Chapter 145: Probability Engine

"Damn it!"

Jichen's roar echoed through the signal tower.

What on earth is this Black Island organization? Every single day they do things that defy reason, trying to drag me down to my grave!

"If this is genuinely an ancient artifact smuggling case, then things have blown completely out of proportion..."

He paced back and forth, spinning around on the spot, anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"We're doomed, we're totally doomed."

Within the Galactic Empire, an "artifact" did not refer to art in the conventional sense.

Instead, they were machines left behind by certain ancient civilizations, possessing unimaginably powerful effects!

For something to be classified as an artifact, it had to meet at least three hard criteria:

1. The power or effect of the machine is so overwhelmingly powerful that it cannot be controlled or reasonably utilized.
2. Its technological level is so advanced that even the Empire's research capabilities cannot decipher any useful knowledge from it.
3. It carries the highest level of danger.

Beyond these three conditions, it also required evaluation by a review panel composed of the Royal Academy of Sciences, aristocratic representatives, and the Emperor himself.

If it passed unanimously, a re-evaluation would take place a month later. Only if it passed unanimously a second time could it be classified as an artifact.

From that moment on, no institution or individual was ever permitted to study it, let alone use it. It had to be permanently sealed away within the Weiyang Star Palace, serving merely as a lavishly ornate footnote in the grand history of the Empire.

Even mentioning the name of a specific artifact in literature and academic reports required submitting a written application.

Its specific functions were kept under the strictest confidentiality, with only the highest-ranking elites in the political and academic spheres qualified to understand them.

In other words, the loss of any single artifact was an earth-shattering event!

"I honestly never expected this case to turn out to be an artifact smuggling operation..."

Jichen clutched his head and squatted on the ground, wearing a miserable expression.

"Smuggling artifacts is not only a crime among crimes, but it also carries a high probability of triggering catastrophic consequences."

"I'd rather they raise the banner of rebellion than smuggle artifacts!"

Artifacts were dangerous—extremely dangerous.

Labeled with the highest tier of danger, even the mighty princes and nobles of the Empire might not be able to handle them, let alone someone of his current lowly status.

Wiping out a galaxy or two and slaughtering trillions of lives would be mere child's play.

"No wonder that video emphasized the need to be wary of coincidences; it must be connected to this artifact."

"If coincidences are truly caused by the artifact, then no amount of caution is excessive."

"Of all things to steal, why did they have to steal an artifact? They're going to get me killed."

Jichen looked up at Shana and Anchan, letting out a sigh. "We're in deep trouble now."

"If this artifact is really as dangerous as you say, well, so much time has passed, and you aren't dead yet, are you?" Anchan offered comfort from her uniquely eccentric perspective.

Jichen calmed down a bit as well. "That's true. The coincidences I've encountered so far haven't been truly fatal; even that time I rushed into old Yao's place, it ended up being much ado about nothing."

Still, he had to find a way to resolve this problem.

"Let's piece the situation together now." Jichen recalled the common terminology of uplink networks. "The name of this artifact, or rather its codename, should be the Probability Engine."

"As for why it can manufacture coincidences, or why it wants to manufacture them, that remains unclear for now."

Shana hugged Jichen and said softly, "Perhaps the Black Island organization holds some clues."

"Right, I was just about to say that." Feeling the softness against his cheek, his mood lifted slightly, and his thoughts cleared up. "There must be some clues within this organization."

The Black Island organization currently existing on White Mountain Star must be vastly different from the one that committed that major crime years ago.

If it were still the same organization from back then, White Mountain Star would have been unified by them long ago.

Jichen patted Anchan, who was standing nearby with an envious look on her face, and added:

"Although today's Black Island organization only seems capable of petty skirmishes with these city-states, and its members are all crazed junkies hopped up on drugs, since they share the same name and their founding timelines match up, there has to be a strong connection."

"But..." Shana brought her lips close to Jichen's ear, "Isn't the headquarters of the Black Island organization deeply hidden?"

"I suddenly remembered, I'm actually a spy planted inside the Black Island organization." Jichen burst into laughter. "The mission I took previously was to infiltrate and go undercover within Black Island. I still have that communicator."

"How coincidental. Could this be another coincidence manufactured by that artifact?" Anchan glanced at Shana and Jichen, feeling a bit jealous as she spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Ah, this..." Jichen was dumbfounded. "That thing calculates things that precisely?"

If everything from the very beginning had truly been coincidences engineered by the Probability Engine, that would simply be too terrifying.

He took a breath, paused for a few seconds, and said solemnly, "No matter what, we can't just sit here and wait to die."

"The Black Island organization built an underground safe house beneath Xinliu Building, so everyone should still be alive. I need to get out of here quickly and head to South Port New City to rescue the Black Island people."

"Let's move!"

Jichen put away Shana and Anchan, rapidly departing from the spot. He sprinted back the way he came, pushing his speed to the absolute limit under the immense pressure.

Whoosh!

Like a fleeting shadow, he rushed back almost as if flying.

Along the way, he disturbed several more hemisalamanders, but he had no heart to tangle with them now. He dodged the ones he could and only killed the ones he couldn't avoid as quickly as possible.

"No, there's one more thing I need to do first."

Jichen abruptly stopped in his tracks, leaning against the rock wall to catch his breath.

Currently, it seemed that the unknown obstruction of White Mountain Star's jump lanes was also inseparable from the Black Island organization—it was very likely created by them to conceal the location of the Probability Engine.

Having shed all negative emotions, Jichen's brain was spinning exceptionally fast.

"One can even deduce that they haven't just blocked White Mountain Star's shipping lanes; it's very probable that the surrounding star sectors are blocked as well."

"This is likely the reason why the Eye of Order stopped investigating this case back then."

"I have to notify the Empire and have them send people over."

He made his decision instantly.

The Eye of Order served as the eyes, ears, and claws of the Emperor, wielding immense authority and jurisdictional scope. Major and serious cases like artifact smuggling were bound to be investigated by the Eye of Order.

And it would take nearly a month for agents of the Eye of Order to travel from the Silver Crown Province to the East Perseus Province. During this time, he had to do everything in his power to lift the blockade on the shipping lanes.

That way, when the Eye of Order arrived, they could directly haul the Probability Engine away.

"This is the arrangement that minimizes risk as much as possible."

No sooner said than done, Jichen found a solid rock wall, stabbed into it frantically with his whistle-arrows, and with a final kick, blasted out a cave just large enough to hide in.

He crawled inside, dropped a few laser trap bars at the entrance, and swiftly connected to the garbled network of deep-space black dots.

A black light flashed across his surface, and his entire body froze motionless.

...

Five minutes later, Jichen opened his eyes again.

He kicked away the laser bars and charged back out into the open.