Chapter 703

What is 【Time】 expressing?

Cheng Shi lied.

Everything he just said regarding the trial was true, but the entanglements between him and the Fire-Passer were all blurred into lies.

He was deliberately protecting himself, and of course, this behavior also protected the Fire-Passer.

However, because his analysis hit the nail on the head, no one delved into what he and Qin Xin had actually done to Wu Cun.

Everyone began to recall everything they had experienced today, and soon they matched their own behavior with Cheng Shi's deduction.

This Fate-Weaver was absolutely right; whenever someone disappeared from their teammates' sight at the hour, they seemed to become abnormal.

So in this trial, the reason for the discrepancies wasn't some distorted time field or divine power residue, but... the players' line of sight!?

As long as you aren't seen by teammates, you will be thrown out of the original timeline by 【Time】?

So this was actually a game targeting lone wolves?

For a moment, the expressions of everyone present became strange.

Li Wufang frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled:

"Although all of this fits the deduction, it doesn't quite make logical sense.

You must know, the trials bestowed by Them are all imbued with many wills, and at the same time, they are also Them expressing something to us players. Whether we understand it or not, this expression is always there.

【Time】 often displays the mystery and profundity of time. He is not 【Deception】, and would not deliberately toy with players. So in this time-interlaced game that is extremely difficult to discover, what is He expressing?"

Expressing what?

Cheng Shi chuckled, his peripheral vision meeting Qin Xin's sudden glance, and they exchanged a knowing smile.

He didn't know what 【Time】 was expressing, but he knew what he had gained in this trial.

He learned the true identity of the Fire-Passer's founder, knew who the Grand Marshal really was, saw the horrifying truth in the parallel timeline, and believed he had guessed part of the purpose behind the gods establishing the 【Convention】. He became more determined in his belief in living, and incidentally, made the Fated One bigger and stronger.

Even if he didn't get a single point from this trial, the Clown felt this trip was not in vain.

Of course, point deductions were not allowed.

Also, the prerequisite was that he had to be allowed to go home.

Actually, it wasn't that Cheng Shi had no conjectures about the discrepancy rules he just deduced; he had thought of some.

【Time】 once said that time would prove everything, but 【Deception】 said "It is not 【Time】 that gives the answer." Cheng Shi pondered these two sentences every day, and only today, after experiencing all these discrepancies, did he have a faint realization.

Since the answer wasn't given by 【Time】, and 【Time】 had proven something, did that mean that in the problem-solving process leading to the answer, there must exist the enlightenment of 【Time】?

And would His enlightenment be "Seeing is not believing, and not seeing is not necessarily unreal"?

I saw my teammate, but he was not my "teammate," and the reason for all these changes in the other party was quietly taking place where I couldn't see.

Since I couldn't see it, does this change count as 【Existence】?

It is like countless parallel worlds moving forward side by side, and as a life in a certain world, it might never discover in its entire life that there are countless other worlds and countless "identical selves" living under this universe. It thinks they don't exist, but do they really not exist?

No, they always 【Exist】.

Humans look up to gods but cannot reach them; gods view humans as ants.

This was the principle Cheng Shi realized after a tiring day of chasing clues, but he didn't dare say a word of it.

The Clown had become smarter; he was afraid that his reflections would be heard by one of Them, and then he would be dragged away for a lecture. If it were another god, it would be fine, but if it were 【Time】...

He couldn't handle it.

Or perhaps 【Deception】...

Then he would be sarcastically mocked to death.

The Clown could even imagine his benefactor's sarcastic tone: Yo, the Chosen of 【Time】 is here?

So Cheng Shi simply stopped talking. He only focused on the trial itself and stopped looking for extra trouble.

I just want to go home now; no matter who it is, no one can stop me from going home.

"Everyone, even if this deduction is airtight, for the sake of caution, we all need to verify it again.

And now, the next hour is almost here. The Doctor is still on the mountain. If I am not mistaken, if we waste time here, the Doctor will probably change.

Of course, as long as he doesn't turn into the lazy Doctor An Shenxuan mentioned, it doesn't matter, but no one wants to let a duck in their hand fly away, so... shall we return to the mine first, and then consider the next step of finding our respective worlds?"

Everyone looked at each other for a moment and nodded silently.

Cheng Shi's suggestion was undoubtedly the best strategy at the moment. When everyone knew the method to break the problem, the speed of solving it would become faster and faster. So the top priority was no longer the 6 days of trial remaining, but once again became mastering the 【Dementia】 experiment and the divinity within the Abyss Colored Crystal.

This was a considerable income, and for anyone present, it could not be ignored.

So the group headed toward the mountain again. Their speed was fast because they were racing against time. Before the hour arrived, they had to ensure the Doctor appeared in everyone's line of sight.

Before long, the four players rushed back to the warehouse. Seeing the Doctor concentrating on observing the experiment, Li Wufang let out a long sigh of relief:

"See, I told you I wouldn't misread him. The Doctor is fine."

As he spoke, he raised the watch in his hand, noticing that there were only 10 seconds left until the hour, and at this moment, Cheng Shi's countdown also rang in everyone's ears.

"I remind everyone to keep an eye on each other. This is not the time to verify discrepancies, at least ensure everyone else is in your peripheral vision, otherwise we will have to face new teammates again.

Get ready, the hour is coming!

5, 4, 3, 2..."

"Boom—"

The "1" everyone was expecting did not come; instead, there was an explosion!

Just one second before the hour arrived, a smoke bomb with a huge range exploded instantly at everyone's feet, shrouding everyone in a fog where one couldn't see their own fingers.

Everyone was shocked, but it was clearly too late, because the next second the discrepancy appeared. At the same moment, Cheng Shi had already used his dice to appear beside the Doctor, staring at Wang Mou's face without moving, a playful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Sorry everyone, none of you come from the same timeline as me, so if fate allows, let's meet again in the future.

Since discrepancies have been happening all along, and the hints He gave were only "past, present, and future," then if I keep creating discrepancies, is it possible to swap my teammates lost in other timelines back?

It's not impossible. At the very least, the appearance of discrepancies won't make the current world endlessly interlace new timelines, because then this trial would have no answer.

You must know, no matter how difficult a trial is, and no matter how "narrow-minded" the Gods who bestowed the trial are, the trial must have an answer. It's just that the difficulty of finding this answer varies; some trials are as difficult as ascending to heaven.

So I am very curious if my deduction is correct. I am eager to verify it, but I cannot change myself, so I can only trouble everyone to suffer a little.

I will be grateful to you for completing this final verification for me. As for the reward... it is the answer to this trial, which I have already given.

Except for the Doctor, I can accept whoever you turn into. Of course, if I can really change my Fated One and the Fire-Passers back, then this game will be a disastrous start with a perfect ending.

【Time】 set a trap for me, I jumped out, and spat on the trap.

Don't scold me for having no manners, because this is not a question of manners, but a question of faith.

I am a believer in 【Fate】, 【Time】 is meant to be spat upon, is there anything wrong with that?