Chapter 894: Order, Do You Plead Guilty? |
"One of them?"
Before Zhen Xin could even process that, "Cheng Shi" had already slipped smoothly into the role of straight man. Like a clueless newcomer, Kataro boldly threw out questions during this bizarre prison visit.
"Sir, why do You say 'one of' the Orders? Are you implying there are many Orders in this world?"
"..."
'Great question!'
'That one struck right at the heart!'
'I want to know too!'
Cheng Shi, however, wasn't stumped. Drawing on his limited intelligence, he began introducing the hidden divine history to the two of them.
"It's a long story."
"I once went through a period of dormancy and missed that remarkable past. So my understanding of these events comes only from various secondhand accounts.
It is said that during a certain god war, Order, for the sake of universal peace, stepped into the Sea of Desire — attempting to quell the world's greatest aggregation of desire: Corruption."
"Order once entered the Sea of Desire?!" Kataro cried out in disbelief. "The Sea of Desire still exists, yet Order is imprisoned — does that mean Order lost, sir?"
"..."
'Okay, that was a bit over the top, buddy.'
Cheng Shi's eyelid twitched, but he had no choice except to nod along.
"Correct. He failed.
Torn apart by desire, the Order of that time ceased to exist, shattering into different fragments.
Justice of Order upholds the Convention for the gods. Fear of Order became the will of Order in the game you participate in. The Iron Law of Order took His original divine throne, becoming the guide for billions of Order followers. As for this one — Pride of Order...
I only recently learned He was confined here.
It seems my Benefactor's approach toward Void wasn't merely riding the tides of the era. They must have begun cooperating long ago — and the object of that cooperation was the hunt of another true god.
Isn't that right, great Order?"
Cheng Shi even took the time, mid-performance, to verify with the deity in question. He could tell that Pride of Order didn't deign to expose the charade before Him — because He was arrogant enough not to bother.
The codex wilted, drooping against the back of the throne. Even drained of all presence, His pages still trembled with disdain.
"And who are you, to presume to discuss Order?"
"Naturally, I'm not worthy. Which is why I can only stand here and admire the 'heroic figure' of Your imprisonment."
Cheng Shi snorted a laugh, not forgetting to stay in character as Ultraman.
In his design, the Chaos Envoy Ultraman was a devoted follower who didn't know that Chaos had already replaced Order. Only with this setup could he, wearing an Envoy's mantle, assign Zhen Xin — one of the few who knew the truth — to carry out tasks related to Chaos's approach to Void, without needing to dodge suspicion or over-explain.
Everything was in service of intelligence gathering. And the disguise was the collector.
"I believe that very soon, my Benefactor and Deceit—" he cast a meaningful glance at Zhen Xin, "—which is to say, your two Benefactors, will join forces to do something about Order. I've been waiting for this day for a long time. Years of planning, all to return the universe to disorder — eternal chaos."
Hearing this, Zhen Xin's pupils contracted. She seemed to grasp the key issue.
At the same time, Kataro, reading Cheng Shi's intent, seamlessly lowered his head and exchanged a quiet glance with the Magician beside him. His sharp eyes clearly communicated:
'Lord Ultraman doesn't know the secret about Deceit and Chaos.'
Zhen Xin understood immediately. She swallowed the question that had been on the tip of her tongue.
The scene was fascinating: a true god was present, yet held the lowest status. An Envoy was running the show, yet was ignorant of the secret. And two mortal followers stood at the bottom of the ladder — yet were the most informed people in the room.
Zhen Xin didn't know why Chaos would keep His own Envoy in the dark about this grand affair. But once she factored in her own Benefactor — Deceit — well... the Fun God was surely scheming something beyond Order, something aimed at Chaos as well. That would explain the current situation.
So the Magician, confident she'd read the room, seamlessly switched into intelligence-gathering mode and began cataloging everything she witnessed.
She was curious why Lord Ultraman had brought Cheng Shi and her to visit Order in prison. But before she could ask, the ever-"thoughtful" Clown had already raised the question for her.
