Hearing the surprise in the Dragon King's tone, Cheng Shi paused. It seed Li Jingming had heard other rumblings about Order. So rather than answering imdiately, he countered:
"What happened?"
This ti, Li Jingming didn't bother with any mory-exchange formalities. He spoke without concealnt: "Mo Li. It's Mo Li—he didn't approach War to fuse. He..."
Cheng Shi suddenly guessed the rest. His voice was thick with disbelief: "Broke his oath? He oathbroke?"
Li Jingming's voice hitched. Then his eyes glead and his tone heated up: "You guessed it? Then Order really has had a major incident!"
'Indeed—Order had a huge problem. But the bigger question is: can I tell you?'
Regardless of whether he considered Chaos's situation, Deceit's plans absolutely had to be protected. If a mory follower learned about Deceit's sche—even if that follower was also technically under Deceit—there would be risks.
'Better not to let the Dragon King know the full truth. But as a fellow Joker—a pre-qualified insider—having him understand so intelligence would undeniably help the Jokers analyze information and assess the situation. So I can't say nothing either.'
'And the Dragon King gave
the lead on the Secret Peeping Ear. I might need his help finding it later. So how much to say, and what to say, requires careful thought.'
After a mont's deliberation, Cheng Shi decided to let a little slip. As for exactly how much—that depended on how much his Benefactor was willing to let him share.
So he organized his words and revealed why Order had been radiating Chaos energy—though he altered certain key details. He changed "Chaos impersonating Order" to "Chaos attempted to seize Order's authority but failed, while Order also overreached in absorbing Chaos's authority and fell into disorder—hence the earlier eruption of Chaos power."
"Order wasn't stable for a while. It would still occasionally display Chaos-like traits. But after relinquishing the last shred of Chaos authority, it... returned to normal."
Nearly everything Cheng Shi said was factually accurate—except the subject was different. Everything else was one hundred percent true.
But Li Jingming still had doubts. He felt Cheng Shi was holding back, because the explanation had completely skipped over Cheng Shi's acquisition of Order's gift.
'That gift probably ca from the Fun God. Yet he never ntioned the Fun God at all. So what role did Deceit play in this clash between Order and Chaos?'
Li Jingming didn't keep this suspicion to himself—he asked directly. When Cheng Shi heard the question, he smiled inwardly. 'Finally—ti to test the Benefactor's limits. Now, what can I say without getting my mouth sealed by a Void gale like last ti?'
After a mont, he tested the waters: "Since you asked, and as a fellow Joker, I'll tell you. But Dragon King, this involves the Fun God. Once you know, keep it to yourself—don't tell a soul."
Li Jingming heard the gravity in Cheng Shi's voice. Rather than feeling excited, his heart clenched—imdiately calculating what this information was going to cost him.
But to his surprise, Cheng Shi demanded nothing this ti. He simply said:
"I told you—Order discarded the authority it had seized from Chaos. Once authority seized between two opposing faiths is abandoned, anyone else can claim it.
You've heard about the Tower of Logic's Stars Dagger experint, right? Zangier used exactly this thod to steal the gods' authority.
This ti, the Fun God did the sa.
That's right—our Benefactor took that sliver of Chaos authority. Chaos conceals the essence, which is sowhat similar to Deceit—the surface of Void. So it absorbed the authority with ease.
And the timing was perfect. The seizure actually looked like it helped Order.
So Order, under duress... ahem, you can probably guess how our Benefactor negotiates paynt... Order had to 'thank' it by offering certain additional benefits.
That finger snap you saw? Part of its gift. Not a talent—a tool. So I used Order's gift to unlock Order's shackles...
And speaking of which—I'm annoyed, Dragon King! You wrote
into history, and you don't think you owe
compensation?"
Li Jingming mulled over each word and found the story held together—especially the part about Deceit maneuvering between the two and profiting from it. That was so authentic it couldn't be more real.
But regarding Cheng Shi's demand for compensation, Li Jingming laughed and declined:
"Who says I wrote you into history? Can anyone identify you, Cheng Shi, as the one who freed that First-Class Inquisitor?"
"?" Cheng Shi froze. His face darkened. "You don't know? Does Hong—does Hong Lin know?"
"Even if we know, we're friends—we won't go running our mouths. But the rest of the world? History only records that a mysterious figure freed Chernosly. Nobody knows who.
Even if Hong Lin and I told people, they'd just smile and move on. These are inconsequential historical details. No one's going to investigate."
"..." Cheng Shi pursed his lips at this.
'You're not digging deeper because you don't know I'm Ultraman. This ti loop doesn't feel significant to you—but for , the implications are massive.'
'Whatever. Dwelling on what's already happened is pointless.' He sighed and shook his head: "So people have gotten too clever. Guess I should stop giving away all my secrets in the future. Better to leave so suspense and wait until the price is right."
On the other end, Li Jingming burst into laughter.
"Don't worry—I won't take a mory from you for free. Thank you for filling in the blanks from the last trial, Cheng Shi. You're far more interesting than the rumors suggest.
The Jokers—not bad at all. I'm actually looking forward to this organization. I hope you'll invite
to a gathering soon. I'd love to et more friends who perform Void's opera onstage.
I'll rember the entry fee. Rest assured, it'll satisfy you.
Anyway, I have a trial to run. Let's leave it here—call anyti."
And with that, the Dragon King hung up. But his dangling ntion of the "entry fee" left Cheng Shi's curiosity hanging mid-air. He was about to ask what it was when the line went dead.
Cheng Shi glared at his phone with visible irritation—half-tempted to call right back. But before he could, Big Cat's call ca through.
"..."
No choice. He repeated to Big Cat roughly the sa version he'd told Li Jingming. Not because he didn't trust Big Cat, but because he didn't want her dragged into unnecessary mires until she possessed the power to contend with the gods.
The Fun God was clearly scheming. The covert power struggles among the gods weren't solely about authority—they involved a certain unseeable, unthinkable entity. So Cheng Shi wasn't comfortable bringing Big Cat into this higher-level ga just yet.
After so small talk, Cheng Shi heard from Big Cat about Mo Li's oathbreaking. After hanging up, he kept pondering why the Chosen of Order had so decisively abandoned his faith and gone to War.
'But if he's gone to War, then the Grand Marshal...'
'Wait—Hu Wei is Chaos too! He's not truly War. So now that I've genuinely fused Chaos, can I see Hu Wei's position on the Ladder?'
At this thought, Cheng Shi imdiately switched faiths and opened the Ladder of Ascent. First to appear was the Deceit leaderboard—Li Jingming sitting at number one, though the gap to second place had narrowed considerably.
Second wasn't a mory follower—it was Zhen Xin. This forr Deceit Chosen who'd disappeared alongside Hu Xuan had actually climbed a few more points.
'Have they finished their operation? Did they find that Birth Envoy, Lu Xia?'
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, silently adding "call Hu Xuan" to his agenda.
Nothing else on the list had changed. He knew this chart of con artists too well—nothing worth lingering on. So he began investigating whether he could view the Ladder of his second faith.
It didn't take long to discover he could. Though he didn't have an ID on it—he was rely a spectator.
[Ladder of Ascent (Civilization — Order) / (Chaos — Chaos)]
1. Penny (Chaos) — 214
2. No Law No Way (Order) — 208
3. Chaos Rising (Order) — 204
4. Fang Yuan (Order) — 202
5. Shortest Inquisitor (Order) — 201
6. Stalled Thoughts (Chaos) — 200
"..."
'Holy—the needle-threading competition here is just as fierce as Deceit versus mory.'
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