Sunlight shines in from the square glass window on the diagonal side of the gymnasium dome, illuminating Lin Nian standing in the middle of the empty basketball court. The sound of the basketball hitting the wooden floor is clear and soothing, echoing throughout the empty gymnasium.
.
The score on the electronic scoreboard was 0:0, but in the next second, the sound of the basketball hitting the floor suddenly disappeared. A few seconds later, with a sudden bang, the electronic scoreboard jumped and a 3-point ball hit the net.
.
Standing in the midfield of the basketball court, Lin Nian put down his shooting arm. The basketball fell to the basket 14 meters away and bounced back. He reached for the big net bag next to him and picked up another basketball.
A basketball was thrown in a standard posture. The basketball flew halfway across the court, hit the backboard and bounced into the frame. It hit the ground and hit the first basketball bouncing on the ground.
Basketballs were thrown out in a melodious arc one after another. Lin Nian only repeated mechanical movements, taking the basketball, shooting, and hitting. At the speed of his shooting, there should be a whole net of basketballs around him in one minute.
He has to be thrown cleanly, but the strange thing is that no matter how often or how fast he throws it, the basketball around him will never bottom out. Whenever he stretches out his hand, he can always touch a ball, and the basketball in the net pocket will never bottom out.
See the bottom.
There was a constant sound of basketballs hitting the floor in the gymnasium, and the electronic scoreboard kept jumping with scores. Soon one side reached the upper limit. When it reached the count limit of 999, Lin Nian stretched out his hand to touch the basketball but found nothing.
He turned his head and looked into the net bag, and the basketball inside finally bottomed out.
"There has to be an ending, right? You should have known for a long time that everything has an ending, whether it's shooting or people." A familiar girl's voice sounded from the other end of the basketball court.
Lin Nian put away his hand and looked up under the basket. The blond girl was sitting on a basketball, holding her chin, holding a basketball around her waist and sticking out her tongue as if she was exhausted. In fact, her forehead and body were indeed
There was a lot of sweat, and the white hospital gown stuck to her back and chest, revealing the milky white skin underneath.
Lin Nian didn't say anything, but gently put his hand on the edge of the net bag. Seeing his appearance, the blond girl could only sigh, muttering bad words under her breath, holding two basketballs in her arms, and trotted across half of the court.
When he came to Lin Nian's side, he threw the basketball into it hard... This is why he always couldn't lose all the basketballs in his net bag.
"I know you are unhappy, but what can you do if you are unhappy? This is a decision made by the executive department after careful consideration, rather than just slapping the forehead and saying: Ah, I think the 'S' class has been in the limelight enough recently. This
I stopped playing with him this time. So I really stopped playing with you... That's not the case at all. I can understand it, but why can't you understand it?" The blonde girl held the back of her head with her hands and turned towards a pile of basketballs.
Said loudly from the other side of the basket.
"Did you expect this?" Lin Nian asked as he threw the two basketballs that the blond girl had just picked up in the net bag, and still hit the ball, and watched her pick up a basketball from a distance.
The blond girl held a basketball in both hands, turned back and looked at Lin Nian in the middle of the dim basketball court under a meter of sunlight, and said without thinking, "Of course I don't know, what do you think I am? A witch who predicts the future? You guys are here
This is Kassel College, not Hogwarts, and there is no crystal ball divination class!"
"But is it necessary to be so anxious? I thought that staying in the execution department for a longer time would wear off your impatience, but I feel that no matter how long it takes, you are still like this, acting on emotion." The blonde girl lazily patted the basketball in her hand.
, dribbling towards Lin Nian in the midfield, "Do you still remember a question they asked you during the 3E exam? The trolley problem."
“What exactly do you want to say?” Lin Nian asked calmly, looking at the blond girl walking behind the sun and shooting a basketball in the dim light.
"I just want to say that there are many variations of the trolley problem. The main core of this problem is whether you are willing to give up some people to save others. To put it bluntly, it is a matter of trade-offs. It is a rogue problem. I put two trolleys on the track
If it were your sister and Mandy, the question would instantly become: If your girlfriend or mother fell into the sea, who would you save first?" The blond girl swatted the ball in front of Lin Nian and held the rebounded ball in her hands.
The basketball was handed to Lin Nian, "Then the question is, who are you going to save?"
Lin Nian didn’t answer, and reached out to get the ball, but the blond girl stopped her and dodged it.
"You can't answer it, right? That's why I said this kind of question is a rogue question." The blonde girl said, "But in fact, when you really encounter this kind of question, it is not difficult for you to answer it in your mind.
It's different from the trolley problem. The difficulty is not making a choice, but actually saying the choice."
"I just want to save people. You have complicated the problem. No one will be sacrificed, and there is no need for this matter to rise to this level."
"Well... it does seem like this on the surface, but in fact... it's really not an accident that your lovely golden retriever sister encountered danger this time." The blonde girl sighed. She had just finished speaking,
The thin collar of her clothes was instantly grabbed, and a huge force pulled her forward.
