The Honesty Court fell into a brief silence.
Aph Ros bead, Galusha brimd with curiosity, Cheng Shi wore no expression at all — and only Wang Weijin remained kneeling on the ground, still chanting prayers.
The sight of this fanatic was making Cheng Shi's eyelid twitch nonstop.
He studied the scene for a mont, then asked: "Now that Wang Weijin's personality has been affected — will the Doctor... be affected too?"
Aph Ros smiled: "If they share the sa origin, then most likely, yes."
"..."
Cheng Shi rubbed his numb cheeks. His expression was sothing to behold.
Good news: the crisis was resolved. Yu Xi's will represented the Joker's will. Wang Weijin's host personality — now devoted to Yu Xi — would likely never pose a threat again.
Bad news: a new crisis had been born. If his identity were exposed, his equal-footing friendship with the Doctor could very well turn into a superior-subordinate relationship.
On second thought — hissss—
That wasn't exactly bad news either.
More than the Doctor's shifting status, Cheng Shi was concerned about his brain. After all, the current Wang Weijin didn't exactly look as... intelligent as before.
"Does assimilating another faith automatically turn you into a mindless zealot?"
"Not at all," Aph Ros shook His head. With a wave, He sent Wang Weijin off to dreamland. "The fanaticism is influenced by Zangier's mories. The experintal lives' worship of Yu Xi was fervent — years of accumulated frenzy poured into his consciousness all at once. Naturally, it causes a temporary shock.
Once he weathers this period, he'll return to normal. But... only intellectually.
Individual faith compared to collective faith is like a firefly against the full moon. His faith can never revert. The outward intensity of his zeal, however, depends on his personal emotional control."
Hearing this, Cheng Shi felt as though a weight had been lifted.
As long as the intellect was intact, that was fine. What the Jokers needed was the Doctor's brain — the rest didn't matter.
Besides, Yu Xi fanaticism was a bonus, not a penalty.
Even if the Doctor chanted Yu Xi's na every waking mont, the worst that could happen was a bit of personal embarrassnt. The world had no shortage of lunatics — and least of all among the Jokers.
With the Wang Weijin situation settled, Galusha — who'd been observing from the side — let her eyes dart around, then smiled at Cheng Shi:
"This so-called Lord Yu Xi — is that you, Prisoner?"
"?"
'No — don't go making things up. That's not .'
Until Cheng Shi understood why Galusha had been pulled out of the trial, he wasn't ready to deepen his rapport with such a keen Wise Man. He feared those sharp eyes would see too much and beco an external variable affecting his judgnt.
But before he could deny it, Aph Ros cheerfully answered for him:
"Oh?
You didn't know?
The one you're following happens to be a divine favored of this era's greatest [Void] ruler — the Envoy of [Deceit], Yu Xi.
If you didn't know his identity and he's just a player to you, then why have you been watching him so closely?"
'The prisoner really is a Servant God?!'
Though she'd had her suspicions, Galusha's pupils contracted and her eyes went wide.
In that instant, every thread of evidence clicked together in her mind!
No wonder the [Truth]-impersonating deity had shown such favor. No wonder he had the power to pull her out of a trial. No wonder he dared defy [Truth] and challenge their experints. He was like the other gods — a deity himself.
This made everything he'd done perfectly explicable. He and his Benefactor were clearly orchestrating a grand conspiracy.
As for what it was, Galusha couldn't guess. But she was intrigued. She realized the world was far more fascinating than she'd imagined. Now, beyond her dream of destroying [Truth], she harbored a new wish: to witness with her own eyes the mont this conspiracy detonated across the universe.
Watching the glint in Galusha's eyes, Cheng Shi was at a loss for words.
'Great — lately, this Yu Xi skin seems to be glued on for good.'
But since Galusha now knew, he couldn't let her imagination run wild unsupervised.
So he shifted back into Yu Xi's form, put on that eerie grin, turned to appraise Galusha, and said aningfully:
"Very few know my identity — and most of them are [Folly] followers.
Galusha, if you're truly clever, you know what that ans. Without my authorization, do not ntion any of this in front of outsiders. Otherwise — I'll send you right back where you ca from."
It was an unmistakably hard threat. But Galusha wasn't the slightest bit afraid. She was too busy wondering whether [Deceit] was trying to recruit [Folly] — why else would Yu Xi only reveal his true self to [Folly] believers?
She could see that Yu Xi had pulled her in as an ally. Combined with [Deceit]'s talk of a "backup substitute variable," her safety seed assured for now.
But having no issue with her standing didn't an things wouldn't get awkward. Facing two Servant Gods, she wasn't about to throw tantrums. Galusha nodded thoughtfully and agreed with a smile.
With the threat neutralized and new intelligence gained, Cheng Shi finally exhaled.
He pulled out the Lush Horn Crown, casually resurrected the gnawed-up Zangier so it could resu its labors at the Honesty Court, then had an in-depth discussion with the other two about why worshipping Yu Xi had caused [Birth] and [Corruption] to fuse.
But the question was too complex. The two who knew the full picture each had their own agendas. Only Aph Ros kept His gaze locked on Cheng Shi the entire ti — the ssage crystal clear: Yu Xi was undoubtedly one of the keys to realizing His life's aspiration.
Cheng Shi's skin crawled under that stare. Before long, he hastily excused himself on the pretext of investigating [Ti] and left Dolgod with Galusha in tow.
As for the Wang Weijin slice — he handed it over to Aph Ros as compensation and let Him feed it to Go Lis.
Soone had to answer for this farce, didn't they?
Back in reality, Cheng Shi promptly parted ways with Galusha — who clearly wanted to ask more questions — and headed alone to the Jokers' gathering place.
After an exhausting day, it was finally ti to reap so rewards.
That Dream My Nightmare — no matter how ominous, it was still a [mory] Servant God relic.
And the Dragon King was most likely still trapped inside that mirror. Day after day, he was running around gathering intelligence and now he had to rescue people too.
How strange — everyone else had the calabash brothers saving grandpa. How co for him, it was grandpa rescuing the calabash brothers?
Save one and there's another to save. Could you Jokers please give
a break?
'Ah, forget it. Dragon King, oh Dragon King — grandpa's coming to save you.'
Cheng Shi moved silently through the dim graveyard. The magic lamp fashioned from a [Deceit] tombstone at the center still cast its feeble glow. Beneath that light — no one. The hushed, murky atmosphere was eerily unsettling.
Fortunately, this wasn't a place just anyone could enter. At least there was no danger. Cheng Shi quickened his pace toward the [mory] tombstone. Just as he was about to act, his steady instincts kicked in, and he bluffed casually:
"Stop hiding. You think I don't know you're there?
Do I really have to call you out before you'll show yourself?"
The mont he spoke, a figure slowly materialized before the [Truth] tombstone.
The figure looked sowhat disheveled, but their spirits seed intact. With a hint of apology, they addressed Cheng Shi's direction:
"Sorry — my negligence during the experint put the Jokers in a security crisis.
Going forward, I'll review the experintal procedures and reexamine the failsafes those slices left behind, to ensure it doesn't happen again. Though given the current situation, even if their hidden personalities reerge... it's aningless now.
Praise Yu Xi."
"..."
'Doctor??'
'What's he doing here?'
Cheng Shi froze. To be honest, his little bluff hadn't been aid at anyone in particular — well, it had been aid at the fake Dragon King who'd hidden That Dream My Nightmare. After all, only that entity knew he'd be coming for the mirror.
But instead of smoking out the fake Dragon King, he'd flushed out the Doctor.
'What — it's pitch black in here. What are you even doing?'
...
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