Chapter 1084

The "Savior" has arrived.

Two consecutive summons left Cheng Shi even more confused.

【Memory】 clearly did not retain its memories; even though it had left a copied collection item in the Archive the moment it grasped the truth of the universe, it was still washed away by the power of 【Time】.

But 【Birth】 is different—it not only left behind memories but even retained its authority!

How was this achieved?

Could the backtracking of 【Time】 be selective by person—no, by god?

Whoever it wants to retain memories, can retain them?

Hiss—

This discovery gave Cheng Shi a jolt, followed immediately by a surge of joy. 【Time】 is, after all, one of the Fear Sect; if it can manipulate the backtracking of the world, this is undoubtedly an supreme weapon for the Fear Sect's schemes!

It's just that one wonders what the price for such a "perfect" method might be; it stands to reason that resetting the world isn't that simple.

But since memories can be retained, which other god learned the truth of the universe during this accident?

And would the God of Fun use such a method to win over new members for the Fear Sect?

Cheng Shi frowned in silence, silently taking stock of the remaining gods. After counting them over and over, he realized the Fear Sect didn't seem to have any new allies.

Among the gods, they are either the devout Proximity Sect or the Fear Sect, who had long since formed an alliance in secret; there don't seem to be many Neutral Sect members left.

【Decay】 could be considered one, but it makes no difference which sect it joins; no god would bother with it, and it wouldn't bother with other gods either.

【Birth】...

Forget it. If gods from different camps can all cast their votes for 【Birth】, it just goes to show that, like 【Decay】, it purely belongs to the mascot category.

As long as it can still give birth, this prelude to 【Life】 will not pose any threat to the universe.

But at this very moment, he himself is indeed under threat.

Why should he have to clean up the mess after the God of Fun broke its promise?

Being stuck with such a patron is truly exhausting, but then again, the God of Fun didn't technically break the agreement this time; it's just that at the start of their cooperation, the two gods had different understandings of "going home."

Cheng Shi sighed helplessly. Knowing he definitely couldn't persuade Lucia to return, he had no choice but to tactfully relay to 【Birth】 the wish Lucia had expressed before the trial ended, and put in a good word for her:

"Great God of 【Birth】, you need not worry.

Lucia is devoutly spreading your will to the world. I know you feel the universe is not peaceful, and that you feel at ease only when your child is by your side.

But the truth is—forgive me for being disrespectful—the reality we face is too heavy. If the day you fear truly comes, even if Lucia were by your side, you likely wouldn't be able to protect her.

Because the danger comes from..."

Cheng Shi pointed solemnly at the sky, without saying that name.

"... So, why not let your child be herself in these 'final moments'?

She seems rebellious, but in truth, this is all out of devotion and love for you, because what she cares about is still your will.

Of course, I may be being a bit too pessimistic, but you should be able to understand what I mean..."

Cheng Shi's words were indeed sincere, and 【Birth】 did take them to heart.

That thick 【Divine Pillar】 stopped lashing out, swayed and pondered for a moment, then said to Cheng Shi:

"Do not attempt to drag Me into your camp—

I do not fear 【*Him】—I simply do not wish to be separated from My children—

You—like your patron—are born to bewitch hearts—

Stay away from My children—do not instill the will of 【Deception】 into them—

I will not summon you again—"

"..."

Cheng Shi curled his lip; he had been shut out by 【Birth】...

He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

True, Cheng Shi did have ulterior motives in his rhetoric. Since 【Time】 left memories for 【Birth】, it meant the Fear Sect still had designs on 【Birth】.

As a member of the Fear Sect, he had to try. That was why he was so pessimistic—to provoke this god, hoping to make it lean toward the Fear Sect in order to protect its children.

However, the other party was impervious to reason.

Cheng Shi was out of options. He really wanted to ask: Since you have witnessed the horror of the 【Origin】 and the essence of the universe, why are you still not afraid?

But he knew this question would never yield an answer.

Fine then.

Even if he didn't succeed, at least he got rid of the burden of recalling Lucia, didn't he?

That could be considered a gain.

【Birth】, which found 【Deception】 an eyesore, lashed out and sent its believer flying. Cheng Shi, long accustomed to all this, silently closed his eyes, waiting to fall back into reality.

But today's reality seemed somewhat distant. He fell for a long time without ever touching solid ground, so in the next second, he opened his eyes and looked at the void beside him, sighing helplessly:

"My Lord Patron, have you had enough fun?"

"Hee~

Not yet."

Following a giggle, those eyes of stardust and spirals opened once again above Cheng Shi's head.

The God of Fun had arrived, and it seemed to be in a good mood.

With the authority of 【Truth】 in its pocket, the world not being watched by the 【Origin】, and even the creation of 【Truth】 held in the hands of its own believer, in such a "resounding victory" of a game, no matter how you looked at it, it was the biggest winner.

So, the moment he saw the God of Fun, Cheng Shi asked straight to the point:

"You anticipated all of this?"

Those eyes blinked and blinked, feigning ignorance: "What?"

Cheng Shi curled his lip, landed in the void, stood firm, and repeated the question. This time, the God of Fun responded, but the answer was somewhat unexpected.

"Of course not.

No one can anticipate everything, not even 【Fate】, which claims to see through the essence of the universe.

This was indeed an accident.

I have to say, 【Truth】 knew very well how to seize the moment. It started this experiment when I was most off-guard, catching me off-guard. The betrayal of 【War】 completely disrupted my plans, leaving me exhausted."

"?"

Why does this sound like you're bragging?

If you were really caught off-guard and really exhausted, how could there be such a bountiful harvest?

Cheng Shi curled his lip in disdain, feeling quite speechless.

Those eyes clearly saw what he was thinking and let out a scoff:

"What, do you think I gained a massive advantage in this experiment?"

"The authority of 【Truth】 has changed hands. If I'm not mistaken, the voting power of the 【Convention】 has likely been retained by you, My Lord Patron. In this way, everything 【Truth】 lost has been gained by you. Doesn't that count as a massive advantage?"

"Pfft—

If you only look at what's in front of you, you can only see the surface.

Even if you are my believer, your eyes shouldn't be limited to the surface.

If I could choose, I would rather not have this authority.

Do you know, the authority of 【Truth】 is merely compensation for propping up a collapsing building, not some trophy.

I lost big, but...

At least I saved this world.

How about it, do you believe now that I am saving the world?"

"..."

Cheng Shi understood instantly. His expression tightened, and he immediately asked: "What is the price?"

Those eyes said mysteriously: "You don't need to know. You only need to know that the authority of 【Truth】 is completely insufficient to compensate for the losses of saving the world."

Is the God of Fun really a savior?

No, Cheng Shi didn't think so. Even if it did play a part in saving the world this time, Cheng Shi always felt that the God of Fun saved the world so that the universe wouldn't collapse halfway, but rather at the end it had set.

What it is plotting must be a rebellion against the 【Origin】; otherwise, it wouldn't be worthy of its will of 【Deception】.

However, Cheng Shi didn't need to expose anything here; the Fear Sect couldn't afford nested fears either. He pondered carefully for a moment, thinking that if the God of Fun wasn't lying, then there seemed to be many secrets hidden in this backtracking.

For example, what it said about "If I could choose"... but isn't the backtracking of 【Time】 the result of its and 【Time】's choice? Otherwise, why would some gods have memories and others not?

Could it be that there's more to this?