Chapter 1118: The Heart-to-Heart Game of

The Heart-to-Heart Game of "Light" and "Darkness"

"Mortal, standing before you is a Sub-God. I advise you to watch your words."

Cheng Shi smiled, paying it no mind.

Who's not a Sub-God, huh?

Out in the world, your status is whatever you say it is. If you insist on going on about that, I'll have to drag out that long string of my own titles again to scare people.

Cheng Shi had read the other party's attitude of having business to discuss with him, so he didn't hold back at all. Seeing that Cheng Shi wouldn't take the bait, the Candle-Fire Person grew irritated, and the flames on his body went "poof," flaring up considerably.

He was startled by this sight himself. His gaze sharpened, and the look he gave Cheng Shi turned piercing once more. At the same time, he murmured thoughtfully:

"My feeling was right after all......

Tell me your purpose, Weaver of Fate. If you want my trust, you'll have to offer your sincerity, won't you?"

Cheng Shi waved his hand:

"Wrong. It's you who wants my trust.

We may indeed be the two who've been set up, but my game can do without you. The question is whether your game can do without me......

So, tell me your purpose first.

Little...... Hope's Flame. I've never wanted to become a Fire-Passer. If you want me to shield you from the wind, you'll have to let me know the meaning of shielding that wind, and......"

"Benefits?" The Candle-Fire Person blinked.

"......"

Great, an episode where my reputation takes a hit.

Which Fire-Passer has been badmouthing me behind my back?

The Candle-Fire Person pondered for a moment, resting his chin on his hand:

"Fine. As a deity, I should set a good example for mortals.

I do have some thoughts about you, but I don't quite know how to bring them up right now. Hmm, let me think. Perhaps every explanation can be summed up in one sentence:

Weaver of Fate, do you want to become a god?"

"!!??"

Cheng Shi's pupils contracted sharply, and he fell silent.

This question had been asked once before, long ago, during his first audience with the God of Entertainment. Back then, Cheng Shi's answer had been unusually firm: no.

But now, he hesitated.

A mortal, no matter how many titles he had, could never sit at the table where the gods played their games, let alone become some sort of top scholar of the true universe.

So Cheng Shi thought for a long time, his lips parting slightly: "Is every answer 'become a god'?"

The Candle-Fire Person's flames flickered gently as he smiled:

"You could say that.

A deity is never an identity; it's an entry ticket.

Even if you get it, you may not win. But if you don't get it...... you'll never be able to achieve what you desire."

"But you are already a deity. You have many choices. Why cooperate with a mortal?" Cheng Shi cut straight to the heart of the matter.

The Candle-Fire Person raised an eyebrow, admiringly:

"Very sharp. Worthy of being the offering my Lord has set his sights on.

Since you want sincerity, I might as well be blunt. It's precisely because not a single one of those sixteen divine seats holds a 【He】 who shares my heart and purpose, so I have no choice but to seek aid beyond the gods."

"?"

Hearing this, Cheng Shi furrowed his brow.

Reasonably speaking, the other fourteen deities could be excused—after all, their very paths differed. But hadn't Hope's Flame claimed to be an Emissary of 【Fate】?

If He truly were an Emissary of 【Fate】, then His will must surely be encompassed within the will of 【Fate】.

Even if He weren't, and were instead a creation of 【Deceit】, His will would still be inherited from the will of 【Deceit】.

So how could He claim His will differed from all the other deities?

If it truly differed, who would let a Sub-God of a different mind wield their authority?

That defies all logic.

Cheng Shi furrowed his brow. He couldn't shake the feeling that this little flame before him wasn't telling the whole truth.

And Hope's Flame had anticipated Cheng Shi's doubts, so He immediately followed up with an explanation:

"I am different from the other Sub-Gods. I was born from the 【Change】 of 【Fate】.

When our Patron interpreted devotion to the 【Origin】 as reverence for the predetermined, the will of 【Fate】 had already been written full of predetermination!

And Change is the great enemy of the predetermined, destined to be guarded against by 【Fate】. To ensure the predetermined came to pass, He stripped away a sliver of unforeseeable Change and severed all ties with it. It was at that moment I was born.

I was born as the opposite of the predetermined—the ant that shakes the tree, the mantis arm that blocks the chariot, the last shred of mercy left in this world by 【Fate】's most essential tolerance.

