Here is the treasure house and its guards, and the fields are full of bones and space suits left by adventurers who tried to grab the treasure.There was nothing hideous about the rotten remains in the sun, for the rare treasures made everything around them shine. The treasure is located in a cave on an asteroid on the crimson planet Vasa.The air here is thin, lonely and desolate, and the planet revolves around the nearly cooled Vasa star.Someone came here in ancient times, who he is, where he came from and where he went has no way of investigation, but the treasures left behind have remained to this day.These eternal treasures are priceless, guarded by inhuman robots who wait for their master's return with the patience of metal.

How many people were eager to touch the treasure, but after talking with the guards, they all died and never returned.So no one dared to think about it again. Now there are two more daring guys who covet the treasure regardless of the lessons learned from the past.The big man Libecourt has blond hair, great physical strength, a loud voice, broad shoulders, and a body like an iron tower; while the little man Pollino has bright eyes, quick reflexes, and an eloquent tongue.Neither of them wanted to die in vain. On the spaceship, Libecourt clasped his hands on the black beer glass and announced: "I have decided to act tomorrow."

"Is the computer ready?" "You know we've put everything into it," said the big man gruntingly. "It stores all the knowledge of mankind. Entire volumes of encyclopedias, textbooks, and manuals of all kinds." "What if it doesn't work? What if something unexpected happens?" "I have a way with robots." The little Pollino laughed dryly and said, "My friend, there are bones everywhere, don't leave your bones too." "Are you kicking me back?" "I'm just discussing issues realistically." Libegu shook his head, and said slowly: "If you were a realist, you wouldn't come to participate in such a stupid thing, only fantasists do this." His big hand stopped in the air, and suddenly shook Holding Pollino's wrist, "You won't back down, will you? Even if I die, will you continue to do it?"

"of course." "Really? I'm afraid you're as timid as all little people are. If I'm dead, you'll probably be trying to escape to the other side of the universe, won't you?" "No, I will learn from your mistakes," Pollino said angrily, "let go!" He stroked his sore wrist and sat back in the chair, took a sip of beer and raised his glass with a smile, " Cheers to success!" "Yes, for the treasure!" "I wish you a long life!" "Each each other!" "If only so," said Pollino, "if only!"

Pollino was indeed suspicious. Although he knew that Libecourt was flexible and equipped with supercomputers, many people also took computers with them, but they still died in the wasteland.They agreed that Libecourt would go first, and if he succeeded, he would get twice as much as Pollino; if he died, Pollino would go next. It was a sleepless night, and Pollino tossed and turned.Before dawn, he looked at the photo again. It was taken by a certain person named Okada more than a hundred years ago. Now his bones have been weathered on the planet, but the negatives have been handed down, and the copies are sold on the black market for a high price. .

The photo is very clear: the guard in front of the treasure house is about 10 feet tall, with a clumsy rectangular body and a human head.As for what else lies in the depths of the cave, that can only be imagined by each person. There is very little relevant information, only that any spaceship carrying weapons will be destroyed by the guards in the air as soon as it flies close to the planet.An unarmed person can walk a certain distance until he is ordered to stop.The guard never kills immediately, it always asks the question first, and if it answers correctly every time, it can take a step forward, but each step is only one meter.

Anyone must go alone, and no matter how many accompanying partners there are, they will be blocked, and they can only go one by one.That's all the information, and I don't know how many people's lives have been paid for this poor information! Now the two of them flew here with bare hands and stabilized the spaceship in the air. Judging from the remains on the ground, the guard's firepower radius is about 1,000 meters.Nearest to the treasure house, about 10 meters away, there is an ancient space suit. There are probably only a few questions left for this person, which is a pity!

After Libecourt landed, he fixed the microcomputer in the space suit on his chest. The questions raised by the guard and his answers will be monitored by Pollino on the spacecraft for research. "Can you hear me?" Libecourt asked. "Very clear, move on!" "Then why are you in such a hurry, do you hope that I will die early?" "If you lack self-confidence," Pollino said, "let me do it first." "No," Libegu whispered, "I want you to hear everything clearly. If something happens, you must remember my lesson!" Libegu walked towards the treasure house, and the robot was on guard.Pollino turned up the volume and watched and listened attentively.

Libegou stepped over the first corpse, and then some rusty space suits, and he walked slowly, and the robot was silent.When he was only 30 meters away from the gate... "stop!" Libecourt stopped. 30 meters - that's 30 questions.There are really a lot of questions, but others are asked more. The robot draws out its tone, neither ups and downs, nor the slightest emotion: "Entry is forbidden here." "I have rights to this place." "Many people have said that, but it's not true, and you are the same. I won't let you in." "Test me," said Libecourt, "and then you will know whether I have rights or not."

