Chapter 1196: The Grand... Small Gathering of the Destined |
Hong Lin was unusually anxious today.
Even though she'd been the one who'd "personally" arranged the Destined Ones' meeting space, hearing Cheng Shi say they needed to meet immediately still set her nerves on edge. The anxiety wasn't about meeting unknown Destined companions — it was about... Them.
Hong Lin wasn't incapable of thinking. She just wasn't great at it. After several world-shaking upheavals and divine falls, she'd long since realized where this game's so-called endpoint must lie: breaking the current world's shackles and racing toward a shore she couldn't foresee.
But those shackles weren't so easily broken. Setting aside the Creator sitting high above in the real universe — even in this starry sky, the gods still ruled. Straining against the chains meant making enemies of some gods, perhaps all of them.
She herself was half a divine candidate. At least by "the rules," she had some standing to challenge them. Cheng Shi went without saying — as the only person to have ever played a card at the gods' table, he was the vanguard of this will to shatter the universe's chains.
But what about everyone else?
If the Fate Weaver was going to show his hand, it meant the Destined Ones' next moves would likely defy certain gods' wills. Before meeting them in person, she wasn't sure these unknown companions could stand firm and united.
All she could do was trust in [Fate] and believe that every one of them was a warrior who'd press forward without looking back!
After hanging up, Hong Lin immediately went to Tao Yi's Barren Mountain Vegetable Garden. The mountain was barren no longer — nourished by divinity, lush green growth blanketed the entire peak. At a glance, everything was flourishing; not a trace of decay remained.
"The venue's set up. We can meet anytime. Like... right now."
Hearing the confirmation, Hong Lin relaxed — then wrinkled her nose, sniffing the air dramatically:
"How'd you know there's a meeting? I only made one phone call. I haven't seen anyone, so how could I have his scent on me?"
Tao Yi plucked a branch from a vine, shaking her head with a laugh:
"Just because you've got a sharp nose doesn't mean everyone else does.
There's only one thing that would make you rush over in such a hurry: a Destined Ones gathering. I can't think of a second reason.
Speaking of which — was setting up the venue really the first test the Destined Ones gave me?
Or did certain lazy people not want to do it themselves and outsource such a big project to me... Baldy?"
"Ahem... well, uh, the grass looks very grass-y. And the flowers look... flower-y."
Big Cat deflected with visible embarrassment, prowling circles around Tao Yi, occasionally swiping at a vine with her paw, muttering things like "What's this? Pretty cute. And this? Not bad either. Hmm, but nothing's as pretty as you."
The little fox didn't call her out. She simply stowed the cut branch, then asked with total seriousness: "When?"
Big Cat stopped mid-stride, turning: "Today."
"Right now?"
"Yeah. Coming?" With that, Big Cat sliced open the void with her claws.
Tao Yi was visibly nervous too, but she nodded and followed Big Cat through.
...
The void. Location unknown.
As one of the absolute peak players — arguably the highest combat power in the entire game — Hong Lin was noticeably less restrained around fellow players than she'd been at the Assembly of Gods Convention.
She strolled casually through a pitch-dark corridor, arriving before a door that stretched endlessly upward. Gazing at this gate that would make even a giant crane their neck, Hong Lin's heart sank. Her trust in the little fox's aesthetic sense and design skills was having a crisis.
"Xiao Yiyi, this is just a door, right? The meeting hall is inside?"
Tao Yi squinted, smiling like a fox.
"Of course. Were you planning to hold the meeting on the door panel?"
"Phew — okay, good." Hong Lin breathed a sigh of relief, pushing the door open while asking, "But why make it so tall?"
Tao Yi pointed at the countless stars dotting the door and explained earnestly:
"Fate like stars — within sight but beyond reach.
If mortal eyes could see where it ends, how could it be called 'Fate'?
Moreover, all attendees are souls blessed by [Fate] — sheltered from the storm by our Benefactor. The calm inside the meeting hall mirrors that protection. So I erected a towering gate before it.
To push open Fate's door — that is what it means to be one of the Destined."
The interpretation of [Fate] warmed Hong Lin's heart. She thought this answer would surely satisfy Cheng Shi, so she planted her feet and pushed. The massive door swung slowly open.
Starlight poured down like rain, illuminating the round table at the center. To Hong Lin's surprise, several hooded figures already sat around it. The headcount was noticeably smaller than she'd expected — but that wasn't the point. The point was: apart from the table... where was everything else?!
Huh?
Just one round table?
And judging by its design — the surface layout, the carved patterns — this was... a gambling table.
A gambling table?!
"TAO XIAO YI!!!" Hong Lin's face went black. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief and hissed through clenched teeth, "Explain yourself!
You put a gambling table in the Destined Ones' meeting hall?!"
Tao Yi took a measured step back to open distance from Big Cat, covering her mouth with a delicate laugh: "Well, yes. Don't you think that when everyone walks in carrying a set of dice, it looks exactly like an underground gambling ring?"
"???"
Hong Lin glared daggers, half-wishing she could drag the girl out for a thrashing: "This is your devotion? This is your understanding of the Destined Ones?"
"Absolutely. Randomness is [Fate]'s authority. Gambling is the theme of destiny. I think it's perfectly reasonable."
"You—"
Big Cat's world crumbled. She suspected her best friend had never believed the whole "Destined Ones' initiation test" story, and had set up this table specifically to sabotage her.
Consider: when Cheng Shi saw this gambling table, he'd probably freeze for a second. But then he'd remember who'd been in charge of the setup...
Right. Big Cat.
'Oh no. The little fox played me!'
Hong Lin spun around, murder in her eyes — but then, at that exact moment, Cheng Shi arrived!
He followed the route Big Cat had left him, stepped into the void, and the first thing he saw through the giant doors was the conspicuous gambling table. At first he raised an eyebrow with genuine interest, thinking the design was very fitting for [Fate] — after all, the Destined Ones were about to make the biggest gamble of their lives!
But then he noticed the figures seated around the table...
"???"
One, two, three, four, five...
'Wait. Not counting Big Cat and the Wood Elf by the door, and excluding myself — since when were there this many Destined Ones?'
'Did I come to the wrong place?'