"Benefactor..."
When Cheng Shi uttered these four syllables again, his heart was a storm of mixed emotions.
Deceit had lost so of its "divine" filter in his eyes — yet in return, his respect had only grown.
He didn't know where this strange, awkward sense of reverence ca from, but the feeling was remarkably similar to what Old Jia had given him.
Like soone using lie upon lie to forge a shield against every external attack.
Of course, whether that shield was blocking harm for Cheng Shi or for the Fun God Himself still required careful study.
Cheng Shi fixed a complex gaze on those eyes and slowly raised his left hand. He showed the nail of his left pinkie finger to the god and spoke earnestly:
"I don't know if this was also part of Your plan, but in that last trial, I obtained..."
Before he could finish, the Fun God cut him off.
"Heh — that stinking beggar is generous, I'll give him that. But if you truly think He's rciful, you'd be an idiot."
???
'Leaving aside how I feel about Decay — "stinking beggar?" Is that... serious?'
'Wait — so Zhen Yi learned her trash-talk nicknaming from You?'
"..."
'But what does He an? Decay isn't actually rciful?'
Cheng Shi furrowed his brow and sank into thought.
Indeed, His compassion hadn't felt like genuine compassion. He clearly had ulterior motives. In hindsight, Decay's behavior looked more like He'd taken the rcy He longed to receive from the Origin and projected it onto Cheng Shi — using asured benevolence to satisfy a craving that could never be fulfilled.
In other words, He was playing the role of a benefactor. By bestowing upon others the pity He himself couldn't receive, He soothed his own "wretchedness."
But the Fun God's aning seed to go deeper. So Cheng Shi blinked in confusion, waiting for further explanation.
Those eyes were in an uncommonly talkative mood today. They snickered:
"I know what you've guessed. You're not wrong — that stinking beggar truly does yearn to see Him. In fact, before Civilization arose, both Life's and Descent's worship of Him was utterly primitive and fanatical.
Just as humans of that era worshipped gods with feverish devotion, They too were fanatical toward *Him.
But even if He was inspired by the Mother of Prosperity's self-destruction and found a new path toward *Him, He didn't need to have a re player wield the 'Faded' authority by proxy.
You are only a player. Under the Convention's constraints — even if the ga could continue indefinitely, as you all assu — the most you'd ever do in your entire life is encounter a few more of His followers.
That degree of fading is utterly useless to a god. Yet He still granted you His power. Do you know why?"
Cheng Shi caught on imdiately. His expression turned grave as he nodded: "Because I'm Void's... wanderer."
"Tch—
Darling. Just say darling.
An ordinary wanderer doesn't get this many gods watching."
"..."
"mory was right — They can't figure out what I'm planning. So They each placed a bet on you, then sat back to wait.
And don't delude yourself into thinking I'll tell you what's going on. Hee~
Because even I don't know what I'm doing."
"..."
Cheng Shi so badly wanted to retort. He genuinely felt like a clown right now — one awkwardly contorting an uncoordinated body on stage for laughs. The only difference from other clowns was that this stage was handcrafted by the Fun God, and the audience below... were gods perched high upon Their divine thrones!
The gods couldn't understand what this performance was about. But that didn't stop Them from tossing a few coins onto the stage when the clown perford well.
At this thought, Cheng Shi's expression crumbled.
'Great. Now I really am a clown. The gods' clown!'
Deceit seed to read what Cheng Shi was thinking. He laughed heartily, confirming the thought.
"Looks like that stinking beggar earned quite a bit in past eras. His tip is much more generous than old bones'."
"..."
'Wait — Benefactor, what do You an by that?'
'That lord... is one of the speculators in the audience too?'
'That doesn't seem right. Death really does seem like a good boss.'
"Old bones is decent — just a bit too dull.
But being a good person doesn't an having no ulterior motives. He's trying to decipher that new Corruption authority you 'presented' to Him. And He intends to use it to fish sothing out of the Sea of Desire — the very sea that once split Order!
Tch — sounds so noble and grand, but it's all just treasure-hunting.
Otherwise, did you think that bone ring on your hand fused all that broken divinity by magic?
It was fear!
The new authority related to fear gave old bones a fresh idea — using fear as a binding force to shackle together divinities that should never have been compatible.
Though that's the best he could manage. Different divinities inherently repel each other. That can't be changed."
Hearing this, Cheng Shi froze — then his eyes lit up.
"So that's why the gods want to fuse divinity?
It's because... the divinities bestowed by that existence are mutually incompatible. So the gods are trying to reverse-engineer fusion as a way to approach... that existence. Am I right, Benefactor?"
Those eyes raised their brows in unexpected surprise. A soft snicker followed:
"Getting smarter. Looks like you're not scared anymore."
"..."
'Stop mocking . Can't I just be a clown in peace?'
Cheng Shi was numb. But he finally understood what all those Tower of Logic experints he'd been through were actually about. Those Grand Scholars, under Truth's aegis, had been endlessly testing thods for fusing divinity, grafting faiths, and creating artificial deities.
They thought these experints would elevate them to godhood. What they didn't realize was that behind the curtain, Truth was assimilating their thods — using nearly identical approaches to draw closer to *Him!
So this was the gods' true purpose!
Every cause and effect They'd sown across the universe was for *Him!
In that case, gods allied with the Fun God constituted the Convention's "Fear Faction," while gods like Truth and Decay represented the "Approach Faction." But even within the Approach Faction there were differences — so worshipped fanatically, others approached rationally.
Doing a rough headcount, the "Fear Faction" included...
Exactly one mber.
Because nobody liked the Fun God. Even Fate — His sibling within Void — disagreed with Him.
'Truly tragic. So I'm not the only clown. There's an even bigger one.'
'As for who that is...'
Cheng Shi rubbed his nose, eyes drifting, not daring to make a sound.
...
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