Chapter 594: The True Colors of Greed

"The True Colors of Greed"

Cheng Shi's method of sharing the burden was very simple. Since only chaos could blend into chaos, why not...

Let the 【Chaos】 come even more intensely!

With a wave of his hand, he unleashed a "wisdom-lowering" treatment exclusive to a Rationality Corroder upon Big Cat, Long Wang, and Krenosli. The level of chaos in the two still-raving individuals immediately climbed another tier.

Big Cat stopped her violent act of pounding the ground. She looked around in a daze, just like Long Wang had a moment ago, as countless hallucinations appeared before her eyes.

She saw the believers of 【Prosperity】 stumbling forward like a tide of corpses, saw her friends scattered and staggering among them, and even saw one after another of His incarnations perishing in the high sky. The gods' corpses fell from the heavens like a meteor shower, carrying flames capable of destroying the world, stirring up waves in the present world.

And Long Wang... he started to dance.

Li Jingming could no longer maintain that Daoist image of someone who didn't eat the food of mortals. With disheveled hair, he twisted his body and began to dance... the Duck Dance.

His hands were behind his back, his waist half-bent, imitating a duck. He hopped and twisted with every step. The movements were coordinated enough that it looked as if he were extremely familiar with this dance step.

Cheng Shi almost couldn't hold it together. If he didn't have to maintain the persona of a 【Chaos】 follower at this very moment, he feared he would have already fallen to the ground, clutching his stomach and rolling with laughter.

Unfortunately, there was no camera.

As for Krenosli, this First-Rank Judge with a head full of delusions had long since reached his limit of endurance. Cheng Shi's 【Chaos】 treatment was like the final straw that broke the camel's back, causing him to close his eyes and pass out cold.

Tsk, not very useful at all.

Of course, Cheng Shi certainly wasn't doing this to watch the three of them make fools of themselves. It was because he discovered that the moment he became a 【Chaos】 believer, the surging 【Chaos】 tide around him seemed to gradually bypass him and head elsewhere.

This restless 【Chaos】 divine power actually took the initiative to avoid the "fake" 【Chaos】 aura bestowed by the God of Fun, which left Cheng Shi deeply astonished.

Under these circumstances, he seemed to have more room to maneuver.

Thus, Cheng Shi's courage suddenly grew. He recalled 【Chaos】's attitude toward him at the 【Chaos】 Temple, thinking that as long as he was careful enough, He shouldn't turn on him.

But what should he do?

Wake Him up?

No, this was probably what 【Chaos】 truly looked like; there was no need to wake Him up at all.

Go up and ask Him? Ask Him why He was here impersonating 【Order】, and where the real 【Order】 had gone?

He wanted to, but he didn't dare.

Cheng Shi furrowed his brows. He pondered for a moment and felt that as a mere 【Chaos】 believer, he likely didn't have the qualifications to "strike up a conversation" with the benefactor before him.

But what if... he changed his identity?

If the Messenger of 【Chaos】, Lord Ultraman, arrived in person and offered pious greetings to his benefactor, could he then casually ask what He was doing—no, ask if there was anything he could help with!

A worker considering more for their boss couldn't be considered wrong, right?

And once he truly helped Him, considering the "merit" of tonight, wouldn't it be fair to receive a real Ultraman title?

Reasonable, feasible!

At this moment, the true colors of greed overwhelmingly took the upper hand.

Thus, Cheng Shi moved. He first hid the Verdant Horned Crown behind his back, pinched a healing spell in his hand that could be cast at any moment, aimed it in Big Cat's direction, and then walked slowly toward the "Order" inside the high pavilion.

As he walked, he muttered flowery phrases praising 【Chaos】. But looking at him, these praises didn't seem like expressions of inner piety, but rather more like cheering himself on.

The path wasn't long, but Cheng Shi walked extremely slowly—slower even than when he approached 【Order】 in the dungeon. Fortunately, just as he had thought, the torrent of 【Chaos】 erupting from the 【Order's Iron Law】 indeed no longer affected him, nor did it affect the other three he had influenced.

So, in this torment of luck and trepidation, Cheng Shi slowly walked before the 【Order's Iron Law】.

