Cheng Shi was stunned. He'd never heard of anyone possessing a double-digit number of Dice of Fate.
'She has more dice than my die has dots. Is that even legal?'
'Is that even possible?'
'She's hacking, right?'
He asked again in disbelief: "Sixteen?"
"Yes, sixteen. And every single Die of Fate is different."
"Since stepping onto [Fate]'s path, Blind One's dice haven't upgraded like other [Fate] followers'. Instead, at each scoring milestone, He bestows a brand new die—an already-upgraded die."
"So she possesses every die from six-sided to twenty-one-sided. Sixteen dice in total."
"..."
'Well. Now I've t a genuine [Fate] favorite. She's running a wholesale operation on His dice.'
"No wonder you all trust her prophecies so much. With one throw of all those, even with the worst luck she'd still get at least sixteen points..."
"What good is trusting her? We still got—... Ugh, forget it. Bad luck. Not talking about her."
"But why are you asking so much about Blind One? Don't tell
you're thinking of... recruiting her into the Destined Ones?"
'Ha ha, would I dare?'
'If she opens with a sixteen-dice prophecy and sees right through , then what's the point of pretending to be fate's champion? I might as well go ho and play the clown.'
Of course, he couldn't exactly say he was investigating in advance to prepare for eventually competing for the Chosen One title. So he laughed it off:
"Just curious."
"Since when is your curiosity worse than mine?"
"..."
Cheng Shi's mouth twitched. 'Big Cat, your self-awareness seems to have gone missing. That's not a good sign.'
"Thanks for all the info. Let's wrap it up here—the phone bill's getting expensive."
Hong Lin's expression turned extrely odd:
"That's a pretty lousy excuse to hang up on soone. But hold on before you go—Her vault has tons of stuff. Think about what you're missing. Today's special: everything's free."
'Right! Almost forgot that!'
Since one of the test-takers had beco the proctor, cheating only once would be a waste. The instant this was ntioned, Cheng Shi's spirits soared:
"What good stuff do you have?"
"Way too much good stuff. Giving it all to you isn't realistic, and the rules won't allow it either. Just tell
what you need."
"Let
think... [Prosperity] is the flourishing of mind and spirit—an emphasis on vitality and ntal vigor in tandem. My vitality's covered now, so... do you have anything that boosts ntal strength?"
Hong Lin thought for a mont, then answered:
"I have a rough idea. But there's too much to sort through and I need to find the right thing. Before the next Special Trial, pray for a [Prosperity] trial—and I'll deliver the goods to you then."
"That simple?"
"That simple!"
"Baldy, you've beco incredibly charming!"
"..." Hong Lin went stone silent for a beat, then spoke with a half-smile: "I'm quite charming when I'm beating people up too. Want a demonstration?"
"Maybe not..." Cheng Shi laughed awkwardly, then added: "Oh, by the way—since you can grant gifts, does that an players' offerings to Her can reach you as well?"
"Yes. Why—do you have sothing for ?"
"Divinity, Baldy. You forgot the divinity you stored with ." Cheng Shi's face was the picture of sincerity.
"Oh? So it wasn't a loan—it was storage?"
"..." Stiff silence.
"No rush to return it. Consider it a loan." Hong Lin smiled, then added solemnly: "After becoming an Envoy, I've had so realizations. Maybe what I need isn't disassembled puzzles or scattered fragnts. I might need sothing of my own."
"Let
do more research. Until I figure it out, consider that divinity on loan—actually no, too generous. Consider it rented."
"Rent fee: this phone call. Stay in regular contact."
'Look at that. Now that's generosity!'
Compared to the Grand Marshal's aggressive brand of generosity, Baldy's was the real deal!
Cheng Shi bead—absolutely radiant.
"Boss is generous! Don't worry, I'll use it sparingly!"
"?"
"Uh—said that wrong. I definitely won't lose it."
"You'd better not!"
After chatting a bit more, they finally hung up. And in those last monts, Cheng Shi also learned how to make outgoing calls.
Hong Lin explained that you simply held the handset to your ear and spoke the target's real na. If the target had the sa type of phone, the call would go through.
Cheng Shi stared at the handset in his hand, then—struck by a sudden idea—held it to his ear and spoke a na.
The call connected. After three rings, it was answered. On the other end was a cool, detached female voice.
"An unexpected call. Yesterday's prophecy didn't include this. So—who are you?"
