Chapter 1000

The Heart-to-Heart Session: Zhen Xin’s Sincerity

After much exchange among the clowns, each offering their views, the consensus was to pursue multiple avenues: not only seek the chance to become a god, but also use [Time] to reach the outside world and gather more information.

Meanwhile, intelligence gathering within this world must not be neglected, for the historical creases in this timeline may hold the faintest traces of the Joke God’s layout—and the more they understand Him, the better their own chances of setting traps.

Collective wisdom did prove effective; everyone’s ideas were excellent—but the problem remained: vague generalizations could only establish direction, not ground action.

Among those present, many were pragmatic; soon, Zhen Xin raised an eyebrow and said:

“We have a foundation of trust and a framework for cooperation. Now it’s time to discuss the details.”

“Everyone here is among the elite of this game. I know each of you can stand alone—but in that Supreme Experiment, solitary mortals are useless. Only unity can ‘break through and achieve something.’ So, perhaps you might be a little more sincere...”

“How sincere?” Cheng Shi chuckled, as if he already guessed what Zhen Xin was about to say. “A pure heart-to-heart meeting?”

“You could say that.”

Zhen Xin snapped her fingers lightly and smiled:

“Even if this is an unprecedented confession session, everything we’ve discussed so far has been ‘outward-facing.’ Overemphasizing the external while neglecting the internal turns cooperation into scattered dust. How to harness effective cohesion is precisely what every organization strives to study.”

“But I believe everyone here is intelligent enough to understand this: the deeper your mutual understanding, the better you can complement each other’s strengths—and the more effectively you can assess your situation and arrive at the optimal global solution.”

“So, please be clear about your methods. I can see this is your first meeting—if seeds of mutual distrust are planted now, future Clown Gatherings will only grow... more interesting.”

Zhen Xin was indeed the master of cooperation; everything she said was true—but the truth was, when con artists gather, there can never be sincerity exchanged for sincerity.

Zhen Xin herself might be capable of it.

Even now, everyone still held back.

Cheng Shi had already revealed everything he could. As for the matter of containers... the clowns were still far from possessing the power to know of containers. Not to mention whether Cheng Shi even had suitable containers to give them—if he did, could they even hold onto them?

Hu Xuan had [Birth] as backup; Da Mao had [Fate] backing him; Wei Mu... forget it, he wasn’t a player in the normal sense. [Foolishness] had granted him a container and wouldn’t let it slip from his grasp—but what about the others?

Even if the clowns weren’t afraid of players, at this level, threats no longer came solely from players. [Annihilation] was the best example.

So, before the clowns understood the existence of containers, before any of them became a “predestined” one of Those, Cheng Shi felt he needed to play it safe.

But since his recent disclosures had already been shocking enough, Zhen Xin didn’t turn her “ Maotou ” toward him—instead, she turned it toward... herself.

Zhen Xin scanned the room. Seeing everyone fall silent, she snorted, leaned back, propped her hand on a tombstone, and said with relaxed posture:

“Since everyone has reservations, let me start.”

“Everyone knows about the History School—I won’t repeat it. If I uncover anything new about them, I’ll contact you immediately.”

“As for the rest...”

“I’ve fused [Chaos].”

“!!!”

“??? ”

At these words, everyone stared at Zhen Xin in shock.

Especially Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu—the cautious ones who knew that holding back a card meant holding onto your life. Yet they never expected Zhen Xin would so openly reveal her faith fusion.

No way, sis—you’re serious?

Long Jing froze, murmuring: “No wonder you chose [Chaos]... you really mean to open your heart?”

“What else?” Zhen Xin shrugged with a casual smile. “Know yourself, know your ally, to cooperate seamlessly. The more you understand me, the more you’ll think of me when you need me.”

“For instance, when investigating [Chaos]—or approaching the [Chaos] Envoy, Ultraman.”

Speaking of which, Zhen Xin cast a faint glance at Cheng Shi. She hadn’t seen through Ultraman’s identity—she was merely reminding him that the events at the [Chaos] Temple were surely part of the [Deception] plan.

But Li Jingming’s eyes flashed sharply. He suddenly spoke up:

“Who fused [Chaos]? You—or Zhen Yi?”

“Clever. It’s me.” Zhen Xin smiled shrewdly. “And this leads to my second point: from the perspective of increasing personal power, I have an advantage over you all—because Zhen Yi... hasn’t fused yet.”

“Three beliefs? No—four beliefs!??”

Long Jing instantly grasped the implication and cried out. Li Jingming’s eyes flashed repeatedly, deep in thought.

Zhang Jizu had already forgotten Cheng Shi’s split personality, so he found Zhen Xin’s dual personality intriguing. Only Cheng Shi felt a flicker of emotion when Zhen Xin revealed even this.

What a fine con artist—she’d laid bare her entire foundation for the sake of the clowns’ progress.

But what exactly are you after, with such generosity?

Cheng Shi hadn’t forgotten Zhen Xin’s claim that Zhen Yi refused to fuse beliefs. So why expose herself so completely?

If you said she was doing this purely for sincerity, that was impossible. For the clowns? Absurd. Cheng Shi could think of only one excuse to convince himself: to save all An Mingyu. As for Zhen Xin’s true purpose...

Perhaps only she knew.

It turned out that among con artists, heart-to-heart sessions truly existed. When Zhen Xin treated them with such sincerity, a chain reaction began.

Li Jingming hesitated, then lowered his eyes and spoke softly:

“Strengthening oneself is indeed the best way to improve investigation efficiency. Before fusing my belief, I once tried this method—but stable personality splitting isn’t easy. Once a personality is formed, it’s nearly impossible to sever or peel it away unless you use [Truth]’s methods.”

[Truth]...

Come to think of it, if the Doctor were here, he should’ve held a [Truth] symposium with Long Wang. But now this [Truth]-believing con artist missed the gathering—what a pity.

Long Wang continued:

“But recently, I happened upon a way to witness my other personality...”

“?”

“Witness?” Everyone grew curious—even Zhen Xin looked startled. She could advise on personality splitting, but the method was surely just [Truth]’s standard approach.

“Precisely. Witness.” Long Wang turned to Long Jing and smiled. “Remember when I told you about looking in the mirror?”

“I’ve recently gained real insight into mirror-gazing.”

No sooner had he spoken than a full-length mirror, intricately patterned, appeared before them.

“This is...!?”

“The Dream of the Other, My Nightmare.”