Many questions remain unanswerable simply because there isn't enough information. So Cheng Shi didn't dwell obsessively on the intersection of future and present. Instead, he let out a heavy breath and prepared to leave the void.
He needed to return to the trial to check on Big Cat—to make sure she hadn't suffered any mishaps from this chain of upheavals.
Of course, now that [Fate] had said she'd beco Frazor, he had even more reason to et this orphan of [Prosperity] and see just how much she'd co to resemble Them.
But just as he was about to pull out the Tongue of Eating Lies and lick open a rift in the void, a pair of eyes painted with spirals and starpoints reopened in the exact spot where [Deceit]'s eyes had vanished.
Cheng Shi stared at those upturned corners and went completely numb.
'A surprise return attack? Really?'
Those gleeful eyes peered into the depths of the void, confird that no trace of [Fate]'s fluctuations remained, and burst into laughter.
"What's wrong—unhappy that your Benefactor summoned you again?"
"Ha ha, happy. I'm thrilled."
The swirling spirals spun rapidly for a mont before snorting: "Next ti you lie, mind your expression. Otherwise, don't tell anyone you're my follower. It's embarrassing for a god."
"..." Cheng Shi's cerebellum had already overloaded too many tis today. He truly didn't want to engage his brain anymore, so he sighed and said: "Great Benefactor, just speak plainly. Let's save ti."
"Oh? You have designs on [Ti] too?"
"..."
Cheng Shi rolled his eyes, pinched his own nose red, then looked up at his Benefactor with a face that scread 'I surrender': "The clown is here. Let's get to the point, great Benefactor."
This display of abandoned resistance and embraced humiliation instantly killed [Deceit]'s interest. He gave Cheng Shi a look of pure disdain, then blinked once and retrieved from the infinite depths of the void a thick, thriving branch.
The instant the aura of [Prosperity] surged from the branch before him, Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened.
"This is...?"
"The gift from [Prosperity]'s Final Oracle—the Authority of 'Vitality' allocated to ."
"Of course, all Authorities are inscribed in the Pact. This branch you see is rely the outward manifestation of the Authority."
"That scheming Mother certainly knew how to divvy things up—leaving the most useless thing for [Void] with ."
"Did She think everyone would be as interested in this Authority as [Truth]?"
"Heh. Universal prosperity. Too bad—I don't take in [Prosperity]'s leftovers."
With that, those suprely amused eyes pushed the thick branch toward Cheng Shi.
Cheng Shi froze, then looked up at Him, blinking in confusion:
"You're... giving this to ?"
"This is the Authority of a True God! You're just... tossing it away?"
"Bestowing it upon a... player?"
"But humans can't wield a god's Authority—can they?"
"Oh? So you have designs on [Prosperity] too?"
"..."
'Yes, yes, yes—I've got designs on the whole damn universe! I wish I could follow [Prosperity]'s example and just blow it all up!'
Seeing his follower fall silent once more, [Deceit] chuckled twice and turned serious.
"Who told you humans can't wield divine Authority?"
"Old bones?"
"Hmm, what He said wasn't entirely accurate. You indeed can't partake of [Prosperity]'s Authority—because a living [Prosperity] would never allow you to steal it. And the fallen [Prosperity]... you don't have the qualifications to inherit it either."
"The Pact does protect all divine power from being lost. But if a god happens to be in a generous mood and bestows a portion of Their Authority as a 'divine gift,' then that doesn't count as lost Authority—it's a transfer of proxy rights."
"In this way, humans can temporarily wield a god's Authority as proxy."
"Servant Gods and Envoys exist in precisely this relationship with True Gods. Apart from their own modest divinity, most of them wield True Gods' Authority as proxies."
"So..."
Hearing this, Cheng Shi's back snapped ramrod straight: "So!!?"
"So—I'm done teasing you. This isn't for you. Bring it back to your little cat friend."
"She's been recognized by the Pact as an Envoy, after all—having no Authority at all is just too embarrassing."
"Besides, without Authority, what kind of Envoy is she?"
Huh?
For Baldy?
This Authority was for Baldy?
Cheng Shi was stunned—but in the next instant, a subtle gleam flashed through his eyes.
