What did it feel like to have a shadow that could detach and act independently?
Before today, Cheng Shi couldn't have answered that question. Now he could.
The shadow's independence was essentially a second audiovisual system. Even though the sa brain processed all the information, the inputs had doubled.
And of course, the outputs — physical ones — had multiplied even more.
The shadow wasn't just so decorative living thing. It possessed faith of its own — and that faith was complentary to Cheng Shi's main body.
In other words, when Cheng Shi's primary form operated as [Deceit] rged with [Chaos], his shadow beca [Fate] rged with [Ti]. And when Cheng Shi touched his shadow, the two swapped faiths.
That was just the beginning. The shadow also carried its own Faith Talent — essentially a Cheng Shi of a different faith. So the next ti he used Chaos Acting to impersonate soone, he'd have a "devout" follower of [Fate] by his side.
This follower could even use masks to switch professions, achieving perfect coordination with the main body!
It was tantamount to wielding two sets of Faith Talents simultaneously!
The mont he realized this, Cheng Shi imdiately prayed for a solo trial to test it out.
And the results proved that 1 1 was far greater than 2. With two faith talents in play, Cheng Shi's combat power didn't just double — it was like having a "henchman" who understood him one hundred percent.
This should have been cause for joy.
Unfortunately, the timing was off.
Having witnessed the universe collapse, the real universe erge, and Origin snuff out [War] like a candle — this leapfrog in combat power still couldn't restore a shred of confidence.
But sothing was better than nothing. No matter what, he had to keep looking forward.
Cheng Shi silently reviewed everything that had happened, tallied up his gains before and after [Truth]'s self-destruction, and calculated how far he was from the Fixed Destiny.
It was obvious — the gods' "power" was being invisibly guided by "fate" to converge upon him.
[Birth]'s assistance, [Prosperity]'s proxy, [Death]'s support — [Life] had practically beco his second faith "holand."
[Corruption]'s container, [Decay]'s Authority, [Oblivion]'s hostility — [Descent] had only [Oblivion] left who hadn't walked alongside him.
[Order] granted identity, [Truth] left behind a creation, [War] bequeathed a container — [Civilization] was finished, yet had left ample traces of civilization on him.
[Chaos] was his faith, [Folly] was his target, [Silence] was his opposite — in all of [Chaos], [Chaos] itself was paradoxically the most lucid.
As for [Existence] and [Void]...
Three of the four were his Benefactors. The only god on a different path — [mory] — was currently pinning hopes on finding a lost mory from within him.
The weight of divine gazes — who could imagine it without bearing it firsthand?
People always begged for the gods' attention. Little did they know that when too much of it accumulated...
It was just like that. Nothing special.
Better without it.
Cheng Shi pursed his lips and retrieved the Ritual of Truth from his spatial storage.
He genuinely couldn't tell anymore whether this thing had been sent by [Deceit] or [Fate].
After all, [Deceit] had also ntioned the Fixed Destiny — aning the Fun God's plans had to be tied to [Fate]'s Fixed Destiny as well.
After everything he'd experienced, Cheng Shi could finally see [Fate]'s intent. This Benefactor, who blindly worshipped Origin, was clearly trying to shape him into the ultimate sacrifice — the one most pleasing to Origin!
And this "pleasing," given his current situation and past experiences, looked more like being molded into the life most resembling Origin.
[Fate] seed to be using the aggregation of faiths to increntally approach 'His' comprehensive will.
Of course, this kind of Fixed Destiny made absolutely no sense within the frawork of a slice universe experint. But who could be certain what experint Origin was actually conducting?
What if...
What if Origin's true aim was to germinate a new "Origin" within the real universe's experint? Then [Fate]'s so-called Fixed Destiny would truly beco the Fixed Destiny of the real universe.
But this was all speculation. [Fate] had also lost His mories of the real universe.
After the world reset, only [Ti], [Deceit], and [Birth] retained their mories. The other gods...
Hmm — wait!
Would Big Cat still rember?
Probably not. Otherwise she'd have called by now.
The instant that thought crossed his mind, the phone in the warehouse rang.
Cheng Shi startled. He picked up before he could even speak — and from the other end ca a voice drained of all vitality.
That voice sounded as though it had seen through life, through the world, through everything. Faint as a thread, nothing like its forr strength.
"I think I had a terrible dream...
