For Folly, winning this wager carried no benefit whatsoever, while losing it could yield a future for the world.
What Folly thought at the ti, no one could know. All that was certain was that He accepted Deceit's wager and hid His own Authority.
But looking back at Folly's maneuver from Cheng Shi's current perspective, one could finally appreciate what Wei Mu had ant by "one move ahead."
With a chess piece nad "Wei Mu," He had illuminated a future for the world. Though He didn't believe that breaking free from the Origin's control held any aning, there was clearly ambition hiding behind His actions.
If Folly was unrivaled throughout the universe, did the Origin stand above Him?
If not, what claim had He to being unrivaled?
If so, given Folly's temperant — would He willingly acknowledge this Creator's supremacy, or would He question the Origin the sa way Wei Mu had questioned Him?
In hindsight, He clearly wanted to challenge the Origin. Using Wei Mu's mouth to voice the future Deceit desired — that was His "provocation" against the Origin.
Yet He also knew this provocation was trivial. No matter how they evaded it, the Origin could not be defeated. And so He always maintained that the universe had no answer — only foolish acts.
To this, Cheng Shi sighed deeply: the Wills of the gods truly were complex.
But for Deceit at the ti, Folly's entry into the ga was clearly a welco developnt.
Next ca mory. Nothing that occurred in the universe escaped mory's Collection. To achieve a true deception of the universe, Deceit goaded Ti into bringing His sibling god into the fold as well.
However, mory was too devout in His dedication to mories. He refused to be complicit. Left with no choice, Deceit proposed a compromise — one where both sides could give a little:
Everyone would forget these mories, but the mories themselves would not be erased. Instead, they would be sealed within mory's Collection Hall, to be revisited once the dust had settled and it was ti to weigh right and wrong, victory and defeat.
Facing the covetous gazes of several coercers — especially seeing that Ti was among them — mory relented.
And so the sealed Collection was born, and mory forgot these mories.
But while mory was doing his work, would Deceit sit still and play fair?
Of course not!
He tampered with the process.
Rember the thread of the Origin's power that accompanied Fate's fall?
That's right — Deceit used that trace of the Origin's power to preserve the mories of Himself, Ti, and Silence. The reason He didn't preserve Death's mory was that He wanted the old god — who had no close ties to Void — to remain an outsider, serving as a hidden "wild card" for a critical mont.
Moreover, in Deceit's estimation, Death was "too honest." He feared the old god might crack under the weight of such an enormous secret over the course of an entire era. Silence, on the other hand, would not — because He only took in and never let out.
And so, at the dawn of the era, there ca into being a mory painted into mory's Collection Hall that mory Himself did not know about, along with a divine pact woven from fear, defiance, betrayal, and provocation.
The mask fragnts were never Deceit's creation — they were tokens of the seven who forged the pact!
No, perhaps it should be said: seven.
The Tongue of Eating Lies perceived truth, representing the long-fallen Fate, and also alluding to Death at the dawn of the era. The Secret Peeping Ear ferreted out secrets, representing Silence who guarded them. The Eye of Mockery looked down upon all living things, representing Folly who saw nothing but foolish acts. The Nose of Verification pierced through illusion, representing Existence who stood firmly by truth...
And the Fool's Lips, naturally, represented Deceit — the one determined to resist at all costs.
After spreading this colossal lie at the dawn of the era, He pursued two goals simultaneously: on one hand, He secretly searched for Folly's hidden Authority, hoping to find another path of resistance; on the other, He began "marketing" the Convention to the gods, preparing His plan for "vengeance."
The plan was simple: find a world, bestow a Faith Ga upon its living beings, and through the ga's selection process, identify the one closest to the Origin — a Sacrifice. He would use Fate's thod to approach the Origin, and then backstab It the mont It appeared!
From the very beginning, Deceit never intended to save the world — He only wanted revenge!
It was only during the process of molding the Sacrifice that He discovered the universe's true nature. Seeing that vengeance was hopeless, that the Origin could never be defeated, He could only place all His hope in resistance.
Salvation was the lie. Resistance was the truth.
Even if just one thread of mortal will could break free from the Origin's control, to Deceit that would be victory!
Of course, all of that ca later. In Deceit's plan, the Faith Ga was paramount. So when choosing a target world, He found one that most resembled San Dales — a world "without faith." Only such a world could possibly produce an individual without any faith yet encompassing all faiths — an "Origin"!
This planet ca from one of Ti's simulations during the Existence Era. Ti had constructed countless worlds, and this was one of them.
And so, on that day, the gods descended, and this world welcod a Faith Ga.
All of the past beca clear. This chess ga, set in motion at the very dawn of the era, had passed from the hands of the departing chess master into Cheng Shi's grasp.
After witnessing every piece Deceit had placed on the board within the Collection, Cheng Shi finally understood what kind of "inheritance" Deceit had left for him.
This wasn't the past — it was the "future"!
This was unmistakably a script concerning the "future"!
To simulate the current crisis, to find a way out of this predicant through an experint — everything he had just witnessed was the indispensable fine detail needed for that experint!
An ordinary Collection of mory would never contain such records. Deceit had prepared everything for His follower long ago.
After stepping out of the Collection, Cheng Shi departed in silence. Just as he had said, he needed to finalize the remaining Divine Thrones as quickly as possible.
No one knew how long the era would last. Though the Benefactor had once said there was still plenty of ti on a mortal's scale, Cheng Shi was still saving every second he could.
Before long, he arrived at Mo Shu's small courtyard. The Scavenger was still lost in confusion over the aning of Oblivion, living like a heap of mud.
Cheng Shi knew it was pointless to lecture the current Mo Shu about the world's future, so he took a page from his own Benefactor's book and made Mo Shu a deal.
"I have a script here. I need you to put on a performance.
Your paynt: during the performance, you may discover the aning of Oblivion."
At the ntion of Oblivion's aning, Mo Shu jolted upright.
"Are you lying to ?"
"Are you even worth lying to?"
"...Fine. What's my role?"
Cheng Shi smiled.
"Don't rush. Let's lay down three ground rules first.
First — once you receive your actor's props, if you attempt any action that would sabotage the performance, you will be severed from Oblivion entirely — and even from the aning of your own existence. Don't question whether I can do it. This isn't a reminder. It's a warning.
Second — before the performance, I'll show you your script, though it may not be complete. After reading it, act according to your own interpretation. I may be the Screenwriter, but I also allow my actors to improvise their talents.
Third — follow the Screenwriter's arrangents in all things. Even a temporary death is part of the performance. Don't worry about it.
Understood?"
"So what exactly is my role?"
"Simple. Oblivion."
With that, Cheng Shi waved his hand and restored the na of Oblivion.
...
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