"Heh."
If "Zhen Yi" hadn't added that last line, perhaps no one present would have believed anything coming out of her mouth.
But that single question— "You didn't actually believe that, did you?"— sent everyone sinking into deep, frowning contemplation.
Even Long Jing, a fellow fraud, fell silent.
When sothing sounds outrageous, it might very well be a lie.
But when sothing sounds too outrageous, it can't even function as a lie anymore.
In an era where [Prosperity] followers' scores were surging across the board, who would dare claim that [Prosperity] had fallen?
The instant those words left her lips, neither the [Decay] followers who'd just been railing about [Decay]'s supposed fall, nor the [Prosperity] followers who'd been quietly reaping profits in silence, could utter a single word.
How should one evaluate the intelligence "Zhen Yi" had shared?
Setting aside its truth or falsity, the only word in most people's minds was: lunatic.
Hu Wei clearly knew sothing the others didn't. He made no move to question "Zhen Yi's" claim and instead turned to Long Jing with a deeply furrowed brow:
"Long Jing— between the two of you, who approached whom first?"
Long Jing's expression shifted. He imdiately grasped Hu Wei's implication and replied darkly:
"Zhen Xin took part of her mories, which is why she ca to
to deal with that Fate Weaver!"
"..."
Everyone present was sharp enough, and sharp minds only needed a nudge to connect the dots.
Now all the information lined up.
Before long, these Chosen Ones had reached the sa conclusion: perhaps a deity truly had fallen, and it very likely was [Prosperity]!
This wasn't a deduction drawn from the ga's current state or hard evidence— it was a conjecture derived from interpersonal relationships.
Everyone knew that one's Path of Fate didn't necessarily dictate one's alignnt. Yet in the players' perception, [Descent] and [Chaos] still carried an aura of "evil"— especially the followers of certain faiths, who'd been unwelco by the majority from the very start. Faiths like... [Decay].
And [Decay]'s few peak players did, in fact, have universally diocre relationships with everyone else.
Viewed through that lens: if [Decay] had fallen and Zhen Xin happened to learn about it, then as the most cooperation-minded player around, she would never pass up the chance to claim a piece of that pie.
But she probably couldn't extract profit from a deity's fall on her own, so she'd inevitably seek partners. Even if she only needed to fill a six-person trial roster, she'd recruit at least five collaborators— and if she made any moves, it would be impossible for others to notice nothing.
After all, interpersonal networks in the age of the gods' descent were extraordinarily fluid.
Certain things, once known by outsiders, could be kept under wraps only briefly before leaking through all manner of unexpected channels.
Granted, those channels typically reached only peak players. Ordinary players had no such privilege.
Yet this ti, clearly no one present had received any such intelligence.
Which ant only one thing: Zhen Xin had deliberately suppressed the information.
As a peak player, she wouldn't have refrained from profiting off it willingly. The reasons she'd choose not to find collaborators were vanishingly few— especially if the fallen deity was [Decay], which would give her no reason to show consideration for those few [Decay] peaks.
But if the fallen deity was [Prosperity]... that changed everything. Because Zhen Xin's relationship with Baldy was actually quite good.
The partnership between Zhen Xin and Baldy was well known. Though Baldy and her sister didn't get along, that hadn't stopped the two of them from collaborating happily.
So was it possible that Zhen Xin was helping her [Prosperity] friend... weather the storm?
After working through this logic, Mo Li frowned and addressed the room:
"Has anyone run into Baldy recently?"
Everyone exchanged glances. No one spoke, but their gazes sharpened.
The Prisoner helpfully added: "I haven't either. And it's not just Baldy— I haven't seen that scruffy weirdo around either."
Scruffy weirdo?
The group blinked, then imdiately realized who the Prisoner ant. So Zhidiao Xiumu had also been absent for quite so ti.
So sothing really had happened to [Prosperity]?
But why would [Prosperity] suffering result in its followers benefiting?
