Was Long Jing's theory possible?
It couldn't be ruled out entirely.
After all, when Cheng Shi first reached the conclusion that the universe was nothing more than a Creator's experint, he too had felt that existence was utterly aningless.
The truth behind the world had a way of shattering those who sought it, leaving them in despair. With that in mind, Drasilco's self-destruction wasn't impossible to understand.
But here was the problem: Cheng Shi still had vivid mories of [Origin] casually erasing countless versions of [War] within the Real Universe. Compared to [Origin], the gods were like fireflies against a sun. [Origin] clearly still wielded that terrifying authority — so how could it possibly be a Creator who had lost its throne?
It could only be called a bold and wild theory.
Zhen Xin shook off her daze and shook her head.
"Interesting idea...
But have you considered — given the Fun God's nature, he would never fail to probe the Sea of Desire and [Corruption]. Over so many years — an entire era, even — he found nothing. And yet Drasilco sohow uncovered the truth that [Corruption] was [Origin]? Does that make sense?"
"..."
It really didn't. If all it took was an Envoy of [Corruption] to find [Corruption], the Fun God would have long since impersonated one and gone swimming through the Sea of Desire.
Long Jing let out a slightly awkward laugh and scratched the back of his neck. "I did say it was a guess."
"The direction of the guess is sound though. Whatever that 'being' is — even if it's not [Origin] — it's most likely not of this world. Otherwise Drasilco wouldn't have reacted the way he did."
Cheng Shi pressed his brows together and continued analyzing.
"You may not know this, but at one point during an Assembly of Gods Convention, the Sin of Desirelessness helped [Deceit] — even if under duress — by indefinitely postponing [Deceit]'s challenge for the [Oblivion] throne."
"!!!"
That made everyone pause. "What — you've already launched a challenge for a divine throne before?"
How far ahead were you in the ga compared to the rest of them?
They were all supposed to be peak players. The others had been losing their minds just to get by, while apparently he had been climbing actual peaks this entire ti.
Cheng Shi paid no attention to their reactions and continued in his usual unhurried manner.
"And I strongly suspect that reason [Drasilco] was hiding inside That Dream My Nightmare was the Fun God's doing.
The Fun God had almost certainly already brought the Sin of Desirelessness under his influence — intending to use Drasilco's connection to [Corruption] to find [Corruption] within the Sea of Desire.
Given everything we know, the Sea of Desire must be hiding a secret that concerns the entire universe. Since the Sin of Desirelessness did find the so-called '[Corruption]' — do you think the Fun God actually t 'it'?
If yes, then 'it' absolutely cannot be [Origin]. If it were, given the Fun God's personality, he would have overturned the Sea of Desire entirely and made sure everyone knew.
But if no... that's impossible. He would never let Drasilco go et 'it' alone.
So my original suspicion likely holds. 'It' is a being beyond even a Servant God's comprehension — and even the Fun God was affected by it, which is why he gave us this false Era Curtain Call: to show us the world's despair firsthand."
Hearing that, Zhen Xin recalled Cheng Shi's reaction to the trial results when he learned about the Brotherhood of Extre Desire, and the implied significance of Mada Freud's identity. Realization broke over her.
"You're saying the Fun God was corrupted by that unknown entity hiding in [Corruption]'s place?!"
Cheng Shi nodded with grave seriousness. "It's not impossible."
He thought for a mont, then finally told the Jokers about the false Era Curtain Call — though he edited out many details, conveying only the essential thread of events. Partly because he didn't want to revisit that pain himself, and partly because he didn't want the Jokers to hear their own fates and "retrace those steps" in the future.
He couldn't bear to lose them a second ti.
But schers had sharp minds. Even from a few scattered hints, they could connect the dots and piece together the shape of that world-ending mutual destruction.
Silence fell over the room.
After Cheng Shi finished, he paused, then suddenly rembered sothing else. He looked at Zhen Xin.
"Do you rember that task we took to investigate the conflict between [Order] and [Corruption]?
That one also has a conclusion now. [Order] once entered the Sea of Desire alongside [War], intending to settle the universe in one decisive battle — but it was during that very venture that [Order] was fractured at the Sea's edge.
The world, even the gods, assud [Order] had been influenced by [Corruption] and could no longer hold to its own nature. But the truth was that [War] had split [Order] apart.
They fought inside the Sea of Desire, and afterward [Order] fractured into... the exact number doesn't matter. What matters is that I never understood why [War] moved against [Order].
Looking at it now — do you think what [War] did then bears so resemblance to what [Deceit] is doing now?"
"..."
They had already consud so many divine secrets today that everyone was completely stuffed — too full to muster the energy to be shocked anymore.
Aside from Li Jingming, who was diligently committing everything to mory, Long Jing had simply let it flow in one ear and out the other.
From where he sat, Cheng Shi wasn't recounting the hidden affairs of gods. He was shouting directly at Long Jing's ears: "Aren't I impressive? Aren't I unbelievable?"
Sure, impressive. The most impressive. Are you happy now?
Watching others perform on a stage — that was genuinely entertaining. But the mont you had to perform yourself — well, wasn't that just being a clown.
Cheng Shi was supposed to be the clown. So why did Long Jing feel like the bigger fool?
He was an acrobat, for heaven's sake!
President Gong was done. He dropped onto the throne with a heavy thud and waved his hand dismissively.
"What's the point of all this guessing? Why not just go ask directly?
By your own account, the Fun God must have already t 'it.' Why not go ask him?"
At that, Cheng Shi and Zhen Xin shook their heads at the sa ti.
"I've tried. He didn't respond."
"I've tried too. After the trial ended, I tried to ask him about the hidden aning behind the story of Kanrival. Nothing. Silence."
Long Jing thought for another mont, then offered another idea.
"Then we go to the Sea of Desire and ask that 'being' ourselves.
If the Sin of Desirelessness could find it, why couldn't other Envoys of [Corruption] do the sa?
[Corruption] has more than one Envoy, doesn't it?"
That fell into Li Jingming's domain. He nodded.
"The Gate of Joyous Lust — Aph Ros — is imprisoned in [Ti]'s dungeon. Not a viable option.
The other one, the rcy Lord — Tria. I know sothing of her past, but as for where she is now..."
"She's dead."
"?"
Cheng Shi sighed. He produced the [Corruption] Container, staring at it — and couldn't help feeling that everything seed to have been calculated long in advance. But who the mastermind behind the curtain actually was...
Could it really be the Fun God?
"A familiar feeling... This is also a container?"
"Yes. The [Corruption] Container. It dropped when Tria died."
The Jokers were stunned. Long Jing's voice jumped a full octave. "You killed her?!"
Cheng Shi wasn't in the mood to tease him. He told it straight.
"No. I don't know why she died. I just happened to pick up her remains, and in doing so I made a promise to Aph Ros to investigate the cause of Tria's death — a promise I've made no progress on whatsoever.
So the route through Aph Ros is also a dead end. [Ti] may not care about its prisoner, but I can't see any realistic way to get Aph Ros released and take her along to the Sea of Desire."
"Even if it were possible, we'd have to be extrely careful.
Don't forget — if your theory is right, even [War] and [Deceit] were swallowed by whatever's in there. For beings of our current level to enter the Sea of Desire would be no different from walking into our own graves.
This needs to be approached with great patience. At the very least, not before we ascend to divinity. Praise be to Yu Xi."
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