Picking fruit (4)
Professor Pan said, "I won't argue with you. The game has a time limit, and so does the spray on you. If I take you to the Dog King, we'll know the truth."
Then, Professor Pan said to Sun Chenyuan, "Editor-in-Chief Sun, do you have a prop rope that can be used to tie her up?"
Sun Chenyuan said, "Sure. I just used that rope to rescue her, so it's perfect for tying her up now."
Although Wei Simin looked completely innocent, Professor Pan was, after all, their teammate and they had known each other for a longer time, so the others chose to believe him.
Qin Man asked, "Should we take this pomegranate that Wei Simin found with us?"
Professor Pan said, "Let's bring them. Based on previous experience, we might not be able to make it up the mountain if we don't bring pomegranates."
Wei Simin was bound by a rope. This rope was a powerful tool, and she couldn't easily break free.
Although the immobilizing spray on her body had lost its effectiveness, she was still unable to escape or resist because she was tied up.
The players escorted her westward toward Sunset Mountain.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, an invisible barrier appeared.
Then, a mechanical voice announced: "Player has been detected carrying pomegranates. You may proceed."
The barrier opened automatically, and everyone went up.
Along the way, dogs of all sizes would occasionally peek out from the side.
However, the dogs were surprised to see Wei Simin and retreated.
The group successfully reached the halfway point of the mountain, the dog tribe's base camp.
Surprisingly, there are many houses here built with silver or gemstones, which glitter in the sunlight.
The building in the very center was actually built of gold, making it look very grand.
Outside the golden house, there were some dogs standing upright, holding weapons in their paws, much like human soldiers.
The other houses were not guarded by dog soldiers.
It seems that this golden house is the residence of the Dog King.
The dog soldiers were eyeing the players covetously, but when they saw that the players were with Wei Simin, they didn't dare to attack.
Players know in their hearts that Wei Simin is definitely an important figure in the dog clan.
The players successfully entered the golden house.
From the outside, the Golden House appears to have several floors, but it actually only has one floor inside. The roof is very high, and in the very center stands a three-meter-high platform where a large brown dog sits, creating a very imposing atmosphere.
The big dog holding a scepter and wearing a crown must be the Dog King.
He said to the players, "Did you enter my palace to bring me a pomegranate with 622 seeds? Why are you carrying one of your companions?"
Professor Pan said, “The person who is tied up is called Wei Simin. She is not one of our companions. As for who she is, the Dog King should know very well. We brought a pomegranate, but we don’t intend to offer it to you because it doesn’t have 622 seeds. We’ve come here to return Wei Simin to the Dog King, but on one condition: you must give us ten chances to try and fail. Otherwise, we can kill Wei Simin right now.”
The Dog King said, "I don't know this human girl. Why are you threatening me with her?"
Professor Pan said, "You really don't recognize him? Tanxi, make your move."
Jian Tanxi used the interstellar triangular pyramid to slash Wei Simin's neck, but she was very gentle and only made a small cut.
The dog king stood up and roared, "Stop! Let her go!"
Professor Pan said, "It seems Wei Simin is really important to you. In that case, stop pretending. Do you agree to the deal I just mentioned?"
Dog King: "I'll give you a maximum of three chances. If you still haven't found the right pomegranate by the third time, I'll kill you. If you want more chances, that's impossible. Wei Simin may be my daughter, but I have more than one daughter. Her life is only worth three chances. If you kill her, I'll kill you immediately too."
"So Wei Simin is the princess of the dog tribe. My apologies. Three times is fine, but this time doesn't count."
Dog King: "Alright. Release Wei Simin immediately."
"Wait, let the Dog King call out the referee. Only when we sign the contract in front of the referee will it be valid."
“You’re quite cautious. John the farmer, come out.”
A large piece of paper appeared out of thin air, with the name of the farmer John on it.
The Dog King explained the contract to the farmer, who replied, "I agree. The contract is valid. The players have three chances to offer pomegranates. If they make a mistake all three times, the Dog King can kill them."
Then, the farmer disappeared.
The players released Wei Simin, who ran to the Dog King and transformed into a small dog, resembling the Dog King in appearance.
Wei Simin, who had turned into a puppy, tried to bite the player, but was stopped by the Dog King.
The Dog King said, "Daughter, if you want revenge, you'll have plenty of opportunities. Once they've chosen the wrong pomegranate three times, we can kill them. Right now, we still need to abide by the rules of the game."
At this moment, Jian Tanxi suddenly threw a "good guy" card at the Dog King and said, "You're a good guy! Tell me how to find a pomegranate with 622 seeds."
The Dog King said, "Of course we have to break them apart and count them to know how many there are in total."
It turned out that even the Dog King didn't have the ability to directly observe the number of pomegranate seeds. Jian Tanxi was somewhat disappointed, but still left with her teammates first.
Soon, everyone returned to the orchard safely.
