Chapter 260: New Trial: The Star Fire Will Be Extinguished [Prosperity]

New Trial: The Star Fire Will Be Extinguished 【Prosperity】

The sky was clear, the air fresh, the sunshine bright.

Standing in the morning breeze, Cheng Shi silently took stock of the spoils he had "robbed" during the last trial.

The most precious among them was the Prosperity Ye Mai obtained through trade; adding this thing to a piece of equipment could significantly boost its toughness, but unfortunately Cheng Shi did not like to wear any equipment.

His only commonly used weapon was a scalpel, which he treated as a consumable.

But if he were to refine the Prosperity Ye Mai into the scalpel, it would be a bit too wasteful; better to set it aside for now.

The paper page the historian Pepper placed on the ground also had a story. Cheng Shi had originally assumed it was a history book page related to 【Memory】, but it actually wasn't—it was a page from a Polymath Poet.

A page recording the S-rank 【Decay】 talent "Staining Plague."

This was an extremely terrifying area-of-effect talent. Before activating the talent, one could first resonate with a certain element, changing the plague's type to that specific element, and then activate the talent to create a plague source that continuously radiated the staining plague.

When the plague source descended, the entire stretch of land would become a cradle of plague, indiscriminately corroding every living being that stepped into it, until all targets embraced 【Decay】 and rotted away completely.

This was an extremely vicious method of attack, and also the reason why 【Decay】 mages were always disliked.

Because this was their exclusive talent, and their devotion to 【Decay】 was always indiscriminate.

It could be called the king of AOE.

With a solemn expression, Cheng Shi carefully put away the paper page, praying in his heart that the day he would need to use it would never come.

Among the remaining spoils, the various offensive, defensive, and support props were all dispensable things; only the hundred-plus bottles of assorted potions could be considered to have enriched the diversity of Cheng Shi's potion reserves.

Now, in the future, when he used some unorthodox potions, he would finally have an excuse and a source.

These were all things I robbed from others, not something I specifically wished for myself—if I don't use them, they'd just go to waste.

After finishing these tasks, Cheng Shi inevitably thought of the teammates from the last round. Looking at the Symbiotic Dagger of Serius in his hand, he had some new thoughts about the Dissection Dagger the doctor had insisted on trading for.

When the doctor learned that the life-saving dagger was Serius's Dissection Dagger, he froze for a moment. So why did he freeze? Could there be some difference between the two daggers?

Talk of collecting was surely just an excuse; the question was, what was the difference between the two?

Symbiotic—used normally, it strips away other personalities; used in reverse, it splits other personalities. On the surface, it seemed there was no problem...

No, wait!

Cheng Shi's eyes suddenly went wide as a thought struck him: a person as cautious and careful as the Dissection Serius, who at every moment wanted to replace Serius's original body—how could he possibly hold a dagger capable of killing a weakened personality?

Such a move would be no different from tying a bomb to himself!

Therefore, the dagger in his hand must be different from the one in Serius's original body's hand!

Connecting this with Li Zhi's Dissection identity, Cheng Shi immediately realized: the dagger in Dissection Serius's hand must not be used to kill other personalities, but to kill the main personality!

That was why Li Zhi needed that dagger—he, like Dissection Serius, wanted to kill his own original body!

It was just unknown whether this "good" doctor had succeeded.

Wish him luck, but the odds weren't great, because... good people generally don't live long.

"Sigh." Cheng Shi let out a breath, his expression still somewhat wistful, but in an instant he seemed to think of something, and his pupils contracted sharply.

Crap—if the guesses just now were all true, then those teammates saved by Dissection Serius's dagger...

Weren't their main personalities all snuffed out?

Huh?

The ones who survived were all Dissection personalities?

So that was why the doctor back then said that line, "Each person has their own fate"?

It turned out 【Fate】's prophecy wasn't wrong—indeed, only I alone won the trial.

As for those teammates who also walked out of the trial, perhaps they were no longer the same person who had entered it.

Cheng Shi's expression suddenly turned subtle.

Everyone, don't blame me—I didn't know at the time that the two daggers weren't quite the same.

You screwed me over once, I screwed you over once, that counts as... cough, cough... even?

Even if it doesn't even out, there's nothing to be done about it; I already robbed them, I can't exactly give it back.

That's that, then.

Cheng Shi glanced at the sky, and with a slightly guilty conscience, swiftly packed everything away.

At this point he couldn't help but sigh in lamentation over 【Fate】; he didn't know what purpose She had in writing these scripts.

The Symbiotic Dagger, the Tower of Reason, Gallusha...

Hopefully, we won't meet again.

Life outside the trials was dull and uneventful, especially after Xie Yang fell hopelessly into love; the fun Cheng Shi could see with his own eyes dwindled day by day.

Because this neighbor always seemed to be on dates; every time he came back, he would hurriedly offer a greeting with a face full of happiness, and by the next time they met, another day or two would have passed.

Seeing him in such a state, Cheng Shi asked himself more than once: did the other party already know that Xiao Yuan was Xiao Yuan, and was it precisely because the other party was Xiao Yuan that he was so content?

After all, it was the apocalypse; loosening up a bit on gender restrictions wasn't unacceptable.

Just like that, watching the days slip by one by one, a few days later the special trial arrived as scheduled.

Cheng Shi lay quietly on the rooftop, letting the reminder in his field of vision slowly turn red.

【Special Trial (The Star Fire Will Be Extinguished 【Prosperity】) has begun】

【Matching teammates (1/6)】

【Trial Objective: In the silent night, kindle a prairie fire (Time limit: 5 days)】

【Prosperity】!

It's actually a 【Prosperity】 round!

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow, a little pleased.

Because 【Prosperity】 trials were generally simpler; the trial objective was nothing more than first determining the target of His gaze, and then, during the trial period, doing everything possible to ensure that target maintained a state of 【Prosperity】.

In plain words: don't let the target who believes in 【Prosperity】 kick the bucket.

That is why, during the initial trial of Prosperity where Grand Marshal Hu Wei led Cheng Shi and others to kill the pharmacy owner, so many points were deducted: their actions were completely at odds with the trial's objective.

Thus, when Cheng Shi saw that this round was Prosperity, he felt a genuine sense of relief in his heart.

The Chosen Ones have already ascended, the trial environment is gradually returning to normal, and since His trial is of the not-difficult variety, how could such a match be lost?

After enduring so many rounds of scheming and tension, even by chance, it should be a low-level match this time!

The matchmaking mechanism of the Game of Faith cannot possibly be as terrible as the matchmaking mechanisms of certain real-world games before the Descent, can it?

It is time for me to coast for once!

In any case, regardless of others, I will definitely slack off in this round!

Whoever tries to stop me from slacking off will have my full wrath!

【Matchmaking Successful (6/6), Entering Trial】

Transitioning for two chapters; tomorrow, the new dungeon begins the rush~