An ordinary person would have trouble imagining a pile of flesh "evaporating" into the air and reorganizing its tissue, reconstructing into another form entirely.
Cheng Shi watched as several corpses slowly disintegrated and then rged into a sphere — a miniature celestial body radiating [Truth]'s brilliance, overflowing with the breath of knowledge.
The sphere had the luster of tal yet the texture of soil. It wasn't rely an isolated star — countless orbiting satellites, stellar rings, and faintly visible nebulae circled around it.
Every elent was strung together by [Truth]'s laws — blinking in orderly patterns, their stellar tracks traceable. It looked exactly like a precision-engineered orrery. And yet upon closer inspection, it was so profoundly enigmatic — all the knowledge seed to be laid bare right there, yet when you looked, it was as though a thick veil of gauze covered everything, forever just out of comprehension.
"So this is the Truth Limit — a miniature Ritual of Truth? Does the real Ritual of Truth look like this too?"
Galusha recoiled with a disgusted frown, clearly repelled by such a dense concentration of [Truth]. Pe Laya, on the other hand, extended her hands to receive the completed Truth Limit and nodded:
"Yes. The real Ritual of Truth looks even more wondrous and arcane. This is only its reflection — the [Truth] power it commands can only alter this current experint."
Cheng Shi's curiosity was piqued, but the mont he stepped forward to examine it more closely, Pe Laya retreated two paces with the Truth Limit, avoiding his scrutiny. Her expression turned severe:
"How can I trust that you won't use the Truth Limit to do sothing harmful to..." Her gaze slid briefly toward Galusha before she forced the rest of her sentence out. "...to ?"
Cheng Shi froze, then spread his hands with a smile:
"Grand Scholar — have you forgotten? This is rely a fabricated experint. The Erudition Presidium gathered enough fuel from sowhere and replicated you and Galusha within this experint.
Your true selves should still be outside the experint — quite possibly doing exactly what they're doing now, rampaging across Tusnat.
Only by destroying this experint can I prevent the Grand Scholars from using Drifter identities to escape history and perpetuate [Truth]. So in a sense, we're on the sa side. I'm helping you — why would I harm you?
I assud you would've figured this out before the experint even started. That you're still questioning our camaraderie at this point is, frankly, a bit hurtful, Lady lina."
Pe Laya was not swayed by the na "lina." She stared intensely into Cheng Shi's eyes, fell silent for a mont, and then said sothing that left him dumbstruck.
"She is she. I am .
I wasn't talking about you harming her — I was talking about you harming .
I... haven't seen her yet. I don't want to die here!"
"!!!"
Those words sent an electric shock through Cheng Shi's entire body. Goosebumps erupted, his pupils contracted — because he heard it. The "her" in Pe Laya's mouth didn't all refer to Galusha. At least the first "her" referred to herself!
To the Pe Laya that existed outside the experint — her original body!
This Grand Scholar, replicated by the Erudition Presidium within the experint, wanted to sever ties with her original self — to exist as an independent entity!
She didn't care what happened to the original. She only wanted to go back in ti and see the young Galusha she couldn't stop thinking about!
Insane!
They were all insane!
[Truth]'s followers truly deserved their reputation as madn. They never stopped reminding him — they were, through and through, a pack of lunatics.
Cheng Shi had encountered plenty of slices before, but this was the first ti he'd seen a slice diverge from its original without any conflict of interest or identity coercion!
And the cause was love!
'Girl — did the Erudition Presidium's replication process twist your obsession with Galusha even further? Or did those old fossils deliberately plant sothing in your consciousness to create a slice at odds with the original Pe Laya, a weapon to turn against yourself? How could you possibly have this kind of thought at such a critical juncture?'
'And what am I supposed to do about it?'
'I'm here to destroy this experint. Once it fails, every variable inside it — including you — will vanish. Am I seriously supposed to figure out how to protect you now, and even Galusha standing right here?'
"..."
Cheng Shi was numb. He studied Pe Laya's face for a long while, confirming she wasn't joking. And Galusha beside her hadn't reacted at all — clearly, she agreed with Pe Laya's position.
What was he supposed to do?
Take it by force?
Cheng Shi's expression darkened. He touched the ring on his finger and discreetly produced a Warrior Mask from his sleeve.
This was the most promising opportunity yet. If he could secure the Truth Limit before the Grand Scholars arrived, he might not need to reset ti at all — he could end the Trial and leave right here.
But honestly, he didn't want to do this. He felt it wasn't yet ti for a complete falling-out with Galusha and Pe Laya. Besides, he didn't know how to destroy the experint even after obtaining the Truth Limit — everything after this still depended on these two won. So for the mont, he was stuck in indecision.
Galusha's amused gaze bounced between Cheng Shi and Pe Laya. Seeing neither of them willing to advance their cooperation nor to escalate the tension, she suddenly let out a snort and broke into raucous laughter:
"People always overestimate themselves. They love to flaunt the wisdom they think is so superior, and sotis they even hope the other person possesses equally lofty intelligence — so their exchange can be more efficient and smooth.
What they don't realize is that wisdom itself is the greatest barrier to communication.
If either of you had just spoken more plainly, this massive misunderstanding would never have happened.
The old fossils are on their way. Stop standing here in this awkward standoff. All Pe Laya wants is to go back in ti. As long as she gets one glimpse of the
from that era, she won't care where this experint ends up.
As for ...
Mr. Prisoner — I'm sure you guessed long ago. I've set my sights on your traitor's identity!
Help
secure that identity, and I'll help you destroy everything here. After all — I want to stay alive too, don't I?"
"!!!"
Galusha had also awakened her own self-awareness — she wanted out of this experint, free from being a re variable?
Cheng Shi had assud all of Galusha's calculations were for the benefit of her original self. But her words "I want to stay alive too" — didn't that an she, like Pe Laya, intended to part ways with her true self outside the experint?
If so, the Galusha of history never escaped history. The one who'd beco a player was rely a variable from an experint... Wouldn't that also reduce the karmic consequences?
Cheng Shi's brow furrowed deeply as he turned the idea over and over. He felt this was probably the most acceptable solution — but he had no idea how to actually procure a player identity. That might require consulting the Erudition Presidium itself, since this experint was designed to steal Drifter identities in the first place.
But stealing an identity required the experint to succeed — and Cheng Shi's goal was to make it fail. The contradiction was glaring.
Sharp as his wits were, even Cheng Shi couldn't conjure a solution that satisfied everyone.
And just as the three stood in the laboratory, eyeing each other in silence, the Grand Scholars arrived at last, finally reaching the door.
...
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