"Aren't You also pursuing faith fusion? Why would You turn down free Authority?"
"Do You look down on [Prosperity]?"
Those eyes paused their spinning for a mont. In a rare departure from levity, they sighed:
"It's not about looking down. Universal prosperity is indeed a good thing. But... the purpose behind Her desire for universal prosperity was wrong."
"She and I are not kindred spirits. Besides, [Void] has no need of [Prosperity], because [Void] has no aning."
"But—"
"Heh, you want to ask why your other Benefactor—the one you shower with insincere flattery—accepted [Prosperity]'s gift?"
"...I don't." Cheng Shi shook his head with a dark expression.
"You can't fool . But..."
"Hee~"
"Who said He accepted it?"
"I am [Void]'s surface; He is [Void]'s essence. If even the surface can see clearly, how could the essence not?"
"He gave away the Final Oracle's gift long ago. The Mother of [Prosperity] played her cards well. She didn't allocate a single shred of Authority to [Fate], yet She left Him the task of rewarding followers in [Prosperity]'s trials as proxy—all so that the path of [Prosperity] might sprout a few more seeds of hope under [Fate]'s influence of Change."
"Unfortunately, [Fate] is too cold-hearted, and too lazy. He refused the extra workload and outsourced the whole thing to your little cat friend."
"Then again, who knows whether this was exactly what the Mother of [Prosperity] had calculated all along?"
"She saw [Fate]'s favor toward the little cat, so She took a gamble—leaving a spark for [Prosperity]."
"After all, no matter how you slice it, that cat is a follower of [Prosperity], isn't she?"
"And now she's even beco Her eldest daughter. Look—it seems [Prosperity]'s hope has found its way back into [Prosperity]'s hands."
"[Fate] can peer into the future, so of course He'd know all this. Yet He still gave it away. It's just that the thod of giving was, well... too dirty."
"What do you think that contract He had the little cat sign was?"
"It wasn't a supplentary clause of the Pact—it was an oath to [Fate]. She unwittingly sold herself to [Fate]."
"Hee~"
"Quite amusing, when you think about it. The eldest daughter of [Prosperity], having finally been recognized by the Pact as an inheritor of the Servant God's identity—only to beco [Fate]'s wage slave in a muddled daze, doing off-the-books work left behind by [Prosperity]."
"I've suddenly co to appreciate human wisdom. At the very least, capitalists really are despicable."
"Anyway, that's about all there is to it. Rember to deliver the Vitality Authority to her. I won't summon her myself—I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to resist mocking her."
"..."
Hearing all of this, Cheng Shi's heart was a storm of conflicting emotions.
He felt the relationships between gods were impossibly complex. Every single one of Them sched against the others while remaining absolutely unwavering on the road to fulfilling Their own will—going so far as to place faith's importance above Their own survival. What could this kind of zealous, unshakable conviction—even more fervent than any player's—possibly bring Them?
A god had self-destructed. What could that possibly bring to a deity who, after Her fall, existed only in history?
Cheng Shi couldn't comprehend it. Couldn't even begin to.
But from [Deceit]'s return, he understood one thing: [Fate] didn't always tell the whole truth either.
[Deceit] seed to see right through Cheng Shi's thoughts. At last, He broke into a genuinely pleased smile.
"It seems you've had an epiphany."
"Be careful. He's very good at lying."
"..." Cheng Shi went numb again.
'A god who wields the Authority of Deceit is warning
that His sibling-god is good at lying. You're really not lying right now?'
"Hee~"
"Don't disbelieve . He's far better at lying than I am."
"You don't actually think that treacherous little rat sneaked back just to present Him with a predetermined script, do you?"
"Though I didn't personally witness what contract he struck with Him, it's obvious enough—your crafty future self must have used reverse psychology."
"Well, that's all I'll say. This audience is truly over now."
"Hmm, it wasn't very fun. You've gotten dull. Less amusing than before."
"Off you go."
With that, a gale erupted from the void and swept Cheng Shi downward.
Cheng Shi let his vision go dark without resistance, but his mind kept circling around the "reverse psychology" [Deceit] had ntioned.
Cheng Dashi had used reverse psychology on [Fate], and that's why [Fate] agreed to his plan?
