The second picture completed the sensing test, and the time clock once again returned to 30:00. Another picture was randomly selected, a bright blue sky floating with many colorful hot air balloons over a city engulfed in the orange sunset.
Song Wen gradually realized that the grander the picture without any signs of life, the harder it was for the contestants to sense it. Standing in front of the curtain, they showed extremely puzzled expressions. Of course, those who lacked any real ability but thought highly of their sensing powers confidently spoke their answers to the camera:
"It's another beautiful woman! The production team seems to particularly like beautiful women!"
"Flames, it's flames, I feel the scorching heat, look, my face is all flushed!"
"It's a party, many people are singing and dancing."
Song Wen helplessly switched the display screens, watching this group make a fool of themselves but being completely unaware. When she tried to change the screen in front of her cousin, he firmly held her hand on the mouse and said, "Don't move."
"Aren't you getting tired of watching only Vangar? He's been sitting there the whole time, without even lifting his head," Song Wen rarely saw her cousin so interested in someone, he seemed almost obsessed. He must have known that his behavior would be recorded and played on camera, but he didn't care at all.
"Not at all," Song Rui didn't say it out loud, but he had already edited and taken home all of Vangar's interrogation videos. In his free time, he could stare at the bright face all day long. He would carefully observe every movement, every expression, and every blink; he would also analyze every word, every letter, and even every pause, to capture the subtle messages hidden by the other person on purpose or not.
How could one get tired of that? This was just too interesting. Song Rui gazed at the young man on the display screen, sighing contentedly in his heart.
Song Wen gave up on switching the screen in front of her cousin and instead observed the most highly regarded individuals.
Yuan Zhongzhou had given his answer: [Distant, vast, laughter and amazement floating in the air.]
Chongming: [Hot air balloon, city.]
Zhu Xiya: [Spacious, boundless.]
He Jinglian: [Calm and far-reaching.]
Ahuo: [The scent of dusk, a city full of fireworks.]
Ding Pu Hang: [Hot air balloons floating in the sky, a city engulfed in twilight.]
This time, even Song Wen saw something fishy. Pointing at Ding Pu Hang, she said, "He is indeed quite strange, his answers are always a combination of all the strongest players' answers. But he rarely observes the curtain and doesn't make any sensing gestures."
Dr. Qian seemed to highly appreciate Ding Pu Hang, affirming, "But you have to admit, he has ability."
"Right, I admit it." Song Wenwarm switched the screen to FanGarona, only to find that he had already handed a black and white sketch to the photographer. Scenes that others could barely describe in words, he could draw with his eyes closed.
"Crushing strength!" Song Wenwarm shook her head in sigh.
In the later stage, a special effect was made on the spot, softening FanGarona's black and white sketch into a line drawing, and then magnifying it to overlay on three photos. To their amazement, they found that they completely overlapped, as if they were printed by a color printer and an ordinary printer according to the same template.
"The viewers will explode when this episode airs," Dr. Qian said, laughing gleefully. "Those netizens who criticized FanGarona's sensationalism will have their faces swollen."
Subconsciously, Song Wenwarm touched her face, looking very embarrassed. She seemed to be one of those shallow-minded yet self-righteous netizens.
Half an hour passed, and the fourth photo had been tested. FanGarona still submitted a sketch, and the entire judging panel had become numb to his miraculous performance. The last photo was chosen by Song Rui. He stared at the scrolling screen and decisively pressed the pause button after two seconds.
A black and white photo appeared on the projection screen behind the curtain, with dilapidated buildings hidden among lush trees and vines, a blazing sun hanging in the sky, and yet the place looked so desolate.
"Aogus abandoned nuclear power plant!" Song Wenwarm exclaimed.
The other judges also showed surprise on their faces.
The Aogus nuclear power plant absolutely held a significant position in human history, as it caused an unprecedented nuclear explosion that flattened a small city in the Kingdom of Sand, and affected two neighboring cities. On the day of the explosion, nearly two hundred thousand people died, and the number of people who died due to nuclear radiation has yet to be counted. It is said that this number has reached millions. Since then, the city of Aogus had been abandoned, with only the remnants of the buildings and wildlife affected by nuclear radiation still existing at that place.
