Chapter 760: Let's Go Meet This Genius |
"Is this analysis accurate? Who did you get to help?"
Honestly, even though faith fusion could explain how 0221 made a breakthrough, it was still almost too incredible to believe. So Cheng Shi had to be cautious. He was afraid Big Cat's urgency and anger had been exploited — that she'd been unknowingly turned into a spearhead for some probing game between peak players.
Fortunately, Big Cat gave an answer that put his mind at ease.
"Wei Mu.
He spent half the night analyzing it before reaching this conclusion. Most of what I just told you were his exact words.
He took the reassembled Truth divinity from my hand, deconstructed it, reverse-engineered the fusion method, and discovered that 0221 hadn't just made progress in divinity fusion — he'd achieved a leaping breakthrough in understanding the Faith Game's regional architecture.
That air walls are impassable is a truth universally known in reality. Whenever we want to meet, we step into the Void and then transfer into another non-real space — nobody has ever questioned that. But now, this mad genius has found a new method.
Divinity!
More precisely — teleportation arrays coded from divinity fragments!
And that's the method 0221 used to abduct Tao Yi!
Wei Mu has already replicated the technique. The ticket in my hands is a piece of Folly divinity that he reassembled!"
"..." Cheng Shi stood slack-jawed. He'd underestimated the number-one player on the Road to Ascension after all.
These staggering theories were hard enough for ordinary people to wrap their heads around. Yet Wei Mu had not only fully analyzed and deconstructed them in a single night — he'd even produced a replica.
'Can a mortal truly do this?'
"Is this what true Folly looks like?"
"...Yes. This is true Folly. Wei Mu is likewise a genius — he's simply chosen a different direction on the road of fusion."
'A different direction?'
"What do you mean?" Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow.
"He said he's refused every fusion, because he believes no god in this entire universe is worthy of Folly."
"..."
'Folly through and through!'
'This Folly Chosen's temperament is a carbon copy of his Benefactor's...'
The shock ebbed slightly thanks to this quintessentially Folly punchline, but soon Cheng Shi's curiosity returned.
"You're still in contact with Wei Mu?"
"No. Not at all. We've just happened to be matched in the same trial a few times. This time, he found me..."
Hong Lin trailed off, but Cheng Shi already understood.
Big Cat had probably been too hasty spreading the news and left traces — enough for this supremely sharp Folly Chosen to notice and come knocking.
That said, he didn't seem to harbor any ill intent toward Big Cat. What interested him was probably nothing more than his rival Chosen — 0221.
Still, erring on the side of caution, Cheng Shi went back through her entire sequence of actions with Big Cat. After confirming there were no other issues, he nodded.
"What do you want to do?"
"I..." The other end suddenly went silent.
Cheng Shi paused, then quickly guessed what this was about and laughed.
"I see — you're short on tickets.
Good call. You've gotten more prudent. It's actually a solid plan.
Make enough tickets for everyone who's interested, let them all flood in, then blow the experiment wide open and fish in troubled waters.
It's undoubtedly the safest approach, but speed is everything.
You can't give the other parties and factions enough time to scheme and position themselves. You need to pull them all in at once, then kick down the door to 0221's experiment site simultaneously. Only when the situation is chaotic enough will your combat power have room to shine!"
Hong Lin was stunned too — she hadn't said a word and he'd already read her completely. But this wasn't an easy thing to ask for, because these weren't ordinary tickets. The price of admission to the "Truth Game" was divinity — massive quantities of divinity!
So the best she could manage was an awkward, uncertain "Mm." After all, even though Cheng Shi still held some of the divinity she'd once possessed, the amount was nowhere near enough.
Big Cat wasn't a dim player. She simply wasn't as sharp as the monstrous peak players — different from not being sharp at all.
She could do the math. She knew Tao Yi had no real connection to Cheng Shi. Even if there was one, it was purely one-sided. What's more, Cheng Shi had already saved Tao Yi once. If he chose not to help this time, she wouldn't hold it against him — especially since he'd already done so much. Reaching this point would have been impossible on her own.
But her faith in the Destined Ones still inclined her to turn to Cheng Shi. She was looking to borrow divinity, and the first person she thought of was the Fate Weaver who had once taken some of hers.
She was willing to give up everything to protect a friend. But she couldn't demand that her friend give up everything for another friend of hers.
