Foolish Game of the Chapter 798: Aph Ros, How Do You Feel About Being a Boss?

Hearing all this, a thought suddenly ford in Cheng Shi's mind.

When you're not clever enough to solve a problem yourself, why not hand the problem over to soone who is? Case in point: if Wei Mu learned about Origin, would he try to approach Him the way he'd once approached Folly?

Almost certainly yes — because he seed like the type who "climbed the highest peak."

So Cheng Shi's eyes darted, and he turned to the puppet with a smile, ready to voluntarily disclose a little sothing.

But before revealing anything, he needed to confirm that the Wei Mu entering the ga was the real deal — not so mouthpiece marionette speaking on soone else's behalf.

He rapped the table and smiled.

"I admire you — just as I admire the Fate Weaver I'm currently playing. You've earned the right to stay here and hear things that ordinary Players never could. But there's one condition.

A marionette... doesn't get a seat at this table."

The puppet heard this and froze. It lowered its head and pondered for a mont as if steeling itself for a decision, then stood on the tabletop, gave another slight bow, and spoke with solemnity.

"Esteed sirs, if my physical form is a concern, then I must make a confession.

This puppet is not my puppet. It is, in fact...

my true body."

"?"

The first to furrow her brow wasn't Cheng Shi — it was Aph Ros. While She detected no scent of lies on him, She also detected no emotional aura at all!

That wasn't strange in itself — a puppet shouldn't carry the aura of a living being. But when Wei Mu declared that he was the puppet, things got strange very quickly.

"You converted yourself into a puppet?"

Cheng Shi was mildly startled, though not truly shocked. He'd seen plenty of this sort of thing — whether it was Ardos, Kataro, or the Blind One's Puppet Master relative, An Jing. All masters of the art.

Co to think of it, the first two were even Zangier's students. The world was simply too small — everywhere you turned, the Creation Alchemy Departnt's fingerprints were there.

"Correct. I spent a period deeply studying puppetrcraft, then later refined my techniques, blending creation alchemy with chanical engineering to construct this body for myself."

"But I've heard you have a flesh-and-blood body." Hu Xuan frowned.

The mont she asked the question, Wei Mu realized that among the three Envoys at the table, if he ever needed to find a weak link, the Eternal Sun would probably be the easiest to coax information from.

But now clearly wasn't the ti for scheming. The puppet nodded and turned to Hu Xuan.

"Correct. I do possess a physical body, but that, too, is one of my puppets — a puppet that doesn't house my core consciousness.

I placed my true self in harm's way and hid the actual puppet sowhere suprely safe. That way, if soone goes to extraordinary lengths to find ',' who would believe that what they found in such a well-hidden location wasn't the real person?

It's the safest thod of self-preservation. Of course, after leaving Dolgod, I may change my appearance again.

But if I could earn a ticket to the terrace banquet, I believe that — for the sake of keeping my seat — I'd be willing to preserve my favorite puppet shell for your sakes.

What... do you think?"

'What do I think?'

'Heh — of course, the strongest Players in this ga are all born liars.'

Cheng Shi snorted and looked toward Aph Ros. He said nothing, but his attitude already signaled agreent.

Aph Ros smiled and didn't refuse. She found the Wei Mu across from Her worthy of the number one spot on the Road to Ascension. Moreover, She felt he might be the second window — after Her brother Yu Xi — through which She could observe this era.

So Aph Ros actually gave Wei Mu an entry ticket: a Dolgod silver coin.

"Drop the coin into wine, and you'll find your way back here."

The puppet picked up the coin from the tabletop, bowed in gratitude, then swallowed it into its mouth.

With everything settled and the Folly contestant successfully aboard, Cheng Shi finally began revealing the existence of Origin to Wei Mu.

He didn't dare say too much — he rely revealed Origin's divine na and told Wei Mu that Folly's loss of authority was connected to Him. When the puppet heard this, its jaw clattered onto the table once more.

"Ori... gin."

He was hooked.

Cheng Shi could see it at a glance. Even on an expressionless puppet, the obsession was unmistakable. The feeling reminded him of the Blind One's first divination of Origin — that faint hint of madness, still small but with no telling when it might explode into sothing spectacular.

"Given that you're a latecor, I should warn you — keep your distance from Him.

Good. My brother, we've spent enough ti on tangents. Let's get to the point.

You brought that blaspher here — so what do you intend to do?"

Finally, the real topic. Truth be told, milking information from Wei Mu was just a happy bonus. Cheng Shi's true purpose here had always been dealing with the mad Grand Scholar and the 0221 who'd attempted to fuse with him.

"Will they die?"

"No. At least not within Go Lis's warm embrace — they're sleeping as peacefully as infants."

"..."

Cheng Shi's eye twitched. He thought to himself that Go Lis's embrace had absolutely nothing to do with "warm."

"Right. I did have an idea at first.

I figured that since even Zangier was able to descend into 0221's body to steal his Player identity, then you — who already embodies both Birth and Corruption — could easily do the sa. Beco a Player and leave this place.

But Hu Xuan told

that soone as devout as you would never fuse with a blaspher of such vile caliber, so I dropped that plan."

At these words, Aph Ros went completely still. Stiffly, She turned to look at Hu Xuan.

Hu Xuan t Her gaze with utter seriousness, her devotion-filled expression plainly asking: 'Was I wrong?'

"...No." Aph Ros heaved a deep sigh and nodded with a bitter smile.

As a prisoner, if She could temporarily escape Her cage, a touch of blasphemy — the responsibility routed through Go Lis and borne by Aph Ros alone — wasn't entirely out of the question.

But She had just managed to establish so contact with Her Benefactor, Birth, through Hu Xuan. If She now perford an act of blasphemy in front of the Eternal Sun, who knew what "little sister" would whisper to Mother once she got ho?

So Aph Ros abandoned the idea with a rueful smile. She drained a goblet of wine in one wild gulp and gestured for Cheng Shi to continue.

She knew that if Cheng Shi had only one impractical idea, he wouldn't have lingered this long.

And Cheng Shi did indeed have another idea — one that, to certain parties, might be considered... sowhat inhumane.

"Ahem — naturally, I have another angle.

Aph Ros, how would you feel about being a boss?"

"?" Aph Ros blinked again. "What kind of boss?"

"A boss of drudges.

I've already found you the perfect workhorse — he's the one dangling from the church ceiling up there.

The way I see it, having a Grand Scholar, an intellectual powerhouse like that, doing off-the-books labor for you — well, ahem, for us — is a rare opportunity, wouldn't you say?"

...