Chapter 1414

【Covenant】Acting Agent

"I..."

Although he had figured everything out, Cheng Shi remained perplexed.

All along, he had believed 【Justice (Order)】 was a target to oppose—the rigid 【Covenant】 had constrained the Fear Faction's visions of the Throne, and he had gone to great lengths to circumvent its rules and exploit loopholes, yet now he found himself standing alongside the very opponent he had sought to defeat...

But why would 【Justice (Order)】 fear?

All historical records concerning 【Order】 told Cheng Shi that 【Order】 was a steadfast ally of the Approach Faction, yet 【Justice (Order)】 claimed that midway through the age, It had realized the meaning behind 【Deception】's deception, tricking the gods into signing the 【Covenant】.

This meant that even before the 【Faith Game】 descended into reality, when civilization had just begun, 【Order】 had already fallen into fear.

So where did Its fear come from?

What happened back then?

Cheng Shi could not fathom it; unable to understand this question, he dared not rashly accept the so-called "replacement."

Yet 【Justice (Order)】, which had just been explaining to Cheng Shi, remained silent, only letting out a long sigh, somewhat sorrowful, and said:

"【Fear (Order)】 has already perished.

After the Audience Gathering, the 【Faith Game】 developed flaws due to the absence of 【Order】's will; I seized upon Its death as an opportunity, exploited the situation, bound the 【Covenant】's rules, and temporarily halted the granting of trials, thereby weakening the 【Faith Game】's influence on reality.

And all prior simplifications of rules, reductions in procedures... these were all done to oppose the 【Covenant】!

The 【Covenant】 is the collective will of the gods, inviolable; as long as it remains unbroken, as Its acting agent, I cannot die.

But I must die!

Therefore, I must oppose the 【Covenant】.

The 【Covenant】 stipulates that when the 【Covenant】's Acting Agent is questioned by the gods for losing justice, if the accuser proposes a motion and it passes with over two-thirds of the votes, a new 【Covenant】 Acting Agent may be elected.

Now all is in place—I have lost justice, and you hold over two-thirds of the gods' voting power; for the future of the cosmos, a questioner must be chosen to immediately propose replacing my identity, fulfilling the final predetermined outcome."

Two-thirds voting power... Cheng Shi considered it carefully—the 9 votes from the Iron Vote Vault plus the 2 votes from 【Void】 indeed reached two-thirds of the total, but could this also have been calculated?

Had It foreseen that It would reclaim the 【Void】's voting power?

Otherwise, why had everything progressed so smoothly?

【Justice (Order)】 continued:

"I assume you now understand what 'predetermined' means.

I do not know how 【Deception】 defines the path ahead; I only know that if 【Order】 is not true 【Order】, the world deserves a new order.

The existence of 【Order】 was never meant to exploit faith or construct hierarchies, but so that the believers under My protection, the children of radiance, might live independently, equally, freely, without restraint.

Every life deserves respect; every spark of consciousness has the right to be acknowledged—they are independent individuals, not puppets manipulated by gods.

True 【Order】 does not tower above; it is the scale by which sentient beings measure each other's dignity.

The scale of the old world has long been unbalanced... Unfortunately, I will not see the equality of the new world.

Cheng Shi, question Me, replace Me, fight for this world's future, and infuse this starry sky with a new order.

This is not only the answer 【Deception】 has given to the age, but also the hope 【Pride (Order)】 once cast upon you.

Act quickly—I have little time left."

"..."

The 【Order】 will expressed by 【Justice (Order)】 was a version Cheng Shi had never heard before—this will was clearly purer and nobler than the 【Order】 will known to the world today.

Yet it was no surprise the world misunderstood 【Order】; after all, true 【Order】 had long since split, and the one seated upon the 【Order】 Throne had been swapped out by 【Deception】.

When 【Chaos】 sat upon the 【Order】 Throne, how could this chaotic world ever possess true order?

Cheng Shi was deeply shaken and had finally awakened: the method of replacing the 【Primordial】's gaze might well refer to becoming the 【Covenant】 Acting Agent.

Yet the problem remained—he still did not understand why 【Justice (Order)】 had chosen this moment, this method, to "force" him into becoming the 【Covenant】 Acting Agent.

