Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 601 The Rules of the Ghost Train

“Let’s talk about computing power later,” Sun Hang said. “At least right now, the most important thing is to determine whether the Sphinx is still in Egypt.”

"Is this Old Pei's idea?" Professor Cao raised an eyebrow.

Professor Cao and Pei Zongjun had a very good relationship. Before Pei Zongjun cryopreserved his body, the two were already close friends despite their age difference. Therefore, the older Ji Yaohua called Pei Zongjun "Old Pei," while Professor Cao called him "Old Pei" repeatedly—even though, according to age, Pei Zongjun was almost Professor Cao's grandfather.

“Yes.” Sun Hang looked at the holographic projection of the mainframe.

The holographic projection nodded.

“Then I have no objection,” Professor Cao said. “In addition, if you are going to look for the Sphinx, I think the sails and figures you saw earlier might be a very important clue.”

"Is that thing connected to the Sphinx?" Wang Xiyi couldn't help but ask.

"If we divide them according to the nine-square grid of factions, the Sphinx would probably fall somewhere between lawful neutral and lawful evil. Unlike the man-eating monster in Greek mythology, the Sphinx is more sacred in Egyptian mythology, as can be seen from the large number of Sphinx statues with the heads of pharaohs in ancient Egypt."

Professor Cao took a sip of water to moisten his throat and continued, "In ancient Egypt, the Sphinx was seen as a projection of the Pharaoh's power, while in modern times, the Sphinx has been regarded as one of the symbols of Egyptian culture. Therefore, for Egyptians, the Sphinx is undoubtedly a 'positive' and mysterious creature."

"Professor Cao, according to you, those survivors in the Egyptian region were likely protected by the Sphinx?" Ji Yaohua's tone carried a hint of doubt.

“I didn’t say it was shelter, but if there are any survivors, they’ll most likely know some clues about the Sphinx.” Professor Cao shook his head. “Most sentient creatures are hostile to humans, but the Sphinx is an exception. It’s the kind of creature that can communicate and is quite willing to communicate with humans. As long as you can answer its riddles, it can grant your wishes like a genie… Otherwise, where do you think that half of the brain stuffed into the mainframe came from?”

“The Sphinx may be restricted by some kind of rule-based monster, or its existence may be the embodiment of some kind of rule.” A high-ranking member of the Tian Shu Tower, sitting in a smart wheelchair and covered in tubes, said—his vocal cords were too old to produce sound, and he relied entirely on a voice synthesizer shaped like a button battery attached to the side of his neck to speak.

Accompanied by the worm-like sound in his throat, a stiff electronic voice came from the synthesizer: "The rules of the Sphinx are riddles. If you guess right, you get a reward; if you guess wrong, you suffer a punishment. It's clear and straightforward."

“It seems that we can do both the search for the Sphinx and the contact with the ‘suspected survivors’ at the same time,” Sun Hang said.

“Now that the Ghost Train has been discovered, I think we can send more people to Egypt in addition to the expedition team,” another high-ranking member of the Celestial Tower said. “With ‘Nephthys’ in existence, the Egyptian region may be far less dangerous to humanity than any other occupied territory.”

"Are you planning to establish an outpost there?" Professor Cao asked the high-ranking official. "Why not?" the official retorted. "Using carrier rockets to transport personnel and supplies is extremely costly and risky, but the Ghost Train is different..."

"Let's not even talk about whether the Ghost Train's operating rules can remain stable indefinitely," Professor Cao interrupted him. "According to the rules that Sun Hang and his team figured out, the Ghost Train only has one opportunity per month. That means if you send a group of people there, even if they make some discoveries, they won't be able to report back for a month. Xiazhou and Egypt are like isolated parallel worlds right now, and the Ghost Train is the portal connecting these two worlds... But the biggest problem with this portal is that it can only be opened once a month, and the number of keys is extremely limited."

The key that Professor Cao mentioned naturally refers to the Egyptian metro card. In addition to the one that Sun Hang has, Tian Shu Tower has collected seventeen more from the public. These eighteen metro cards are the only keys they currently possess.

The moment he boarded the ghost train, some rules came to mind, the most important of which was: fare evasion is prohibited.

Only those with a metro card can board the ghost train and be taken to their destination. If one person tries to swipe their card and a group of people try to evade fares, those fare evaders will be trapped in the train car forever and will never be able to get off.

According to the high-ranking official's idea, a group of people were first sent to establish an outpost... If these people failed to return within a month, their subway cards would be permanently lost, and Xiazhou would lose its "fast track" to Egypt via the ghost train.

“I have a way to make the most of the existing keys,” said Zhulong.

"Tell me about it." The high-ranking member of the Tian Shu Tower, sitting in a wheelchair, raised his eyelids and looked at Zhu Long.

“The round trip doesn’t take a month, but six hours. That’s the time difference between Chunming City and Cairo. Including travel time, we actually have a full five and a half hours,” Zhulong said. “After the advance team arrives, we can have someone take all the subway cards and take the Ghost Subway five and a half hours later back to Xiazhou. That way, even if the advance team loses contact, we won’t lose any keys.”

"Tsk, that sounds cold-blooded," Sun Hang muttered. "I never thought you, Lao Zhu, were this kind of person."

"I'm just stating the facts," Zhulong sighed. "This is a war, and in war, sacrifice is inevitable. If we choose to stop because we're afraid of sacrifice, then all that awaits us is defeat."

“As a commander, you need to be cold-blooded enough.” Professor Cao looked at Sun Hang. “Although according to the training guidelines for hunters, such choices should only be made by the command level above, in practice, there are many cases where hunters lose contact with the command level. In such cases, if a hunter encounters the trolley problem, there is only one choice.”

“Sacrifice the few to save the many,” said Zhulong. “Or rather, sacrifice the low-value to save the high-value… Life is equal, but people’s value varies. In life-or-death situations, reason is more useful than humanity… even if I am the one who needs to be sacrificed.”

[PS has been discharged from the hospital. A ton of money was spent, countless blood tests and examinations were done, but they still couldn't find the problem… Finally, they took me to the mental health department, saying it was most likely a physical reaction triggered by anxiety… The doctor's advice was to forget about it, not take my temperature, and do something else to distract myself… Check back in a month to see if my temperature has returned to normal. I can only try it for now.]

(End of this chapter)