Foolish Game of the Chapter 666: So Why Did He Change?

Cheng Shi looked toward Qin Xin and the Blind One, only to find the sa shock mirrored on their faces.

This clearly defied all logic. Civilization was currently at its zenith, War hadn't arrived yet, and Chaos was just beginning to stir — these were the mainstream faith dynamics of this era.

The ergence of Folly Seedling Followers was already shocking enough, but that could at least be rationalized as a handful of Truth followers whose thinking had shifted under setbacks and oppression, thus giving rise to a nascent Folly will. But... Silence?

The god who only had scant records during the Chaos Era — how could His Divinity have already been compressed into Abyss Colorful Crystal by the Abyssal Volcano's spatiotemporal forces?

This went beyond a re seedling erging from soil. This ant Silence had long since descended into the world — yet His existence had never been known to the mortals of the Land of Hope.

No — not just the Land of Hope. Even the players had no idea why a true god recorded as descending only during the Chaos Era had been found through a Civilization Era mineral.

What lay before them virtually shattered the players' understanding of the gods' sequential descent and blurred everyone's comprehension of the eras themselves.

Qin Xin and the Blind One sank into deep thought. Ironically, it was Cheng Shi — the most confused at first — whose mind suddenly seized on sothing. He blinked in disbelief, seemingly wanting to discuss it with the other two. But just as the thought reached the tip of his tongue, he swallowed it back.

Forget it. It was just a guess. And these two Torchbearers probably didn't even know what "eras" ant in the larger sense. Rather than explaining that concept here, it was better to finish the task at hand first. Once the Divinity was secured, he could bring up these baseless speculations.

"If things go smoothly, tonight you two can extract Divinity to your heart's content on the Proxy Hand's turf. But for now, pack up, take these two pieces of Abyss Colorful Crystal, and co help us take over the Proxy Hand's territory."

At that, Shi Lolin's eyes blazed with fervent light. She pressed her still-functional arm against the stump of her severed one: "You're going after A Rad now?"

Seeing no objections from the other two, Cheng Shi smiled and nodded: "That's right. I know where he is, but it'd be best if you led the way — you know this place, and you know him.

Though I must say, Shi Lolin, I am curious — why do you hate your brother so much?

He obviously kept Ad Ric..."

Cheng Shi trailed off mid-sentence, realizing it was sowhat awkward to ntion Ad Ric in front of her. But Shi Lolin didn't mind in the slightest. Instead, she answered with utter frankness:

"Locked up?

Heh — if I hadn't been finding creative ways to 'sponsor' Ad Ric, I might never have noticed sothing was wrong with my dear brother.

My original plan was to 'buy off' all the miners under him and have them secretly set aside the best finds for . But during those discreet inquiries, I realized... A Rad's identity seed off.

He'd beco far more shrewd and capable, and he was seeing

less and less.

So..."

Cheng Shi blinked. 'So she's got a brother complex? That controlling? Just because of this, she wants her own flesh-and-blood brother dead?'

But what happened next caught everyone off guard — Shi Lolin's words took yet another unexpected turn.

"I suspect he's betrayed the Extre Desire Brotherhood, spurned our Benefactor's grace, and secretly joined... the Tower of Logic!"

"?"

What?

Cheng Shi was stunned: "A Rad was also part of the Extre Desire Brotherhood?"

"He used to be. But not anymore!" Shi Lolin's tone was practically gnashing — clearly, her brother's betrayal had cut to the bone.

"Why would he join the Tower of Logic?"

"Naturally because of the benefits the Tower of Logic promised him. But the filth on the surface is a hundred tis more disgusting than anything in our Underworld. He's lost his way, desecrated our Benefactor, and deserves death as atonent."

But Cheng Shi frowned at this, puzzled: "That doesn't add up. He followed his own desire and made the choice most advantageous to himself. That's arguably the greatest offering one can make to Corruption. How exactly does that count as betrayal?"

"???"

Now it was Shi Lolin's turn to be stunned — completely, thoroughly stunned.

She stared at Cheng Shi in horror, pupils contracting violently, brain buzzing, neck stiff as if filled with lead, mouth hanging open for an eternity without managing a single word of rebuttal.

For one fleeting instant, she felt as though her entire path of faith had veered off course.

But the very next second, Cheng Shi pulled the capsizing Siren back to safety.

"Then again, it doesn't really matter. If you want to kill, kill — you don't need a reason. That in itself is also a form of desire. So you're not wrong either."

"..."

Color slowly returned to Shi Lolin's ashen face. The cold sweat that had drenched her head cascaded down in rivulets. She collapsed to the ground as if all strength had left her, muttering ceaselessly: "I wasn't wrong. I'm right. I wasn't wrong. I'm right..."

In that mont, she looked like a drowning person suddenly rescued — trembling uncontrollably, heart filled with nothing but lingering terror, all traces of her earlier shrewdness gone.

Watching this, Qin Xin furrowed his brow slightly. The Blind One grew contemplative.

They hadn't expected that this Fate Weaver's true killing blade wasn't the scalpel in his hand — it was a swift blade called faith!

Everyone knew that in the Land of Hope — this god-worshipping world — most people's entire lives were shackled by faith. Seize the reins of their faith, and you could manipulate these long-dead historical figures' pitiful, tragic lives at will.

But saying it was easy — doing it was another matter entirely.

Faith had a thousand faces. To distill a few brief words into a blade that struck precisely at the weakest point of soone's faith required an extraordinarily deep understanding of that faith on the wielder's part.

Yet most people couldn't even see through the path of faith beneath their own feet. Their devotion was impure. To say nothing of understanding soone else's faith.

So after witnessing this scene, the two Torchbearers gained a new appreciation for Cheng Shi's "ability." At the very least, this Fate Weaver possessed an extrely profound understanding of Corruption.

"Getting close to Corruption isn't exactly a good thing," Qin Xin murmured to himself.

The Blind One caught his words. She tilted her head toward him with an amused smile:

"I recall you once told

that the greatest desire in this world is the commitnt to guarding beauty. By that logic, the Torchbearers should actually be considered a different breed of Corruption devotees.

What happened — so solemn today?"

Qin Xin paused, then smiled ruefully: "People... change."

With that, he walked past the Blind One without another word, heading to Cheng Shi's side to help escort the wise n. But in that fleeting mont as they passed each other, every trace of the Blind One's smile vanished, replaced by an expression of utmost gravity.

Because she rembered — Qin Xin had once said that while people may change, Torchbearers never would.

So why... had this founding Torchbearer changed?