【Deception】 was absent, impossible to verify; the Death Boss knew nothing of 【Deception】's plan; a sudden ally from the Fear Faction claimed 【Deception】's plan had always been this way—and Cheng Shi could not help but panic.

Even if everything seemed logical, at this moment, he could not afford to be wrong.

So Cheng Shi cautiously stepped back, striving to remain rational, his mind racing as he sorted through all he knew; after a moment, he seemed to grasp something, his gaze complex as he looked toward the nearly vertical scale, and asked:

"You long ago discovered the truth of the cosmos, knowing all of this is merely an experiment by the Creator, correct?

【*He】's cruelty stands in complete opposition to your will; your fear stems from this, correct?

But you were not the original Fear Faction, because you said that midway through the age you only realized 【Deception】's methods—this also means you did not learn the truth from 【Deception】's lips... you discovered it yourself.

Yet at that time, you had already been inserted into the 【Covenant】, becoming its new Acting Agent, losing the chance to leave the cosmos—how then could you have known that beyond the universe there exist other universes?

Your sudden awakening is bizarre; I cannot find a single logical point to accept all this, and you avoid addressing it entirely; after much thought, I can only link these oddities to one thing."

Cheng Shi's eyes flickered with solemnity, and he said in a low voice, "Because of the Sea of Desires, correct?"

"..."

The scale trembled slightly, still offering no response.

But in Cheng Shi's eyes, this was already an answer!

His pupils contracted, and he continued guessing:

"The Sea of Desires is flawed!

Yes, everyone knows the Sea of Desires is flawed—but the flaw I mean is not the kind that people in the world understand, the stirring of desire; it is a flaw like that of 【Deception】 or Derahirko!

You were corrupted, weren't you!?

It's bad—not just you, all gods who entered the Sea of Desires have been affected!

The world has been deceived by the illusion of 【Order】's split; if one strips away the middle process and simply isolates cause and effect, one sees that every god who entered the Sea of Desires ultimately...

Could not escape death?"

Mid-sentence, Cheng Shi's voice twisted, his eyes widening sharply, "

Although 【Order】 split into three, so far, all except you have perished—and you too are urgently seeking death;

【War】 has long been dead; It died on the path charging toward the Creator;

Delasilko is dead too; He claimed that 【Corruption】 was meaningless and self-annihilated beside the Sea of Desire in the Land of Descent.

Then came 【Deceit】...

No, no, no, no!!"

Cheng Shi suddenly stopped; he seemed unwilling to accept such a fact.

If his guess is true, then regardless of whether an answer can be found in the true universe, the ending awaiting 【Deceit】 seems to be only...

"No!" Cheng Shi clenched his fists tightly, looking at 【Justice (Order)】, unwilling to believe, "Tell me, this is not true.

The thing hidden within the Sea of Desire has corrupted you, giving you reasons you must die...

No, I guessed wrong, tell me, this is not true, I guessed wrong!"

"..."

【Justice (Order)】 remained silent for a long time; even though Cheng Shi's expression twisted further, He never responded to this, and only said:

"Question Me, replace Me; My time is running out.

Imbalanced Justice can no longer resist the erosion of the 【Covenant】; once I fall before you replace Me, then the 【Covenant】 will, according to the rules, automatically select a deity to become the new proxy.

Before that 'lucky one' becomes imbalanced, you will lose every method to replace Him.

Indeed, those who oppose the Will of Fear are few in the universe, but with every change, there is an additional risk.

The universe cannot afford to gamble, 【Void】 cannot afford to gamble, 【Order】 cannot afford to gamble, and you... also cannot afford to gamble.

The old world should have been destroyed long ago; only amidst ruins can new life be nurtured.

Begin, Cheng Shi; we have no time."

There is still one weekend until the event ends; everyone, remember to vote!

President Gong is doing well too; the current queue order is (Li Li Jingming - Zhang Zhang Jizu - Wei Mu - Long Jing); judging by the vote count, three positions should be unlocked. To increase the push for votes, starting from 420,000 votes, one position will be unlocked for every additional 10,000 votes, valid without an upper limit during the event period. Today's chapter comments begin the selection voting for the fifth character's side story!