Chapter 1035: I Don't Believe It!

I don't believe it!

It was strange—everything before his eyes struck Cheng Shi as utterly bizarre.

Logically speaking, this experiment was aimed at Gallusha; since she had already infiltrated, why not sabotage the experiment, and instead go ahead and start it?

Last time, Cheng Shi could still understand it as the other side having seized control of the departure platform, so even if the experiment was started, the two charred figures on the departure platform alone could not complete the task the Scholarly Presidium had assigned them.

But this time?

She had clearly blown up the experimental platform and could have strangled the experiment in its cradle—so why start it again amid the chaos?

Cheng Shi was deeply puzzled, but there was no time left to think. The experiment was on the verge of failure, the departure platform had been cleared, and amid the smoke and chaos he only caught a glimpse of two blurry figures standing behind Gallusha before he calmly snapped his fingers, to keep the trial from receiving a failure prompt.

"Snap—"

The flowing of time rolled back, and everything was reset once more.

The cries of "Fictional Laws, Cosmic Jest" gradually faded. Cheng Shi frowned tightly, decisively took out the Thorned Mourning Gift and hung it on his arm.

"I don't believe it!"

He could see it—this might be a war of attrition.

Judging from the two regressions so far, how many people Gallusha had planted in the Scholarly Presidium's reserve experimental team was still unknown, and as an outsider, he found it hard to win the trust of the Grand Scholars at once, which meant he couldn't quickly finish screening the entire experimental team.

And Gallusha's pieces were like suicide infantry—one careless moment and they'd self-detonate to create chaos, truly a pain to deal with.

So he had to first devise a complete plan before racing against the well-prepared Gallusha in the experimental field.

Cheng Shi thought as he sprinted toward the west of the city—if an outsider's identity wouldn't work, then... what about one of their own?

His eyes lit up; he instantly thought of a scheme, though it still needed someone to cooperate.

So the running Cheng Shi suddenly stopped, rolled his eyes, and probed toward the shadows amid the surrounding smoke:

"Stop hiding. I know you're there."

No response came from around him, only the crackle of the great fire and the occasional spray of sparks.

Not here?

Cheng Shi's brow furrowed slightly; he lifted his foot as if to leave, but before taking a step he paused again and said:

"I've found the Scholarly Presidium's hiding place. Rather than skulking in the dark wondering whether to ambush me, why not try digging the Grand Scholars out?

Once you find them and let me get the 【Truth Instrument Track】, I can promise to forge you a pair of eyes utterly resembling His, for you to gaze upon day and night."

The moment his words fell, a figure stepped out from the shadows not far from Cheng Shi.

Chen Yi!

This old hunter appeared with an icy face, utterly uninterested in Cheng Shi's proposal, for he felt that was not love but sacrilege.

But just as he was about to open his mouth to "judge" Cheng Shi and prepare to deal with this 【Fraud】 believer who meant to tempt him into blasphemy, Cheng Shi took all the blame upon himself in one breath.

"Don't rush—I know this is blasphemy, but the sin of that blasphemy is all mine.

It was I who used the 【Truth Instrument Track】 to create an effigy sculpture of a pair of 【Memory】's eyes, wanting to desecrate Him day and night, and the devout 【Memory】 believer snatched the sculpture from my hands and keeps it by his side at all times to guard it.

Such pure faith moves the heavens—I think it must be worth recording as a memory and placing it in His collection. What say you, Chen Yi?"

"......"

Chen Yi, who had already drawn his dagger, faltered in his step, his face shifting slightly. He slowly moved his hand behind his back and stuffed the dagger back exactly as it had been.

An intense struggle washed over his face, and seeing this, Cheng Shi knew the fish had bitten the hook again.

Damn, these fish are way too easy to catch nowadays.

Never mind whether the hook is straight or not—the fish just can't help climbing up the line!