[Decay] had won the God War but then generously rewarded its rival's followers?
Was that deity... insane?
Just as the collective bewildernt deepened, Mo Li's eyes suddenly flashed. He silently mouthed a single word at Hu Wei.
Hu Wei's pupils contracted when he read it, and he nodded.
They seed to "understand" the inside story.
Seeing those two exchanging aningful looks, Long Jing grew even more irritated. He hadn't caught what Mo Li had said and was about to press Zhen Yi for an answer when the Prisoner— who'd been idly scanning the room— caught Mo Li's lip movents. And just like that, without the slightest discretion, in front of everyone, under the gaze of every attendee in the hall, he blurted out the thing that players were never supposed to know:
"The Convention— you said 'Convention,' right, Brother Lu?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Cheng Shi was delighted. Before this, he'd never imagined that the greatest secret between the gods would just be announced like that.
Even more surprising was that the Prisoner apparently didn't even know the Convention existed!
And he wasn't the only one. The astonishnt on Long Jing's face showed that this number-two of the [Deceit] ladder was equally unaware of the Convention. anwhile, Mo Li and Hu Wei showed no surprise at all— they were only taken aback that the Prisoner had dared to say the word aloud.
"The Convention... what is that?" Long Jing asked, his eyes blazing with hunger.
"It's..."
Mo Li was about to explain, but was cut off by "Zhen Yi," who'd been watching the show with great amusent.
She bead at the Prisoner and raised a thumb in his direction.
"Way to go, Brother Prisoner! That's exactly right— the Convention!
"Everything you've seen about [Prosperity] followers' scores rising? It's actually all...
"Compensation from the Convention to [Prosperity] players for a vacant divine seat!"
!!!
Everyone gaped at "Zhen Yi" in shock. Only the Prisoner chid in at the worst possible mont:
"Is this one a lie too?"
"Zhen Yi" laughed so hard she was nearly in tears: "What else would it be? Of course I'm lying to you."
"..."
Fine, fine— so the charade continued.
What "Zhen Yi" was saying no longer mattered. What mattered was that everyone had their own thoughts, silently cross-referencing her words against everything they already knew.
Hu Wei pondered for a long while with furrowed brows, then abruptly turned to "Cheng Shi":
"Brother, how much do you still rember about that last trial?"
"Cheng Shi" smiled bitterly and shook his head, then sighed:
"I'm sorry, Brother Hu. It's embarrassing, but I genuinely don't rember."
The instant those words were spoken, several faces in the room changed.
Long Jing's pupils contracted sharply, though he quickly ducked his head to hide his shock.
The real Cheng Shi, on the other hand, was caught off guard— he nearly jabbed a finger at her nose and cursed aloud.
'Wait— you're switching actors mid-scene?! That's cheating!'
'Where's Zhen Yi?'
'Where'd you put Zhen Yi?'
'The actress playing "Cheng Shi"— when did she suddenly beco Zhen Xin?!'
Cheng Shi was stunned. Long Jing was bewildered. Because the sentence "Cheng Shi" had just uttered was clearly a lie!
The Master of Deception talent inford both these fraudsters that "Cheng Shi" had just lied...
Which ant "Cheng Shi" still retained his mories. He rembered everything that had happened in that trial!
Long Jing didn't make any rash moves. He rely stole a cautious sidelong glance at "Zhen Yi"— and Cheng Shi's eyes happened to et his.
That sudden scrutiny sent a chill through Cheng Shi's heart. 'Not good,' he thought. The situation had shifted yet again.
The bad news: his opponent hadn't folded— she'd called his bet. The trouble had circled right back.
The good news: not everyone could see that she'd called. For now, only this number-two of the [Deceit] ladder had earned a seat at the table.
As for which table that was...
It was, of course, the table of [Deceit]— rising and falling with the surging waves of lies, hidden in the undercurrents no one else could see.
The ga of deception had just grown far more complex!
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