Ultimate Path

The so-called Caesar cipher is the simplest and most widely known encryption method to date.

In simple terms, it involves shifting all the letters in the alphabet, such as 'A' becoming 'B', 'B' becoming 'C', and so on.

For example, the common English word 'CAN', when encrypted using the Caesar cipher by shifting the letters by one, becomes 'DBO'.

This appears as a string of gibberish, but once decrypted, it can become an accurate word.

"The only thing that needs to be confirmed now... is how many times the letters have been shifted?"

Qi Xia is, after all, not an expert in cracking codes. Although he knows the general direction, the remaining problem can only be solved using the most primitive and direct method—one by one, by trial.

He first assumes that each letter has been shifted once, but after spending a few minutes trying to crack it, he still ends up with a string of gibberish.

So he tries a second shift.

This seemingly simple step made Qi Xia silent for a long time.

[MLGDRZDQVXL].

He had a piece of paper and a pen beside him,

This long string of letters, each shifted twice, thinking of 'M' as 'K', 'L' as 'J', is not an easy task.

"Still not right..."

A few minutes later, Qi Xia slowly frowned.

He has tried twice but still has not cracked the code. Could it be that his thinking direction is wrong?

All the letters can be shifted a total of twenty-five times, in other words, 'A' can be any letter except 'A'. If each one has to be calculated mentally,

the workload would be unimaginably large.

"What's your method?" Jiang Ruoxue asked, leaning against the door frame.

Qi Xia didn't answer, just composed himself and started the third round of shifts.

From now on, he will try to shift each letter forward by three.

Imagine 'M' as 'J', 'L' as 'I'.

But this time, after only testing five letters, Qi Xia's expression became heavy.

Jiang Ruoxue also watched him with interest: "Oh? Have you figured it out?"

Qi Xia's lips moved slightly and he read out his answer: "JI... DAO... WAN... SUI?"

"Right, right, right!" Jiang Ruoxue clapped happily, "So after decryption, it really is 'Long live the ultimate path'? I thought it wasn't successful."

At the mention of these four words, Qi Xia was rarely panicked.

He muttered to himself: "What on earth are you going to do?"

"Nothing much." Jiang Ruoxue shook her head, "I'm going to die anyway, so let's consider this a greeting from me."

"A greeting..." Qi Xia gritted his teeth fiercely, "When you 'greeted' me last time, you killed two of my companions..."

"Oh? Really?" Jiang Ruoxue was slightly stunned, "So Xiao Xiao took action? She never mentioned it to us, but it doesn't matter. You have to be understanding, Xiao Xiao has always been like that, but she's a good person."

"What nonsense are you talking about..." Qi Xia slowly stood up,

"'A good person'? I wish I could tear her into pieces right now..."

"You seem really angry..." Jiang Ruoxue came forward and patted Qi Xia on the shoulder, saying, "Well, after this game, I will die, and I'll make up for it with my life to make you feel better!"

Qi Xia didn't answer this question, only feeling that Jiang Ruoxue in front of him was very strange.

Or rather, people from 'the Ultimate Path' are all very strange.

He paused, turned back to pick up the letter on the desk, and asked, "What about the original code? If you change the code, won't it kill my teammates again?"

"What are you talking about? This is the 'code'." Jiang Ruoxue looked puzzled at Qi Xia, "Isn't this the letter from your teammate?"

"You..." Qi Xia was also puzzled, "Are you saying 'Long live the ultimate path' is the code? Are you with the 'Demon Dog'?"

"That's not the case, we have nothing to do with the 'Zodiac'." Jiang Ruoxue shook her head, "Qi Xia, you have to understand a logical relationship, since the Demon Dog said 'the letter is the code', and 'the letter is long live the ultimate path', then 'long live the ultimate path' is the code."

"What...?

Qi Xia always felt that this was a very strange logical relationship.

Jiang Ruoxue did not seem to be the kind of person who was completely out of his mind, but what she said was still hard to understand.

Qi Xia slowly walked to the cabinet, skeptically wrote the four Chinese characters 'Long live the ultimate path' on the touch screen.

Seeing this, Jiang Ruoxue said with a smile: "It's really incredible that these four words are written by you.

There was a slight 'click', and the cabinet door opened.

Zhang Chenze was sitting inside, shivering. She looked up and met Qi Xia's gaze.

Before Qi Xia could say anything, Zhang Chenze rushed up and hugged him.

"Qi Xia!!"

"I..." Qi Xia looked a bit embarrassed, not knowing where to put his hands.

"It's great... I was really scared..." Zhang Chenze was shivering all over, not knowing whether it was from fear or cold, "I thought I would be roasted alive in here..."

"Ms. Zhang, I remember you don't like to be touched by others.

Qi Xia said awkwardly.

"Ah..." Zhang Chenze quickly let go, wiped her tearful eyes,

"Not a problem, just startled." Qi Xia shook his head,

'I don't like things that are beyond expectations. In my impression, you are not this kind of person.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Zhang Chenze slowly lowered her head and returned to her usual demeanor.

Just as the two were silent, the broadcast in the room rang again.

"A team has successfully rescued a teammate, and the game is over.

People in the whole building suddenly became noisy.

As the saying goes, some are happy and some are worried.

Qi Xia only heard a fierce sound of footsteps, it seemed that someone was running towards the room where he was.

He felt something was wrong and immediately went out to see.

I saw Lao Lu with a black and blue nose, running towards me as if he was running for his life.

"Qi boy... Help me!!"

Qi Xia frowned and saw a green-haired man behind Lao Lu, chasing and beating him like a mad dog.

"Old dog! Didn't I tell you?! If I die, you must pay for it!!" The green-haired man seemed to be out of his mind, following Lao Lu closely.

"Isn't that your boyfriend?" Qi Xia turned his head and asked, "Are people from 'the Ultimate Path' all so crazy?

"He is not 'the Ultimate Path'." Jiang Ruoxue hugged her arms, "This time my role-playing game is also over, playing a woman with a brain full of love is really tiring."

"You mean you don't care about what happens next?" Qi Xia said.

"I don't care, I'm waiting to die." Jiang Ruoxue sat down in the room and began to rest her eyes.

Qi Xia nodded, picked up the iron box from the table.