qiufeng very sharply exposed Jue-Ge's thoughts, "But when he saw that thing, he had to participate in solving the puzzle."

"Ah… I guess so." Feng Bujue simply admitted it.

"Hahaha… In the end, it's actually our problem." Ji Chang laughed and scratched his buzz cut, "From the beginning, the three of us took it for granted that Crazy Brother was not good, and the reason was just that the ID [Feng Bujue] was not famous." He looked at Honghu and Qiufeng Se, "Putting myself in Crazy Brother's position, I would have the same reaction. I wouldn't brag about myself to three people who don't know me."

Honghu responded, "That's right."

Qiufeng then said, "Then let's not dwell on this issue anymore, let's discuss who should move the thing?"

Feng Bujue said at this time, "Ji Chang, Qiufeng, which of you is better at mathematics?"

Ji Chang said, "Mathematics… I'm not bad."

Qiufeng also said, "So-so, I've already returned what I learned in high school to the teacher. Now I'm probably at the junior high school level."

"Then it's you," Feng Bujue said.

"Ah?" Qiufeng was stunned for a moment, "Why?"

"Why what? I can't explain it before I figure it out, what's there to ask." Feng Bujue raised his arm and pointed to that room, imitating a teenager's voice and shouting passionately, "You're the one! Go! Pi-ka-Qiufeng!"

Not to mention Qiufeng himself, even Ji Chang and Honghu felt a little embarrassed after hearing Feng Bujue's incredibly painful joke.

"I can't believe I'm talking to an adult…" Qiufeng put on an extremely displeased face and complained.

"Integrity Beast super evolution~ Non-Integrity Beast~" Feng Bujue shouted again in a long voice.

"Are you done yet!" Qiufeng shouted angrily, his face flushed with shame.

"I'm distracting you." Feng Bujue said with a straight face, "This can effectively increase your safety factor during your actions."

"You just need to tell me where to put it after I move the thing out of the door, don't say any unnecessary nonsense."

"Okay."

Although Feng Bujue's behavior was very embarrassing, it did work. After ending this rather awkward conversation, Qiufeng's mind was really blank…

…………

Item #: ***-233

Item Security Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: ***-233 is to be kept within a concrete-lined cubic containment area measuring 23x23x23 (any unit of length may be used, as long as it is 23x23x23).

A 23-meter safety zone has been established around the object; no D-Class personnel not 23 years of age are permitted to cross the safety zone. For ease of study, the use of D-Class personnel with birthdays on the 23rd of X month is recommended.

No firearms of any kind are to be brought within the area, unless they use special .2323 caliber ammunition.

Staff shift changes must be scheduled on the hour at the 23rd minute, and the final shift must end precisely at 23:23 GMT.

Ammunition of [REDACTED]mm must never be used in the vicinity of the item.

D-Class personnel born in [REDACTED] month, or on the [REDACTED]th, tenth, or twentieth day of a month, are not to come into contact with the item.

Personnel working in the containment facility should be specifically warned to be extra vigilant at [REDACTED] minutes past every hour, especially at [REDACTED] o'clock, as this is when the *** is at its most active. For optimal consideration, all personnel should be evacuated to a distance of 23 meters during this period.

Description: ***-233 is a 23-sided object, each side being an equilateral rectangle containing a straight line. Due to the object's anomalous spatial properties, it cannot be accurately configured, nor can it be replicated in 3D or 2D form.

***-233 has the ability to alter the mathematical laws of the surrounding area, causing all counting to be completely erroneous unless base-23 is used. Calculators using base-23, however, benefit from the ***, operating at 23 times the normal speed.

Proposals to destroy the *** are pending, as it is possible to incorporate it into [DATA EXPUNGED] utilization. The difficulty of converting binary to base-23 aside, the device has already demonstrated its value to the Organization.

Unfortunately, the appearance of the number [REDACTED] within the ***-233's area of effect causes it to exhibit an extremely violent effect. Everything affected by the effect will undergo rapid chemical fission, due to the atoms composing the substance instantly collapsing in 0.23 seconds.

It is worth noting that, based on past experience, ***-233 does not appear to be triggered by the physical properties of nearby objects, but rather by the cognition of surrounding observers. For example, hanging ***-233 from a 2.74 meter long pole is safe as long as no observer in the danger zone knows that the pole is actually [REDACTED] feet long. The cause of this effect is unknown, but it may be related to the "observer effect" in classical quantum physics.

…………

Feng Bujue's knowledge of the *** series allowed him to recognize this "twenty-three-sided object." He also knew that 2.74 meters was approximately equal to 9 feet. That is to say, the *** targeted the number "9."

As long as someone who knew its properties entered the twenty-three meter range around ***-233, then everything in that area that was related to 9 in that person's perception would be erased.

When Feng Bujue shouted and retreated, he had already noticed a problem. Both "封 (Feng)" and "疯 (Feng)" have nine strokes, so let's not talk about that. In addition, all three of the others… Qiufeng Se's "秋 (Qiu)," and Yu Chong Ji Chang's "语 (Yu)," also have nine strokes, and Honghu's connection with 9 is even more obvious, he is level 29.

No matter which of these three teammates went to move the thing, as long as they heard his sentence, even if they didn't know the properties of ***-233, they would quickly understand that the problem was with the number 9. Then, the faster the actor associated himself with factors related to 9, the faster he would be erased…

If this was a terrible team, finding a slow-witted person to be the actor would be fine. But the four of them were the type of people whose minds worked especially fast. Once information entered their brains, they would instinctively deduce things.

Therefore, Feng Bujue decided to let Qiufeng, who was relatively poor in mathematics, go, and tried his best to interfere with the other party's thoughts with words. The method of action he came up with was also to minimize the teammate's thinking time and the amount of information he knew.

This puzzle-solving strategy seemed uncomplicated, but in reality, it fully demonstrated Feng Bujue's awesomeness. Even his seemingly nonsensical actions were meaningful. All kinds of details were done perfectly.

"Where do I put it?" At this time, Qiufeng had walked out of the white door and asked loudly.

The distance Feng Bujue had retreated was enough. Even if that thing was moved out, where he was standing was far beyond twenty-three meters.

"Over there!" When shouting, Jue-Ge pointed in a direction, "Just put it between those two pillars against the wall."

Qiufeng responded after hearing this, and carried the twenty-three-sided object all the way there. This *** was not too heavy, and it was easy for a player whose physical fitness had been strengthened to move it.

Dozens of seconds later, Qiufeng put the thing in place: "Is it okay to put it here?"

"Yes," Feng Bujue replied, "Now, walk towards me. Don't be too fast, stop when I tell you to stop."

Qiufeng did as he was told.

Feng Bujue visually estimated that the other party had walked about twenty meters, shouted "Stop!" and then said, "Okay, I'm going to say that piece of information, I'll say it relatively quickly. After I finish saying it, I'll shout 'Run' again, at which point you run to our side as fast as you can, just thinking about the sentence I said."