Chapter 1046: It Seems the Prisoner Wants to Destroy This World? |
The instant the true enemy was identified, Cheng Shi decisively had Fang Yuan release the restraints on Galusha.
Galusha let out a cold snort, looked at Cheng Shi, and sneered once more:
"Mr. Prisoner, you sabotaged my experiment and now you want my help? Since when does the world work that way?"
Cheng Shi felt a twinge of embarrassment, though it didn't show through his gravely serious expression.
His mind was terrifyingly clear at that moment. He met Galusha's gaze and mirrored her smile:
"If anyone else were standing before me right now, I wouldn't hold out any hope. But you, Galusha — you'll definitely help me take down these old fossils!"
Cheng Shi was so furious he'd dropped the honorific "Grand Scholar" entirely. Since they'd shown no courtesy, he saw no reason to hold back either.
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because their victory means the continuation of [Truth]. You want to purge [Truth] from the world — which means these old fossils absolutely cannot be left alive.
Those words struck right at the core of Galusha's heart. She threw her head back and laughed, wild as a madwoman:
"Exactly!
Whatever the Erudition Presidium seeks to do — I will destroy!
Whatever [Truth] champions — I will forbid!
Only when [Truth] no longer exists in this world will people stop wielding foolish wisdom to suffer pain that was never meant to be theirs.
You have a keen eye, Mr. Prisoner. I always said we'd end up on the same side. Rest easy — I shall be your most reliable ally, because I am terrified that [Truth] might not die completely enough!"
With that, Galusha raised her whip and charged straight at Volent.
Cheng Shi's eye twitched at the sight. Truthfully, if everything they were experiencing was just an experiment, Galusha's assault amounted to little more than venting frustration — it wouldn't help them escape this experimental space in the slightest.
He'd wanted to ask how one could break free from a Consciousness Faith Department experiment from the inside, but that clearly wasn't an option now. His only choice was to stir up chaos alongside Galusha first and figure things out later.
At the very least, after being deceived this long, he had plenty of pent-up fury. An eye for an eye, a grudge for a grudge — the old fossils had no right to complain about his heavy hand. After all, they weren't exactly upstanding themselves.
Cheng Shi moved — and every player in the room moved with him.
There were no fools in a Trial of this caliber. Once the situation became clear, anyone who'd been inexplicably stuffed into an experiment as raw material would be livid. The players struck with lethal intent, clashing with the six Grand Scholars in an instant.
Violent explosions flattened the entire space. The massive experiment site couldn't withstand such ferocious combat, and within a blink it collapsed in on itself.
When the experiment site ruptured and the liminal space between reality and illusion was exposed to the surface of Tusnat, the Death Knell Knights, drawn by the explosions, began converging on the scene.
Also appearing was Wei Zhi, who had remained hidden until now. The moment he spotted everyone fighting the Grand Scholars, his entire demeanor shifted to excitement. Cracking his knuckles, he launched himself like a cannonball straight at the nearest Grand Scholar — Burza.
Everyone assumed he was about to devour the scholar alive to once again "commune with his truth." But no one expected that the instant Wei Zhi tore off Burza's arm, he would immediately reverse course, slam into Galusha's arms, and sink his teeth into her neck.
Blood sprayed. Grinding teeth filled the air.
In a single heartbeat, the light in Galusha's eyes shattered.
This deranged president of the Reason Association had just bitten the equally unhinged Galusha to death — right in front of everyone!
"!!??"
Cheng Shi's mind went blank.
'Whose side are you even on, man!?'
'I was counting on Galusha to help me analyze how to break this experiment, and you just went and ate her?'
'Assimilating [Truth] wasn't enough — you needed a side of [Folly] too!?'
'Great, just great. Nowhere to be found when there's work to be done, but dead-on reliable when it comes to sabotage. You don't look much like a teammate — could you be a mole planted by the Erudition Presidium?'
Wait!
A mole?
Cheng Shi's brow tightened as he suddenly recalled that the location of the western timber warehouse had been given to him by Wei Zhi. Viewed in this light, this "teammate" might genuinely have been compromised.
After all, Ernie wasn't dead. And the real Ernie was very likely one of the experiment's overseers, observing from beyond this "world." So the information Wei Zhi had obtained by consuming his flesh could well have been deliberately fed to him by Ernie.
That alone wasn't enough to determine whether Wei Zhi had been duped or had willingly chosen to cooperate. But now that he'd turned around and killed Galusha, only one possibility remained:
This lunatic had learned part of the truth through Ernie and had chosen to cooperate with the Grand Scholars to serve his own ends.
As for what those ends were...
Heh — as the leader of those madmen in the Reason Association, his wish was probably to merge with a Grand Scholar.
Why else would a [Truth] follower be so obsessed with Zangier? In his own words, standing on the shoulders of giants saved a great deal of effort — and what he sought was to become one with those giants.
Lunatic!
Cheng Shi's expression darkened in an instant. He fired a bolt of lightning at Wei Guan, then snatched Galusha's corpse during the dodge. Although his next move would be to regress and face all of this over again, given that the regression's effectiveness was weakening, he had to make a gesture for his new ally — to show his willingness to cooperate.
The battle raged on, but wasting time like this was pointless. Cheng Shi snapped his fingers without hesitation and reset time once more.
Even if the reset had no effect on the Grand Scholars, at the very least his ally needed to come back first.
This time, upon returning to the ruins, Cheng Shi didn't seek out anyone else. He rushed straight to the vicinity of the Three Suns Tower to meet Galusha.
On the way, one thought consumed him: since the Grand Scholars behind the scenes hadn't immediately dismantled and reconstructed the players, this experiment was clearly not that simple. It couldn't be executed at the Erudition Presidium's whim.
That was why Volent and the others had been communicating with Wei Zhi in secret — to lure Cheng Shi to the western warehouse.
Which confirmed it — the underground laboratory had to be the linchpin of this fabricated experiment.
Furthermore, since the Time Battlefield couldn't affect the Erudition Presidium beyond the experiment, his time resets were effectively stretching the temporal dimension in their eyes. The fact that they allowed him to reset without interference meant the Grand Scholars were also preparing. They needed time too!
In that case, both sides were racing against the clock.
The question was — who would be faster!
Before long, Cheng Shi arrived back at the Three Suns Tower and spotted Galusha beneath it. This time he felt no revulsion at her violence. With a casual bolt of lightning, he blasted the scholars resisting before Galusha into charred husks.
Surrounded by her Death Knell Knights, Galusha whipped around in fury, searching for whoever had interrupted her revelry. But the moment she saw it was Cheng Shi, a brilliant smile bloomed across the Wise Man's face.
"It seems Mr. Prisoner has decided to destroy this world alongside me?"
Cheng Shi's smile was equally radiant. He stepped forward and extended his hand.
"The moment I decided to shatter this godforsaken world, my only regret was that the lightning in my hands wasn't fast enough.
So — can I trust you, Galusha?"
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