Foolish Game of the Chapter 772: The Con Man and the Doctor

Did Hong Lin know Cheng Shi was missing?

She did. She'd lost track of his aura a while ago.

But she wasn't worried in the slightest. She knew a destined one would live to see the world's final act. Though she couldn't say where that final curtain call would be, she knew it wasn't here.

So she let the Fate Weaver go — let him put on whatever show he pleased.

She believed that even if the destined one wasn't truly destined, the Fate follower who'd led her onto destiny's path surely was.

In that belief, Big Cat trusted Cheng Shi more than Cheng Shi trusted himself.

As for the man in question — he was doing alright. Thanks to the doctor's combat prowess, the two had used the blanket of shadows to escape without major injury.

Of course, under tentacle lashes dense as stormclouds, hoping for a "no-damage achievent" was delusional. Both of them were battered.

Initially, having a priest along, the doctor hadn't been concerned. But when he noticed Cheng Shi didn't even heal himself, this typically unflappable Truth follower felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of panic.

"Fate Weaver, don't let suspicion beco the absurd reason we both end up dead. I did deceive you, yes — but that deception caused you no harm, did it?"

"?" Cheng Shi snorted derisively. "Whether it caused harm isn't for you to decide. You should've known this day would co the mont you abused my trust."

"Fine. I'll apologize for the ulterior motives behind my actions. But I must clarify two points:

First — I never 'abused your trust.' You don't seem to trust anyone. It was your own fool—... your own blindness that deceived you.

Second — if the 'harm' you speak of is regarding the Fate Chosen, then from my observation, you seem to get along even better with An Mingyu, who cos from my world. If that is the 'harm' you an, then I'd argue the impact has been positive, wouldn't you say?"

"..."

Cheng Shi was numb. He could tell the doctor bore no malice, but seriously — was this really the ti for a asured debate?

'What am I supposed to say? "Sure, there was impact — thanks to your help, the Blind One is now my ally. I should really be thanking you"?'

'Now that would be pointless!'

Cheng Shi pursed his lips and snapped: "Wrong. I don't care for this An Mingyu. I had a close relationship with the previous one. Your little swap sche has severely damaged my interests. So I..."

Wang Mou's brow furrowed with utmost seriousness. "Understood. I need to compensate you for the losses I've caused. I owe you reparations. Is that right?"

"..."

'Being smart is one thing, but being this blunt about it is hard to stomach, Doctor...'

'If I say "yes," it'll make

look way too greedy.'

"Yes!"

Cheng Shi's reply was crisp and clear.

"Understood. Once this is over and I've escaped 0221's control, I'll provide satisfactory compensation."

"Ha — your pie-in-the-sky promises are almost as good as my dear big bro's. What, I'm supposed to keep you alive for the sake of my future compensation?"

"BOOM—"

Wang Mou dragged Cheng Shi clear of another barrage of tentacles, his expression unwavering:

"It's mutual cooperation, not one-sided protection. I can provide extensive experintal intelligence to help you find the answers you seek, and along the way, my abilities can keep you safe.

But the prerequisite is: set aside your prejudice and heal !

I respect all priests. And therefore, I respect you."

Cheng Shi blinked, then laughed despite himself. "Nice words — almost unlike you. But Doctor, aren't you washing your hands a bit too clean? Don't tell

you don't want to know this experint's secrets yourself?"

"I do. But finding answers ranks below survival. You, however, are different, Fate Weaver. I can tell — you ca here specifically for answers.

Without the divinity-assembly thod, I can still walk my own path toward Truth. But you...

You can't. Your behavior tells

that if this trip yields nothing, you'll die of regret over your own greed.

Of course, uncovering this experint's true purpose is also one of your goals. You hold clues I don't, but you lack a partner. So I chose to approach you again.

You can trust . The sa way you trust An Mingyu.

After all, we have no conflicting interests. On the front of opposing 0221, we're already on the sa side."

"..."

Honestly, this playbook was all too familiar. Cheng Shi used the sa "persuasion" techniques on teammates all the ti. Of course, his version was genuine manipulation — whereas every word from the doctor was genuine "truth."

The Truth follower's analysis was spot-on. Cheng Shi's optimal play right now was to team up with the doctor, unravel 0221's purpose, and then extract the divinity-assembly secret from within it.

In reality, after all the groundwork he'd laid inside the experint site, Cheng Shi could handle any danger here solo. But the doctor was right about one thing: he was hopelessly ignorant of the Tower of Logic's various experintal thodologies. Even with Master of Deception on his side, he could easily walk into 0221's traps while chasing the truth.

So after weighing everything extensively, factoring in multiple considerations, Cheng Shi agreed to the partnership.

Though he didn't say yes right away. Instead, he switched to Cheng-the-Greedy and squeezed his temporary partner for a few extras.

When the doctor learned that even healing ca with a price tag, he briefly wondered whether this world's basic social contract was radically different from his original one. How could camaraderie between teammates be this cold? They'd already struck a deal, and he still had to pay?

'Fine. I deceived him first. If healing costs money, consider it part of the reparations.'

So Wang Mou nodded, accepting with a sigh.

Cheng Shi was finally pleased — but his grin lasted exactly one second before it died. Because he'd suddenly rembered he wasn't actually a priest right now. An "Another Day Thief" couldn't heal teammates.

Seeing Cheng Shi do nothing for an uncomfortably long ti, the doctor's expression slowly darkened.

"What do you want now?"

"..."

Cheng Shi felt a pang of awkwardness, but his skin was thick enough. With a dry laugh, he fished a bottle of Prosperity of Yesteryear from his pocket and pressed it into Wang Mou's hand.

It stung to part with it, but it was the best way to show sincerity.

Wang Mou frowned at the potion, puzzled. "My injuries hardly warrant wasting sothing like this. Besides, wouldn't a basic healing spell be more economical? Fate Weaver, what are you eyeing now?"

"..."

'Great. Once truth gets polluted with prejudice, it stops being truth.'

Cheng Shi pursed his lips and said nothing, sighing internally:

'Doctor, oh Doctor. Stop assuming everyone's as greedy as you think.'

'I don't refuse to heal you because I won't — I can't!'

'An assassin doesn't have healing spells, alright?!'

'Also — you think the tentacles aren't hitting you because of your good looks?'

'Wrong!'

'It's !'

'All of it is !'

'If I weren't burning through every ounce of my fate-weaving, constantly overwriting the present with the scenario most favorable to us both — do you really think we'd be running this smoothly?'

'Across those hundreds of possible futures, the doctor and the Clown took who-knows-how-many critical hits. It's thanks to

that you even have the luxury of bargaining with . Don't be grateful — fine — but you dare mock

on top of it?'

'Who do you think you are, Folly?!'

'Damn. I'm furious.'

But fury or not, he needed the doctor to uncover 0221's purpose. So Cheng Shi swallowed his complaints, wiped every emotion off his face, and tucked the Thorn Weeping Rite — which had been coiled around his forearm like a bone-serpent, greedily drinking his blood — back beneath his sleeve. Then he resud his ticulous fate-weaving.

...