Foolish Game of the Chapter 566: Even Desire Has Its Restraint

Cheng Shi began to operate.

He knew that even if Big Cat had a mountain of questions, she wouldn't blow his cover here. At the very least, she'd shelve her doubts and wait for his explanation later. So the priority was handling Aph Ros.

He shot Big Cat a "hold steady" look, then swiftly turned to Aph Ros with a aningful smile.

He didn't deny anything. Under the mantle of Yu Xi, there was no need to deny.

"Lies are one of the ways I approach Corruption.

As I've told you before, Aph Ros — I can't guarantee which of my words contain lies. Everything is for you to judge.

The Void era is rife with opportunity. But not everyone can find opportunity in its tide.

I walk for my Master — discovering and sharing opportunities. Whether one can seize them depends not on luck, but on alignnt with Void!

So I can't give you the answer. Because Void itself has no answer."

These words sounded utterly aningless — at least to Hong Lin, Cheng Shi seed to have wasted a lot of breath saying nothing.

But to Aph Ros, the implications were entirely different. He read Cheng Shi's true aning: the lies were a two-way filter.

Those who wished to approach Void needed to find truth within his lies. Those who couldn't would only lose themselves deeper in deception, drifting ever further from truth.

Aph Ros didn't want to be lost. Nor did He want to lose the truth. So after a mont, He reverted to His Corruption nature, fully yielded to His own desire, and chose to...

Step back.

It was as if He'd stood at Void's door and knocked. Hearing only endless echoing from an empty room beyond, He decisively retreated one step — preventing Himself from stumbling into Void's abyss.

Clearly, compared to Aph Ros's personal obsession, catching the Void era's train held too little allure.

He firmly believed that after the Void era ended, another would follow — an infinite succession of eras. There was no need to rush into another gamble now.

He'd learned from the Existence era's lesson: going all-in only turned you into a prisoner. So He wisely declined the wager that Yu Xi had laid out for Him.

But declining to approach Void didn't an He couldn't continue cooperating with Cheng Shi. Their "trade" could clearly go on. He could still learn about this era's "truth" through Cheng Shi's mouth, and Cheng Shi could still uncover the history-buried past through Him.

Only the depth of content exchanged would probably never again touch either side's core interests.

So Aph Ros sat up elegantly. First, He nodded respectfully to Hong Lin:

"My apologies — rather than the uncertain title of heir, I'd prefer to address you as Lady Frazor.

Please forgive my presumption. As a mber of Life myself, I cannot desecrate Her before Prosperity's status is confird."

Then He turned to Cheng Shi with a radiant smile:

"When I'm not the one speaking in riddles, I despise all riddlers.

So tell , my brother — what brings you and the distinguished Lady Frazor here today?"

Hearing this, Cheng Shi knew Aph Ros had pulled back. He wanted to keep the cooperative relationship at the level of "trust between brothers" — no deeper faith alignnt. But that was fine. At least transactions could proceed with clear consciences.

So he smiled just as brightly and replied:

"You respect Them more than I expected. But there's no need for such caution. Prosperity is already in the past.

As you can see, this Frazor — saved by Death — successfully reclaid so things that should have belonged to Her. However, She was absent for too long. So long that Prosperity's assimilation cost Her many mories, and She's forgotten much about past eras.

So — you know how it goes — another intelligence exchange. Or rather, an exchange of past and present. This is sothing we'd both welco, isn't it?"

Aph Ros furrowed His brow at Hong Lin. eting her scrutinizing gaze, He asked in puzzlent:

"I'm curious. When you say 'Prosperity is in the past'... does that an what I think it ans?

She fell?

A true god... fell?

Enough for... this Lady Frazor to inherit Her divine na?

No — I don't think 'inherit' is quite right either, but I can't articulate what it actually is.

Could you elaborate, my brother?

I'm thinking — if this is real, sothing this monuntal probably can't stay hidden from the universe for long."

Cheng Shi shook his head with a wry smile:

"It's real, and I can elaborate. But there's one thing you got wrong.

I've told you about the players. In the Void era, the Convention uses a ga to restrict all players, making it nearly impossible to break through the rules and access information about Them — unless so deity decides to tell them personally.

So Prosperity's fall could theoretically stay hidden for a long ti.

Yes — Prosperity did fall.

You needn't probe further, Aph Ros.

Even if I keep bringing you living players from the present, you'd have a hard ti learning about Prosperity's fall from them.

Because they don't have the clearance or the channels to know such things.

However, I can tell you everything. And this won't count as part of our intelligence exchange.

This is my — a Void liar's — greatest show of sincerity toward a friend stranded in the past."

The mont Cheng Shi finished, Aph Ros couldn't contain Himself. He spun around — chair and all — and right there, under Hong Lin's watchful gaze, transford from a decent-looking noble gentleman into a stunningly beautiful noblewoman.

Her eyes toward Cheng Shi burned with ever-greater intensity. Under Hong Lin's gaze, the fire was sowhat restrained — yet the admiration radiating from her was simply impossible to conceal.

"..."

Hong Lin raised an eyebrow, casting a teasing look at Cheng Shi.

Cheng Shi shrank his neck in embarrassnt, not daring to et Big Cat's eyes at all.

He cleared his throat and, with utmost seriousness, recounted Prosperity's self-destruction. Of course, the reasons were omitted, the outco unknown — he simply spent ample ti and lavish prose describing the awe-inspiring spectacle of Prosperity's final mont of death.

Yet even so, from this vivid, detailed description, Aph Ros felt the sheer shock of a true god's fall.

"She found Her will."

Aph Ros's voice took on a wistful edge. After all, no matter what, He too was a mber of Life.

He sighed and continued:

"So the distinguished Lady Frazor ascended because of... Void's support?

Indeed — Your Benefactor has the ability to distort reality. Fabricating an identity isn't strange.

The question is: would Life's other two gods agree?

Facing the hostility of Descent's three, would They really agree to elevate a Herald who isn't all that powerful to that divine throne?

But all of that is beside the point. This is the Void era, after all. I've already witnessed the era's rulers freely rewriting the past once.

What I'm more curious about, my brother, is this Convention you just ntioned...

What is it?"

...