Prodigy’s Playground

Chapter 75 Intelligence

Watching the Killer’s index finger point at his own brow.

Jiang Ran inexplicably thought of Qin Feng.

On the rooftop where they’d filmed the micro-movie.

At the highest point of the four-meter diving platform on the luxury cruise ship.

Qin Feng had pointed at his brow in exactly this way before, proclaiming Lilith’s omnipotence:

“Lilith, let the sky grow dark.”

“Lilith is the god of this world.”

Unfortunately—

Although the Killer’s logic was rigorous, he was wrong.

No one knew more clearly than Jiang Ran that he was not Qin Feng.In this world, the only people who could be so absolutely certain of that were probably himself and his parents.

And he hadn’t come to save the Magician either.

That would be giving himself far too much credit.

At present, their ragtag squad—aside from the Killer, who actually had some real skill—was nothing but cannon fodder.

With this lineup, hijack the execution ground?

Save the Magician in front of the entire world?

Pure fantasy.

They couldn’t even clear the first hurdle—breaking out of prison. Not a single step outside. This was nothing more than a hopeless death loop.

Still—

Jiang Ran had no intention of discussing this with the Killer right now.

Let him think whatever he wanted. The more powerful he imagined Jiang Ran to be, the better.

If you say I’m the Magician, then fine—I'll reluctantly be that—so long as you answer my questions honestly.

So Jiang Ran didn’t bother explaining or responding much.

The more you say, the more you give away.

Right now, having finally earned the Killer’s trust, he needed to seize the chance to extract more intelligence.

“First question.”

Jiang Ran sidestepped the topic entirely.

“How much do you know about Donghai University’s [time-travel machine]?”

At this question—

A flicker crossed the Killer’s eyes.

Jiang Ran couldn’t quite tell what that look was.

Surprise, perhaps. Or… suspicion.

“There are rumors that someone at Donghai University successfully invented a [time-travel machine],” the Killer said.

“Of course, it’s just a rumor. Whether it’s true or false—there’s no evidence.”

Jiang Ran smiled faintly.

He’d already realized that his question had made the Killer more guarded—and more suspicious of him. The Killer’s tone was clearly more conservative now.

“Don’t talk like that.”

Jiang Ran rolled the stun baton in his hand.

“It’s one thing for others to call it a rumor—after all, a rumor is a rumor, especially one this absurd and sci-fi.”

“But you’re different, Killer. Otherwise… what normal person would immediately suspect that I’m a time traveler the moment they see me?”

“Compared to your judgment, Yuan Bin and Bookworm’s reactions were actually far more reasonable—far more logical. A normal person would assume they woke up in the middle of the night and missed something, not jump straight to the conclusion that the other party is a time traveler.”

“So let’s stop pretending we don’t understand each other. You clearly know something about the [time-travel machine].”

“For others, Donghai University’s rumors are just rumors. But for you… they seem to be a confirmed fact.”

Jiang Ran locked eyes with the Killer.

Neither of them spoke.

If this were the real world, Jiang Ran would admit he was no match for the Killer.

The man was more than twenty years older. In experience and in life, he far outstripped Jiang Ran.

But this was different.

This—September 17, 2045—was a script Jiang Ran was living through for the third time.

His calm and composure didn’t come from life experience, but from repeated trial and error, and the lack of fear that came with being able to start over.

Unfortunately—

The Killer was no easy mark.

He smiled and shook his head.

“If we really manage to break out and escape, I’ll tell you.”

There it was.

After going in a circle, it came right back to the same line.

Jiang Ran had no choice.

That was just how the Killer was. That death-embracing composure meant that if he didn’t want to talk, he absolutely wouldn’t—no matter what.

And perhaps due to professional habit, the Killer kept many things sealed tight. Getting this much out of him already wasn’t easy.

Fine. There would be time later.

As always, the priority was still to determine whether this 2045 world was real or fake. Only then would it make sense to judge whether this intelligence mattered at all.

“Honestly, before today, I only believed that rumor about eighty or ninety percent,” the Killer continued.

“After all, I’ve never seen a time-travel machine, and I’ve never seen a time traveler before. I had doubts.”

“But today is different. After seeing you today, I can almost be certain.”

He stood up and patted Jiang Ran on the shoulder.

“I can even say this with absolute certainty—”

“[At Donghai University, a time-travel machine definitely exists. Someone has definitely built it.]”

Then he changed the subject.

“Of course, we’ll talk about these things after we successfully break out.”

Jiang Ran nodded.

He noticed Bookworm and the others emerging from the inner room.

There wasn’t much there—only two tear-gas grenades.

He could tell from the Killer’s closing remarks that he wouldn’t reveal anything more unless Jiang Ran truly managed to get them out.

Whether that promise was just empty words—Jiang Ran couldn’t be sure.

But judging from the Killer’s reactions, he definitely knew something real.

At the very least—

[Someone at Donghai University building a time-travel machine is, with high probability, true.]

That was enough.

Right now, Jiang Ran’s top priority was saving Cheng Mengxue, who had died in a car accident two years ago.

With the Positron Cannon malfunctioning—

He could only pin his hopes on that [time-travel machine], whenever it might appear at Donghai University.

“Damn it.”

Yuan Bin cursed as he walked out of the inner room.

“There’s nothing in there—just two tear-gas grenades. Who the hell even uses those?”

The Killer held out his hand.

