Cheng Shi's words were harsh — and profoundly incisive. Both Truth followers present fell silent, one dark-faced and one puzzled, each sinking into contemplation.
They were chewing on Cheng Shi's aning. But they'd likely never fully understand, because only Cheng Shi could work through the implications. After all, neither of them knew what Origin was, nor what it ant to be "nad by *Him."
Truth was part of the Approach Faction. He had always used His own thods to draw closer to Origin. And so His followers conducted all manner of insane experints in Truth's na.
Think about it: Truth was essentially mining inspiration from His followers' experints, applying those insights to Himself, and thereby inching toward the universe's ultimate — that *Him!
And yet Zangier and 0221 had the audacity to use "a god's power" to assemble divinity. Even if they succeeded, what reference value did this "shortcut" have for Truth?
'Use Origin's divinity to approach Origin?!'
'If Truth could get His hands on Origin's divinity, why would He bother sponsoring all these experints?'
'He'd have gotten His wish ages ago!'
After all, mortals looked up at the gods and could see pseudo-gods and wild gods existing between them. But in the gods' own upward gaze, beyond Origin, there was no such thing as a "pseudo-Origin"!
So if Truth was truly approaching Origin, then in His eyes, everything Zangier and 0221 had done — every last bit of it — was aningless garbage.
In Folly's words: a foolish act.
'Wait. Hold on!'
'Damn. Was Wei Mu's "foolish act" precisely this?!'
'Had that man seen through 0221's thod and imdiately realized this entire Truth ga was pointless?'
'Was the guy really that godlike, or was Cheng Shi overthinking?'
For a mont, even Cheng Shi fell silent.
The vast space went quiet. But gradually, 0221's expression turned ugly.
"There is no point communicating with fools. I retract the assessnt that 'you are a clever man.'
No matter how far a mortal sees, they are rely amusing themselves in one corner of ti's great river. How can they claim to survey past and future? Without drawing close to Them — without becoming Them — even the straightest path is wrong!
Your filthy slander ans nothing to . You have no idea how difficult the road I've walked has been!"
The half-jowled, half-desiccated scholar's eyes were bloodshot now, his face contorted with resentnt. He raised his equally desiccated hand and pointed at his own starkly bisected body, howling as if nursing so profound grievance:
"All of this was supposed to be mine!
I endured the agony of faith-tearing day after day to house my ntor — and he just changed his mind and chose you!
Why? Tell , Fate Weaver — why?!"
"!!!!!"
Though 0221's outburst was only a few sentences, the information it contained was staggering — so overwhelming that both Cheng Shi and Wang Mou were struck dumb, plunging into complete stupefaction.
What did "housing the ntor" an?
What was "the agony of faith-tearing"?
And what did "chose you" an?!
'Did this an 0221's grotesque form wasn't from experinting on himself — but from forging a vessel for Zangier in the mortal world?!'
'What was he trying to do? Or rather — what was Zangier trying to do?'
'Had this mad Grand Scholar sensed the opportunity presented by the Void era and decided to leap out from the Faith Ga's "backdrop" and beco... a player? A Truth player who would replace 0221's identity?!'
'Insane!'
'This maniac!'
'Was there anything he wouldn't do?!'
'No wonder 0221's body was half Prosperity, half Decay. It had all been prepared for Zangier!'
'Right — Cheng Shi rembered now. After that Stars Dagger trial concluded, the "accidental consumables" Birth and Corruption had been replaced by Prosperity and Decay. So Zangier was already adapted to an environnt where two opposing faiths coexisted.'
'But here was the problem: even the Tower of Logic, backed by the Erudition Presidium, could barely create a single Hanged Man of Doomsday. If 0221 just shoved divinity into his own body, wouldn't he explode?'
'How was a mortal withstanding that violent divinity conflict?'
'The intensity of divinity tug-of-war didn't diminish just because the quantities were smaller!'
Just as Cheng Shi reached that point, the doctor beside him suddenly laughed — a laugh shot through with self-mockery.
"I thought I'd already imagined my original body as crazy enough. But clearly, compared to his actual madness, my assessnt was aningless.
Fate Weaver — you're wondering how a mortal body can harbor divinity, correct?
Let
tell you: it isn't divinity containnt at all. It's... faith stitching.
No wonder he was so familiar with the banned faith-stitching experint. He'd already applied its principles to himself!"
Halfway through, Wang Mou raised his head toward 0221, his tone heavy, each word deliberate:
"So — are you truly the slice everyone assus? The one designated 0221?
Or are you rely a composite — a stitched-together amalgamation of a Prosperity slice and a Decay slice?!
Is even the '0221' in your na stitched together, just like your body?
Number 02 and Number 21? Or are there more?!
How many people... are you?!"
"..."
'What?'
Cheng Shi's brain detonated. He stared at the doctor in shock, then — pupils contracting — swung his gaze to 0221, as if trying to rebuild his sanity and worldview from scratch.
'So the Truth follower standing before him wasn't a single slice, but a combined slice — stitched together from a Prosperity slice and a Decay slice?'
"Heh heh heh — clever.
You're cleverer than any previous version of you. Clearly, you experienced sothing interesting and acquired abilities I didn't know about, contaminating the mories that should have been uploaded.
No matter. Your purpose has been served. Deploying you inside — using your knowledge to amplify these fools' covetousness, thereby accelerating my experint...
At least in that regard, you helped .
But from here on, the rest is no longer your concern.
After today I shall remake you. I quite admire you, and I hope the next you will be just as clever."
"..."
Facing this unquestionable original-body voice looking down from above, Wang Mou's expression turned grave, every nerve taut. In the doctor's judgnt, the more confident 0221's tone, the more terrifying the backup asures built into this experint.
He could no longer imagine a way out. Everything before him scread that this was simultaneously an experint and a scam — a deception co-authored by a Truth follower existing in the present and a Truth scholar lost to history!
These two brilliant madn had squeezed every last drop of value from every consumable in the experint site. And now, it seed the experint was reaching its conclusion.
So — would he survive? Would the Fate Weaver? Would any of the players brought in by whatever ans still have a chance?
Wang Mou's heart was a tangle of emotions. He didn't know the answer. But he wanted one — an answer to a question that had gnawed at him since the day he'd learned his true identity.
"Why did you na
Wang Weijin?"
"?"
Even the heavily frowning Cheng Shi was startled out of his thoughts by this seemingly random question. 0221, above, burst into laughter — laughing until he was gasping for air before "generously" answering.
"You really are identical to . Co to think of it — after the consciousness war of the stitching experint, the only surviving
was also nad Wang Weijin.
I was just as curious as you — wondering why I'd been given that na.
Later, I investigated our pitiful original body's past and discovered that in his slice experint, every slice's na was taken from the people in the laboratory where he'd worked before the Faith Ga descended — students, teachers, colleagues.
And as it happens, Wang Weijin was his real na.
So — you are . I am him. He is you. We have always been the sa person.
And only the slice that inherited his na has earned the right to inherit a peak player's power.
Heh heh heh... We've talked long enough. Ti's up. Gentlen — are you ready to embrace evolution and push open that door alongside ?
The experint... is about to end!"
...
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