The blond girl was not panicked at all, as if she had expected this to happen. She held a basketball on her waist, tilted her head casually to avoid looking at the golden eyes that were looking down at her, and said to herself, "Hi
, in fact, haven’t you always understood it in your heart? You’re just waiting for me to say it myself, it’s Murphy’s Law.”
Lin Nian's fists were clenched tightly. He stared at the blonde girl in front of him with an increasingly careless expression and wanted to punch her in the face, but he had never done so when he was angry before. He always felt that it was right.
She seemed to have lost something... This time was no exception. After glaring for three full minutes, his hand on the other person's collar gradually relaxed, but his tone was still as cold as ice.
, "Is this related to the 'Emperor'?"
“Uh-huh.” The blond girl was put down, took two steps back and nodded in reply.
“The goal is me?”
"uh-huh."
“If I don’t go.”
"Your senior sister will be cool." The blond girl said, "It will definitely be cool. There is no need to have any expectations in return. The 'Emperor' is not a man of faith. If you don't show up, your senior sister will definitely die."
“But if I show up.”
"Yangmou is not afraid that you will know that others are planning to trick you, but will let you step into it willingly, and often this kind of trap is the one that really kills people. Even if you think you are ready, He can always give you a huge reward in the end.
It's a surprise." The blond girl pursed her lips and shrugged her shoulders, her meaning self-evident.
“So you don’t want me to go?” Lin Nian asked in a low voice.
"What the hell." The blonde girl scratched her hair, "I just feel obligated to explain it to you clearly. In fact, you have already noticed that there is a problem in this matter, right? Although your senior sister raised a lot of flags before she left.
Yes, but if something really happened, it would seem like a coincidence... But the facts prove that every coincidence is a deliberate and inevitable result."
“You know the ‘Emperor’ better than I do. If I go, what’s the worst case scenario?” Lin Nian asked.
“Maybe I’ll die.”
“Is it just possible to die? But not definitely dead?”
"If anything, be more confident in yourself, okay? Although you are quite weak now, there is nothing that can make you 'definitely die' unless the 'Emperor' personally ends up." The blonde girl reached out and knocked on Lin Nian's chest.
He raised his eyebrows, "Don't you still have me to protect you?"
“Why Mandy?” Lin Nian asked, “This time it’s Mandy. Next time, could it be my sister, then Chu Zihang, Su Xiaoqiang from across the ocean, or other people I think are important?”
“Oh, it turns out that Su Xiaoqiang is behind Chu Zihang.” The blond girl smiled strangely, but found that Lin Nian had no reaction at all, so she could only purse her lips in boredom.
She sighed and said, "...Actually, have you noticed that the purpose and means of the 'Emperor' are not that simple all the time? It is really simple for him to do things like kidnapping, just take Su Xiaoqiang
For example, the 'Emperor' can really tie up a girl who has no means of defense around her. He can take her to a light-tight little room anytime, anywhere and put her in eighteen different positions for recording.
I’m sending you a video that will make you as angry as a porcupine and rush over at all costs..."
Halfway through, the blond girl glanced at Lin Nian's already grasped lump, shrank her head and continued to add, "But! But! Everything has a but... But He has never done this until today, right? Just
Even I know that Su Xiaoqiang is actually your weakness, but he never took action against that girl from beginning to end. Instead, he chose Mandy, who has a background in the executive department of Kassel College... Aren't you curious why?
"
“What do you want to say?” Lin Nian asked.
"I just want to say... is there a possibility? It's really just a possibility... As for your senior sister, it's not a coincidence that you were involved in this matter... but your senior sister was originally...
Staying in the middle of the matter...with the 'Emperor'...huh?" The blond girl turned her head and didn't look at Lin Nian, humming and talking intermittently.
Lin Nian gradually understood what the blonde girl said, and then his eyes darkened when he saw her.
"Hey, don't show me this face! I won't be happy if you do this!" The blonde girl rolled her eyes, "I have never lied to you. Think about it, you have never known me.
Since that day, has your sister Elena lied to you?"
"You can be considered a younger sister at best." Lin Nian stared down at the blond girl who was a full head shorter than him, his voice was a little cold.
"Depend on!"
The blond girl muttered a curse word for the first time in a long time and looked up at Lin Nian with his hands spread out. "Believe it or not, I'm just making reasonable inferences. I didn't say that your senior sister's golden retriever must be black when cut...but I said
It is indeed true! After all, you can never truly understand a person unless you walk around in her shoes and think about things from her perspective.”
"If senior sister wanted to harm me, she would have had many chances." Lin Nian said calmly.
"Indeed, that little girl did have many opportunities to do it when she wanted to harm you. At that time, you didn't understand 'floating life', and I didn't have the ability to jump around like I do now. If she had done it, you probably wouldn't be alive anymore.