"Only my master has the right to enter." "I am your master." "The master can command me, and an ignorant person will never be able to do this." "Then test me." Libegou asked again and again. Pollino watched nervously from above, and the image on the screen was as clear as before his eyes.Now the fate is uncertain. It is said that the robot can ask any questions. It not only requires to prove advanced mathematical theorems, but also allows you to translate a language that has long been extinct.But that's no problem for a computer, which can answer an almost infinite number of questions.

"My advice is: Rely on your heart when answering," said Robot Guardian. "What do you mean?" Libegu asked blankly. But the robot avoided answering Libegu's question. After a moment of silence, it asked: "What is the definition of latitude?" "Do you mean geographic latitude?" asked Libecourt. Pollino's heart constricted with fear: this idiot demanded an explanation?Damn it! "What is the definition of latitude?" the guard asked again. This time Libecourt answered confidently: "Latitude refers to the angle between the line connecting any point on the surface of the planet and the center of the sphere and the equatorial plane in the north-south direction." After he answered, he was allowed to take a step forward. "Which is more harmonious, the third in the minor key or the fifth in the major key?" Libegou felt overwhelmed for a moment, but the computer reminded him in time: "Of course it is the third in the minor key." Take another step forward. The robot asked the next question without stopping: "Which prime numbers are there between 5237 and 7641?" Libecourt quickly reported the answer, Pollino smiled with relief, everything is normal.The robot's questions dealt only with certain concrete facts, all derived from textbooks.Libecourt answered more and more confidently, and Pollino had already begun to calculate how much wealth he would get in the future. "Who are the seven great poets on the planet Elif?" "Domifall, Harionis, Slieg..." Another step. "How many years did the siege of Planet Lalin last?" "Eight years." One problem after another, but Libegou is also advancing step by step.The robot kept asking questions, and Libecourt relied on the computer to eloquently and impeccably.Pollino calculated that his partner had dealt with 17 problems brilliantly. The 18th question of the robot is surprisingly simple: it only asks to state the Pythagorean theorem. This time, Libecourt didn't even need a computer anymore, and he could give simple and correct answers by himself.Just when Pollino was proud of his partner, the robot slashed and killed Libecourt! This happened in an instant. Libegu took a step forward confidently after answering, and was waiting for the next question, but the robot suddenly opened a grid on the iron armor on the chest, and a beam of bright light pierced Libegu directly.The big man fell to the ground with a plop, his legs jerked a few times, and it was over. Pollino was taken aback. Aren't Libecourt's answers all correct?But the robot actually killed him!Why is that?Could it be that Libecourt was wrong about the Pythagorean theorem?No!Pollino heard clearly, and the answer was beyond reproach. "Could it be that the robot is playing tricks?" Pollino doubted, but none of the robots he had come into contact with would behave like this.So what is this robot programmed into?By what answer does it identify the owner?What does its strange advice—to rely on the heart in your answers—mean?How can one rely on the mind in the Pythagorean theorem? Pollino curled up in the spaceship cabin and thought for a long time.take off?go back?Just return safely empty-handed?But Libegu's ghost seems to be condemning him... Finally, he decided to use his fate to put all his eggs in one basket. Yes, the computer is great, but it doesn't help.Although Libecourt's answer was completely correct, the result was doomed.For a robot, the sum of the squares of the right angles does not seem to equal the square of the hypotenuse! There is another doubt: if the robot guards only rely on the answer to identify the master, can the master know everything about all the questions? This is impossible!No one can be omniscient. The question is not at all about being knowledgeable or not. Before Pollino had time to think about it, the shadow of Libecourt was always swaying in front of his eyes, and the fire of revenge was burning in his heart. Without hesitation, he landed on the asteroid, walked around the many dead bones towards the guard, and came to Libegu's side.There was a river of blood around the body, and only then did he hear the guards order him to stop. Pollino could reach out and take Libecourt's computer back into his arms, but he didn't.There is no need for a correct answer now, and no amount of knowledge is useless. This is the only lesson Libegu left him, and it is a crucial harvest at the moment of life and death. After issuing the password, the robot was silent for a long time, and Pollino couldn't hold back anymore. "Get out of the way," he said, "I'm here for the treasure." "Can you prove that you do have this right?" "How can I prove it?" "I never answer questions, I only ask questions." "Okay, let's ask." The robot remained silent again, and Pollino seemed to feel a heavy sigh coming from the metal creature's chest. Could it be that the machine knew sympathy and pity? "I warn you, an incorrect answer will result in death." "What answer is incorrect?" "I never answer questions, I only ask questions." "Then ask questions." "My advice is - to rely on the heart when answering." This sentence again!It appears that