Foolish Game of the Chapter 684: I Suspect Time's Trap Is

In the end, Cheng Shi didn't ask the Blind One to hand over her card. He chose to trust her, just this once.

Of course, this was absolutely born from genuine trust — and definitely not because she'd asked him to hand over his card first.

Facing the Blind One's knowing half-smile, Cheng Shi rubbed his nose and finally got serious.

"There are only two things we need to sort out right now. First: how did the Ti 'discrepancy' appear on us? Second: when exactly were we affected?

Once we figure out these two points, we'll find our way ho safely under Destiny's protection."

The Blind One nodded in agreent. At the sa ti, she turned to "glance" toward the warehouse door. Sensing that Qin Xin had left, she frowned slightly:

"Qin Xin is probably quite interested in that Investigator. He's noticed our changes, so naturally he'll investigate the other teammates' changes too.

He won't stand in our way, but he probably won't be our ally either.

He truly is a flawless Torchbearer. But as you said — the fire he carries has nothing to do with ours."

'Not "ours" — yours. Carrying fire has nothing to do with

in the first place.'

Cheng Shi grumbled internally but didn't press the point. He stroked his chin and looked toward the three experinters in the center of the warehouse.

"The Doctor was the first anomaly I detected. His attitude toward concealing his identity shifted before and after the first investigation. After that ca Li Wufang's anomaly — his attitude toward Destiny beca different from the start..."

Cheng Shi quickly laid out his earlier reasoning before the Blind One, then waited for her to fill in the gaps. After a mont's thought, she picked up:

"What you've described largely matches my thinking. But since I... was absent during the Oblivion disaster that Wu Cun triggered, hearing you say this now makes

wonder — could Wu Cun have changed too?"

"?"

Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened. He frowned and thought for a mont, then nodded:

"It's entirely possible. Li Wufang is a shrewd Investigator with a talent for reading people. If he was so worried about the Oblivion threat, he'd have no reason to let a walking disaster disappear from his sight.

The only explanation is: the Wu Cun we originally t could suppress the fury inside herself. But after splitting from Li Wufang, she fell into Ti's trap and was swapped with a Wu Cun from another tiline — one who couldn't contain her inner rage.

Mm — it's a plausible theory, but we're missing key evidence.

Still, these changes confirm that Ti's first 'discrepancy' must have occurred during our split-team investigation period. And at that point, Qin Xin... didn't seem to have any issues.

Though it's also possible he'd already changed and I simply didn't notice.

Wang Mou said he's Like A Dream. You know about that, right?"

Hearing that ID, the Blind One's brow tightened: "I asked him. He said it wasn't him."

"Wasn't?!" Cheng Shi looked stunned. "He drew the Dreamless Mirror. That mirror is supposedly in Like A Dream's possession."

"The Dreamless Mirror is indeed with Like A Dream. But from what I know, the number-one mory ranker isn't a warrior — he's a... hunter.

He's a Dream Peeping Ranger."

"A hunter?"

Cheng Shi froze. He furrowed his brow and began ticulously reviewing every detail about Qin Xin from today. When he recalled Qin Xin's performance during the Shanty Area exploration, he realized that the hunter designation wasn't impossible.

"His speed... really wasn't warrior-like.

A hunter pretending to be a warrior isn't hard. But a warrior moving with a hunter's speed... that's not easy.

Though... by that point, he'd probably already changed?"

"Correct. By then he'd already beco who he is now. The Qin Xin we knew was probably cast out by Ti into another tiline.

So his reactions in the Shanty Area alone aren't enough to determine whether he'd changed during the first 'discrepancy.'"

"Now this is interesting. Even at the highest difficulty, any trial must follow a set of rules. So what happened during that first investigation period to make them all fall into temporal discrepancies at different locations?

And why were the two of us affected?"

Cheng Shi sank into thought again. Just then, the Blind One furrowed her brow:

"Ti's Oracle Act is precision and punctuality. Could it be... so rule tied to the hour marks?"

"Possible — but unlikely!" Cheng Shi shook his head slightly. "I'll admit without sha — because of so tricks Ti followers pulled on

before, I'm abnormally sensitive to every hour mark. All day today, I've been bracing for each one.

At every hour mark, I clearly rember who was in front of

and whether they did anything strange. Naturally, the person I observed most was you. But neither you nor anyone else showed anything unusual at the hour marks.

Actually... I already have a hypothesis. I just haven't verified it yet."

"What?"

"The Abyss Colorful Crystal!" Cheng Shi was facing the Blind One, but his peripheral vision drifted toward the scholars and wise n experinting in the warehouse's center.

"The initial spark ca from noticing the changes in Wang Mou and Li Wufang. Both underwent so kind of attitudinal shift after returning from their mine search.

That made

certain the mine harbored a secret. Later, when I learned Ti's discrepancy had affected us too, I imdiately realized the answer might lie there — the rule governing the discrepancies.

Then there's Qin Xin's change..."

"But Qin Xin was with us during the second investigation. He never went near the—" She stopped mid-sentence, freezing. She'd just rembered: the Shanty Area was also hiding two pieces of Abyss Colorful Crystal!

Those two crystals were part of Shi Lolin's collection from the Extre Desire Brotherhood.

The Blind One's brow creased: "You suspect Qin Xin wandered close to the Crystal during the search and was affected?"

"Yes. Rember where Qin Xin went to search for the Abyss Colorful Crystal? Only he took that direction. You and I both converged with him from the other side."

Cheng Shi's eyes blazed brighter with every word. "Wang Mou must have found Crystal during the first investigation — only he couldn't be sure of Qin Xin's position, so he abandoned taking it.

Of course, it's also possible that when he first found the Crystal, the discrepancy hit him right then — and his covetousness toward the Abyss Colorful Crystal changed, even leading him to voluntarily leave it behind. But that's pure speculation. A Truth follower would almost certainly never abandon experintal material of that caliber.

So following this line of reasoning, the only reason Qin Xin wasn't affected during the first discrepancy is that he happened to avoid every hiding spot containing Abyss Colorful Crystal in the mine!

And for us — the discrepancy probably struck the mont we witnessed the Wise n replicate their experint!"

The Blind One listened to Cheng Shi's analysis, nodded thoughtfully, but then quickly shook her head:

"Brilliant reasoning. But I have to point out — Li Wufang's first change, and that first change of Wu Cun's that might or might not have happened... they never went near the mine during the first investigation!"

"Of course I rember. And that is precisely the direction we need to investigate next. If I'm right, sowhere near the residential area they searched — no, very likely right around the alley where they split up — another piece of Abyss Colorful Crystal is hidden!"

Cheng Shi fixed the Blind One with a burning stare and spoke with deliberate weight: "If we can find that Crystal there, we may have truly found the reason behind the 'discrepancies.'"