Chapter 685: Who Goes?

Sharp observation. Outstanding memory. Excellent logic.

The Blind One could find no holes in Cheng Shi's reasoning. She even tested it against Ad Ric and Shi Lolin's "discrepancies" and found everything checked out. The only loose end was the stowaway Ger Si, who'd just appeared...

Had this stowaway fallen into the discrepancy the same way?

It wasn't impossible. As someone desperate to return to the surface, his target would obviously be the Proxy Hand on the mine. Stumbling into Time's trap while wandering the mine was entirely plausible.

Having worked this out, the Blind One's expression turned slightly peculiar:

"You've already figured out every key point. You practically guessed the discrepancy's rules while I was still getting up to speed on the trial's changes.

Cheng Shi — you don't need to work with me at all. Your reasoning alone is more than enough to find the way back.

Now it occurs to me — I have trouble pinning down your motives. I keep feeling you don't actually want to cooperate with me. You want to help the Torchbearers. The only thing I'm grateful for is that we're from the same timeline, and that I happen to be a Torchbearer.

This so-called 'Destined Ones' — I can't even tell whether you dragged Hong Lin's name in just to pad the numbers and make it sound real. It sounds like a lie fabricated to distance yourself from your own goodwill.

really not want any ties to the Torchbearers?

Then why keep helping us?"

Help?

Who's helping whom?

'I just wanted to play it safe and find a teammate I could temporarily watch my back. How did you manage to turn that into something noble?'

'You Torchbearers — why do you always morally guilt-trip people in reverse?'

"..."

Hearing this, Cheng Shi knew she was overthinking it. But given the circumstances... well, it did look exactly like the Blind One was guessing. Trying to explain would only make things "worse."

So Cheng Shi curled his lip and simply didn't respond.

"Stop wasting time. Nobody knows when the next discrepancy will hit. What we need to do — while we still understand the current situation — is verify our theory as fast as possible. We need to go to that area and check whether there really is an Abyss Colorful Crystal that triggered the discrepancies!"

The Blind One raised an eyebrow:

"From your tone, it sounds like you don't want to go yourself?

Why — you keep glancing at the Doctor. You want his help?

Truth's thirst for knowledge comes first. Right now, he probably wouldn't give us the time of day."

"No, no, no — the Doctor staying glued to the experiment is the greatest 'support' he can give us. I truly don't want to go myself, because I'm afraid that the moment I approach that area, I'll get hit again. And then my only ally would be gone.

So I want..."

"?" The Blind One froze. "You want Qin Xin to go?"

"Exactly!" Cheng Shi nodded vigorously. "That's right — Qin Xin!

He's not your Torchbearer's founder. He's the leader from another timeline. Sending him to verify — first, we needn't worry about him deceiving us; even from another timeline, he's still an empathetic Torchbearer. Second, if he trips the Time trap again, the original Qin Xin might actually get swapped back.

From Li Wufang, we can deduce that the discrepancy has at least three states — corresponding to the trial's theme: past, present, and future.

The current Li Wufang and Qin Xin are clearly from the 'past.' Which means if Qin Xin gets swapped again, there's a one-in-two chance he turns back into one of ours!"

As he spoke, Cheng Shi fixed the Blind One with a blazing stare. He knew only she could convince the alternate-timeline Qin Xin to undertake this "risky" mission. He couldn't do it alone.

After all, he and the current Qin Xin shared no bond whatsoever.

The Blind One fell silent. She had to admit — Cheng Shi's calculations were impeccable. No wonder he'd come to find her. He'd probably mapped out every solution on the walk over and was just waiting for this "key" to agree to help.

But from either the Torchbearer's perspective or the shared-timeline perspective, she had no grounds to refuse.

So after a moment's deliberation, the Blind One nodded — but then frowned slightly:

"Who told you he's the founder of the Torchbearers?"

"?" Cheng Shi blinked, then laughed. "Chosen One — we're all smart people here. Let's drop the riddles. If I still couldn't see something that obvious, I'd be too ashamed to come ask you for cooperation."

The Blind One sighed internally. The Torchbearers would inevitably forget Cheng Shi, yet Cheng Shi was coming to know the Torchbearers better and better.

Letting a Fate Weaver with this much "personality" — and this much knowledge of the Torchbearers — roam free out there... was that safe for the Torchbearers?

Perhaps this was something that truly needed to be discussed with Qin Xin — but only during this trial, while they still remembered Cheng Shi.

Hopefully Cheng Shi's reasoning held. Hopefully the next step would swap the real Qin Xin back.

"... ine. I'll go find him. You watch the Doctor.

This experiment is crucial. What we need isn't just the Divinity — it's the experimental steps stored in the Doctor's memory.

As long as we ensure the Doctor gains something, it means we... gain something too."

The phrasing was admittedly a bit dark, but Cheng Shi understood instantly. He waved her off: "Relax. Once something lands in my pocket, nothing escapes."

The Blind One chuckled at that. She nodded, turned, and strode toward the exit. But the instant she was about to step forward, Cheng Shi suddenly pulled her back.

"What?" She turned in surprise.

Cheng Shi didn't answer right away. He shook his head, glanced at the watch on his other wrist, and counted down: "Three... two... one. The hour mark. Better safe than sorry."

The moment the words fell, the hour ticked over. Cheng Shi released her hand. The Blind One caught his meaning, gathered her skirt, and strode swiftly out of the warehouse.

Now, she had to have a proper talk with the Qin Xin from another world.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side.

After leaving the warehouse, Qin Xin had sensed the last teammate's position. He knew he'd been caught in Time's "discrepancy," yet he felt no panic — not even mild concern — because...

He'd known all along that Time's trials had exploitable loopholes. That Time's disturbances could transport you to a timeline not your own, where you might encounter people from any past or future.

Among peak players in his timeline, this was no secret. But how to trigger such disturbances, or how to use them to break free of one's original timeline — no one could say for certain.

Perhaps some people knew. But secrets of that magnitude circulated only in the smallest circles. The Torchbearers, at least, were not among them.

Yet Qin Xin had stumbled upon whispers of certain unorthodox methods capable of cracking Time's barrier. So in this special trial, he'd decided to test them.

He himself hadn't expected this experiment — one he'd held zero hopes for — to actually succeed. But looking at the situation now, it seemed less like his own doing and more like Time had orchestrated it deliberately.

Why?

What was He up to?