Hearing Cheng Shi's brazen response, the blood-soaked Wang Mou beside him finally caught up.
Zangier was actually here!
He'd appeared in reality — far from the Land of Hope, far from the Stars Dagger, far from the Erudition Presidium!
How had he managed it?!
Setting that aside — so the great leader of the Creation Alchemy Departnt was searching for his finger?
How had he known his finger would appear inside this experint site?
Was it preditated, or a spur-of-the-mont decision?
Given the current situation, 0221 was clearly wary. He didn't dare attack Cheng Shi — apparently fearing that the Fate Weaver had done sothing to the finger. If killing Cheng Shi ant losing the finger forever, the risk was too great!
So this finger was suprely important to 0221. And the Fate Weaver had realized that before Wang Mou had — leveraging it as a bargaining chip to protect them both!
'What a sharp Fate Weaver!'
Wang Mou looked at Cheng Shi with newfound astonishnt, feeling he'd once again underestimated this seemingly carefree Fate Weaver.
But had Cheng Shi really planned this far ahead?
Not at all!
Cheng Shi had just said it himself: he possessed quick thinking, but in terms of true wisdom, he couldn't match 0221.
So no matter how cautious and calculated he was, he hadn't been able to guess 0221's intentions. He knew the Zangier finger in his possession would connect to the experint, but without more information, he'd had no idea how to use it proactively.
Not until monts ago — not until he sensed the other party's hunger for the finger. From that instant, the Clown's quick wits kicked in.
He'd impulsively tested the depth of 0221's desire. He probed how far the man's need went — whether it was enough that he wouldn't gamble even the slightest chance of an "accident."
Of course, Cheng Shi would never truly put himself in mortal danger. He'd had a finger on the trigger — his ntal snap-of-the-fingers — the entire ti.
If the tentacles hadn't retreated, Cheng Shi would have. Even losing an eye, he could use the combined power of Fate and Ti to extricate himself from the tentacle encirclent, then heal at his leisure.
So he wasn't being reckless. He'd kept an escape route open all along.
Throughout their journey here, he'd kept a die in his pocket. Every trajectory that die had traveled was the die's past.
And as a dual follower of Fate and Ti, Cheng Shi was the one person who knew best how to return to the past!
Fortunately, that contingency went unused. The probe yielded satisfying results: 0221 was indeed terrified of anything happening to that finger. Even his attacks had been pure bluff.
Once Cheng Shi confird this, his forrly clueless position in this standoff suddenly flipped — and he beca the one successfully "bluffing."
"What — afraid to kill ?
You won't know if the finger disappears unless you try."
"..." The writhing tentacle mass froze once more, then receded like a tide.
And as the sky-blotting tentacles vanished, a figure appeared in the building's passageway — one half bloated, one half withered.
0221!
The Truth Chosen had finally shown himself. He gazed down at the two with an amused expression, his raspy, grating voice calling out:
"Fate Weaver — let's make a deal. I'm certain the terms will satisfy you."
'Don't count on it.'
Cheng Shi rolled his eyes, feeling a twinge of internal conflict.
He absolutely wanted to extract maximum benefit from this deal. But he'd also guessed that 0221 was harvesting desire and emotion from this experint site's chaos. So his dilemma was whether to rein in his own greed.
After wrestling with it for about half a second, he acknowledged his true nature and returned to form.
"Toss the divinity assembly thod down first. Once I've verified it's genuine, we can discuss the rest."
Even Wang Mou found this speechless. Who opens a negotiation by demanding the other party's trump card?
But to his amazent, 0221 agreed. The man actually threw down a manuscript detailing the divinity assembly thod — and did so with a smile on his face.
Seeing his original body's smile, Wang Mou's heart sank. He couldn't laugh.
Such "generosity" could only an one thing: 0221 wasn't worried about them grabbing the manuscript and leaving. Which ant the situation was far worse than he'd imagined. Even with multiple Chosen Ones in the field, 0221 showed no fear whatsoever.
What was his ace?
It had to be Zangier — the Grand Scholar who'd stepped out of the Land of Hope's history. But if that legendary figure was truly here, why hadn't he shown himself?
Could it be that Zangier was the experint's true mastermind?!
Cheng Shi wasn't nearly as worried as Wang Mou. He arched a brow, watched the manuscript land at his feet, and — prudently not touching it — turned to the doctor with a grin:
"Doctor — seeing
in a new light today?
Curious why I have so much first-hand intelligence?
Wondering how Zangier escaped from history, and what he's doing here?
Eager to know what's actually written in that divinity assembly manuscript?
If all of those questions pique your curiosity, then perhaps consider joining us.
Once you're one of us... the path toward Truth becos considerably more efficient."
"?"
Wang Mou was dumbfounded. He'd never imagined that in such a crisis — right in front of his original body — a teammate who already knew his origins would recruit him into so impossibly mysterious-sounding organization.
'What kind of play is this?'
His brow furrowed. He glanced up at 0221, then back at Cheng Shi:
"Are you sure you're inviting
to join an organization, and not trying to get
to walk into a trap — test the manuscript for booby-traps and verify its accuracy for free?"
"???"
Cheng Shi's turn to freeze.
'Dude. Can you not be this smart? People are better off a little dumb.'
'Look at Big Cat. She's adorable.'
Cheng Shi's smile petrified on his face. He couldn't shalessly say "yes," but he couldn't brazen out a "no" either, so he chuckled vaguely:
"We're all family here — don't talk about walking into traps. I'd love to do it myself, but I can't read the thing.
There's a saying: 'the capable should do more.' That philosophy actually brings you closer to Truth, doesn't it, Doctor? And you're already walking toward Truth. So — the capable should do more, right?"
"..." Wang Mou fell silent. He gave Cheng Shi an odd look, deliberated for a mont, and nodded. "Fine."
The doctor was nothing if not pragmatic. The word had barely left his lips before he bent down, picked up the manuscript, and began leafing through it. But as he read, this Truth follower's expression grew stranger and stranger. By the last page, he'd broken composure entirely — and laughed.
But the laughter was drenched in mockery and contempt, as if whatever the manuscript contained was utterly worthless.
Laughing alongside him, up at the passage entrance — 0221.
"Heh heh heh... So — the real from the fake has been ascertained. Now then, let's talk about our deal."
"Shut up." Cheng Shi cut him off, frowned, and turned to the doctor. "It's real?"
Wang Mou flipped back a couple of pages, closed the manuscript, and nodded with a sigh of keen emotion:
"Real enough, I suppose.
But I never imagined the thod for assembling divinity would be this absurd. And this... simple!"
...
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