That codex, regarded as the incarnation of 【Order】, was still shaking manically. Its pages had fallen off completely, leaving only two thick covers flipping back and forth. Not only that, the 【Order】 symbol on the covers flickered on and off, looking as if two forces were violently pulling at each other, fighting for control of the codex.

Cheng Shi widened his eyes, stunned. He felt this was 【Chaos】 suppressing the 【Order】 remaining on the codex.

Although 【Order】 was orderly and fair, with a good reputation, the problem was that Cheng Shi was a 【Chaos】 believer at this very moment. He had no reason or position to help a 【Order】 he wasn't very familiar with resist his own "benefactor."

I'm an Ultraman now, how can I do something that bites the hand that feeds me?

Even if he didn't consider his faith, considering that 【Chaos】 had been willing to help him cover up the matter in front of Hu Wei and Da Yi, he couldn't "betray his trust," right?

But how should he help Him?

He was so irritable, what if...

Hmm? Irritable?

A flash of inspiration struck Cheng Shi, who was watching from the sidelines—or perhaps it was just a brain spasm. He suddenly thought of a way to prove his piety without saying a word, so he directly raised his hand and cast a calming spell imbued with 【Chaos】 aura at the manic 【Order's Iron Law】.

He didn't know if a calming spell was useful for 【Chaos】, but at least it was useful for irritability, right?

Indeed, it was.

When this calming spell, cast from who knows what state of mind, landed on the codex...

"Hum—" The entire space-time froze.

The surging 【Chaos】 frenzy roared and rolled back. The massive amount of 【Chaos】 aura piled up layer upon layer, condensing into substance, almost turning into a mist identical to the chaotic yellow fog in front of the 【Chaos】 Temple, enveloping Cheng Shi.

That 【Chaos】 aura, as if sucked back by a black hole, didn't return entirely to the codex. Instead, like stagnant water suddenly finding a breakthrough, it surged toward the dumbfounded Cheng Shi.

"!!!"

Cheng Shi was shocked. He wanted to retreat immediately, but it was too late. The violent 【Chaos】 power instantly filled his mind. He only felt his eyes go black, and his consciousness plunged into endless darkness.

At the moment before his consciousness completely vanished, he vaguely saw a pair of starry eyes flash in the void. As for whether this was a hallucination from his desperate need for help or an illusion caused by 【Chaos】, that remained unknown.

The river of time flowed slowly. Who knows how much time had passed when Cheng Shi woke up.

Before he even opened his eyes, cold sweat had soaked his back, because he had already felt a familiar aura. That infinite 【Chaos】 power was drifting and scattering within this space, just as hallucinatory as the aura in the temple when he had an audience with 【Chaos】.

The 【Chaos】 Temple!?

Again?

Didn't He not want to see me? How come He summoned me again?

What exactly is He doing?

Wait, oh no!

Could it be because an employee caught the boss's secret, so the boss is having a private talk to fire them?

Huh?

Don't do this, Brother. Seeing isn't necessarily believing. If you round it off, seeing definitely isn't believing, so I didn't see anything!

My position as a director hasn't even been solidified, and I haven't tasted a single dividend; being kicked out like this is too much of a loss!

Cheng Shi panicked. Just as his mind was running wild, a deep and thick voice sounded in his ears.

"You... are..."

This familiar tone, it really was Him!

【Chaos】!

Cheng Shi's heart skipped a beat. He immediately opened his eyes to look around, but all he saw was endless chaotic yellow fog; he couldn't see where He was at all. So, Cheng Shi could only rise submissively, bowing his head and pretending to be pious:

"I am your pious believer, Ul..."

Just as he said half of the name, a complex look flashed in Cheng Shi's eyes, and he swallowed the last two characters back down.

Still the same saying: he could be Ultraman, but the prerequisite was that he must first be Cheng Shi.

However, once those last two characters were swallowed, the tone of the whole sentence became somewhat inappropriate. It didn't sound like a self-introduction, but rather like a rebellious student puffing out his chest and talking back to the dean's reprimand.

Cheng Shi was scared into a cold sweat by himself. Just as he wanted to remedy it, he heard Him say again:

"... who?"