If [Deceit] wasn't deceiving him, then Cheng Dashi had indeed returned to attempt to alter the predetermined future.
As for how he'd employed the reverse psychology...
That was simple enough.
The mont Cheng Shi heard the words "reverse psychology" from [Deceit]'s mouth, he guessed the gambit his future self had used against the Benefactor [Fate].
It could barely be called a gambit, really. All he needed to do was present [Fate] with a single proposition, and [Fate] would likely accept his "offering."
And that proposition was:
'If the future is truly written in Fixed Destiny, then any change we make right now shouldn't affect the future at all.'
At this thought, Cheng Shi let out a wry chuckle. He was certain Cheng Dashi had used exactly this thod to turn [Fate]'s own logic against Him. Of course, the prerequisite for this approach was that the one making the challenge had to be [Fate]'s favored child—otherwise, He probably wouldn't even bother listening.
And as it happened, he—past or future—seed to be exactly that.
With this, everything finally made sense.
Cheng Dashi had succeeded. Though all he'd done was create a single opening, [Fate] Himself had said [Prosperity]'s fall was never part of the predetermined destiny. So Cheng Dashi had truly succeeded.
He'd slipped back from the future through the rift [Deceit] had torn open, used reverse psychology to convince [Fate] to cover his tracks and leave a ssage for his past self. Then his past self voluntarily entered the ga and triggered a cascade of Change—letting events unfold naturally into a situation that his future self's tiline had never seen.
Clearly, this cascade of Change had been driven not only by [Fate], but by nearly all of Them.
Impressive. Cheng Dashi might have predicted every one of Their reactions. The only question was whether he'd anticipated [Prosperity]'s self-destruction.
The present script of destiny seed to have been altered—yet his Benefactor [Fate] appeared utterly confident that all future trajectories would still converge on that predetermined conclusion.
So the question remained: had the future actually been changed, or hadn't it?
Had [Deceit] lied, or had [Fate]?
Cheng Shi had a vague sense that these two Benefactors of [Void] held differing views on the future. Yet despite their disagreent, both remained steadfast on the path of faith fusion. That was stranger still.
But no amount of thinking would change anything. He wasn't [Fate], and he wasn't [Ti]. Until the future arrived, all speculation was aningless.
So Cheng Shi opened his eyes. As his vision gradually cleared, he found himself back in the trial—back in the Sighing Forest that [Prosperity] had overrun.
Only now, every trace of [Prosperity] had faded from the forest. [Decay] hadn't reclaid it either. As far as the eye could see, the vast landscape was scarred and devastated.
The once lush rainforest looked as though soone had suddenly stripped away a filter. Every towering tree still held its verdant posture, untouched by withering or decay—yet they had lost every drop of green. Like uncolored half-finished works, they harbored no more life.
Clearly, Her fall had wrought trendous impact here as well. If even the trees had been reduced to this, then what about the Mushroom-Footed People, spared from death under [Death]'s protection?
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Cheng Shi heard a chorus of jubilant cheers. He rose and looked back to find every Mushroom-Footed Person standing intact, surrounding a familiar figure, devoutly, excitedly, fervently shouting their heartfelt praises.
They were praising the Divine Envoy. Praising rebirth. Praising forgiveness. Praising [Prosperity].
This tribe—imprisoned beneath the surface by the Tower of Logic for hundreds of years—was now imrsed in the joy of liberation, utterly unaware that their Benefactor had long since fallen, self-destroyed before the assembled gods.
Cheng Shi watched the scene with a maelstrom of emotions churning inside him.
He had no idea what [Fate] had done to Hong Lin, but sohow the Mushroom-Footed People had accepted her without question as their Divine Envoy.
They were so devout, yet like puppets, they were arranged and rearranged by the gods—and even by him.
What was called "faith" was nothing else but the strings on those puppets. At the whim of the Puppet Masters, the Follower-Puppets could only passively go wherever the Masters needed them to be.
Pitiable? A little.
Tragic? A little.
Laughable? Not at all.
Because even as puppets, they still lived in hope—still walked the path they believed to be right, never once giving up.
Perseverance is never laughable. Only admirable.
[Prosperity] had vanished from the Divine Throne—but in their hearts, [Prosperity] had only just begun.
...
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