“Give them to me. I know how to use them.”

Looks like the private conversation was over.

Jiang Ran went into the inner room as well and picked up his old companion—the electronic clock.

It was inconvenient to carry, but he needed to keep track of time precisely to pin down the timing of events.

Holding the clock in his hand, the display read:

September 17, 2045, 11:01 AM

They’d delayed quite a bit chatting with Professor Zhang Yang, so they’d arrived at the equipment room later than before.

No choice—he could only steel himself and keep going.

The five-man team moved on, reaching the fork in the road for the third time from Jiang Ran’s perspective.

Yuan Bin pointed left.

“The left path leads straight to the abandoned building. If we climb to the rooftop, we can find a way out.”

“The right leads to the execution ground. All the guards and security are concentrated there today. No point walking into death—let’s go left.”

Jiang Ran shook his head.

“Left won’t work.”

He explained to everyone:

“Yuan Bin isn’t wrong—most of the security is focused on the execution ground. But for something as huge as executing the Magician, the prison has prepared for every possible interference.”

“They might not care if we break out, but they’re definitely worried someone will try to rescue the Magician. So… there are snipers stationed on the surrounding high buildings.”

“Yes, the left path gets us to the rooftop—but the moment we climb up, we’re fully exposed to the snipers’ line of sight.”

“That open rooftop offers nowhere to hide. The surrounding snipers could easily take us out.”

Jiang Ran’s reasoning was convincing. No one doubted him.

After all, with the entire world watching the beheading of the Magician, no one would dare let anything go wrong. Posting snipers on high ground was perfectly logical.

“Of course, the right side isn’t safe either,” Jiang Ran continued.

“There will be a guard patrolling the right corridor with two or three police dogs. At this time, we probably can’t avoid them.”

“Then what do we do?”

Bookworm—Professor Zhang Yang—swallowed, glancing between the two paths.

“Left means snipers. Right means patrols. Either way, isn’t it a dead end?”

Silence.

The air at the fork grew heavy.

A deadlock already—right out of the gate.

Yuan Bin clenched his teeth.

“We’re already out here. Either way, it’s death—might as well fight!”

“There’s no turning back now. Left or right—we have to choose one!”

The Killer stroked his chin, exhaled slowly.

“If things are as Jiang Ran says, then overall, the right path has a higher chance of success.”

“On the rooftop, facing snipers, we have no way to fight back. We’d just be waiting to die.”

“But the right side is different. There’s only one guard and a few dogs. We have five people. If we ambush them properly and coordinate well, it’s theoretically possible to take them out.”

The Killer narrowed his eyes.

“And if we take out the guard, we can get his uniform, his gun, his identity. That would make the escape much easier.”

Jiang Ran nodded. He thought the same.

An unseen enemy versus a limited one—the lower difficulty was obvious.

And the right path offered significant rewards.

If they could successfully ambush the guard and dogs, they’d gain a disguise, a firearm, and possibly more.

More importantly—

Jiang Ran lifted his gaze toward the pitch-black corridor on the right.

The right led to the execution ground.

From the first moment he arrived at this prison, something deep inside him had been pulling him toward the Magician’s execution.

Listening to the distant, faint cheers, Jiang Ran felt—

He was getting closer and closer to Qin Feng.

Under the Killer’s direction, they set up their positions, each finding a place to hide along the right corridor.

They didn’t plan to attack first.

They would suppress all movement, remain perfectly still, and wait for the guard and dogs to patrol into range—then strike in one decisive sweep!

“Huff…”

As the waiting dragged on, Jiang Ran’s heart rate steadily climbed.

It felt like he’d somehow stepped onto an irreversible path of crime.

But there was no turning back now. All he could do was push forward—forward—forward!

Suddenly—

The corridor, the walls, the floor all vibrated slightly, accompanied by an eruption of cheers.

No need to guess—that had to be the crowd at the execution ground.

Why had the excitement suddenly surged?

The roar was so intense it could be heard even here.

Jiang Ran flipped the electronic clock over and stole a glance:

September 17, 2045, 11:30 AM

Such precise timing.

Could it be—

That Qin Feng, the world’s number-one criminal and humanity’s public enemy, was being brought onto the execution platform?

Very possible.

With the beheading scheduled for noon, bringing him out half an hour early made sense.

Jiang Ran breathed heavily.

What would forty-year-old Qin Feng look like in 2045?

Gaunt and aged like Bookworm?

Broken, disheveled from torture?

Or—true to the title of Magician—elegant, calmly facing death?

He didn’t know.

He couldn’t imagine it.

But perhaps… very soon, two former best friends would reunite on opposite sides of an execution platform, twenty years into the future.

“Jiang!”

Suddenly, a dog barked.

Everyone froze, gripping their weapons, instantly alert.

After that single bark, the police dog made no further sound.

Which meant—

They hadn’t been exposed.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Clashing footsteps and metal sounds grew clearer.

The patrol guard and police dogs were approaching, the noise steadily drawing closer!

The Killer crouched at the front corner.

In the darkness, he extended his pale hand, five fingers lowering as he counted down.

Yuan Bin clenched his teeth, crouched in front of Jiang Ran, eyes tracking the Killer’s fingers.

5…

…

3…

…

The Killer clenched his fist!

Everyone sprang out from their hiding places at once, stun batons crackling with blue arcs—

“Go!!!”