Foolish Game of the Chapter 1024: The World's Suffering Is Known to [Truth]

Even Cheng Shi couldn't articulate his feelings toward this [Folly] follower.

He'd first heard her na from Zhen Yi's mouth. Then, because of [Fate]'s script, he'd t her in person during a trial.

Back then, [Fate] was still pushing for a fusion with [Folly] — though certain irreverent gods had sabotaged the plan.

Young Galusha, raised under Keinlaur's guidance, had been unmistakably clever and precocious. Cheng Shi could still recall the genuine emotional shifts in the little girl — the flickers of cunning wrapped in charm.

Now, those crimson eyes surged with open violence and a hunger for destruction. Her cold gaze was a perfect inheritance of [Folly]'s divine countenance — disdaining all equally. No — disdaining this entire world on a fundantal level.

Cheng Shi couldn't be sure whether it was the upheaval in her family's faith that had warped Galusha, or the side effects of the slice experint that had created all this. Yes — Cheng Shi had naturally guessed she'd joined the slice experint. Otherwise, she wouldn't have survived to this era.

By the facts alone, Galusha had changed enormously. Changed in ways that inspired "fear."

She seed almost anti-human now. Judging by today's events, she was every bit [Folly]'s Fool Hunter — recklessly culling the world's "foolishness."

But the biggest contradiction: what she culled as "foolishness" was, by any current standard, the very embodint of wisdom and knowledge.

From a [Folly] follower's perspective, these people might still qualify as "foolish." But strangely, while scholars died by the hundreds at her hands, ordinary citizens were barely touched.

Even accounting for faith opposition, this completely defied Cheng Shi's understanding of [Folly] believers. That's why he'd called her back — curious to know what was going on in her head.

Of course, if necessary, he might also detain her. For the trial's sake, clearing it was paramount. And to push the Erudition Presidium's experint forward, Galusha might be the most critical ingredient.

"A na is just a label. No matter what you call , I am who I am. Never changed."

Galusha clearly caught the subtext. She scoffed, the madness on her lips stretching wider.

"But I am no longer who I was.

[Order] decays. [Truth] corrupts the world. [War] sweeps through. [Civilization] crumbles at a touch.

Everyone wants to be the one who destroys civilization. Mr. Grind appears here disguised as the power behind the Afterglow Church — isn't that your aim as well?"

"Oh?" Cheng Shi's lips curled. A strange smile. "You think I'm acting?"

"Aren't you?

From playing a prisoner to playing a knight — even 'Grind' itself was a role. Now you're playing [Chaos]'s agent. I'm genuinely curious: whose man are you really?

[Order]'s killer?

Lady Lid Yara did investigate the underground laboratory in Montelani. I once suspected you were her operative. But by the ti I realized it, she was dead. No way to verify...

Hmm — apparently not. You showed no reaction to that na.

Then a [Truth] defector?

Grandfather told

everything. He said both you and Aunt lina ca with missions. If your roots lie in the Erudition Presidium — why help the Afterglow Church flatten the Tower of Logic now?

I've heard many scholars fled underground under the Erudition Presidium's persecution and joined [Chaos]'s camp. Are you one of them?

But if you've mastered the slice experint's essence, why not share it with the Afterglow Church?

They're just tools for your machinations, aren't they?

So what does Mr. Grind plan next?

If your goal is to destroy this wretched world, then I... would happily beco your partner."

Galusha smiled. But the smile was pure madness.

More [Oblivion] zealot than [Folly] Wise Man.

"..." Cheng Shi didn't know how to respond.

Every one of Galusha's guesses was wrong. Yet every single event she ntioned was connected to him — from Lid Yara to lina to Chernosly. These threads were completely separate, yet they shared one nexus: himself.

So [Void] had long woven countless traces through history — and those traces were the predestined paths he'd walked.

He studied Galusha with a peculiar expression, then suddenly smiled:

"You've got your eye on my thods of controlling the Afterglow Church?

Interesting. You don't seem curious about why I can play [Chaos]'s agent at all."

"Why should I be?

[Chaos] has His reason for existing. I only need to know He isn't the universe's endpoint — and can never beco it.

As long as the Afterglow Church continues cooperating with , I don't care who stands behind them.

If it's an old friend, all the better."

"We're hardly friends, Galusha. When unknown forces covet from the shadows — doesn't that frighten you?"

Cheng Shi actually wanted to use the Death Fun Ring on her, but unfortunately, the ring had never collected her fear.

"The only thing I fear is that this world won't be destroyed by my hand."

"..."

His expression grew stranger. He felt he was conversing with a pure-bred fanatic.

"Why the rush to destroy the world?

Relax — I'm just curious. As you can see, my control of the Afterglow Church isn't about saving the Tower of Logic either. To you, I'm more of a passing traveler.

Whether this place is destroyed has nothing to do with . Satisfy my curiosity, and I won't interfere with anything you're driving. Deal?"

Galusha's frigid gaze lingered on him for a long ti. She even considered drawing her whip to test whether she could simply eliminate this suspicious obstacle.

But for the grand plan, after lengthy deliberation, she chose restraint.

Because from the curve of his smile, she couldn't read a single chance of winning the confrontation.

"Truly?"

"Absolutely. I never lie." Cheng Shi's smile was radiance itself.

Galusha hesitated, then hatred for the Tower of Logic flashed through her eyes:

"The deception of my childhood was rely the catalyst for this path. Now, vengeance is no longer my sole purpose.

Over all these years — above and below ground — I've witnessed too much suffering. I know deeply that every tragedy is the bitter fruit of self-righteous humans playing with wisdom.

Those scholars who fled underground were right. To stop the world from repeating its tragedies, you must halt the foolish act of passing wisdom down through generations!

[Truth] shouldn't be known to the masses. Wisdom should rest in the hands of the few. Only then, amid the cheers of the ignorant, can the world find peace.

I am willing to bear the burden of wisdom. To beco the misunderstood outcast — so that the pain I've endured will never befall others.

The world's suffering is known to [Truth]. And so the first step is to extract [Truth] from them!

This is [Folly].

May all life be foolish. May all civilization be ignorant. And thus: universal harmony. Peace under heaven."

"..."

'So you're actually a pacifist?'

Only then did Cheng Shi realize he'd been wrong about sothing. Influenced by the known history, he'd always assud Galusha had been a [Folly] follower all along — yet never considered when this Wise Man, born in an [Order] nation and navigating countless subterranean faiths, had actually joined [Folly]'s camp.

Now he understood: it was those underground [Folly] seedlings that had influenced her. They'd transford an avenger into a Wise Man.

And she, carrying [Folly]'s will, had stood atop the Tower of Logic's ruins and rung the bell that heralded the start of [Chaos] across the Land of Hope.

No wonder [Fate] had once chosen this very person for him to approach [Folly]. She truly was "foolish" — in the most devout sense. The question was: would her Benefactor appreciate such devotion?

Lost in thought, Cheng Shi raised his eyes to the horizon.

And in a place Cheng Shi couldn't see, a pair of eyes coated in chaotic white miasma gazed down upon everything in the world, sneering:

"Look. Another grand foolish act."

...