Cheng Shi didn't want to waste too much time here. Seeing Chen Yi still tangled up—no, rather, glancing at him again and again as if waiting for a way out—Cheng Shi immediately took the hint, turned around, and said:

"I was just talking to myself earlier; pretend you didn't see me.

I'm heading to the timber warehouse beneath the west of the city now, but unfortunately the Grand Scholars have laid a formation there, and I can't get in.

If I can't get in, naturally I can't get the 【Truth Instrument Track】. Sigh, I'll try again."

Saying so, Cheng Shi simply left.

Watching the Weaver's back as he departed, Chen Yi clenched his teeth and balled his fists.

He knew the other was using him, but the thought of His eyes being able to stay by his side day and night......

"The timber warehouse in the west of the city!"

An agile assassin vanished in an instant into the shadows amid the billowing smoke.

Not long after, the formation over the timber warehouse let out the rumbling of a breach—exactly the same as the first time. Chen Yi had once again dragged the Grand Scholar Pelaya over to work for him. Clearly, after he and Meng Youfang had each called a halt to their fight, this player had run into a lone Grand Scholar.

Seeing the formation about to break, Cheng Shi stood in an inconspicuous corner of the ruins, calculating the time, and decisively snapped his fingers to return to the experimental field once more.

He knew that once the formation began to rumble, the three Grand Scholars in charge of security would head into the antechamber behind the formation to block the enemy, and that would be the best moment for him to don the Grand Scholar's skin.

So this time he didn't bother playing the unlucky ordinary scholar again; instead, at a corner he changed into the Grand Scholar's robes preserved on the Grand Scholar's corpse in the Crematorium of Molten Fire. At the same time he burst a blood pack and smeared his face until it was blurred beyond recognition, then pulled up his hood and hurried toward the inside of the experimental field.

All the way, every scholar who saw him hurriedly stepped aside in alarm and saluted him. Cheng Shi didn't utter a single word; he arrived beneath Wolent's experimental platform, waved his hand, and had the guard scholars send him up.

The instant he saw Wolent, the old fox of a Grand Scholar across from him lowered his eyes, pondered for a moment, and chose not to expose Cheng Shi's identity. Instead, he beckoned him closer and asked in a low voice:

"Who are you?"

Cheng Shi smiled, feeling he had gambled right. The number-one Grand Scholar of the Scholarly Presidium was a man of unfathomable depth, truly unflappable in the face of change. It was also his decisive handling in the previous two attempts that had won Cheng Shi's trust, making him feel this Grand Scholar was a rare "inside man" he could cooperate with in this experiment.

"Apologies, Grand Scholar Wolent—I wasn't deliberately impersonating, but the problem you face now is extremely grave......"

Cheng Shi once again shared all the details he had gathered, then looked at Wolent with a solemn face and said:

"To safeguard the Scholarly Presidium's plan, to let the Tower of Reason continue its pursuit of 【Truth】, Grand Scholar, you must consider whether to lock down the experiment first and only restart it once the screening and pacification are done."

"Having said all this, you should be able to tell I'm on your side. So, what to do next, I'll follow your arrangements entirely."

Wolent's gaze shifted again and again; he silently studied Cheng Shi for a long while before asking:

"Why help us? You are no 【Truth】 believer."

Cheng Shi didn't hide it either, and said openly: "This is a transaction. Once I help you through this crisis, I trust the Scholarly Presidium won't treat me poorly—am I right, Grand Scholar Wolent?"

Wolent's expression shifted oddly as he considered for a moment, then summoned several security scholars, gave them the final review arrangements, and told them they had to use spell barriers to isolate all suspects, preventing moles from self-destructing and affecting the experimental site.

Watching the security scholars lower their heads in acknowledgment while secretly glancing at each other, Cheng Shi's heart suddenly gave a lurch.

"Not good!"

The next second, the security scholars simultaneously extended their pinkies and thrust them into their own eye sockets.

"......"

"Boom—Boom—Boom—"

Time rewound once more, the Favored of 【Time】 returned to the starting point.