Chapter 258: Speculations on Gods and Authority

Speculations on Gods and Authority

"With great power comes great responsibility" — this saying isn't always true, but at least in certain circumstances it can serve as a reference.

For instance, right now.

One must understand that, without any cause, going from a believer of a single faith to a lucky fellow who holds two faiths at once — this may not actually be a fortunate thing.

Since it wasn't something he had actively prayed for, this settled outcome must have been pushed along by someone.

So, after weathering his initial shock, Cheng Shi calmed down and began to analyze the intentions of his two patrons.

Clearly, after 【Deceit】 compromised, 【Fate】 also chose to compromise.

The reason 【Deceit】 compromised is still unknown, and the reason 【Fate】 compromised certainly couldn't be that 【Deceit】 had stopped smiling...

Cheng Shi leaned more toward the idea that 【Fate】 was concealing its true purpose, a purpose that might be something inconvenient — and impossible — for the players to know.

So tell me, He — no, They — what exactly do They want?

That 【Deceit】 wishes to push forward a fusion of faiths is obvious, and He admitted it Himself. Though His words can't be fully trusted, if one takes this as a logical starting point, it seems possible to sort through some of the things within Cheng Shi's current knowledge.

For example, 【Deceit】 deliberately drew close to 【Chaos】 on His own — He made Himself into 【Chaos】's emissary, or, more practically, He gave Himself an opening to approach 【Chaos】.

But what puzzled Cheng Shi was whether He did this for fusion, or for theft.

Among 【Deceit】's talents there were indeed some with a 【Chaos】 lean. Cheng Shi had always assumed these were authorities He had stolen, but now, thinking it over, was it possible these authorities weren't stolen, but rather... exchanged?

Was 【Deceit】 exchanging authorities with 【Chaos】?

They appeared, at least within what he had seen and knew, not to be hostile toward each other, because 【Chaos】 had never denied 【Deceit】's methods, and had even given him a choice.

But why was that?

Isn't the essence of 【the Gods】 that They steal authorities from one another?

Cheng Shi frowned tightly, continuously writing "steal," "exchange," and "fuse" on the ground. As he wrote, a flash of inspiration struck him:

The essence of stealing, exchanging, and fusing is all to let 【Them】 possess other 【Gods'】 authorities, so Their purpose isn't theft, but rather...

Expansion!?

At this thought, Cheng Shi's mind recalled the words 【Deceit】 had spoken when he first paid homage:

"To become a god!"

Back then, Cheng Shi had been puzzled as to exactly who it was who wished to become a god, but now, thinking it over, was it possible that 【the Gods】 were expanding Their own authorities in order to become 【God】?

Although They were already gods, the dispersal of authority meant They were not omniscient or omnipotent!

Thus, through He De Fang Fa of stealing, plundering, exchanging, and fusing, They intended to become that higher-level, omniscient and omnipotent 【God】!

Was it possible?

Yes!

A glint flashed in Cheng Shi's eyes, but he immediately sighed:

"Sigh, but it's all just my own speculation — there's far too little information about Them."

Moreover, the above conjecture had a fatal flaw, namely 【Fate】's choice.

He seemed to have some resistance to 【Deceit】 leaning toward 【Chaos】.

And why was that?

【Fate】 had always been pushing him away from 【Chaos】, which showed that He had no intention of touching 【Chaos】's authority. But according to the reasoning just laid out, as long as He wished to "advance," He shouldn't and couldn't refuse 【Chaos】's authority.

Unless He... didn't wish to "advance," didn't wish to become that omniscient and omnipotent god!

But if He didn't wish it, why at the final moment of the trial did He leave behind such a massive foreshadowing, tying Galiusa's death to him?

Cheng Shi didn't understand Galiusa — at least, right now, he still wasn't certain of Galiusa's faith alignment.

According to the history he knew, it should have been the Twilight Church that overthrew the Tower of Reason, so Galiusa most likely believed in 【Chaos】. But from 【Fate】's trajectory, one could see that Galiusa couldn't be 【Chaos】, otherwise He could have simply left his avatar to its own devices, with no need to have him end 【Chaos】's deduction so quickly.

So, who did Galiusa believe in?

In that era, the only powers that could have followed the long-planning Twilight Church in overthrowing the surface were the wantonly indulgent 【Corruption】, the all-destroying 【Oblivion】, and the contemptuously arrogant... 【Folly】!

Neither 【Corruption】 nor 【Oblivion】 seemed much like Galiusa's faith, so did Galiusa believe in 【Folly】?

【Fate】's choice was 【Folly】!?

He wanted to tie him to 【Folly】?

It wasn't impossible.

Then what did the coexistence with 【Deceit】 mean? Or was it that these two 【Void】 gods had diverged on the path of "becoming God" — one choosing 【Chaos】, the other choosing 【Folly】?

In His eyes, was 【Folly】 the best first candidate outside 【Void】 for a fusion of faiths?

"Can't think it through, can't figure it out. But I need to note this down — next time I run into a teammate who knows history, I should ask them properly about what happened during the period when Galiusa brought down the Tower of Reason."

After racking his brains for several hours, Cheng Shi had no choice but to stop and let his overloaded mind rest a moment.

He had wanted to chat with Xie Yang across from him, to hear the man's love story, but after popping his head out once, Xie Yang vanished — looking like he'd gone off on another date.

With nothing to do, Cheng Shi could only play with his own shadow.

He looked at the shadow before him and slowly extended his finger. When he thought of switching faiths in his mind, the shadow, like a mirror image, slowly peeled off the ground and extended its own pitch-black finger.

Fingertips met, faith swapped.

Cheng Shi switched back to 【Fate】 once more.

The feeling was interesting, so Cheng Shi smiled and reached out his hand again. This time, however, he didn't touch the shadow's finger — at the instant they were about to meet, he suddenly pulled away.

The shadow's finger visibly stalled for a beat, then, like a startled little beast, instantly shrank back into the ground.

This piqued Cheng Shi's interest.

He kept reaching out and pulling away, and the shadow kept peeling off the ground and shrinking back. After five or six rounds, the shadow got annoyed.

Yes, the shadow got annoyed — it raised a middle finger at Cheng Shi.

"..."

Cheng Shi was stunned by the "insult."

What's going on here? Does my shadow have self-awareness?

Doesn't seem like it. Could it be because what it's now carrying is... 【Fraud】?

Hm?

Cheng Shi blinked in bewilderment, then extended his own middle finger to tap the shadow's. This time it was normal again, and his faith switched back to 【Fraud】.

He had a guess in his heart, so he replayed the little act from before. Then he saw that the 【Fate】 shadow, after being tricked countless times, still never raised a single middle finger—only its responses grew slower and slower.

Seeing this, Cheng Shi laughed.

How interesting—the shadows of different faiths actually carry a sliver of Their will?

If that's the case, hasn't he gained another little something to pass the time?

Praise... forget it, no more praising. Got scolded already, what's the point of praising.