Recalling what had just happened, everyone felt it was extremely dangerous.
If Professor Pan hadn't discovered Wei Simin's true identity in time, everyone would have been misled, presented the wrong pomegranates, and been killed by the Dog King.
However, finding the right pomegranate is now a major challenge.
Professor Pan has the ability to be a storyteller, but he only has one chance left.
Jian Tanxi can copy Professor Pan's Storyteller ability, but she can only use it twice. The probability of accidentally finding the right pomegranate is extremely low, close to 0.
Qin Man asked, "Professor Pan, did Wei Simin find a pomegranate with 630 seeds?"
Professor Pan: "Yes."
"There's not much difference between 630 and 622. If we ask Editor-in-Chief Sun to use a weighing pen to find a pomegranate that's slightly lighter, it might turn out to be 622."
"This method is not reliable either, because the size of pomegranate seeds is not fixed. Some pomegranates are big and heavy, but the seeds inside are also very large, and there may be fewer seeds than in smaller pomegranates."
“I understand, but it seems like this is the only method we can use right now.”
Since no one had a better solution at the moment, they did as Qin Man suggested.
Sun Chenyuan used a weighing pen to find a slightly lighter pomegranate and had Professor Pan talk to it.
After a while, Professor Pan said, "This pomegranate has 610 seeds, not 622."
Undeterred, they decided to give it another try.
Jian Tanxi used the ability replicator to replicate Professor Pan's "Storyteller" ability.
Next, Sun Chenyuan found two pomegranates of similar weight and asked Jian Tanxi to use her "Storyteller" ability to ask them.
As a result, one pomegranate had 640 seeds, and another had 625 seeds.
They are all close to 622, but slightly different.
Now, Jian Tanxi has also used up her Storyteller ability.
Sun Chenyuan suggested, "Why don't we give the pomegranate with 625 seeds to the Dog King and see if it really counts them one by one? What if it doesn't?"
Fan Siqi said, "If it doesn't count them, what reason does it have to kill us? Whether it kills or releases us, it needs sufficient evidence. So, it will definitely count them. But then again, with over six hundred pomegranate seeds, is it really sure it won't miscount? After all, it's just a dog. What if it gets dizzy counting and thinks there are indeed 622 seeds? We could get away with it."
So, my idea is to try this pomegranate with 625 seeds first, and see if it can accurately count the number.
Anyway, we still have two more chances.
So, everyone decided to take the risk and give it a try.
If we manage to get away with this, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Everyone returned to Sunset Mountain and presented the Dog King with a pomegranate containing 625 seeds.
The dog king had someone peel open the pomegranate, then placed his paw on it. After a while, the pomegranate seeds separated and flew up one by one.
The Dog King had someone bring a 60x10 chart and spread it on the ground.
Then, the pomegranate seeds flying in the air automatically fill the form until every cell is full.
In this way, the table will contain 600 pomegranate seeds, without needing to count them.
Only 25 pomegranate seeds remained in the air, making them easy to count.
The Dog King said, "This pomegranate is wrong. It has 625 seeds, not 622. So, we failed this time. But you still have two more chances. Think it over and come back."
The group descended the mountain, somewhat dejected.
It turns out that the Dog King had an easy way to count the pomegranate seeds, so no one could fool him.
The group returned to the orchard and stared blankly at the rows of pomegranate trees.
Jian Tanxi said, "I have the ability to communicate with animals. Let me ask the animals first."
She saw a snail crawling on a pomegranate, so she used her special ability to ask the snail, "Snail, can you tell how many seeds are inside a pomegranate just by looking at it?"
Snail: "You definitely can't tell from that. If you peel off the skin and count them one by one, you can count them clearly."
"However, I can't peel the skin open; I have to estimate it myself."
"That's definitely impossible to estimate accurately."
"You love eating pomegranates, but can't you even tell how many seeds there are?"
"We snails do love to eat pomegranates, but we only care about eating them, not counting them."
"Do you know any animals that can count the number of pomegranate seeds just by looking at them?"
"Probably not."
At this point, the superpower ended, and Jian Tanxi could no longer communicate with the snail.
Although she still had one more chance to communicate with animals, Jian Tanxi felt there was no need to waste it.
She emptied out all her props to see if there was anything that could help her.
Suddenly, she saw the Ruyi flower and had an idea.
She said to her teammates, "I have an idea. If we can find a pomegranate with slightly fewer than 622 seeds, I can use a wish-fulfilling flower to make up the 622 seeds. The wish-fulfilling flower can have any effect, so I can turn it into a pomegranate seed, right?"
Fan Siqi said, "It's possible. However, we must find a pomegranate with approximately 622 seeds. If the difference is too great, even if we use Ruyi flowers to make up the difference, it will be obvious at a glance. But such pomegranate seeds are hard to find, and we can only rely on luck. Moreover, this method only works for pomegranates with fewer than 622 seeds; it won't work if there are more than 622 seeds."
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