Cheng Shi — do you think it could have been real?"
"!!!"
It was Big Cat!
She hadn't forgotten!
No — the Fun God hadn't let her forget!
She rembered everything. And apparently, even Big Cat had learned to probe first...
'Sis — you haven't even told
what the dream was about. How are you so sure I'd know?'
The fear had truly gotten to her.
On sothing this serious, Cheng Shi didn't tease. He said:
"It was fake."
"?" Big Cat's tone faltered. "I didn't even tell you what the dream was about. How do you know it's fake?"
"Because it was a dream. So it's fake.
Hong Lin — you may have rged with [Fate], but you're a Hero of Today. A warrior who fights based on dice rolls, not so dream-interpreting Prophet. Don't let yourself get trapped in a dream.
Do what you need to do. If the sky falls..."
"Soone tall will hold it up!"
Hong Lin finished the sentence. Hearing this, how could she not know it hadn't been a dream at all?
But she still couldn't believe it. Even having watched Cheng Shi reset the entire world with her own eyes, she'd spent the last several hours drowning in absolute shock and bewildernt, unable to calm down.
If challenging [Folly] head-on had been her last act of courage, then seeing [War] vanish had taken almost all the rest of it with him.
An experint!
The universe was nothing but a pathetic experint.
No — this starry sky beneath their feet didn't even qualify as one "experint." It was rely an infinitesimally tiny sample within the Creator's experints. And there were thousands, millions, billions... countless more just like it.
Learning such a truth was shocking enough. But witnessing it firsthand — that overwhelming sense of void that struck the very soul — had nearly swallowed her whole.
If she hadn't been a warrior, the current Hong Lin would have already embraced [Void] and beco utterly void.
So only after a long ti did she work up the nerve to call Cheng Shi. And when she heard him console her in this way, the old Hong Lin gradually ca back.
She gripped the phone, her eyes slowly hardening with resolve:
"Cheng Shi — I want to be that tall person.
I can't accept standing helplessly and watching the world be destroyed, unable to protect my friends!
I can't accept having my life toyed with by the gods, enduring it in silence!
And I can't accept doing nothing while you're out there fighting for this world!
If we're all samples, all variables — then who's more noble than whom!? What gives the gods the right to stand above us!?
Cheng Shi — help . I need to get stronger..."
"Okay. Let's talk in person. I happen to have [Prosperity]'s Authority to bring you."
"Mm... hm?"
Hong Lin was stunned.
"Wait — what did you say? Authority?"
Cheng Shi laughed: "That's right. If you want to be the tall person, you need nutrients to grow. Authority is the nutrient. You happen to need it, and I happen to have it."
"..."
Silence fell on the other end of the line. After a long while, Hong Lin finally asked:
"Who are you, exactly?"
Cheng Shi smiled self-deprecatingly: "Formally speaking — a variable. An insignificant variable, just like you."
"I can't reset the entire world, though..."
'Hm?'
'Big Cat had the wrong idea?'
'She thinks I'm the one who saved the world?'
Cheng Shi blinked, then shook his head with a wry smile.
That was fine. A beautiful misunderstanding didn't need correcting. She needed hope — and perhaps only believing that the ans of salvation were right beside her would make her believe this world could still be saved.
Even if he himself didn't believe it, soone had to...
Cheng Shi didn't address Big Cat's comnt. Instead, he continued:
"But I prefer another way of putting it:
I'm Cheng Shi. Just Cheng Shi. His son — and your friend, Hong Lin."
Hong Lin clenched her fist and nodded firmly:
"Friends. Yeah — friends!
I need to get stronger!"
"Co to the Void you granted . We'll—"
"I need to get stronger!"
"?" Cheng Shi paused. "I know. We'll—"
"I need to get stronger!"
"...Just say what's on your mind. Since when do you speak in riddles?"
Hong Lin hesitated on the other end, then said with a hint of disappointnt:
"I kept thinking that if I said 'I need to get stronger,' you'd just conjure up so Authority...
Guess it was just my imagination."
"?"
'Sis — am I a wishing machine to you?'
'Even if the gods are experintal variables just like us, Authority isn't so parater you can just pick off the street! Where am I supposed to find that much Authority for you?'
Cheng Shi pursed his lips but said nothing. He understood Big Cat's urgency.
The gap between a god and a "god" was simply too vast.
...
Reviews
All reviews (0)