Chapter 1041: Retrogression Experiment — Back to the Past |
"Simple. Have Pe Laya break the formation.
Then come in with me. I'll clear every obstacle, and you — just go back in time and kill Selius. That's all."
On the way to the west district, Cheng Shi briefed Chen Yi on everything about Montelani.
The good thing about [Memory] followers: they remembered everything after hearing it once. Under the laid plan, Cheng Shi once again reached the underground experiment ground ahead of Chen Yi, blended in with the scholars, and began tagging everyone indiscriminately.
He hadn't found time to explain things to Aph Ros, but the situation demanded he borrow Go Lis's help once more. He had to eliminate every obstacle so the grand scholars themselves could activate the experiment and send Chen Yi back — only then could this Galusha-hijacked experiment actually succeed.
This time — it was a strike at [Folly]'s root!
Soon, Cheng Shi had circled the experiment ground multiple times, tagging every scholar outside the echelons. When the grand scholars captured the formation-breaking Pe Laya and suspended her in midair — when the first echelon boarded the departure platform — Cheng Shi finally found his opening to dart into the standby room and tag the reserve echelon too.
Just as Galusha charged in with her whip again, Cheng Shi greeted her with a smile and activated the Sinner's Redemption.
And then...
"???"
Cheng Shi's brain short-circuited.
'What? Go Lis went on strike?'
'Seriously!?'
'Bro, for real?'
'I only owe you one explanation! You're going to drop the ball at the most critical moment?'
Out of options, Cheng Shi had to rush ahead of Galusha's plan to slit Grind's throat, then teleported into the experiment corridor to rendezvous with Chen Yi, who was facing off against the three grand scholars.
He explained they were here to help — Galusha was the saboteur. Only by letting them through could the experiment succeed. If they kept wasting time blocking him, Galusha would win!
The three puppet-like grand scholars showed no urgency or concern for the experiment. But after exchanging glances, they silently stepped aside, letting Cheng Shi and Chen Yi through.
'That cooperative now?'
Cheng Shi was suspicious but had no time for analysis. One step at a time — deal with Galusha first.
Of course, nuclear options were off the table now. The only path was peace.
Cheng Shi led Chen Yi to face Galusha. Inside the experiment ground — already beginning to explode — he told her:
"Send him back. Otherwise, you'll never topple the Tower of Logic.
I said so."
Facing this mysterious old acquaintance, Galusha's expression was pitch-dark. She'd assumed Cheng Shi only wanted a share of the Tower's spoils — never imagining he'd interfere with her retrogression experiment.
Absolutely not. This experiment concerned her own awakening.
So Galusha refused. But the next second — Galusha died in an assassin's arms.
Chen Yi dropped her corpse, expression ice-cold. He surveyed the room: "Who else needs killing?"
In that moment, his lethal detachment seemed to say: anyone who stood between him and an audience with [Memory] was his lifelong enemy.
"..."
Even Cheng Shi went blank.
'Bro — you're not afraid of karmic consequences? You'd actually kill Galusha?'
But what was done was done. To seize victory in one blow, they had to force the experiment forward.
Under Cheng Shi's rapid-fire intelligence, Chen Yi became a blade weaving through shadows — striking wherever directed, killing whoever he touched.
The Old Days Hunter, for one glimpse of an audience, had unleashed his full potential.
Cheng Shi even worried whether the man's exhausted body could survive the trip to the past and complete the mission.
The moment Galusha died, the underworld moles inside the experiment ground shifted strategy — frenzied destruction, trying to wreck everything. But under the combined suppression of Cheng Shi and the grand scholars, the teetering experiment ground fired its spacetime energy beam at the last possible second, transmitting the sole person on the departure platform — Chen Yi — into the past that could save the Tower of Logic.
An explosion roared. Cheng Shi had to abandon the underground space and teleport to the surface. The massive blast attracted the Death Knell Knights.
As more [Chaos] followers converged, Cheng Shi said nothing. He simply pulled on a church robe, pointed at the massive crater, and commanded coldly:
"Secure the site. No one in, no one out.
The Afterglow Church stands by. I don't want surprises."
The approaching knights were uncertain of his identity. One started to question—
BOOM—
A thunderbolt. Instant silence.
"Yes — as the lord wills!"
All of Tusnat seemed to go quiet again.
Cheng Shi stood at the crater's edge, tapping his ring, calculating when Chen Yi would return. The grand scholars hadn't emerged from the rubble — they seemed to have shed their old shells and reconstituted elsewhere.
The commotion drew more than the Afterglow Church. Galusha herself arrived — the enraged [Folly] follower smashed through the Death Knell cordon, whip in hand, demanding answers. But before she could reach Cheng Shi, two white-haired elders intercepted her.
One spoke gravely:
"Galusha. Know your place. Do not offend the divine countenance."
Galusha scoffed, eyes narrowing at the old man: "How do you know he's a god? Can't a 'god'... be fake?"
The elder lifted one eyelid, then lowered his gaze, voice a low rumble:
"Real or fake — what of it?
If real, I am devout.
If fake, when the true lord comes to question me, I can still be considered devout.
This... is Chaos."
"Ha. A fine bit of calculation. The Afterglow Church's hundred-year grand plan is about to be ruined by this person — and you're content with that?"
"The lord's will is the Afterglow Church's will. The Church's plans exist only to serve the lord's plans."
"Utterly foolish!" Galusha lashed the elder aside. Just as she was about to clash with Cheng Shi, another figure stepped in her way.
A woman whose presence could rival Galusha's own.
Hu Xuan!
The Life Sage had finally arrived. With a slight frown, she plucked Galusha's whip aside, half-turned, and asked:
"Cheng Shi, what happened?"
Cheng Shi shook his head softly: "I'm waiting for an answer. But I suspect the answer might be wrong, because..."
He looked at the very-much-alive Galusha. If she could show up here to cause trouble, it meant Chen Yi's retrogression had failed. Otherwise, history wouldn't have allowed Galusha to survive to the present.
Sure enough — the next second, a distortion rippled through spacetime. A battered figure crashed into the experiment ground's crumbled pit!
Chen Yi!
He was back.
Cheng Shi rushed to help him up — and saw that the dagger lodged in Chen Yi's shoulder was his own.
'Ha. Clever hunter — he'd "exiled" himself back.'
Seeing Cheng Shi, Chen Yi's eyes blazed with manic excitement. He seized Cheng Shi's hand:
"Mission accomplished. I can finally see Him—"
Mid-sentence, his gaze swept past the crater's edge and landed on Galusha. He went rigid — as if struck by lightning.
"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!"
...