At the end of the day, divinity was one of the most precious things in this game. Nobody could be expected to part with it — especially not in the quantities she needed.
But what Hong Lin didn't expect was that Cheng Shi's next response swept away every last shred of her two days' worth of fury and anxiety, and made her truly realize that she might indeed be one of the Destined Ones — and that the one looking out for her on the road ahead wasn't just Fate, but also a certain Fate Weaver named Cheng Shi.
"Borrowing divinity from everyone, aren't you? No need. I've got plenty.
Hmm... you know, this brings back memories. When I was a kid, I went through something like this. I didn't have money for school, so he went around borrowing it for me.
My neighbor was a very wealthy auntie. He borrowed a lot from her. I never knew how he managed it, but the feeling of someone willing to help — I've carried that with me to this day.
I wanted to repay that auntie, but she never gave me the chance.
Now, though, I think I finally understand what she meant. She probably never expected anything in return."
"Cheng Shi..." The voice on the other end trembled ever so slightly — but the tremor stopped almost as quickly as it began.
"But let me be clear — I'm not her. What you borrow from me? Every last bit, principal plus interest, comes back.
Of course, the portion that was yours to begin with doesn't need returning. I'm not the petty type. It's been in my custody long enough — about time I returned it with interest."
Cheng Shi laughed, genuinely happy. After all, he had never forgotten that it was the Order divinity Big Cat had "deposited" with him that allowed him to survive when the entity pretending to be Order — really Chaos — had judged him.
Every bite and every sip was fated. Big Cat thought it was Cheng Shi leading her toward destiny, never realizing that her own good fortune might also be shielding her Clown friend.
"Deal!" Big Cat's voice suddenly turned resolute. The divinity wasn't even in hand yet, but she declared it with the force of someone swearing to repay double. "But... this time it might take a lot."
"Hey, what a coincidence — I just happen to have a lot."
Cheng Shi smiled. Truthfully, the divinity extracted from the Abyss Colorful Crystals was all top-grade — each piece a disassembled fragment of a larger puzzle. These should have been among the best materials for studying the gods. But now...
If he could use them to witness a mortal-initiated "microscopic" divinity fusion firsthand, it wasn't a bad trade at all.
Of course, the premise of "not a bad trade" was that he got his hands on the fusion method and its future implications!
"Right now, what you need to focus on is convincing Wei Mu to produce that many tickets!"
"He will. Because he said he wants to witness the grandest act of folly under the heavens."
"..."
Cheng Shi pursed his lips, vaguely suspecting that his own actions probably counted as one of the "foolish acts" in Wei Mu's eyes.
"Whatever. If it makes the Folly follower happy.
You have a way for us to meet up? Tell me. I'll come to you.
Also, Hong Lin — let me make one thing clear upfront. I'm lending this divinity to help my friend 'Frazor,' not for some small-time celebrity from a past era...
I'm putting a lot of trust in you here. Don't push me into a pit."
"..." When Cheng Shi agreed, Hong Lin had expected a laundry list of conditions. She never imagined she'd wait and wait only to hear just this one.
For a brief, irrational instant, she actually felt a twinge of pity for Tao Yi. But just as quickly, she decided Tao Yi's taste was world-class — it was just that her dear friend might be slightly unworthy.
'Is it okay to badmouth your own friend like this?'
'Absolutely. I'm already this deep in debt for her. What's a little trash-talk?'
'Tao Yi, you hear me — before I get there, don't you dare die!'
Hong Lin quickly shared a method for meeting. Tracing out the symbols Big Cat described, Cheng Shi's eyes glimmered with curiosity.
"You got this through a prayer to Them?"
"Yes. If you ever need it, you can pray to me too. I have the authority to grant spatial passages. Of course, I only handle the granting — it's the Convention that builds everything else."
Cheng Shi nodded, musing: 'If I'd known it was this simple, I should have set up a meeting space ages ago. Would've saved all that scrounging around when trying to recruit people into the Destined Ones or the Jokers.'
"Got it. Give me a little time to prepare, and then let's go meet this one-in-ten-thousand genius."
With that, Cheng Shi hung up. He turned to gaze at the neighboring rooftop, his expression strange, his eyes narrowing slightly.
'Will we ever meet again, my War neighbor?'
...