Chapter 1043: Still a Failure |
Cheng Shi materialized atop the ruins but didn't rush toward the western district. Instead, he headed south to find Fang Yuan first and gave him the code phrase.
When Fang Yuan heard the word "Akuan" come out of Cheng Shi's mouth, he froze for a long moment before regaining his composure.
He stared at Cheng Shi, suspicion written all over his face:
"Who reset time?
You, or Meng Youfang?"
"Meng Youfang!"
Cheng Shi figured a single second's hesitation would betray the noble title of 'old friend' that the scapegoat had unwittingly bestowed upon him.
He grinned at Fang Yuan. "I have no idea how he came to possess that kind of power. All I know is that we were trapped in a hopeless dead end — no path to clearing the Trial in sight.
And the moment he agreed to reset this space-time, the first person I asked was you. I knew that only you — a follower of Order — could help us win this Trial."
The name 'Akuan' didn't refer to anyone important. It referred to Fang Yuan himself — a nickname his childhood bullies had given him, a humiliation that had dogged him through every year of school.
That was also the reason he'd chosen to follow Order. He understood, on the deepest level, that when he had no power to resist the pressure bearing down on him, 'order' was the only weapon that could lead him out of the darkness.
Of course, whether in the past or the present, Order was no longer orderly — which was precisely why he'd learned to exploit loopholes.
The name 'Akuan' and the chain of thought it triggered were themselves a loophole — one designed to exploit time-reset abilities like the Time Battlefield.
After a long deliberation, Fang Yuan decided to trust this trickster, just this once. He could sense a peculiar 'order' emanating from Cheng Shi — an order that likely had nothing to do with the god who governed the universe's laws, but it was enough.
"What do I need to do?"
Cheng Shi's eyes lit up. He laid out the entire experiment in detail, then said:
"Right now, we need to lock down everyone inside the Experiment Ground except the Grand Scholars — keep them restrained until the experiment is complete. Can you do it?
If not, even controlling half of them would be enough. The other half... we have another ally."
"The Life Sage?"
"Yes — a Sage. Trust me, the power of Birth can bring plenty of 'harmony' to the Experiment Ground."
"..."
'This "harmony" of yours had better be the real kind.'
Fang Yuan's expression turned peculiar, but he agreed nonetheless, and the two immediately set off for the northern district.
Hu Xuan was easy enough to find — the Sage had never concealed her whereabouts. But when they located her, she appeared to have just said goodbye to someone.
The moment she spotted Cheng Shi, her gaze sharpened. Before he could say a word, she spoke with a grave expression:
"Be careful with Meng Youfang. I have an uncanny feeling that several of today's scenes have happened before — our time may have been reset!"
"?"
Cheng Shi blinked. Hu Xuan shouldn't have been aware of the Time Battlefield, but given that she already possessed a Container, perhaps Birth's protection had let her sense the violent surge of Time's power?
He smiled and reassured her:
"Relax. I'm the one who told him to use it. Time really was reset. Now come with me — there's somewhere we need to go."
Hu Xuan blinked in surprise as well. Since the whole thing originated with Cheng Shi, she saw no reason to worry and simply answered:
"Alright."
Fang Yuan studied the two of them, his expression growing stranger by the second.
A Birth Chosen — one who was famously busy spreading offspring across the land — obeying a Fate Weaver so unquestioningly? It was hard to believe these two shared nothing more than an academic relationship in Birth studies.
She hadn't even asked what Cheng Shi wanted her to do. How on earth had this level of trust been built on the foundation of a con artist?
Recalling the trace of 'order' he'd detected on Cheng Shi, Fang Yuan watched his retreating back in thoughtful silence.
Soon the trio found Chen Yi, and Cheng Shi repeated his tried-and-true technique. Under the astonished stares of Hu Xuan and Fang Yuan, he dangled an empty hook and reeled Chen Yi in so thoroughly the man couldn't tell which way was north.
With that, the group moved as one, executing the plan exactly as Cheng Shi had laid it out.
This time, Cheng Shi had eliminated every variable. He couldn't see a single possibility of failure.
And events unfolded exactly as he'd anticipated. Working in concert, they slipped through the Void and into the Experiment Ground, establishing absolute control over every person inside — blindsiding the entire Erudition Presidium.
The Grand Scholars' faces darkened as they prepared to counterattack, but then Cheng Shi showed his hand. He told them he was here to help, not to interfere, then dragged out the immobilized Galusha and exposed every one of her planted contingencies and moles right before the scholars' eyes.
Events had already far exceeded the Grand Scholars' expectations. Their expressions unreadable, they digested everything laid before them. After extensive deliberation, they had no choice but to accept Cheng Shi's arrangement and personally activate the experiment.
The moment Scholar Volent turned to Cheng Shi and said, "All data reads nominal — there will be absolutely no problems," half the weight lifted from Cheng Shi's heart.
He smiled and clapped Chen Yi on the shoulder.
"The opportunity is in your hands now. Give it everything you've got, Old Hunter."
Chen Yi's eyes blazed with the feverish madness of a divine audience. He threw himself willingly into the oncoming spatiotemporal energy beam and was hurled back into the past once more.
Time ticked by, second after second. Everyone in the Experiment Ground waited in silence.
Cheng Shi's gaze never left Galusha. He studied this Folly follower — face dark with fury, about to die inside this Trial — and found himself sighing inwardly.
Who could have imagined that such an adorable little girl would grow into such a terrifying madwoman? And who could have foreseen that this lunatic — the one who had toppled the Tower of Logic in the annals of history — would meet her end here, at the hands of the very Erudition Presidium she'd helped destroy?
'Karma really does come full circle.'
'Fate...'
'Actually, never mind. Better not curse Him — the last thing I need is Him getting irritated and conjuring up another disaster.'
The instant that thought faded, Chen Yi returned.
And the moment this Memory admirer declared with absolute confidence that he'd succeeded, the color visibly drained from Cheng Shi's face.
Because the Galusha standing before him was still very much alive.
Galusha herself was stunned. She'd assumed her life was at its end — yet these people had failed.
The grim determination in her eyes evaporated, replaced by a mocking smirk. As long as the regression into the past hadn't managed to kill her, then in the present — scattered across countless Slices — this rabble had even less hope of exterminating her.
"It seems your plan has fallen through, Prisoner."
"!!!"
"That's impossible!" Chen Yi erupted into madness again, screaming about everything he'd done, lunging to finish Galusha off once more.
But this time Cheng Shi didn't let him. A flick of the wrist sent a scalpel spinning to rest against Galusha's throat. At the same time, his expression thunderous, he raised his gaze to the Grand Scholars on the experiment platform and demanded:
"Volent. I need an explanation."
Volent frowned, ran through every piece of experimental data once more, and answered with a heavy voice:
"There are no issues. I cannot find a single contaminated parameter — the entire experiment ran flawlessly. The only deviation from the plan was that your chosen operative did not return through the regression channel but instead elected to return on his own.
While from a process-control standpoint that constitutes a significant oversight, it should not have affected the experimental outcome in any way.
So I, too, would very much like to know where the problem lies."
For a long moment, all six Grand Scholars furrowed their brows and exchanged baffled glances.