Chapter 1307: Atonement

"Atonement"

The truth is now plain enough.

Zhang Zhang Jizu, who felt guilty toward the Clown and was determined to "atone," ran into Cheng Shi, who also wanted to atone.

He knew that he alone could never save Cheng Shi, but perhaps another Cheng Shi could, so the two exchanged a glance, said nothing, and fell in at once, performing a swap of worlds within the 【Time】 Deduction Method.

Zhang Zhang Jizu took the hand Cheng Shi extended and went to that world whose collapse countdown had begun, while the Cheng Shi of that world, drawing on the legacy of 【Time】, broke through the barrier and came to this one, completing his impersonation of Zhang Zhang Jizu!

So when Cheng Shi met the Zhang Zhang Jizu of another world, the "atonement" the other spoke of was not his own atonement, but that of the Cheng Shi from another world!

That Cheng Shi had brought back the so-called "answer" from the True Universe, only to drag the entire world down with it, leaving the cosmos without hope.

He knew his sins ran deep, and could only try to pass the hope on to other worlds, to soothe the boundless regret and guilt in his heart.

As for the crime... it could never be atoned for; it was not a personal wound, but the brand of a hopeless cosmos seared into his heart, a scar that could never be erased.

The "good luck" Cheng Shi heard from the other world's Zhang Zhang Jizu was therefore not meant for Cheng Shi, but a wish of good luck for that other Cheng Shi who so urgently needed to atone.

Thus, when the Time Deduction Method ended and Cheng Shi saw Zhang Zhang Jizu again, the true Zhang Zhang Jizu had long been in another world, watching another self, and he sighed at length:

"How could I not also be atoning......

I hope he can save him."

The other Zhang Zhang Jizu said with a smile: "It's fine, it can always be repaid. He can, you can, and I... can too."

The point of view shifts to beyond the void.

This is endless nothingness, the edge of the cosmos.

Going further in, the void is bottomless, growing thicker and thicker, as if it had no end at all.

But only those in the know realize that here, one need only borrow the great power of 【Time】 to pierce open the barrier beyond the void, slip into the cracks of 【Existence】, and travel to the True Universe, to behold the vastness of the real and the wonder of the cosmos.

And it was right here that the Outer God 【Fate】 withdrew its binding and spat out the Predestined One, who had been wrapped in the void.

Those cold, emotionless eyes opened once more, gazing at Cheng Shi without joy or sorrow, and Cheng Shi also rose to his feet, meeting 【Fate】's gaze without yielding an inch.

The silent, profound exchange of gazes between the one man and the one god seemed to cross countless worlds and pierce through many a cosmos; they looked at each other in silence, yet seemed to have said everything.

Until long after, when the spacetime storm of the True Universe still had not descended, the Outer God 【Fate】 broke the present silence and said coldly:

"You are not the Predestined One!"

Cheng Shi blinked, then scoffed:

"Patron my lord, you dragged me here yourself, and now at this very moment you tell me I am not the Predestined One?

So the identity of the Predestined One is like a piece of clothing—you put it on me when you feel like it, and strip it off when you feel like it?

Ha, I thought I was a key, a tool that could open the doors of the 【Primordial】 divine temple, but now you actually tell me I am a... puppet doll?

Keys don't look like this!

Could dressing a puppet doll in clothes really make you mistake it for the real thing!

Absurd, preposterous, ridiculous!

The Predestined One is not some creature within the world for you to knead and shape at will—it is the sole channel connected to 【Primordial】!

All the way here, the Predestined One's road has been rugged and full of pitfalls; it can fairly be called all wrong turns, never a straight path!

I am very curious—if the Predestined One is your will, why have you never once offered me guidance along this road!?"

The Outer God 【Fate】 was not angered by Cheng Shi's questioning, and instead said coldly:

"I gave countless guidances, but your rebellion is like 【Deceit】 itself—you never deigned to listen."

Cheng Shi froze for a beat, then burst into wild laughter:

"No, no, no, you know that is not the kind of guidance I mean!

I mean true guidance from 【Fate】 itself!"

The spirals in the Outer God 【Fate】's eyes slowly ceased their wandering; It was still not angry, and instead grew all the more composed because of this question.

It looked at Cheng Shi and said coldly:

"You are not him; I cannot give you the guidance you want."

Cheng Shi's wild laughter stalled, and then, for no apparent reason, two clear streams of tears slid down his face.

"So that's how it is...... so that's how it is......

So it was He who chose to believe, not He......

Good, good, good!"

Cheng Shi burst out laughing again, only this time the laughter carried tears; though his face held no expression, he looked even more ferocious than before.

He wiped away a handful of tears, looked up, and asked:

"One last question—how did you discover I am not him?"

The Outer God snorted coldly: "The spacetime storm has not arrived, and you... your identity is wrong."

"The spacetime storm?" Cheng Shi was briefly stunned, then burst into uncontrollable laughter. "What a fine 'the spacetime storm has not arrived'!

Can you really come out with such a hollow pretext of an excuse?

The spacetime storm is the primordial chaos at the dawn of an era, the darkness before the first light, the blank before birth; while it is true that the lives of the True Universe can use the storm to travel to different worlds, it is never born atop a surviving world—it only comes into being when a brand-new sliced-universe experiment begins.

You come from the True Universe, you cannot be unaware of these things; it's laughable that you actually said you wanted to wait for it above the current world?

Ha, 【Fate】 truly knows how to deceive better than 【Deceit】; surely you haven't even deceived yourself into believing it?

Your aim is absolutely not the spacetime storm—what are you doing!"

Hearing this, a faint, subtle shift finally appeared in 【Fate】's eyes; Cheng Shi happened to catch that tremor within the frozen spiral, his spirit jolted, as if he had realized something, and he cried out in horror:

"You actually want to......"

"Enough!"

The Outer God 【Fate】 let out a heavy snort, and the surrounding void began to collapse without end; that thick, inky blackness once again seized the "Predestined One," leaving him unable to utter another word.

But even without speaking, Cheng Shi's eyes were still speaking.

Since his identity had long been seen through, and since the so-called salvation was utterly meaningless, he put on those eyes filled with spirals, looked straight into those starry eyes likewise filled with spirals, and with the only corner of his eye that could still move slightly, raised it high, giving the other party a smile of relief.

He seemed to be saying:

"My part is wrapped; this stage will no longer belong to me.

My sins may never be fully atoned, but this is all I could do......"

Then, he first stepped into the void, and closed his eyes.

"Boom—"

"The Established" was dead.

Dead in the void embrace of the Outer God 【Fate】.

He had said that any struggle originating from the Established would splash out fresh blood, painting the curtain of the era in even more vivid hues.

And now, this crimson curtain too should reach the time of its fall.

He casually flung "the Established," who did not belong to this world, out beyond the world, then the starry eyes pierced through the void, looking toward a certain void thick with the aura of 【Death】; the strangeness in his eyes flashed and vanished in an instant, the frozen spirals melted once more, and began to spin in a dazed fashion as usual.

The one who had shielded the Established was dead, so the true Established naturally could no longer hide his form.