Chapter 661: The Future "Discrepancy" — Shi Lolin

Cheng Shi returned with his people soon enough, though this time he'd resorted to violent means after all.

Qin Xin and the Blind One heard a muffled crack of thunder from the distance, and before long, a skeleton came hurtling toward them carrying Cheng Shi and a trembling Shanty Area contact man.

The Blind One didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Qin Xin's jaw nearly dropped. He studied Cheng Shi with great interest and asked with a smile:

"Are you looking to fuse with Death?"

"?" Cheng Shi blinked and hopped off the Screaming Servant. "Why are you always worrying about that? Does controlling a skeleton necessarily require fusing faiths? Can't a man just have a thing for bones?"

"... suppose there's nothing wrong with that." Qin Xin's expression stiffened briefly, then he smiled and let it go.

Cheng Shi wasted no time. With the two Torchbearers as witnesses, he resurrected the one-armed Shi Lolin, then set up a friendly confrontation platform for all three parties.

Shi Lolin, Mo Rabic and Allendor, and the Shanty Area contact — all sat facing each other, utterly bewildered.

But what none of them expected was that when Shi Lolin awoke from death and opened her eyes, the first to speak wasn't the shrewd Extreme Desire Brotherhood boss herself — it was the panic-stricken contact man.

The brawny man lunged toward the still-disoriented Shi Lolin, but he'd barely left the ground before Qin Xin pressed him back down with one hand. The Mirror Person applied only minimal force, yet the big man — who was every bit as tall as Qin Xin — broke into a cold sweat, unable to budge.

Cheng Shi noticed and raised an eyebrow.

Strength, speed — both extraordinary. This Mirror Person seemed to be deliberately — or perhaps casually — displaying his capabilities.

Was he trying to intimidate the two Folly wise men?

But what was the point? They clearly weren't fighters.

Meanwhile, Shi Lolin had emerged from her foggy consciousness. Seeing so many people surrounding her, alarm flickered through her eyes in rapid succession. But her powerful composure quickly steadied her, and with lingering apprehension, she looked at Cheng Shi:

"I'm... alive again?"

"You were alive the whole time, Shi Lolin. That was just a simple trick — a little joke we played." Cheng Shi smiled.

"A joke? I certainly hope so." Shi Lolin gave a bitter, self-deprecating laugh. Her gaze swept across her subordinate and over to the two bewildered wise men nearby. She frowned, seemed to recall something, and understanding suddenly dawned: "So you came here for the Divinity? You've set your sights on Mr. Mo Rabic's experiment?"

At those words, sharp glints simultaneously flashed through all three players' eyes. Mo Rabic himself, however, was genuinely confused. He pondered for a moment, then shook his head with utmost gravity:

"Lady Shi Lolin, while we have indeed heard your name and do intend to make contact with you, I must emphasize — we only just set foot in the Shanty Area. We haven't had time to find you yet. So how do you know my name?"

"?" Shi Lolin's brow darkened with displeasure. "We spent three days negotiating the terms of the deal. It was only after you showed me that thing that I agreed to the trade. Have you forgotten?

No — you don't look like you've forgotten. Has someone tampered with your memories?"

Shi Lolin was alarmed. She looked to Cheng Shi, assuming the only person capable of meddling with these people's minds was the Fate Weaver who'd killed her.

Cheng Shi shrugged, indicating he hadn't touched them, and then asked with a grin: "What exactly did these two Folly followers show you?"

Shi Lolin frowned, increasingly lost. She exchanged another uncertain glance with Mo Rabic, then muttered to herself in deep confusion:

"Folly... what is that, exactly?"

"?"

This remark immediately ruffled the two wise men. Their faces stiffened and they moved to correct her, but Cheng Shi raised a hand to silence them, his curiosity piqued as he asked Shi Lolin again:

"You don't know the name Folly?"

"Why... should I?

Sounds like the name of some wild god. Besides, they never mentioned anything called 'Folly' when we spoke. I always assumed they were followers of some minor wild god. And now that I hear it... yeah, sounds about right."

"..."

Cheng Shi's expression became a masterpiece of contradictions.

'Lady, you've got nerves. To casually disdain the god of Folly Himself rather than just His followers — you're the first person I've seen do that.'

'Truly worthy of the Extreme Desire Brotherhood. When desire runs wild, it runs wild.'

Still, something was odd. Even the Shanty Area grunts knew Folly's divine name. How could the person in charge not know?

Even just from aggregating intelligence, she should have heard it mentioned at least once.

Cheng Shi's questioning gaze drifted to the surviving contact man, who sensed the attention and promptly volunteered: "We — oh no, I also only heard about it from outside. It does sound like a wild god..."

He even shot a loyalty-affirming glance at Shi Lolin after saying it.

Good grief — the man had guts!

Cheng Shi grinned. He didn't dwell on these minor episodes and instead had Shi Lolin recount her negotiations with Mo Rabic while having the two wise men retrace their movements for the day.

Both sides' recollections were reasonably clear. Within the scope of their own experiences, neither lied. But the moment the topic touched on the negotiations, the two sides gave completely contradictory accounts.

Shi Lolin was adamant she'd met them. The wise men insisted they'd never set foot inside the shanties. And the contact man's account — claiming the orders he'd received were muddled, saying he'd never even seen these two — sealed the picture. After this round of confrontation, the three players understood.

Something was wrong with Shi Lolin's cognition.

But to be safe, the trio decided to go one step further: Qin Xin tracked down every witness Shi Lolin claimed had been present at the negotiations and sought testimony. Yet every last one of these supposed witnesses insisted they'd never attended any negotiation.

At this point, all three were nearly certain: Shi Lolin was one of the trial's anomalies, and most likely the future "discrepancy" — because what she described plainly hadn't happened yet.

Mo Rabic and Allendor had only just arrived at the shanties, hadn't made contact with her, yet she'd issued the order to have her people stand by for the rendezvous three days ago. If that wasn't "the future," it was hard to imagine what kind of "discrepancy" could qualify.

And so the trail that began with Alo Manni's identity ultimately pointed to the Extreme Desire Brotherhood's boss — Shi Lolin.

This shrewd Corruption follower, without even realizing it, had crossed the boundary of Time from another timeline into this one, becoming the players' first key to solving the puzzle.