"That's right..." Joyce nodded, her expression grave. "Precisely because they need a segment of genetic code over a period of time, not a fixed string of numbers, they're using this integrated quantum computer to support the calculations..."
"A person's genetic code... converted into a digital chain, that's at least hundreds of thousands of numerical units in sequence. And the possible digits for these hundreds of thousands of units are nearly a hundred..."
"A five-digit license plate number, with only about 36 possible alphanumeric characters per unit, is enough to support an entire country's vehicle registration system. What about hundreds of thousands of units, with over a hundred possible characters per unit, an enormous combination like that, calculated in real-time?"
At this point, Joyce paused, looking at Shu.
"Do you remember I told you that [Blood Agate] might be solvable in the future?"
Shu paused, then nodded.
Joyce had said back then that the only method she could think of to deal with [Blood Agate] was to cryogenically freeze the person and only release them once the toxin was cracked.
This poison could be cracked... meaning Joyce and Future City already had some leads.
But... that potentially viable solution...
"This is the solution..." Joyce took a step back, spread her hands, and an enormous light screen, covering the entire wall before them, appeared. The speed at which garbled code iterated across it was faster than Shu's reaction time.
"Brute force... finding that single solution amidst an unbelievable quantity..." Joyce lowered her head, then added after a long pause.
"Unbelievable... is a precise quantity. It's the number of possible genetic code combinations."
"Even if all the computing power in the world were focused on calculating this problem, it would still take a full 169 years to get the answer."
Shu stared blankly at the massive light screen before him, watching its incredible data recording and elimination speed.
Unbelievable... Shu didn't know exactly how large that number was, but it didn't stop him from being awestruck.
A one-in-an-unbelievable-number chance. This basically declared that the world rejected this possibility, declared that the world rejected everyone infected with [Blood Agate].
Except for Vakh and Natasha...
Suddenly, his unfocused eyes lit up. "What about now? What have they experimented out of Sirin?"
"They've successfully reduced the numbers that need to be verified to the range of a 'nayuta'... a reduction to one ten-thousandth." Joyce stated coldly, pulling up a data set. [Nayuta is a very large number in Buddhist cosmology, often 10^60 or 10^72]
Ten thousand! Shu understood that number!
So what was one ten-thousandth of 169 years?
Shu quickly calculated in his head.
Just six days! It would only take six days to get the correct answer!
Just as a hint of a smile appeared on Shu's face, Joyce doused him with a basin of ice-cold water.
"Shu, I need to repeat... the premise of 169 years is—all the computing power in the entire world." Joyce turned to look at the massive pipe-like metal pillar behind her. "Integrated quantum computers of this scale... there are a total of 72 in the whole world."
"Including this one."
And the computing power of these 72 integrated quantum computers only accounted for 30% of the world's total computing power. Among them, Future City's three alone occupied 10%.
Joyce didn't say this last part. There was no need.
The weight was already enough to crush a camel; adding more straws was just a cruel amusement.
"Four years..." Shu murmured. If everything Joyce said was true, then this quantum computer before them would need to run non-stop for four years to get that exact number.
But running at full power, abandoning everything else... Shu himself knew that was simply impossible!
Joyce had already told him that this entire Tower of Babylon was centrally controlled. Now it seemed the control center was clearly this quantum computer before them.
How could it possibly stop all other calculations and focus solely on calculating that one string of numbers?!
At this moment, the piercing alarm stopped. The flashing red lights remained steadily lit in the room. Shu pulled his gaze away from the light screen before him and looked towards Sirin.
A familiar sensation suddenly shot up his forearm—that instantaneous sharp pain, the uncontrollable muscle spasm, and that familiar feeling of "my hand is no longer mine, but a new, sentient lifeform"...
It was exactly the same as the killing blow the Herrscher of Evolution had used during his first direct confrontation with it.
Shu's face instantly turned ashen. He gripped his twitching arm, suppressing the instinctive urge to use [Hope] to vent this pain.
Joyce immediately noticed Shu's sudden abnormality and quickly squatted down beside him. "What's wrong?"
A drop of cold sweat slid down Shu's pale face. He shook his head. "Nothing..."
Joyce didn't believe him. Shu's face was several shades whiter than her own female form; how could he be fine?
But what had happened here? What had affected Shu to make him like this?
Joyce quickly reviewed the situation, finding nothing.
Could Shu really have something like a "Dao heart"?! Did her words successfully shatter Shu's Dao heart?!
Surveying the surroundings, Joyce decided to take Shu away from here first.
She had already browsed all the data from this tower up to the year 2006. This place held no more secrets for her.
Eighteen floors underground, plus 67 floors above ground, a total of 85 floors. How many rooms there were, what was in them, who was in them, and what had happened—Joyce had figured it all out.
But precisely because of this, Joyce now felt a strange sensation in her heart.
Helping Shu up, Joyce quickly led him away, taking the elevator back to the floor where they had started, back to the room filled with colorful drawings.
Shu leaned quietly in a corner, staring blankly at the sky-blue ceiling.
With the distance increased, the effects of empathy had mostly disappeared. But Shu finally understood where Sirin's fear came from.
This pain... he feared it too.
"Joyce..." Shu opened his mouth softly, asking, "What did you see?"
Joyce was silent for a moment, then answered sincerely, "My initial judgment was wrong. Future City was also wrong."
Shu's gaze shifted to Joyce.
Joyce sighed.
"This tower has been established for seven years. And from beginning to end, only two types of people have participated in the experiments in this tower."
"Those confirmed to be unsalvageable, on the verge of death... and Sirin."