Speed comparison 'if' vs ' object referencing'

Question

I came up with a way to reduce the amount of if's/checks.
It works by constructing sth like a list, with every node storing a number. The first node is of a different class than the other nodes.
Now when I call the n'th node to calculate factorial it only does this:
return value * pre.factorial();
Since the first node is of a different class it only does this:
return 1;
The thing is it's not faster than the regular recursive factorial...
https://code.sololearn.com/cdHL0h171eCZ/?ref=app

Answer 1

ran out of question space...
so my question is:
why is it equally fast or even slower?? 😅

Answer 2

does anyone have any guesses? 😅