"You guys are having quite the lively chat," Himeko walked in, her gaze falling on Aidan's head, which was visibly a size larger. "Aidan, your look today... is quite unique."
"You were just thinking: 'Last time he turned into Erudition, he almost killed himself. I need to watch him closely this time and not let him research anything dangerous again.' Thank you for your concern, Sister Himeko."
"That is indeed true," Himeko nodded. "So, besides your head getting bigger and predicting the future, are there any other side effects to this potion you brewed?"
"None. It just makes my communication method lean towards efficiency. I'll return to normal in an hour. Right now, I'm focusing more of my physical energy on brain activity."
Aidan was currently akin to a minor Nous.
A big head, but it's a Conquest banner of Erudition!
"I can now deduce future events for a short time. In three minutes, we will collide with a giant beast. The carriage will shake, but the beast won't be able to stop the high-speed Astral Express and will be smashed to pieces. So, everyone doesn't need to worry."
"There was no broadcast warning about the route just now. Are you sure we're going to hit something that big?"
"There was no broadcast because the Express's radar system has a limited detection range, and that giant beast is currently in a low-energy fluctuation state, almost like hibernation, perfectly evading conventional scans. But in my calculation model, its mass and gravitational field exposed it long ago. I have 198 seconds left."
March 7th crowded over to the window, pressing her face against the glass to look out.
"Is there?"
Welt gripped his cane, his expression turning slightly serious.
"One hundred and twenty seconds," Aidan continued to report the time.
Dan Heng silently walked over to the sofa and sat down, placing his spear beside him.
"Everyone had best find a place to sit down and hold tight," Himeko reminded them gently. "Since Aidan is so confident, we'll just treat this as a small, bumpy drill."
Seeing this, March 7th dared not linger by the window anymore and quickly ran to sit next to Himeko, tightly gripping the armrests of the sofa with both hands.
"Sixty seconds."
The Parlor Car quieted down. Everyone could hear the steady hum of the Express's engine.
"Thirty seconds."
"Twenty seconds."
"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."
As Aidan counted down, March 7th nervously stared out the window.
"Three, two, one."
Rumble!
It was precisely on time. But just as Aidan said, the vibration didn't last long, nor did it cause a destructive impact. The entire process lasted less than ten seconds. When the dazzling starry sky reappeared outside the window, the vibration inside the carriage stopped as well.
"Whoa... I thought you were just making things up..."
"Attention passengers! The Express has just sustained an impact from an unidentified mass! However, rest assured, the Astral Express is completely unharmed, and all indicators are normal! Pom-Pom is conducting a comprehensive check, Pom!"
"See, I told you it was fine."
"Aidan, your ability to predict the future... how far into the future can you see?"
"Fifteen minutes at most. Any further, and my brain will burn out."
"Fifteen minutes... That's still incredibly powerful."
Predicting the future, and in real-time, even being able to see more than ten minutes ahead—this was absurdly overpowered.
But in reality, this wasn't entirely predicting the future; it was closer to 'as you speak, so it becomes.'
The future would gravitate toward the direction he predicted.
He chose the path the future would take, and the future would develop along the lines of his prediction.
"Uncle Yang, let's recall Schrödinger's Cat theory—the future events are similar. When you do not observe the future, it is a chaotic variable; you cannot determine how the future will unfold. But when you observe the future, it will develop in the direction of your prediction."
While the others didn't know Schrödinger, Welt knew the man himself.
"It's not that you can see the future, but that your observation is shaping the future?"
"Exactly," Aidan nodded.
"Genius Society #4 will cause my accidental death after the drug wears off. She clearly knows she can't kill me now, so she will choose to act after my drug effects end.'"
The air in the carriage seemed to freeze.
March 7th's smile stiffened, and everyone's expression turned grim.
"What did you say?"
"The woman in the candy-colored long dress controls probability. As long as there is a minuscule possibility, she can make that probability one hundred percent. The chance of a pen stabbing someone's heart while writing is extremely low, but it's not zero. That is how she will kill me.'"
"What do you mean, an extremely low probability becomes one hundred percent? What do you mean you will die? Can't you predict the future? Predict a future where you don't die!"
"No! You can't just sit here waiting to die! Let's go find Herta! She definitely has a way—or we can Warp right now and jump far away so she can't find us!"
"We can't escape," Aidan shook his head. "She can manipulate probability. As long as something has a theoretical possibility, even one in a hundred million, she can make it inevitable. No matter which corner of the universe we Warp to, the exact right accident will occur, unless..."
"Unless?"
"I die once more now, and forget the 'knowledge beyond the boundary of knowledge' that I recalled due to the Potion.'"
Aidan said.
"Is that the only way?"
"Not necessarily, but it will save a lot of trouble," Aidan said. "There is a method. There is one person who can nullify her methods.'"
"...Who?"
"Genius Society #1, Zandar One Kuwabara, the creator of the Aeons—that's not a rumor; he created Nous.'"
"But he has long since vanished, with no written records whatsoever," Welt said in a deep voice. "No one knows where he went, or even if he is still alive.'"
"Zandar himself passed away a long time ago,'" Aidan stated.
Unsolvable.
Aidan didn't mention that Zandar also had an automaton clone, which they couldn't find for the time being.
Dan Heng stood up and walked to Aidan's side.
"Are you certain this is the only way?"
"The only way to guarantee the safety of the Astral Express," Aidan corrected. "If you get involved, she might turn her target toward you. Manipulating probability makes it too easy to involve innocents. As long as you keep your distance from me, her target will only be me.'"
"So, we keep our distance from you now?" March 7th's voice trembled slightly. "You want us to just watch you die?"
"I'm just asking you to watch me sleep," Aidan smiled. "It's only an hour, it will be quick, and I haven't resigned myself to fate yet.'"
Sooner or later, he would make Polka pay the price for trying to kill him.