"Wrong!
Completely wrong.
Brother, my old friends didn't sacrifice themselves to oppose
— they were tempering .
My limited mory tells
I must have done so terrible things in a previous era. Now I'm atoning for those mistakes.
But why did you say they fell one after another? Has another God War begun?"
"..."
'When a man is delusional enough to genuinely resemble a god, he becos a god.'
'And gods and mortals are very difficult to communicate with.'
It took Cheng Shi a good long while to recover. He even replayed all the despair he'd been through just to flush the absurdity from his brain and relocate his emotions. He freed his wrist from ng Youfang's grip and said with absolute gravity:
"You are not Origin!
You've forgotten Origin's existence. That's not your fault, because you were once the vanguard of the rebellion against Origin. On that charge, you lost your Divine Throne and your mories. To protect you, the gods brought about the Faith Ga, stuffed the Throne-less you into it, and hoped you could at least live in peace — with your life intact.
But Origin's oppression never stopped. He is the Creator — the supre existence who can create all things and destroy all things. No one knows what about this world provoked Him. Now Origin is moving to annihilate it all again. The gods shielded this world and many of Them fell. Ti, too, departed in this unequal struggle.
But we still refuse to submit. Soone has to step up and take Ti's place — to keep charging at Origin.
I know this is a lot to take in. But Brother ng — sa question. Will you beco the new Ti?"
"..."
ng Youfang went rigid. His expression shifted violently. A mont later, with a solemn air Cheng Shi had never seen from him, he said:
"I can accept that."
"!"
Cheng Shi exhaled deeply, thinking that "selling" a Divine Throne — the thing the entire world would kill for — was surprisingly difficult. Unreliable as old ng was, at least he wasn't a bad person. He—
He'd barely finished the thought when ng Youfang continued:
"But I cannot take my old friend's Throne!"
"???"
'I...'
'My fists are itching.'
Instinctively, Cheng Shi clenched his fist and hurled a bolt of thunder — only to rember that the thunder had long since vanished into the past.
In that instant, ng Youfang should have thanked the departed Death. If the Boss hadn't destroyed Cheng Shi's Death Fun Ring, ng Youfang would already be a corpse.
ng Youfang wasn't stupid. He could see that Cheng Shi desperately needed him to beco Ti. But how could he covet the Divine Throne of an old friend who had fallen to protect him?
ng Youfang understood now. Origin was destroying the world. And the reason was that the gods had sheltered him. To keep him alive and safe, They had even gone so far as death itself to withstand Origin's fury.
'This is the bond between gods!'
'My old friends — you've given far, far too much for !'
ng Youfang was deeply moved, his eyes nearly red. The look he gave Cheng Shi brimd with gratitude. Yet he still could not accept inheriting Ti's Throne.
He shook his head:
"Yu Xi — as a god, the will of one's faith cannot be changed.
Even though I've fallen to mortal status, even though I can no longer rember my own Divine Na — on the road of faith, I've never walked alone.
Behind
stand countless people who trust , who believe in , who worship . For their sake, I must be !
I am this Universe's eighte— no, eighteenth god. Never Ti.
I know the Universe has paid too great a price for . If Origin's wrath was all because of ..."
His gaze hardened, as though a decision had crystallized. Word by word, he declared: "Then let
end it all!"
With that — hand up, blade down.
"Shk—"
"Thud—"
ng Youfang's eyes snapped shut. He toppled straight into Cheng Shi.
"..."
At last, the scene was quiet.
A second later, Shadow Cheng Shi tossed the dagger he'd snatched away and retreated to Cheng Shi's feet with a look of utter resignation.
Cheng Shi gazed down at the unconscious old ng, montarily at a loss for words.
'You call it galomania, but the man is sincerely devoted.'
'You call it sincere, but the man is absolutely a galomaniac...'
'galomania really does cause harm.'
Cheng Shi smiled bitterly. Still, old ng had said one thing that resonated:
'Behind
stand countless people who trust , who believe in , who worship . For their sake, I must be !'
Cheng Shi shook his head, flinging away the tangle of thoughts. Resolve returned to his eyes. He left a note for ng Youfang, turned, and departed.
Since old ng insisted on being himself and refused Ti's succession, Cheng Shi would have to find another way — reach out to an earlier friend.
Co to think of it, Ti followers weren't entirely absent. Long Jing, at least, was one.
But the problem was: the person best suited to inherit Deceit's position also seed to be Long Jing.
'President Gong has finally, in the late ga, beco the most sought-after man around.'
Cheng Shi left the real world and stepped back into the Void. He was searching for the whereabouts of past friends — when suddenly, countless rivers of white bone cascaded from above, coalescing before him into a bleached-white throne of bone.
But seated upon that throne was no longer the massive skull representing Death. Instead, it was a man in a funeral suit — a Gravekeeper.
Zhang Jizu had arrived.
He descended from the Throne. Behind his perpetually narrowed eyes lurked a trace of sorrow. With a casual wave, countless tiny skulls from the path of the Fishbone Hall chattered their way toward him and rged in his hand into a miniature cascade of white bone. The pale torrent twisted and wove, forming the shape of an hourglass.
He walked to the end of the hall and locked eyes with Cheng Shi. Neither spoke.
Death's departure was a heavy blow for them both. The good boss who had sheltered His employees, the kind benefactor who had always favored His followers — He was gone.
After a long silence, Zhang Jizu spoke first.
"Death is not truly the end. Departure is the most enduring form of companionship.
When I buried them with my own hands, I understood: they had rely changed the way they stood beside .
As had the Benefactor.
Since He entrusted these things to
— from today onward, I am the Universe's Gravekeeper.
Walk the road to the future with confidence. At the very least, as long as I draw breath, no god in this world will fall."
"..."
Zhang Jizu's words reminded Cheng Shi of the old Zhang from another world. 'Turns out it's not just
— in every world, they're all alike.'
Cheng Shi waved his hand and invoked the authority acknowledged by all gods. With the Pact Proxy's sanction, Zhang Jizu — Death's container cradled in his arms — inherited everything the Boss had left behind.
As green flas blazed and white bones cheered, sothing crossed Cheng Shi's mind, and for the first ti in a long while, a genuine smile surfaced on his face.
Zhang Jizu peered at him through narrowed eyes, puzzled — only to hear Cheng Shi clear his throat and suggest with utmost seriousness:
"Old Zhang, why don't you take a page from the Boss's book and transform into a giant skull? Might do wonders for that eye-size problem of yours."
"?"
Seeing the Squinty Zhang's face darken, Cheng Shi's expression snapped back to business:
"Lend
your faith for a mont. I need you to dye this container.
This concerns the world's future. It's critically important — I'm not joking.
But now that I see you, another question cos to mind. Oblivion's Authority was in the Boss's hands. Now that He's gone, who should inherit Oblivion's Divine Throne?"
Zhang Jizu channeled Death's power to dye the container. After a mont's thought, he offered an answer:
"Mo Shu."
"I recall you two had so friction?"
"Personal grudges are nothing before the Universe's road ahead.
What matters most is that he's close enough to Oblivion. And the current Mo Shu no longer harbors the desire to annihilate the world.
Whoever inherits Oblivion must be stable.
Without a follower like Mo Shu — soone who witnessed firsthand the Benefactor's self-destruction — any succession could easily spiral into the next cosmic crisis.
We can't afford more risk. From now on, the Universe must be united. He's not the best choice, but he is the steadiest choice."
Cheng Shi pondered for a mont, then nodded:
"Understood."
...
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