Silence is everywhere.
Cheng Shi never imagined that phrase could be physically, literally proven in the real world.
But why was [Silence] in the Real Universe? What purpose did It serve, drifting out here?
When the unknown becos known, fear at least stops being quite so overwhelming.
The fleeing Hong Lin heard Cheng Shi shout "[Silence]" — but her mind didn't even go to the god [Silence]. She thought this fake Cheng Shi was speaking in riddles.
Then she glanced back... and her eyes flew wide.
"A puppet. Why is there such an enormous puppet here?
It was silenced?
By whom?
Origin?!"
"..."
'Lady — who's the outsider here and who's the local?'
'You don't recognize anything, and you still had the nerve to try fooling ?'
Hong Lin's shock deepened Cheng Shi's suspicion about her identity. The familiar feeling surged again — she was so much like that brain-doesn't-engage Druid.
He couldn't help wondering whether she was deploying an even deeper layer of theater to earn his trust, or whether his own judgnt about her identity was sohow warped.
He hadn't forgotten: before the fake Hong Lin reappeared, there had been a gap during which they were separated. Could sothing else have happened during that ti when they couldn't see each other?
Cheng Shi was on the verge of a breakthrough — but the mont didn't afford him the luxury of deeper thought. More and more of the Leaking World Silent Puppet materialized, as if printed into existence by so invisible force. It slowly drifted above their heads.
Hong Lin was panicking. Teeth clenched, she sprinted while demanding: "Where's your plan?!"
'I don't have one.'
Cheng Shi's expression froze. The bravado of a few minutes ago had been nothing more than an excuse to catch his breath. Against this colossal Leaking World Silent Puppet, what plan could he possibly have?
'Not being assimilated is already the best-case scenario...'
'Wait!'
'Assimilation?!'
'Right — why hasn't the Silent Puppet assimilated , even though it's right on top of us?'
He rembered the last ti: a single glance at the puppet had nearly plunged him into eternal silence and rged him with It. Yet now, with the colossal puppet blotting out the skyline overhead, he could still move.
Divine power did exist in the Real Universe — his talents still worked, which was proof enough. So if this Silent Puppet truly was [Silence], why was Its divine power gone?
'Unless...'
A bold thought ignited in Cheng Shi's mind. He tapped Big Cat's tail and shouted:
"Stop running! Hold up!"
Big Cat didn't process it: "Quick — switch to your thod!"
"...I don't have a thod! I said stop running!"
"You don't?!"
Big Cat's voice warped too. She whipped around in fury — only to find Cheng Shi staring at her with absolute seriousness:
"There's no need to run anymore. If [Silence] has lost the power to silence the living, then the only explanation I can think of is...
It's dead."
An intense gleam shone in Cheng Shi's eyes. "This isn't the true [Silence]. It's a corpse. The corpse of a god!"
"!!!"
A tidal wave of terror swept through Hong Lin's heart. Her feet stuttered to a halt.
The Silent Puppet was still drifting. The arm — terrifyingly imnse — had already passed overhead. A body even more massive than the arm stretched across half the universe, filling nearly all of their vision. Beneath that crushing pressure, the two mortal lives looked up — like mayflies gazing at the heavens.
"You're saying..." Big Cat swallowed involuntarily. "This is [Silence]'s corpse?!"
Cheng Shi nodded, though he wasn't fully certain. He couldn't figure out why a god's corpse would be drifting through the Real Universe. How had It died?
Who could kill a god?
Every divine death Cheng Shi had witnessed so far had been self-inflicted. He had never seen a god's complete remains before. The sheer novelty of it ant his mind hadn't even gone there at first.
The puppet appeared perfectly intact — not a scratch on its surface. It didn't look like sothing that had died in battle.
So the question beca: who could make a god die this... cleanly?
If Cheng Shi were in his own world, he would have had to consider the relationships between the gods. But here, in the Real Universe, there was one existence that could serve as the answer to virtually any question.
Origin!
It was entirely possible that the Creator had killed [Silence]!
As for why — that was anyone's guess. Perhaps because It, too, was a "jailbreaker"?
Or perhaps It had learned a secret about Origin?
After all, It was [Silence] — the most secret-hungry god in the entire universe.
This, of course, raised yet another question: which world had this [Silence], slain in the Real Universe, co from?
With a god dead beyond the world, had that world already...?
Too many thoughts. Too tangled. Too chaotic. Cheng Shi locked eyes with Hong Lin, saw the flash of fear in her gaze, and realized they had been thinking the exact sa thing.
That inexplicable synchronicity stirred sothing in him. He quietly pald his scalpel and asked:
"Who are you, really?"
Hong Lin blanked, then snapped back with her own furious question: "I should be asking you that! Talk — who are you? Why are you impersonating Cheng Shi?!"
Hearing this, Cheng Shi's heart jolted. His expression shifted.
'This isn't the sa one!'
In that instant, everything clicked. He understood why the Hong Lin who had vanished reappeared in an entirely different manner — running for her life and crashing into him — because these two Hong Lins were not the sa person!
The impostor had fled. The one he had collided with was very possibly the real Hong Lin.
Joy surged through Cheng Shi — but the Real Universe could make anything happen. Terrified this might be another trap set by the other Hong Lin, using a god's corpse as bait, he asked one more question to be safe:
"The Authority you shared with
— was it 'Breeding' or 'Unsullied'?"
Hong Lin blinked again — and then her eyes went wide once more.
"Neither!" She fought to contain her excitent, enunciating each word: "It was 'Abundance.'"
"..."
Hearing "Abundance," Cheng Shi broke into a warm smile.
'Big Cat's grown up. She even knows how to counter-test now.'
He shook his head with a chuckle and let out a long, relieved breath:
"Fine, fine. You say Abundance, then Abundance it is. After all, [Truth] is dead — It can't exactly take 'Abundance' back from you anymore."
"!!!"
That single sentence obliterated every last shred of Big Cat's wariness. Her paw slamd into Cheng Shi's chest — joy, shock, fury, and fear all crashing together:
"You bastard — do you know I searched for you for ten days?! Ten whole days!
Just when I was about to give up hope, soone showed up and pretended to be you!
Do you have any idea how dangerous the Real Universe is?! Where did you run off to?!
If I hadn't been clever enough to see through him, I would've — you would've—"
Hong Lin was too agitated to form coherent sentences. But the gist of everything she said boiled down to one thing:
This is all your fault.
The blow had been savage. Cheng Shi coughed violently, frantically slapping at Big Cat's paw while consoling her:
"I know. Of course I know. Because everything you went through — I went through too.
I also searched for you for ten days. I also ran into another Hong Lin."
At the sound of her own na, Big Cat's fur stood on end. Without trying, her very presence radiated nace:
"Where is she?"
"Sa as the fake Cheng Shi beside you — ran away.
She's probably hiding sowhere right now, watching the show.
We got played. The Real Universe's swindlers gave us a thorough lesson.
Great. Just great. Liars truly are everywhere. I must say, this Real Universe is quite fascinating."
...
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