No matter where the world ends up under the guidance of 【Void】's will, I always represent the affirmation of the reverse will by the smallest minority.

Therefore, when Xin Xin established the Fire-Passers, I saw him in an instant.

I knew I had to shelter him, because only with people like him alive—as the hopes of the smallest minority—do I possess a faith of my own.

Yet the frailty of that faith makes me frail as well. I find it hard to reach my hand out beyond this space to do anything for them, or to directly shield them from the gods' gaze.

Until one day, 【Deceit】 found me.

He told me He was very interested in these mortals who wanted to rebel against the gods. To get more entertainment, He could invest in them slightly—shield them from the wind and rain, block the gods' sight and hearing—but He had one requirement."

"What requirement?" Cheng Shi asked curiously.

"He said......" The Candle-Fire Person flickered faintly, seemingly lost in memory, "that I must ensure these mortals achieve their desires. Otherwise, the first one to destroy these mortals will be Him."

"......"

What does that mean?

The God of Fun blesses the Fire-Passer to overthrow the gods, or even himself; if he cannot succeed, He strikes first... to distance Himself from the affair?

Otherwise this demand would be far too strange.

But no matter how strange, the Fire of Hope agreed; otherwise, as He said, the Fire-Passer would never have lived until now.

But judging by the current momentum, the so-called rebellion of the Fire-Passer...

Is no different from a fool's daydream.

Even the gods beneath this stretch of starry sky are difficult to deal with, let alone the fact that in the real universe beyond the cosmos there is yet another 【*Him】.

The gods, compared to 【The Origin】, are like fireflies beside the bright moon; so what is a mere mortal Fire-Passer?

The light of the torch in their hands is probably just the most inconspicuous single pixel on this canvas of hundreds of millions of pixels.

That is why they must create a god, that is why the Fire of Hope asked whether he wished to become one.

Cheng Shi's expression was complicated:

"Why was I chosen?

If you truly possess Cheng Shen Zhi Fa, wouldn't it be better to let this god be born from among the Fire-Passers?

And you also know that I am His offering; to wantonly reshape His offering—how can you guarantee that our benefactor will not punish you for it?

Being targeted by 【Fate】 is no good thing..."

The Candle-Figure's flame flickered between light and dark, clearly in agreement with this reasoning.

Two believers of 【Fate】 gathering to gossip about their own benefactor—one must say, this sort of thing probably only happens in the era of 【Void】.

"My choices were not many."

The Candle-Figure's tone was unusually solemn.

"The Fire-Passer's path ahead is uncertain; I cannot yet let go and let them have their one try. Though 【Fraud】 is full of lies, I know that His promise to me is no jest.

I cannot let the Fire-Passing be destroyed by His hand, so at this moment, I can only seek aid from the outside.

This way, I still have time to continue mediating between them and 【Fraud】."

Cheng Shi was stunned, and asked in alarm: "Are you going to die?"

"?" The Candle-Figure's aura stalled. "You're the one who's going to die!"

"... Then why do you want to let go? Shouldn't the Fire-Passer becoming a god be your aid?

If you two strong parties join forces, you would only draw closer to hope."

The words sounded pleasant, but Cheng Shi did not think so in his heart; this hope was too distant—in the face of tens of millions of kilometers, an advance measured in millimeters could not be called drawing closer.

The Candle-Figure sighed and said:

"If the Fire-Passer becomes a god, it naturally cannot be hidden from the cosmos; at that time it will surely attract countless covetous eyes. They may not necessarily have 'fire' in their hearts, but they will certainly have all manner of desires, and these desires and distracting thoughts will always pollute the will of the Fire-Passing.

I have said that the Fire of Hope begins only in the smallest things; when this flame burns into a prairie fire, I will no longer be hope, and naturally I will lose the soil of faith.

At that time I will have no strength, and can only watch helplessly as they fight with all their might—what difference is that from letting go?

Therefore, before the accumulated power can settle the matter in one stroke, the fire cannot be passed on recklessly, and a god cannot be created recklessly.

I need to find a helper on the outside, someone who can shelter the Fire-Passer together with me.

And the one I have chosen is you, Fate-Weaver Cheng Shi!

You need not doubt, need not scruple, and need not feel too much pressure; this is not a conspiracy, because this choice...

Was also a decision I made only after seeing you today."

"..."

Thank you very much, the pressure is even greater now.