It was a place where humans could not set foot.
"This photo should be easy to perceive, right?" Song Wenwarm guessed.
Indeed, many contestants showed painful expressions in front of the screen, and even He Jinglian couldn't stand steadily, lying completely paralyzed in her mother's arms; A'Huo held his nose and jumped three feet high, complaining that he was about to be suffocated to death; Yuan Zhongzhou knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face; Chong Ming's confident expression finally turned into puzzlement, as if he didn't understand the excitement of everyone; Zhu Xiya sat cross-legged, silently reciting the sutra for the deceased; Ding Puhang looked left and right, without much emotional fluctuation.
They wrote down their own answers one after another:
Yuan Zhongzhou: "[The god of death wields a scythe to reap this land, and humans are the source of this disaster. Even if life is rekindled, everything will be different from before.]"
He Jinglian: "[Death, mass death, instant death, the torment lasting for years still remains death!]"
Zhu Xiya: "[The spirits gather in the sky, preventing the traces of the living. Here is a paradise for plants and animals, but a hell for humans.]"
Chong Ming: "[Dilapidated buildings, lush jungle.]"
A'Huo: "[The stench! The smell there is everywhere and I've never smelled it before. This smell won't dissipate even after a few hundred years. I can hardly breathe!]"
Ding Puhang: "[A major disaster killed many people, leaving behind a ruined city. It cannot be rebuilt, can only be returned to nature. It is a nuclear explosion.]"
Seeing this, several judges exclaimed, "The information revealed by this photo is really strong. They seem to be the only ones among all the contestants who accurately guessed the theme of all the photos. A'Huo's prediction has become a reality, they are definitely going to make it to the finals."
Song Wenwarm pointed to the screen in front of her cousin and said, "Wait, FanGarona hasn't started drawing yet."
"Why is he still not starting to draw? The structure of this photo is very complex, and there are many details. If he doesn't start drawing soon, it may be too late. There are only eight minutes left," Dr. Qian said anxiously. Naturally, she had the highest expectations for FanGarona, and probably other judges did too.
Indeed, as time ran out, everyone in the observation room showed worried expressions. Song Wenwarm even gave orders to the director through the earpiece, "Use the earpiece to connect FanGarona with the cameraman and remind him to watch the time!"
As soon as the director agreed, FanGarona began to draw, and the cameraman quickly cut a close-up shot.
However, to everyone's disappointment, this time he did not draw a sketch, but wrote down six words - Aogus Nuclear Power Plant. The answer was simple and clear, yet surprisingly accurate. He still performed the best among all the contestants!
However, Song Wenwarm felt disappointed and sighed, "Why did he stop drawing? Is he running out of energy? Drawing four sketches in a row is indeed tiring, but then again, his sketching skills are really solid, even better than professional art students! Hey, who said that FanGarona was worthless? The rumors on the internet are really unreliable!"
"Wenwarm, he's still writing!" Dr. Qian exclaimed.
"Director, quickly switch back to the close-up shot!" Song Wenwarm quickly ordered.
The screen flashed FanGarona's extremely handsome face, then his long and slender hands, seemingly resembling a work of art. He wrote with meticulous strokes, "[Glaciers under the aurora; a group of revelers; a bottle of flowers, white roses, yellow roses, forget-me-nots, hyacinths; a fair-haired, blue-eyed girl; a flock of sheep and a shepherd playing a flute in the deep valley.]"
"What is this?" Song Wenwarm repeatedly checked the words, puzzled and disappointed, "What is FanGarona writing? Is he trying to overturn the previous answers? Is he guessing blindly? Is he asking us to pick a correct answer from so many answers?"
Dr. Qian lamented, "How could he drop the ball at such a critical moment? This is the last photo!"
Professor Lin made a round, "His mind may be a bit confused. After all, while others are using words to describe, he has been drawing sketches all along, consuming more energy than others is also normal."
Dr. Ouyang added, "Yes, his energy consumption may be too high, so his perception has gone wrong. Young people are too competitive, that's the problem, not stable enough!"
