Silence fell once more. Mo Rabic glared furiously at Allendor, his contemptuous gaze practically willing his partner into the dirt. His expression scread: 'Can you keep a secret for even one second?'
But Allendor didn't care. He wasn't the least bit afraid of his past being exposed.
"Devotion need not conceal its origins. Our roots do indeed trace back to the Tower of Logic, but at the end of knowledge, the Tower of Logic has no place.
However, you're wrong about one thing — the ones from the Tower of Logic were not us, but our fathers. They saw that the Tower of Logic had no future, so they abandoned the pursuit of Truth, leapt from the Abyssal Volcano into the Underworld, and raised the torch of knowledge high, determined to spread wisdom's light throughout this dark underground."
Hearing this, the Blind One furrowed her brow. The flavor felt right for Folly, but the faith's core essence seed slightly off.
Their version was far too archaic.
Seedling Followers?
Several thoughts flashed through her mind, and then — recalling and questioning simultaneously — she continued:
"I recall that the Tower of Logic has an exile punishnt called 'Sinking Abyss.' The Erudition Presidium periodically audits all experintal teams within the Tower. When they discover that soone has been misappropriating forbidden experintal resources without producing corresponding results, the entire team is dissolved. The leads and the misappropriators are imprisoned in Gasmira to await the next eruption of the Abyssal Volcano, at which point they're cast into it...
Your fathers — they didn't co down here that way, did they?"
"..."
"..."
At this, both Folly followers descended into Silence. They exchanged a glance, awkwardly looked away, and after a mont, Mo Rabic finally sighed and addressed the Blind One:
"You truly are a fortunate soul blessed by wisdom."
"I am indeed fortunate. But what blesses
isn't wisdom — and it certainly won't be your Benefactor Folly, whom you've never even t.
So the extraction thod you speak of was brought down from the Tower of Logic?" the Blind One pressed with genuine interest.
"..."
"Moreover, it's a thod that was tested — and failed — in the Tower of Logic.
Given the Erudition Presidium's rigor and obsessiveness, if your fathers' experint had shown even the slightest potential for success, they probably wouldn't have been held accountable at all. So that experint was already a total failure. Am I right?"
"..."
"Then I'm even more curious. If you're so certain you can successfully extract Divinity from the Abyss Colorful Crystal, it ans you must have improved upon that experint. But how could exiled prisoners manage such a thing?
rely surviving the plunge into the Underworld was already miraculous. Without any resources, how could you talk about improvents?
Furthermore, the most critical criterion for determining a Sinking Abyss sentence was the charge of reckless misappropriation of forbidden resources. That ans the experint couldn't have been completed with ordinary materials or standard equipnt — forbidden experintal resources were essential to it.
It follows, then, that your fathers must have deceived the Tower of Logic and smuggled the experint's most critical instrunt down from the surface. That's the only way they could have restarted and even improved the experint underground.
Clever people, indeed — even under exile, they ensured their experint could continue.
So, wise n — might I ask: what exactly was the thing your fathers stole from the Tower of Logic?"
"..."
"..."
Allendor fell silent. He could no longer bring himself to face his own past. Mo Rabic sighed repeatedly, then lifted his head and gazed at this gentle-faced yet razor-tongued blind woman, his expression imnsely complex:
"Who... are you people, exactly?
Are you from the Tower of Logic, sent to deal with us?"
"No — we're here to help you!"
"!!!"
The words stunned everyone present except Qin Xin — because the speaker wasn't the Blind One. It was Cheng Shi!
The clown had arrived. He'd finally tracked down the Torchbearers — and discovered a bonus surprise.
Qin Xin had actually sensed Cheng Shi approaching for so ti, but he hadn't reacted. In his mind, at least, Cheng Shi wasn't an enemy.
Cheng Shi had indeed followed the general direction of the two Torchbearers to trace his way here. If not for a few Shanty Area residents who'd noticed these two strangers, he genuinely wouldn't have known how to navigate through this smog-choked swamp of desire.
Corruption followers were terrifying. Unless you went for the kill, you couldn't tell whether your attacks actually hurt them — or rewarded them.
They could even be a co-on...
Fortunately, Cheng Shi had found his people at last — and what's more, he'd stumbled upon the very Mr. Mo Rabic he'd just been "yearning for"!
What luck. So this Folly follower had already reached the Shanty Area. If he hadn't gotten to Shi Lolin's contacts first, these two sides really would have connected.
Praise be to Destiny — it was all His guidance.
Cheng Shi bead at the two Torchbearers and gave a quick summary of everything he'd encountered at the drop point. Then he turned to the downed Mo Rabic, his face all smiles as he helped the man to his feet.
"Mr. Mo Rabic, I have a business proposition I'd like to discuss. But of course, before we talk business, we can first chat about matters of faith.
We've long admired Folly and yearned to enter His embrace, but we've never found the way. Now, at last, we've t His followers — who's to say this isn't Destiny's favor?"
And so Cheng Shi began working his charm. After all, high-level academic talent couldn't be treated like common grunts. He was counting on these two to extract Divinity from that Abyss Colorful Crystal for him, so there was no way he could play hardball.
With experints, beyond procedures and processes, feel and experience mattered enormously. As long as he couldn't guarantee he could replicate the operation himself perfectly, keeping the core experinters stable and cooperative was the safest approach.
And Cheng Shi was well-versed in this "art" — though the "art" in question wasn't the diplomatic skill of winning hearts but rather the dazzling craft of deception.
So he began cozying up to them, not forgetting to signal the Torchbearers beside him with his eyes, urging them to play along.
The Blind One was easy enough — as a fellow Destiny con artist, she simply smiled and ceded the stage to Cheng Shi. But Qin Xin's expression was distinctly strange. He kept looking from Cheng Shi to the Blind One and back, and when he noticed the Blind One's attitude toward Cheng Shi was remarkably trusting, he raised an imperceptible eyebrow and elected to maintain a prudent silence.
Mo Rabic was flattered and sowhat overwheld. He couldn't quite read the dynamic between the three, but that didn't stop him from recognizing that Cheng Shi "wanted" sothing from him. It was just that this person's way of "asking" was far more roundabout — and far more insincere — than those other two.
Reviews
All reviews (0)