No — he didn't just ask. He even volunteered his own guess.
"Cheng Shi" furrowed his brow with feigned puzzlement and addressed Ultraman.
"Sir, are You bringing us here because... You want us to search through the historical records and piece together what happened during the god war between Order and Corruption?"
As he spoke, his expression turned troubled.
"But, sir — divine secrets aren't something two lowly players can touch. The history of the Land of Hope may not even contain a similar faith-conflict projection. I'm afraid this task... might be rather difficult."
The information density of those words was staggering. For a moment, not only Zhen Xin, but even Ultraman himself was floored.
So that was what the Fun God meant?
He wanted them to sift through relevant history — to peer through so-called "faith conflict projections" and uncover the truth behind that era?
What truth?
The truth of Order's fracture, or the truth of Corruption's Sea of Desire?
Setting those questions aside — if Kataro was right, did that mean every divine conflict over faith had a corresponding parallel in the history of the Land of Hope?
At this thought, it dawned on Cheng Shi.
Of course — the gods were themselves crystallizations of faith, each a commentary by that primordial Origin on a past era. So rather than saying that mortal faith conflicts were projections of divine will, it was more accurate to say the gods themselves were the aggregate of mortal faith conflicts.
But if that were true... then the History School's approach — deriving the grand from the small — had actually been on the right track?
Lost in thought, Lord Ultraman couldn't help glancing at Zhen Xin.
"Cheng Shi" followed suit and looked at Zhen Xin. And Zhen Xin... was stunned.
Studying the gods through the Land of Hope's history was one of the founding principles of the History School. They had accumulated mountains of historical data, yet their understanding of the divine had remained frustratingly limited and one-dimensional.
Now, hearing this novel theory of "faith conflict projections," she suddenly felt that her years of persistence had finally glimpsed a dawn.
But was it real?
If Lord Ultraman had said it, she'd believe it without question. But if it came from Cheng Shi... she'd need to watch Ultraman's reaction first.
And besides — this Clown's nerve was something else. What did he mean, "this task might be difficult"?
Was he bargaining with an Envoy?
Openly bargaining?
It seemed the Clown's network — no, his divine network — ran far deeper than she'd imagined.
And furthermore — why would an Envoy seek secrets through mortal players instead of obtaining them from other gods or even Servant Gods?
Had He realized He was being sidelined by His Benefactor, and was now carving out an alternative path? Or was Chaos's position not as favorable as it appeared?
Zhen Xin's head was brimming with questions. She looked at "Cheng Shi," then at Ultraman who was watching her, and after a moment's thought, spoke first:
"If Your Excellency has need, I am willing to dedicate whatever time remains beyond my pious duties to search the world for the information You seek."
'Got her!'
Lord Ultraman smiled knowingly, thinking — 'That's exactly what I was waiting to hear.'
"I can feel the sincerity from both of you. Very good. You may withdraw. I have other matters to attend to."
With that, Cheng Shi waved the two away. Kataro promptly summoned the yellow mist and escorted himself and Zhen Xin out.
After seeing Zhen Xin off, this devoted servant of Void immediately returned to the great hall — and was met with a sight he would never forget.
The Lord Ultraman who had been perfectly "orderly" moments ago now had one foot planted on the divine throne, legs spread in a wide stance, looming over the codex in a posture of absolute dominance. And he was delivering a spirited speech:
"Chaos usurped Your name. Order can no longer sustain itself. Your pride betrayed Your faith and cost the universe its true Order.
Justice of Order is rigid and outdated. Fear of Order merely rides on threats. Not only have they failed to discipline the gods — they've let the gods roam freely through Order's loopholes.
Is this what you meant when you said only Order is fit to speak of order?
If so, then this Order is laughable.
Ha — ha ha ha ha ha!
Today, I speak on behalf of the billions of bewildered Order followers across history and reality — and the countless ordinary lives who lived carefully, followed every rule, colored inside every line — to judge You, and to ask their beloved Order:
Do You... plead guilty?"
...