Song Rui stared at the young man on the screen, his furrowed brows gradually relaxing and eventually turned into a light laugh. If he didn't know a little more about FanGarona than the average person, he would probably have thought that the other party had lost his mind. But that was impossible, FanGarona would not be disturbed, nor would he slack off, let alone waste his energy meaninglessly. For him, his body was a temple, and as long as the temple existed, his strength would never be exhausted. He had extraordinary control over both his body and consciousness. He was a monster who could not perceive fatigue.
Song Rui carefully recalled everything that had happened before, and a flash of inspiration quickly crossed his mind, then he sighed, "Let the director replay the image when I pressed pause, and I will explain FanGarona's answer to you."
"Is he right or wrong?" Song Wenwarm was getting anxious.
"He won't be wrong," Song Rui said decisively.
"Director, replay the scene just now!" As soon as Song Wenwarm's voice fell, the scene of Song Rui selecting photos appeared on the big screen, with many pictures scrolling, flashing with colorful lights, dazzling the eyes.
Song Rui paused for only two seconds before selecting a photo. In these two seconds, a few pictures flashed rapidly and disappeared quickly, making it impossible to capture their exact images with the naked eye. Song Rui observed with his narrow eyes for a moment, and said to Song Wenwarm, "Let the post-production department make precise screenshots, from the beginning of the scrolling of the pictures to the point where I paused, and each one must be captured."
"What are you trying to do? Director, have you heard what Dr. Song said? Let the post-production department make screenshots." Song Wenwarm said into the earpiece.
The post-production team quickly used screenshot software to capture several images that had scrolled within two seconds, and then enlarged and clarified them. Seeing them lined up side by side on the screen, Song Wenwarm was dumbfounded, Dr. Qian was speechless, Dr. Ouyang and Dr. Lin repeatedly wiped their eyeglass lenses, afraid of having hallucinations.
Pointing at the five pictures arranged side by side on the big screen, Song Rui slowly said, "Before the photo I selected, there was a glacier under the aurora; then a group of people holding beer bottles reveling; before that, there was a bottle of flowers. Song Wenwarm, can you recognize the species of these flowers?"
Song Rui looked at his cousin as if he didn't know.
Song Wenwarm, trying to control her heart palpitations, said, "White roses, yellow roses, forget-me-nots, hyacinths."
Song Rui pointed to the other two pictures and continued, "A fair-haired, blue-eyed girl; a flock of sheep and a shepherd playing a flute in the deep valley. When I selected the photo, FanGarona had already perceived all the photos that had briefly passed in front of my eyes, and even the ones that had only left a vague impression of light and shadow. You have to understand that in this image library, there are hundreds of thousands of photos with this possibility. Their appearance is random and unpredictable, and once it is reset, all sequences will be disrupted. Even if we now reverse along this photo of the nuclear power plant, the five photos that appeared within two seconds will no longer be the same as these five now. How did he do it? How did he perceive everything I saw, and even I didn't know that these pictures had passed in front of my eyes."
The question left Song Wenwarm tied up, and the more she thought about it, the more her head hurt.
Professor Lin was an expert in metaphysics, naturally having a strong acceptance of such strange events, and exclaimed excitedly, "FanGarona really has clairvoyance! His perception can infinitely explore this world, predict every possibility in the future! I am really glad I accepted your invitation today and witnessed this miracle! I must record everything that happened today!"
"Incredible!" Dr. Qian leaned back in her chair, staring blankly at the five photos on the screen.
FanGarona's answers were all very brief, but what he did was far from ordinary. He saw everything that happened in the observation room from a floor tens of meters high. He pierced through the secrets hidden under the heavy curtain, and even in an instant grasped all the information he wanted to know. With millions of photos, massive combinations, and a one in a billion chance of being chosen, all were within his observation.
When your naked eye is observing, he can also see through your eyes; when your naked eye is unable to observe, he activates his own consciousness to see. No matter what happens, he cannot escape his perception, what a terrible ability!
"The strongest medium must be him!" Dr. Qian asserted decisively.
Song Wenwen struggled to calm the turmoil in her heart. It was only at this moment that she finally understood why her cousin, who was indifferent to everyone, was so focused on Van Gogh. He was definitely the biggest mystery in the world! Even though they had approached him, spied on him, and analyzed him, they still couldn't understand what kind of existence he was.