Chapter 1322: Speculation Regarding [Corruption] |
You had to hand it to the Jokers — they were the Jokers.
Once the initial shock had settled, the schemers suddenly realized that this was one of the rarest — no, singularly unique — opportunities they'd ever had to get this close to a divine being's remains.
And so, one by one, they set aside their unease and fear, clustering around the throne fragment to examine it closely.
The shards appeared solid but felt incorporeal. When you touched them, you could sense their existence — yet they couldn't be grasped or held firm. They seemed to exist in some flickering state between reality and illusion, defying description by any mortal sense of touch.
Everyone observed with meticulous care, minds turning at full speed. Before long, fascination overtook mere looking, and they cautiously began to use their hands — tracing the fracture lines, reassembling the shards into the shape of a throne.
Honestly, before they actually put it together, the Jokers couldn't have imagined that these pieces would form a throne. The fragment shapes were too bizarre.
But when the throne finally took shape before them — "two triangles meeting point to point, an inverted one at the back and an upright one at the base" — the sight of this structure they'd never seen before struck every Joker into stunned silence.
The throne looked to be about person-sized, yet the moment it was complete, it seemed to expand infinitely — growing to something like a titan's seat, flickering between tangible and intangible, as if it had truly embedded itself between reality and illusion.
Of course, this was only an illusion the throne's aura projected upon their minds. It remained the same size and hadn't shattered the space around it.
The Jokers stared at those gaps, brows furrowed.
Long Jing pressed his face close, peering through one of the holes at Cheng Shi on the other side, puzzled.
"Why are there two missing pieces? Did you lose them?"
Cheng Shi shook his head. "No. They were always absent. The corpse field where I found this throne — not a single corpse from those two gods was there."
He gave a brief description of what he'd witnessed in the Corpse Field of Gods, startling the Jokers all over again.
"You're saying the gods' corpses there were piled up like garbage?"
"That's right. Probably worse than garbage."
"..."
It had fully exceeded any mortal frame of reference. The Jokers traded glances, having been shocked so many times in succession that they'd nearly forgotten how to express shock.
Li Jingming studied the throne for a long while, his gaze grave and his expression earnest.
"The missing pieces appear to be [Corruption] and [Fate]. I can sense that the dim stars here resonate with [Deceit]'s power — which means the corpses within are [Deceit]'s, not [Fate]'s.
It seems a version of [Deceit] has died in the Real Universe."
Zhen Xin wasn't surprised by this, though the smile she usually wore had vanished from her face.
"Once the Fun God learned about the Real Universe, he would certainly have gone to explore it. But that's where the Creator's direct gaze falls — if [Deceit] made even one misstep, no one could save him... I just wonder how many versions of him have fallen there."
Cheng Shi let out a long breath in agreement. He deliberately moved past that sobering subject.
"Right. [Corruption] and [Fate] are both missing."
"Why?" Long Jing grew even more confused.
"I've been wondering the same thing. [Fate] is obsessed with Fixed Destiny — it likely wouldn't leave the original world so readily, not while building that throne. That's understandable enough.
But [Corruption]...
Up until now — has anyone ever actually encountered [Corruption]?"
The Jokers looked to one another, all shaking their heads. Indeed — none of them had ever heard of anyone gaining an audience with [Corruption].
At that moment, Cheng Shi snapped his fingers.
"Funny enough — I recently learned that someone may have seen [Corruption]."
"Who?!"
"The Sin of Desirelessness — Drasilco!"
Li Jingming jolted, disbelief crossing his face. "[Corruption]'s Envoy went to the Sea of Desire?"
"Exactly. The Black Dragon King went to the Sea of Desire." Cheng Shi's expression was grave. He shared with the group the secret that Poison had passed on to him. "My guess is that Drasilco came face to face with his patron. But the [Corruption] he found was nothing like the patron he'd imagined — so utterly different that when Drasilco emerged from the Sea of Desire, he was a changed being. He stripped Poison of her desires, turning her into someone without wants, and then self-destructed at the Sea's edge, right in front of her.
He died. The words he left behind were:
'It is not worthy of being visited. There is no [Corruption] in this world.
I believed I was myself — but I was never myself...'"
Everyone turned those words over in their minds, which were clearly riddled with contradiction, and the confusion in their hearts deepened.
Zhen Xin stood with her arms crossed, fingers tapping against her arm as she thought aloud.
"No [Corruption] in this world?
Perhaps [Corruption] truly doesn't exist. But something must occupy that divine throne — otherwise, what has been responding to prayers and upholding the Convention?"
Responding... to prayers?
Cheng Shi's mind suddenly detonated. He caught onto something and his pupils shrank.
"[Corruption] never refuses — does that mean [Corruption] has never actually responded at all?!"
That was it. [Corruption]'s faith principle was to never refuse. But if it never refused, how could anyone prove that [Corruption] was responding — rather than simply never objecting?
And even the gods themselves couldn't locate [Corruption]'s whereabouts. Didn't that only reinforce the possibility that [Corruption] might not exist at all?
The thought hit everyone like ice water. Zhen Xin blinked, then her eyes flashed with sudden sharp clarity.
"Something is wrong.
Not with [Corruption] — but with whatever has usurped [Corruption]'s throne.
That thing definitely exists. Otherwise, if only an empty throne remained, the Sin of Desirelessness would never have said 'it is not worthy of being visited.'
This 'thief' has been using [Corruption]'s facade of never refusing to conceal the fact that it's occupying [Corruption]'s seat — until Drasilco discovered it.
But that doesn't add up either. Once discovered, why would the Sin of Desirelessness self-destruct?
Shouldn't he expose the usurper's crimes and reclaim 'justice' for his patron?"
"Because he found that none of it had any meaning. Praise be to Yu Xi."
The Doctor finally spoke. A discussion this momentous couldn't go without a scholar of [Truth]. The Doctor had been thinking at length, and he now delivered his conclusion with measured gravity:
"'I believed I was myself — but I was never myself...'
Drasilco is saying that his identity as an Envoy of [Corruption] had been meaningless from the start. If it was meaningless, why would he avenge [Corruption]?
He stripped Poison of her desires to warn her away from [Corruption]. So whatever hides in the Sea of Desire must be profoundly wrong — he didn't want more innocent people drawing near.
His death was both a release and a warning.
Praise be to Yu Xi."
A warning...
What kind of mysterious existence could compel a divine being to deliver a warning through death alone — while refusing to say more?
Cheng Shi furrowed his brow. He couldn't work it out.
The Jokers were each equally baffled, no answer in sight.
Then Long Jing — who had been idly turning the throne over in his hands — suddenly froze. He ran a finger along the throne's backrest and blurted out, seemingly at random:
"You don't think... it could be [Origin], do you?"
"?????"
The atmosphere in the room crystallized instantly.
Everyone stared at Long Jing, equal parts stunned and alarmed. Long Jing looked back at them, slightly at a loss. He swallowed and continued, a little nervously:
"It's just a guess. Just a guess.
[Origin] had [Fate] build it a throne, right?
What if [Origin] actually lost its throne somehow and has been hiding in the Sea of Desire?
If it were any other god, the Sin of Desirelessness wouldn't have reacted that way — he's a Servant God, not a mortal. He would have seen his share of true gods before. So which true god occupying [Corruption]'s throne could possibly produce that kind of reaction?
Not even the Fun God would do that.
So when I think it through... it really does seem like it can only be [Origin]... right?"
"!!!!!"
The words had barely landed before every Joker's mind exploded at once.