Cheng Shi blinked, thinking it was surprising she'd spend one of her daily prophecies on sothing like this. But he didn't stay silent for long. After a mont's thought, he asked a question that probably sounded completely baffling to the person on the other end:
"If the god I worship has died, should I resolutely pursue the empty Divine Throne—or should I break my oath and seek another deity's protection?"
He deliberately lowered his voice, roughened his tone, and blurred his inflection—rendering it utterly unrecognizable, yet distinctively recognizable.
Because anyone hearing this voice would imdiately think the speaker was disguising it on purpose.
The person on the other end clearly didn't recognize Cheng Shi's voice. After a brief silence, surprise crept into her tone:
"An interesting question. So then—whom do you worship?"
Cheng Shi intentionally stalled, feigning anguish:
"[Prosperity]. I worship [Prosperity]."
Complete silence on the other end. A long ti passed before a cold voice responded:
"Who are you?"
Cheng Shi didn't answer. He hung up.
The other party was obviously Blind One. And Cheng Shi's reason for making this call wasn't simply to tease [Fate]'s Chosen One—he was attempting to amplify the impact of [Prosperity]'s fall.
In the current unchanging landscape of the Faith Ga, if he told soone that one of those lofty gods had fallen, nobody would believe him. They'd just think he was a delusional lunatic. But if the sa words ca from [Fate]'s Chosen One, the effect would be entirely different.
Cheng Shi knew full well that Blind One wouldn't believe such a claim based solely on one inexplicable phone call. But as long as she was curious enough, she would inevitably trace the call's origin.
If all the phones in this set ca from Big Cat, then she would certainly approach Big Cat with probing questions.
Big Cat wasn't stupid. When she sensed Blind One was fishing, she'd realize Cheng Shi had leaked the news of [Prosperity]'s fall. Knowing her character, she'd probably cover for him without saying too much.
And that would make this increasingly curious [Fate] Chosen One begin using her prophecies to dig for the truth. Once she obtained the truth—or so approximation of it—the news of [Prosperity]'s fall might spread through her mouth.
This was a casual move on the board. Cheng Shi didn't know whether spreading the news would prove useful, but that didn't stop him from giving it a push from behind the scenes.
If Cheng Dashi's purpose in returning was to create change, then logically, the bigger the change, the better. So Cheng Shi wanted to try. He didn't want this hard-won change to be quietly smothered by the Pact's whitewashing of [Prosperity]'s fall.
Cheng Shi had guessed correctly. Blind One was indeed deeply curious.
The instant the call was disconnected, she reached for her Dice of Fate, intending to divine the identity of the caller. But she quickly abandoned the idea, instead furrowing her brow and picking up a different phone to dial a number.
The call was answered imdiately. A crisp, composed female voice ca through:
"Ming Yu?"
Blind One heard the greeting and paused, then sighed: "Where's your sister?"
"Ming Yu, stop ssing around. I am the sister."
"Right. Well, I'm looking for the younger sister."
The other party blanked, then burst out laughing:
"Hee~"
"Then you've called the right person! I'm the younger sister too!"
"...Have her call ."
Without another word, Blind One hung up. She rolled the dice between her fingers, then picked up the Standard Phone and called Hong Lin.
The instant the call connected, she spoke rapidly:
"He called . I've agreed."
Hong Lin froze. Sothing seed to occur to her, but she hesitated, not entirely certain:
"Who?"
Hearing the surprise and uncertainty in Hong Lin's voice, Blind One hung up—and smiled.
"Interesting. It really is one of Baldy's new friends."
"So what does this new friend want
to do? Make a prophecy?"
"A prophecy about [Prosperity]'s fall?"
"Is he a fellow traveler who's seen the future? Or does he know so incredible secret?"
"Hmm, Xin Xin—call
soon. I'm getting very curious."
anwhile, Cheng Shi hadn't been idle after hanging up either. He tried dialing a second number. This call connected too—on the other end was a steady, unhurried male voice:
"It's ."
Cheng Shi blanked. He'd ant to say sothing playful, but on second thought, decided against it. He hung up without a word, then looked at the handset in his hand and shook his head with an amused laugh.
"Big Cat sure has a wide network."
At the sa ti, in so unknown corner of the world, a man in hemp robes with his hair tied in a Daoist topknot let out a bemused chuckle and put away his handset.
"Seems Baldy's made a new friend."
"Interesting—I just wonder what kind of mory this will make?"
...
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