Logic Cage

Shi Zhiyuan's arrival was like a colorless and odorless neurotoxin, quietly spreading through the training camp. He wasn't flamboyant; most of the time he simply sat quietly in the back row, listening to lectures and taking notes. Occasionally, he would raise extremely precise and to-the-point questions about a particular problem, his logic as rigorous as a self-operating precision instrument. His very existence was a systemic pollution of the "safe environment" in Shi Zhiyuan's perception of time.

The professor clearly appreciated this purely intellectual exchange, publicly affirming the depth of his thinking on several occasions. This allowed Shi Zhiyuan to quickly establish an image of being "intelligent, unassuming, and eager to learn" within the training program. This was a perfect disguise, granting him the freedom to move about in the target environment.

But only Shi Xu and his inner circle could sense the undercurrents beneath the calm surface. They were the marked subjects of observation, in the midst of a silent behavioral analysis experiment.

During a group discussion, the topic involved an extremely complex problem combining multidimensional space geometry and physics. Xu Yi scratched his head, Zhou Yu frowned, and they were rapidly calculating the timing. Yunxi tried a relatively uncommon approach of constructing auxiliary lines, but got stuck on a crucial step. This was the standard problem-solving procedure in a test environment.

“Here,” a calm voice sounded from the side. Shi Zhiyuan had walked over unnoticed, pointing to an inconspicuous point on the diagram. “If we introduce a virtual potential energy surface, project the trajectory into two dimensions, and then consider it using topological connectivity…”

He spoke steadily, without any emotional fluctuation, as if stating an objective fact. He picked up a pen and drew a few simple auxiliary lines and formulas on the draft paper, instantly making the structure of the entire problem crystal clear. He demonstrated a more advanced "problem-solving tool," a silent display of power and a path-correction mechanism.

"Oh! I get it!" Xu Yi slapped his forehead. "You can go around it like this!"

Zhou Yu glanced at Shi Zhiyuan, adjusted his glasses, and remained silent, but his eyes held a genuine scrutiny. This was a way of thinking that transcended the scope of high school competitions and approached university research. He recognized that the other party possessed a more advanced "algorithm library."

Yunxi suddenly understood, and a chill ran through her. He had resolved the situation so easily and elegantly, as if all their struggles had been an inefficient and unnecessary waste of energy. She instinctively sensed some kind of inhuman threat.

Shi Zhiyuan ignored their reactions, his gaze fixed on the draft where Yunxi had just gotten stuck. In a purely academic tone, he said, "Your initial idea has 37% originality, but it ignores the nonlinear mutation of boundary conditions. Emotionally driven inspiration can sometimes lead to unexpected paths, but without systematic verification, its reliability is less than 12%." He began to conduct an individual ability assessment, quantifying the thought process into cold data—a kind of mental "anatomy."

He was evaluating an algorithm model, not a student's problem-solving approach. His percentage-based assessment, with its inhuman objectivity, made Yunxi feel completely exposed and even quantified. She felt violated by this objectification.

Shi Xu's pen paused on the paper, leaving a deep mark. He raised his eyes and looked coldly at Shi Zhiyuan. The defense system was activated, issuing a warning signal to the source of the threat.

Shi Zhiyuan seemed completely oblivious to the chill in his brother's gaze, or rather, he received it but categorized it as "irrelevant interference data." He turned to look at the draft that the timeline was currently calculating.

“Brother, your third step’s assumption is based on the classical model, but at high speeds, relativistic effects can cause errors to accumulate beyond acceptable limits. Although the impact on the final result is less than 3%, habitually ignoring minute errors can lead to structural errors in higher-level problems.” He continued to “scan the system for vulnerabilities” in the timing sequence, pointing out potential flaws in his thinking.

He paused, then added, his tone still calm and even:

“My father said that true precision lies in absolute control over every variable. Any ‘trivial’ oversight is a potential starting point for system collapse.” He quoted the highest source of instruction (his father), packaging personal attacks as authoritative and irrefutable truths, attempting to dismantle the confidence system of timing at its root.

Once again, he precisely transformed the dogma of "father" into a cold blade, cutting into the present moment.

Xu Yi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found himself unable to refute the cold logic, and could only close his mouth in frustration. Zhou Yu's gaze swept between Shi Zhiyuan and Shi Xu again, as if observing a silent war in a different dimension. The observer clearly perceived this dimensional reduction attack on the level of thought.

Shi Xu put down his pen, not responding to a single question about the problem-solving method, but instead staring directly into Shi Zhiyuan's eyes, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear him:

"Is your 'observation' over? Can you go back to your own place now?" He directly exposed the essence of the other party's behavior, set boundaries, and expelled him.

This is a blatant expulsion order.

Shi Zhiyuan showed no sign of offense; he even tilted his head slightly, like a camera adjusting its focus, clearly capturing the suppressed anger in Shi Xu's eyes. He was recording valuable data on "boundary defense behavior under emotional interference."

“The data collection phase is complete.” He nodded, his tone unchanged. “Sorry to bother you.” He readily acknowledged the observation and ended the interaction according to social etiquette; the entire process conformed to his established concept of “procedural justice.”

He turned and went back to his seat, took out an ordinary notebook, and began to take notes. No one could see what he was writing, but the chronological order was almost predictable; it was probably some kind of code and percentage, recording "data samples" of each person's reactions. He was building a "behavioral prediction model" about them.

After the training course ended, Shi Zhiyuan once again extended an invitation to go home together, as if it were a pre-programmed sequence, but Shi Xu refused again.

On the way back to his rented room, Xu Yi finally couldn't help but complain: "My god, Brother Xu, is your brother a robot that has become sentient? Why does he sound like a burnt-out CPU?" He used a simple metaphor to accurately describe Shi Zhiyuan's inhumanity.

Zhou Yu, unusually, chimed in, his tone carrying the calm composure of a researcher: "His thought process is very unique. It's highly systematic, but the emotion recognition module seems to be missing or isolated. When he engages in social interactions, it's more like he's executing a pre-set algorithm." He offered an academic analysis that was close to the truth.

Yunxi looked worriedly at Shixu, who had remained silent. His lips were tightly pressed together, and his jawline was as taut as a cold, hard stone.

She gently hooked her little finger around his and whispered, "Are you alright?" She was trying to establish an emotional connection and repair the possible psychological damage he might have suffered after being "dissected."

As Shi Xu felt the faint warmth emanating from her fingertips, the suffocating feeling of ice clogging his chest eased slightly. He turned and gripped her hand tightly. He desperately needed to confirm this real, intangible warmth.

“That’s just how he is.” Shi Xu’s voice carried a hint of weariness. “He’s always been like this. Before, it was just at home, but now… he’s expanded his ‘battlefield.’” He confirmed the escalation of the threat, its infiltration from closed systems into open environments.

He paused, looking at the setting sun in the distance, his eyes filled with an intense, unyielding gloom.

“He won’t attack you with emotions; he will use his impeccable ‘rationality’ to dismantle you and everything you cherish into cold data and probabilities.” He accurately described Shi Zhiyuan’s attack pattern—a dehumanizing, logic-based spiritual erosion.

"Then, before you even realize it, you're already trapped in his web of logic, unable to move." He revealed the ultimate goal of this attack—mental imprisonment and behavioral manipulation.

Shixu gripped the pebble in front of his chest tightly.

He knew that Shi Zhiyuan's "dissection" had only just begun. And who would be next placed under the microscope of reason? He gripped the anchor point connecting him to the real world, while simultaneously issuing a warning about the next target. This war had shifted from external confrontation to a more dangerous struggle of "dissection" and "definition" targeting the inner world.