Chapter 633: Fate's Guidance Begins to Take Effect

Foolish Game of the Gods

The moment those words left his mouth, the entire prison fell silent.

'Wait—hold on. What did I just hear?'

'Your boss's sister works the shanty district at someone else's establishment, and you went there for a visit without paying?'

'What kind of business ecosystem is this?'

'This is the Abyssal Volcano?'

Cheng Shi blinked in bewilderment, then turned to the Blind One with a peculiar tone: "Does the History School know about this?"

The Blind One's eye twitched. No words.

"Sorry—the History School doesn't exactly record every piece of trashy gossip."

'What's wrong with trashy gossip? The really juicy stuff is in the tabloids!'

'Without tabloid history, at least ninety percent of the entertainment value of history would vanish. Straightlaced scholarship would become the undisputed norm.'

Cheng Shi pursed his lips. Suddenly energized—gossip was far more interesting than intelligence—he flashed a beaming smile and pointed at another unconscious man on the floor:

"What about him? Why's he locked up?"

"He's a prison guard..."

"?" Cheng Shi couldn't hold it. He snorted out a laugh. "Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating."

"And this one?"

"Also a guard..."

"..." Even the Blind One broke.

'Beautiful!'

Cheng Shi burst out laughing and began pointing at the remaining bodies one by one.

"Him?"

"Came to the shanty with me. Also couldn't pay."

"Him?"

"Went to the shanty to steal money. Got beaten up. Too injured to mine."

"...And him?"

"That's A Rad." The man winced.

"???" Cheng Shi's grin froze. It took a while for his brain to catch up. "Wait—who is this? Your captain?"

"Yes..."

"You slept with his sister. He locked you up. And now the two of you are in here drinking together?"

"Yes..."

'Based.'

'Absolutely transcendently chill. The vibe in this Proxy Hand organization is just too relaxed.'

Cheng Shi was speechless. For the first time in his life, he felt genuine admiration for a local ecosystem. He and the Blind One "exchanged glances," thoroughly amused. After a good long while, he pointed at the last man:

"And the last one?"

"He... his name's Ad Ric. Also came with us to the shanty..."

"..." 'Great—walked straight into a hornets' nest of degenerates.'

Cheng Shi sighed. The entertainment value had been stellar, but useful intelligence? Not a scrap. The Blind One was right—Fate's guidance didn't point here.

Just as he prepared to leave and try somewhere else, the big man—terrified he'd angered the "sir"—convulsed and blurted out another torrent of stories in a desperate bid for survival.

"S-s-sir, if you want interesting, Ad Ric's situation is actually far more entertaining than ours.

It's complicated. He came to the shanty with us but didn't stay the night. Instead, he drunkenly dragged a woman off to the Lava Crystal Pool for a walk and started spouting all kinds of nonsense."

Cheng Shi stopped mid-step. Eyebrow raised: "What kind of nonsense?"

"He said he saw love in that woman. Which is ridiculous—this is the same guy who used to skip out on his tabs. He's never talked like that before."

"...?"

The big man didn't notice Cheng Shi's strange expression. Head bowed, he was solely focused on appeasing the deadly stranger.

"Ad Ric was obviously hammered. God knows what that shanty woman was thinking, but she actually believed him. Said she'd quit, leave the shanty, and build a warm little home with him.

Except when Ad Ric heard that, he went absolutely berserk—beat her viciously and started raving about how she'd 'desecrated love' or some other lunatic garbage...

Don't—don't hit me! Sir, I didn't say it! Everyone outside knows! Tons of people saw it!

The whole thing infuriated the shanty women, so A Rad had to lock him up to appease them.

But even after sobering up, he keeps complaining about that shanty woman. Says he'll never marry—even though he's never been married. His fantasy of perfect love apparently only exists inside his hung-over brain.

This is honestly the juiciest thing we've heard happen lately, sir. Other than that... nothing.

Of course, if you'd like more, I have methods. We think Ad Ric's whole meltdown was caused by bootleg booze. I can find the exact same bootleg, drink it, and improvise something similar for you. Would that... work?"

"..."

Cheng Shi's expression went through quite the journey.

The man's groveling was pathetic, but every word had been true.

'Bro—you really think your buddy just drank bad booze?'

'Has it occurred to you that the booze might be fine, and the broken parts are your brains?'

Looking at the man's anxious face, Cheng Shi's expression was odd—but a gleam soon flashed through his eyes. Because the story had suddenly gotten very interesting.

A miner named Ad Ric had behaved bizarrely toward a shanty worker. Alcohol was a factor, sure—but who could guarantee there wasn't something more beneath the surface?

Most critically, even after sobering up, his perception still diverged from everyone around him. Didn't that sound an awful lot like this trial's theme?

'What a coincidence—the prison actually had a lead?'

Cheng Shi and the Blind One had clearly reached the same conclusion. They "locked eyes" and simultaneously "looked" toward the story's protagonist, each privately marveling:

'Fate really is... extraordinary!' (Indeed—Fate's guidance had quietly begun to take effect.)

With a lead in hand, the first order of business was verifying the hypothesis.

The Blind One considered using some Fate techniques to divine the man's past, but thought better of it and addressed Cheng Shi instead:

"I have some Memory items on me, but they're not particularly useful for tracing memories.

We should bring him back to the inn and let Qin Xin handle it. He has the tools to ensure this miner's memories are accurate. What do you think?"

"I don't think so. Too inefficient." Cheng Shi smiled and pulled out another scalpel. "We agreed to split up. Going to someone else for help at this point would be embarrassing. I can't let this go—I'll handle it myself."

"..." The Blind One hadn't expected his sudden competitive streak. But when she sensed his "intent to kill," she sighed and produced another potion.

She'd assumed whatever came next would be a repeat of the earlier performance. But this time Cheng Shi didn't fling the scalpel into a limb. Instead, he crouched down and neatly slit Ad Ric's throat.

The miner died—just like that, killed in his drunken sleep by Cheng Shi's hand.