this is necessary to execute the program. Pollino knew that it was pointless to ask any more questions about the robot, but he couldn't help asking: "What does mind mean?" The robot asks itself the question: "What function does the kidney of a vertebrate have?" It was only then that Pollino seriously considered his situation, for he knew nothing about the subject.Of course the computer can suggest the correct answer, but Pollino intuitively feels that the problem is not whether the answer is correct or not.The robot asked Pollino to rely on the mind. Could this mean a precise, logically unassailable answer?Is mind equal to knowledge?No!Pollino was convinced otherwise.Libecourt gave an incomparably correct answer, but he still died.If the correct answer leads only to death, then... "The frogs are yelling blue like hell in the pond," he answered casually. It was still all quiet.Pollino stared fixedly at the robot, waiting for it to open the grate on its abdomen, waiting for the blinding death light to cut him in half. But the grid didn't budge. "You can take a step forward," said the guard. aha!He forgot all about it.One step forward?When there are more than ten steps ahead, what is a mere step? "I'll just stand there and keep asking." The robot didn't keep him waiting any longer: "What are the signs of the zodiac?" Pollino was not busy answering.In front of him is a strange robot, who designed it?Do designers respect science?Do you respect the facts?Maybe robots only recognize illogical things like inspiration, intuition, etc.?His answer just now is obviously absurd, pure nonsense, arbitrary, but it has a personality!Isn’t personality the expression of the soul? So he went on to answer: "The effect of pain is to make a man alive." He waited again, looking at each other without blinking. "When Oda Nobnak's soldiers attacked in 1582, what did the then abbot say?" Now he did not have to be afraid of any question, he had found the knack of answering, enough to answer any question clearly and easily and quickly.So he immediately said what flashed in his mind: "Eleven, forty-one, elephant, giant." The last word was blurted by accident, and he regretted it a little.Elephants are indeed giants, which is logical, so can something go wrong? The robot didn't seem to care about this oversight, and it went on to ask the next question: "What percentage of the planet Modena 7 is oxygen?" "Defamation does not postpone retaliation." The grid remained motionless, and the robot made a strange chugging noise as it moved aside on its own.The entrance to the treasury is open. "You can go in now," it said. Pollino's heart beat faster.He won!Only four questions were answered in total!Others had failed, they were on the run, but he had performed miracles.He didn't know if it was luck or wit, but seeing Libecourt die after answering 18 questions showed that the correct answer meant nothing to a robot.Mind, mind!He doesn't know exactly what that means, but he clearly shows his heart in the casual answer, he stakes his life on the absurd and wins. Pollino walked into the treasury hesitantly, his feet were as heavy as lead, but he kept moving forward. What is recorded in the photos is only a very small part, which cannot be compared with the magnificent treasures displayed around.Pollino was pleasantly surprised to find a small plate with magnificent patterns.He held his breath, and his gaze fell again to a gleaming marble spire engraved with strange writing.A lifelike beetle was carved from an unknown material, and it looked as if it was trembling, crawling, and alive.Over there... over here... and over there... What a treasure of the universe! It’s not enough to move it last time, but if you leave the treasure house, you may not be able to enter it again, you have to take another risk, and you may have to let the robot re-examine his new answer! Absolutely unwilling to take another risk, Pollino decided: he would take ten first—no!As long as he took away the 20 most valuable treasures, he would simply fly away.He doesn't want to answer questions for eternity, why bother?He will only think about it when he spends all his wealth and has nothing left. The most important thing now is to pick as soon as possible. He stooped to pick out the smaller treasures.Marble sculpture?too big!Definitely want this threaded disc, and that gem beetle, and this figurine and that diamond with a gorgeous picture that no one has ever seen, and this, this, that…… His pulse quickened and his heart pounded.He imagined that when he sold his treasures, collectors, museums, and government officials would flock to them.And leave yourself a souvenir or two, maybe three or four, as souvenirs of this great adventure. Pollino straightened his body, carefully held the selected treasure in front of his chest, turned and walked towards the door. While Pollino was picking out the treasures, the robot didn't move a muscle, showing no interest in them at all, and only asked, as Pollino passed, "Why did you pick only these? Why do you like them?" "Is there a better reason than I take these with me because they are precious, and because I need them?" said Pollino, cheerfully. "No!" said the robot, as the grill on its chest slid sideways. It was too late when Pollino understood this: the test was not over, the question asked by the robot was neither congratulatory nor curious, but this time Pollino's answer was both correct and logical. He only had time to exclaim, and he only had time to see the bright lightning pointing towards his heart. Death came in an instant. Translated by Sun Weizi Originally published in "Window of Science Fiction" Issue 2, 1998