It's something...but does this mean you haven't denied that she has a relationship with the 'Emperor'?" The blond girl asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Why are you telling me this now? If you had known about this for a long time, you would have had many opportunities to tell me before, and you could even drag me into a showdown with her." Lin Nian said, "It's hard for me not to feel bad for you.
No ulterior motives."
"I just have ulterior motives." The blonde girl turned her head and said, "I think that little golden-haired girl has been unhappy for a long time. She is running around with the same hair color as me. Do you understand that people of the same sex repel each other?"
Lin Nian didn't say anything, just stared at the blond girl. The latter was holding her hands and stepping on her toes with a look of displeasure. After a stalemate for several minutes, she was the first to lose. She sighed, "I've convinced you... you
What's so good about Senior Sister? It's bad civilization to have you worry about me like this. I would rather you focus on the little goddess."
"We won't discuss whether Mandy has anything to do with the Emperor." Lin Nian said, "I just want to ask you one question, is she in danger now?"
"Yes." The blond girl nodded with her hands folded, "But she did it herself. Why is it that Su Xiaoqiang is fine, your sister is fine, but she is the only one? You know the truth that flies don't bite seamless eggs."
"I don't want to talk about this in depth right now. I'll continue to ask, and you continue to answer." Lin Nian said, "If I ignore her, will she die?"
“You’re dead, that kind of person!” the blonde girl said without thinking.
"Then the problem is over." Lin Young said in a low voice, "She is going to die soon, so I am going to save her, no matter where she is, no matter how much I will pay."
"Even though you know there is something wrong with her." The blonde girl looked at Lin Nian and asked in a low voice, "You are stupid for doing this."
“Stupid is indeed a little stupid.” Lin Nian took his right hand out of his pocket and opened his palm.
The blond girl also looked down, and then fell into silence.
In Lin Nian's hand lay a black chess piece.
The Black Emperor.
“So you already knew, she gave it to you?” The blonde girl suddenly smiled boringly, turned her head and looked away and said calmly.
Lin Nian nodded, looked at the black chess piece quietly and said softly, "I don't know what your character is... but if she is as dirty as you said, then how big should she be?"
Do you have the courage to reach out to me for help?... If I show hesitation and fear at this time, then I will look down on myself for the rest of my life."
“Even if there is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire ahead of you, you will be doomed?” The blonde girl sneered.
“Even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead, there will be no recovery.” Lin Nian nodded and said.
"Just because she is your senior sister, and she wants you to help her now? Even if she actually hides a lot of bad intentions, she can only beg you to save her when the crisis comes? Even so, you are willing to go
Save her?" she asked in a low voice, looking down at the two figures reflected on the floor in a daze.
"She's a senior sister." Lin Nian slightly curved his lips and shook his head, "She's so stupid, how evil can she be?"
"Yeah, how could a person be so stupid?" The blonde girl finally couldn't hold back the smile on her lips. When she raised her head, her eyes reflected the sunlight. Lin Nian couldn't help but let out a silver bell.
With a laugh like that, "So for people like you... Even if someone has ulterior motives for you, as long as she shows kindness to you, she will risk her life to save her when she is in danger, right? It's just like
Like a puppy!”
“Just say it, don’t curse.” Lin Nian shook his head.
“I didn’t scold you.” The blond girl smiled and threw the basketball into Lin Nian’s arms.
"I think you are really like a puppy... because a puppy will never resent you because you locked it out for ten minutes or two hours. The puppy only knows that you opened the door for it.
It will protect you when you are most in danger, regardless of your own safety."
"For someone like you, how could we bad guys really be so cruel as to hurt you?" She said as she turned around and walked towards the dark area of the basketball gym, looking up at the dome of the gymnasium that was leaking sunlight and looked like it was burning.
He chuckled and said, "...It's exactly the same as before."
"Same as before?" Lin Nian suddenly looked up, only to find that the blond girl had disappeared into the dark corner.
He was the only one left in the gym standing in the midfield, surrounded by scattered basketballs. The shadow of the oval and his own shadow were dragging on the ground. The scoreboard was always 0:0, as if it had never moved.
He paused for a long time, until the basketball in his arms accidentally fell to the ground and bounced with a "bang" sound. He turned his head and looked over, his eyes falling on the door of the gymnasium.
In front of the glass door of the gymnasium, under the sunlight, a man wearing an iron mask stood there quietly, watching him.
Head of the Executive Department, Professor von Schneider.
“Is it fun to play basketball with the spirit of speech?” Schneider asked calmly, his hoarse voice deliberately raised echoing in the empty basketball court.
Lin Nian did not answer him, but just stood there and looked at him, their shadows dragging very long on the basketball court.
"Are you interested in doing something more interesting?" Schneider looked at the boy expressionlessly, putting his hands in his windbreaker and leaning forward slightly, "like going to a movie?"