Chapter 1321: True Fixed Destiny |
Sure, it was there — but could they say so?
Everyone exchanged glances, looking to one another. Li Jingming pondered for a moment, then spoke with quiet gravity:
"The Bone Bell... did you ring it? Blaspheming against the gods so openly and brazenly — are you certain none of them noticed?"
Cheng Shi shook his head, pulled out the Bone Bell, and dropped it on the ground. Under the Jokers' startled gazes, he smiled.
"No need to ring it anymore.
This was never [Death]'s protection. It was the Fun God's deception.
He lied to old Zhang — a lie that saved the world — and used Zhang to keep that secret from the rest of us. So every bit of grievance you've aired against him has already been heard by that 'cunning, ruthless' god.
Everyone present — if we're measuring by the crime of blasphemy, none of you would walk free."
"..."
"..."
Seeing the tension crystallize across the room, Cheng Shi smiled again. "But don't worry. Even if blasphemy carries a death sentence, I'd be first in line. With me standing in front of you, what is there to be afraid of?"
Zhen Xin blinked, then let out a short, pointed laugh.
"That's not necessarily true.
We all know exactly how much [Void] watches over you. They may not be willing to let you die — but they'd have no problem letting any one of us die."
"..."
That shut him up completely, because she was right, and he had no counter.
Worse still — he'd already lived through it firsthand. Several of them had fallen right at his side, their bodies stacked into the road that led to Fixed Destiny.
The thought of so many friends dying because of him cast a flicker of grief across his eyes, but it vanished almost instantly. He forced a smile and looked around at the group.
"This time will be different. I'll be the one standing in front."
"?"
The phrasing was strange — nothing like what they'd expect from the Fate Weaver, whose whole instinct was to shield everyone before himself. But without having heard about the false Curtain Call, they couldn't pinpoint the source of this sudden surge of feeling.
So the Jokers listened on with quiet patience.
"We are going to play it openly. And we're going to do it within the rules — in a way that gives the gods no grounds to refuse.
The Convention is rigid to the point of being exploitable — and that makes it our best weapon for seizing divine authority. As mortals, if we die, we die. We leave nothing behind. But if we become gods, the Convention protects us. At least in death, we'd be able to leave something behind for others — a thread of hope..."
This was the truth Cheng Shi had drawn from Qin Xin's death. He had finally come to understand that spirit the Torchbearers called "success not mine to claim."
But he found that spirit too heartbreaking. Perhaps success could still be his — if the pieces were placed correctly, if the Fear Faction still stood by his side.
His thoughts tangled and churned. He let out a slow breath.
"Enough of the grand talk. Let's get to the practical.
You all still remember [Fate]'s Fixed Destiny. President Gong once mentioned that the Creator is searching through experiments for a successful 'sample,' and the measure of that success is Fixed Destiny.
I've now found what that Fixed Destiny actually is."
The Jokers didn't seem shocked. They looked at him, then said in near-unison:
"You?"
"You? Praise be to Yu Xi."
Cheng Shi laughed at himself.
"That's right. Again, it's me.
Looking back, from a long time ago — when I first returned to the path of [Fate] — [Fate] kept whispering about Fixed Destiny in my ear. And then when I later penetrated [Void], Fixed Destiny locked onto me like a chain, completely inescapable.
I was lost, confused, afraid — yet I could never understand what Fixed Destiny actually was. That confusion only deepened my resistance toward [Fate] and gradually drew me closer to the Fun God.
From there, under the Fun God's shelter, I moved between the gods — learning their histories, feeling their wills, uncovering the truths buried in history, and understanding [Void]'s true purpose. That was when I finally realized: Fixed Destiny is the sacrifice that [Fate] has been crafting for [Origin].
And I, as it turns out, am that sacrifice. The honor is mine.
[Fate]'s devout intention to forge a sacrifice was inscribed into its will at the moment of its descent. Combined with the fact that this universe is nothing but an experiment, it's hard for me to interpret that intent as anything other than an instruction manual — a directive sent from [Origin] to [Fate] about what it needs.
[Origin] told [Fate] what it wanted, and [Fate], ever faithful, forged it a throne.
You might not believe this, but I — a mortal — was chosen to serve as the binding agent for that throne.
Ha. Is that funny? You're allowed to laugh."
No one laughed.
Despite the self-deprecating tone threading through everything Cheng Shi said, the unbearable weight he carried pressed down on every Joker equally.
Everyone felt only a deep absurdity. A mortal — how could a mortal serve as the binding agent for a throne the Creator needed?
What about a body of flesh and blood resembled a binding agent in any way?
Actually... there was one thing.
Blood.
Perhaps only the heat of that blood could fuse the shards of a throne together.
But then again — wasn't the Creator's demand rather absurd?
Sitting high above the Real Universe, controlling all things across billions of parallel slices — why would [Origin] need [Fate] to build it a throne?
What kind of throne was it? A throne for [Origin] itself? Or just a "toy" — a perfect replica of [Origin]'s throne?
Either way, for the Jokers present, it defied easy understanding and struck them as deeply, fundamentally strange.
If what the Creator sought was the divine throne of [Origin] itself — then that would mean [Origin] currently had no throne. But a being without a throne couldn't possibly control the living creatures of the universe.
Fine. Say it had no throne. Then could a "lesser god" it had created piece one together on its behalf?
Clearly not.
So if all [Origin] wanted was a "tribute toy" — a perfect imitation of [Origin]'s throne...
Had this world lost its mind?
A Creator had built a universe experiment of such cosmic scale, conducted across billions of parallel slices — all to find one satisfying "toy"?
So this wasn't an experiment at all. It was a toy factory, towering over billions of parallel universes.
"..."
Sometimes seeking the truth of the universe led you here — you thought about it long enough and everything started to feel meaningless.
Seeing the Jokers all furrowing their brows in bewildered silence, Cheng Shi steadied himself and smiled again.
"Now for the reveal.
I know you're all wondering what the throne [Fate] was building actually looks like.
As it happens — I've seen it."
"!!??"
"You've seen it?!"
At that, no one could keep their composure any longer.
Cheng Shi's smile grew stranger. "That's right. Not only have I seen it — I've brought it... back."
With that, he produced the throne fragment he had never shown to anyone — retrieved from the Corpse Field of Gods — and cast it before the Jokers, directly beneath the long lamp forged from the [Deceit] tombstone.
It was said to be a piece of a throne. In truth, it was the remnants of a god's corpse. When the dim lamplight fell across those remains of a deity...
"...!"
Every person present felt a rush of cold crawl up their scalp, their whole body trembling.
"This is..."
"An unexpected find.
A souvenir I brought back from the Corpse Pit of the gods. In all likelihood, this is what I've been calling Fixed Destiny — the very thing [Fate] has been building since the moment of its descent.
Only [Fate] draws its materials from our world alone. But this throne fragment — who knows how many gods from how many parallel universes went into it.
Whether there are remains of gods from our world in here..."
Cheng Shi gazed at the frozen, dimmed stars locked within the throne fragment, and once again heard in his mind the Outer God [Fate]'s words from the false Curtain Call — words that had cut like a blade:
"Your patron's corpse is so useful..."
If the Curtain Call had only been a lie — if [Deceit] was not truly an Outer God — then which world's version of [Deceit] had died, drifting homeless through the Real Universe?
