Honestly, when Cheng Shi saw the Eternal Sun, he was stunned too — because he'd never rung the Silent Infant Bell. Hu Xuan shouldn't be here at all.
But the sight wasn't inexplicable. Judging by the direction Hu Xuan had appeared from, she'd clearly been visiting Aph Ros in the ti-prison of Dolgod. And Cheng Shi had just happened to summon Go Lis at that exact mont. So both of Birth's children had... conveniently arrived on stage together.
And when Go Lis appeared in this space — wreathed in the purest Birth power and boundless fury — the newly awakened Zangier let out his first scream since regaining sight:
"Impossible!
How could you possibly bypass His protection and reach this place — this is impossible!"
The Eternal Sun's aura was far too faint. Compared to Zangier, Hu Xuan was nothing more than a "junior" still piecing together her divinity — hardly worth ntioning. But Go Lis was different. She was the complete form of a Birth envoy — a true servant god of the Life path — and she even carried another servant god's divine power. This was a status and height that no pseudo-god could ever reach through "effort" alone.
If scholars' experints actually worked, the Tower of Logic would have produced true gods instead of pseudo-gods. Zangier understood this perfectly. He knew that plodding silently along Truth's path would never make him one of Them. That was precisely why he'd gone so far as to forge himself into a pseudo-god, then escape history into reality — seeking new opportunity.
But never in his wildest nightmares had he imagined that this "new experint" — protected by Truth — would fail now!
Yes, this experint absolutely had Truth's protection. Otherwise, after Mo Li and the Prisoner escaped the containnt, they'd never have cowered inside that building waiting for rescue.
This was reality. Players could pray freely in reality and transmit information through those prayers. But they hadn't succeeded.
Why? Because a deity had intervened!
And disrupting the most fundantal function of the Faith Ga couldn't be done with simple ddling. That deity had to have thods for circumventing the Convention on so level!
Few deities could and would do such a thing — but Truth was certainly one of them.
And it was precisely because Zangier and 0221 had received Truth's answer to their prayers that these two madn from different eras had dared to orchestrate such a brazen sche in reality.
What they hadn't anticipated was this: at the experint's final hour, a single step from success, the Benefactor who'd "promised" them had withdrawn His protection — allowing a Birth servant god to break through the barrier and appear before them.
And not just any servant god — the Sin Brood Mother, the one who despised blasphers most!
'How is anyone supposed to fight this?'
Zangier's expression turned hideously dark. anwhile, from within the crowd, Cheng Shi was grinning ear to ear.
"Heh — what's so impossible? I told you: your path was wrong.
Sure, taking the wrong path might not affect your personal achievents. But have you considered — you've stopped walking Truth's road entirely. Why would He bother protecting you?
Not every god is Fate. Fate's divergent paths can still loop back to the destined course, thanks to His tolerance. But Truth...
Soone once told : Truth is an eternal, immutable law. It carries not a shred of feeling.
So wrong is wrong. And you, Zangier, are spectacularly, catastrophically wrong.
Accept your fate. Your collector has arrived."
Cheng Shi delivered this monologue from behind Big Cat's protection, every word dripping with sarcasm — each one a dagger in Zangier's chest.
Zangier's eerie twin eyes glared furiously at Cheng Shi, but he made no retaliation — verbal or physical.
Scholars had always been pragmatic. Even when experints failed due to uncontrolled variables, they'd always try to salvage sothing at the final mont. So, facing this rapidly collapsing situation, Zangier furrowed his brow and began calculating how to piece this wrong path... back together.
With a top-tier scholar's intellect, it took only monts before he actually found a way.
He'd learned about this era from 0221. He'd learned about the Faith Ga. He'd deduced that the Audience with God must be extraordinarily important — which was why the gods had implented this ga in reality. So he believed that if he obtained a player identity, he might be able to forge a new path in this new era.
That was why he'd lured 0221 into cooperation. But now, facing Birth's judgnt, 0221 — as Truth's so-called Chosen — could at least invoke his player status to argue his case. But Zangier?
As a "jailbreaker" from history, he had no ground to stand on.
So for Zangier, the only path to survival was: endure the pressure and rge with 0221 as fast as possible!
If he descended into 0221's body, he would beco 0221. In this ga of faith-based conflicts, as the player who'd walked farthest on Truth's road, Zangier refused to believe Truth would simply abandon him over so minor setback!
Because he had always believed — his own madness, his mother's madness, his ancestors' madness — it was all due to Truth's will!
That lofty deity must Himself be an extraordinarily mad existence among the gods. Only that could explain why He had protected Zangier ti and again.
And so, having found his "opportunity," Zangier expelled 0221 from his right eye. Before 0221 could even take stock of the situation, a torrential wave of consciousness erupted from Zangier's titanic body and slamd into 0221.
0221's eyes bulged — seemingly comprehending what was happening. But he showed no panic, no fear. Instead, he laughed wildly, cheered deliriously. In that mont, he saw his destination not as death, but as... true Truth.
"He chose !
Fate Weaver, he chose
in the end!
I am the one who walks shoulder to shoulder with my ntor, treading the path of Truth together!"
"..."
Watching this deranged scene, Cheng Shi glanced at 0221's hands and smirked inwardly.
He could tell 0221 genuinely wanted to rge with Zangier. But... Zangier didn't look like so pure-hearted research-focused scholar.
What kind of Kool-Aid had Zangier fed 0221 to make the number-one player on the Ladder of Ascent for Truth beco this... "foolish"?
And what was Go Lis doing? Just watching? Not making a move?
Cheng Shi frowned, gazing at the myriad tentacles hanging from the sky.
Go Lis truly was doing nothing. She had rely, quietly, surrounded the area — then waited in silence for Zangier's fusion to complete.
The scene suddenly went "quiet" again. The entire space was left with nothing but 0221's manic laughter and the sound of everyone sucking in sharp, horrified breaths.
Everyone was stunned.
Yet the universe beyond was far from calm. At least here — in the depths of the Void that no player could perceive — a dark, churning ga of power was already in play.
...
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