Cheng Shi had assud the real Pe Laya would be in the recently destroyed underground lab, waiting for the regression experint to begin. But Galusha told him that had been a re slice.
The one Chen Yi had captured was also a slice. In fact, throughout current-day Tusnat, slices of various people were everywhere.
They couldn't have placed all their hopes on the Erudition Presidium. After all, these old fossils hadn't even managed to hold Tusnat. As their most intimate enemy, how could Galusha possibly trust them to pull off one final experint?
So they'd prepared a contingency as well.
In this Trial, everyone had a contingency...
The real Pe Laya was in a hidden experint ground, replicating her own regression experint. The material was a slice of Galusha, and the experint's content was identical to the Grand Scholars' — to send lina back in ti, to et the "pure and untainted" young Galusha.
If they succeeded in sabotaging the Grand Scholars' plan on the other side, the experint would simply be cancelled. But if the Erudition Presidium's experint proceeded smoothly, this one would serve as a backup — not only sending lina into the past but also having her eliminate every scholar who had attempted to purge Galusha.
The chess match between Galusha and the Grand Scholars had reached the level of "I plan two moves ahead, she plans three."
But Cheng Shi had no interest in any of that. The unease in his heart was intensifying. All he wanted was to end this Trial as quickly as possible and tell the Fun God that [Truth] was planning sothing big — it had its eyes on [Ti]'s authority.
The two quickly arrived at Pe Laya's location — an underground laboratory beneath the city center. True to form for alumni of the Erudition Presidium, the Grand Scholars' experints were invariably buried underground.
When Pe Laya saw Galusha bringing a stranger, she furrowed her brow but asked nothing. The look in her eyes as she regarded Galusha no longer held the adoration that the "reflection" version of Pe Laya had shown — only calm composure and a yearning for the "future."
As Chen Yi had noted, the current Pe Laya had already "given her heart to another."
Galusha didn't seem to care. She explained the truth about the experint and conveyed Cheng Shi's purpose. Pe Laya looked at Cheng Shi in astonishnt, only for him to smile, place two brain specins on the lab table, and greet her with a wave that spanned eras.
"Long ti no see, Lady lina. I'm the Punitive Knight Grind. A certain young lady..." — he glanced at Galusha, then turned back and rubbed his nose — "...wants you to get
out of here."
Cheng Shi understood people. He knew that the current Pe Laya's heart was set on going back in ti to et the young Galusha. So he deliberately assud his identity from the previous Trial — partly to align with her emotional state, and partly to ensure the Grand Scholar's anger at the Erudition Presidium didn't spill over onto him, which might create resistance toward restoring Wei Zhi.
Pe Laya didn't have mories from those fabricated scenarios, but these fixed, real-world titles were enough to keep her from greeting Cheng Shi's arrival with outright hostility.
As for the word "out" in his last sentence — back then, Cheng Shi had been trying to leave Selius's laboratory. Now, it ant escaping the Erudition Presidium's terrifying experint.
Pe Laya sensed the respect this stranger was offering. After a brief mont of contemplation, she said nothing and began the life-form restoration experint.
Galusha quickly fell into step beside Pe Laya, assisting her.
The two never exchanged a word — never even t each other's eyes — yet their coordination was so seamless it was as though they shared a single mind. Every action seed inscribed in their bones. When Pe Laya advanced, Galusha moved in perfect concert. When Pe Laya stepped back, Galusha had the right data waiting before her eyes. When Pe Laya began chanting an incantation, Galusha filled in the formation runes without missing a beat.
The entire process flowed like water — a sight that filled Cheng Shi with admiration.
This was what it looked like when the continent's finest Grand Scholars conducted an experint. From start to finish, not a single wasted motion — the entire procedure was confident, elegant, efficient, and swift.
Cheng Shi felt as though he'd just watched a performance, and he was still savoring the final act's brilliance when the president of the Reason Association opened his eyes on the experint table.
The mont Wei Zhi realized his own contingency had brought him back to life, he let out a chilling, manic laugh.
"Ha ha ha ha! Galadry — bet you didn't see this com—"
BOOM—
Before he could finish, a bolt of lightning turned his brand-new body into a charred corpse.
Whether or not Galadry had seen it coming — Wei Zhi certainly hadn't seen this coming.
As lightning crackled through the air, Galusha stepped in front of Pe Laya, swatting away the stray sparks with her whip. She turned to Cheng Shi with a grave expression:
"The traitor had a problem?"
Cheng Shi spread his hands and smiled:
"No, nothing at all. The experint was a complete success. I just couldn't hold back my frustration.
Ladies — since the Grand Scholar corpses are all viable, this traitor doesn't necessarily need to be alive, does he?"
Galusha froze, then her expression shifted to a half-smile — clearly mocking Cheng Shi's pettiness. Pe Laya, standing behind Galusha, frowned deeply:
"If the goal is to reconstruct the Truth Limit, active cooperation from a decomposed subject is far faster than passive deconstruction. Knight Grind — you've introduced an unnecessary blemish that slows down efficiency."
"..."
Cheng Shi's eyelid twitched, but he didn't feel a shred of embarrassnt.
After all, Grind's mistakes had about as much to do with him, Cheng Shi, as a tin can did.
Besides, a dead Wei Zhi was far easier to handle than a living one. If Wei Zhi actually woke up again, who knew what treacherous moves the Reason Association president might pull?
At this stage of the Trial, there was no room for another mistake.
So Cheng Shi said nothing, rely gazing at Wei Zhi's corpse in silent declaration of his stance.
Seeing the Drifter wouldn't budge, Galusha huffed and began persuading Pe Laya to proceed with restoring the Truth Limit.
Pe Laya wasn't particularly stubborn. Compared to the other Grand Scholars, she was almost normal — almost "human."
That is, if you didn't consider it insane that she'd fallen in love with the leader of an opposing faith and brought ruin to the Tower of Logic in the process...
Soon Pe Laya got to work, assembling all the corpses, verifying the Truth Limit's integrity, and reconfiguring the experint ground. Galusha assisted silently beside her. Everything was heading in the right direction.
But Cheng Shi didn't share their optimism.
Whatever could make a lunatic temporarily set aside her lunacy had to be sothing even crazier. From the very start, Cheng Shi had suspected that Galusha's interest in Wei Zhi's identity was more than idle talk.
She was cooperating so readily now — but when the Trial ended, what if she truly demanded an identity? Would he give it to her or not?
Perhaps the question of Wei Zhi's identity wasn't his to decide. But Wei Zhi had already beco a bargaining chip, beyond his own control. If Galusha eventually asked Cheng Shi to help her secure a Drifter identity — how should he respond?
Thinking this far, Cheng Shi's smile stayed on his face, but inside, the gravity was imnse.
Of course, there was soone in this experint far more weighed down than he was. The mont the Grand Scholars learned that the Wei Zhi under Galadry's control had suddenly died, they realized Cheng Shi — with Galusha's help — had recovered the Truth Limit's final piece.
In that instant, offense and defense reversed. The ones who needed to stop the experint from succeeding were now the Grand Scholars.
On the western ruins, the six Grand Scholars' faces were each grimr than the last. They struck in unison, broke through the Death Knell Knights' encirclent, and raced toward Pe Laya's secret laboratory.
The task bestowed by their Benefactor was still incomplete. No matter what — these Drifters must not escape!
...
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