Only Geniuses Can Solve This | A Challenging Exponential Problem

[@pablotarqas-g1v]

As you did from the 4 min mark, I also like to avoid long multiplication. This is my effort: 2^18=2^10×2^8=1024×256 =1000×256 + 24×256 =256,000 + 6x1024 =256,000 + 6,000 + 6×24 =262,000 + 12×12 =262,144 2^18 - 1 = 262,143. Thanks for posting the maths.