Chapter 990: Who Isn

Who isn’t a puppet?

(Huge! Huge! Huge!)

“Who’s attending?”

Zhang Jizu had been curious about this question for days, and though he already knew about Long Wang, Zhen Xin, and others joining the group, he wasn’t sure who else Cheng Shi had recruited.

“Why the rush? You’ll know when you see them.”

Cheng Shi teased, snatched the bone bell from the other’s hand with a grumble, chatted idly with Mi Lao Zhang for a moment, and delicately hinted at a possible need to source corpses from the cemetery.

Zhang Jizu gave no agreement, no refusal—he seemed to be waiting for Cheng Shi to trade information in exchange for an answer.

Cheng Shi saw Mi Lao Zhang had grown shrewd, cursed him out, claimed their friendship was weaker than his neighborly bond with Xie Yang, and tried to barter Xie Yang’s gossip for cemetery corpses.

But after hearing all the gossip, Zhang Jizu still said nothing; Cheng Shi, cheated and furious, clearly explained the meeting method, dumped the “decoration” of the venue onto the cemetery manager, and walked off without looking back.

Before leaving, Cheng Shi had planned to take the tiny skull that looked exactly like him, fearing he’d be framed again by Mi Lao Zhang—but Zhang Jizu snatched it away swiftly, making Cheng Shi even angrier.

“I’ll sue the Hall! I’m taking this to the Fishbone Hall!”

Watching the furious little skull hop away, Zhang Jizu smiled with narrowed eyes, staring thoughtfully at the tiny skull in his hand.

“Fear indeed makes one burdened with thoughts; still, you’re less interesting than the love-struck neighbor you mentioned.”

“I’m actually looking forward to this Clown Meeting now, Cheng Shi—how many secrets are you hiding...?”

Though he didn’t take the little skull, Cheng Shi at least took the bone bell.

Back on the rooftop of the rest area, he began pondering the “guidance” offered by the bone bell’s Fear Faction.

Under the bell’s protection, discussing the cosmos meant laying bare every single one of your beliefs about this universe before that Great One—so the first question was whether that Great One even knew our universe was merely an “experiment” from a higher dimension.

Currently, Cheng Shi could confirm only five deities knew this secret:

The [Deception] and [Time] who discovered the truth, the [Foolishness] who likely lost power after seeing it, the [Birth] whom [Deception] had tested, and the [War] who had made a deal with him...

As for the others, Cheng Shi had never communicated with them for this reason, so he couldn’t draw conclusions.

If Death Boss truly was Fear Faction, logically, the Jester God should’ve shared this secret with Him to solidify Fear Faction’s resolve—but what if Death Boss wasn’t Fear Faction at all, and was instead probing the Jester God and His followers? What then?

After much thought, Cheng Shi decided it was simple: if that Great One wasn’t Fear Faction, learning the truth might push Him straight into it—making Cheng Shi the greatest contributor.

A contributor deserves rewards... doesn’t he?

So no matter what, the Clown Meeting must happen.

It wasn’t just about exchanging intelligence with the clowns—it was about deducing their intentions through subtle clues, and also laying groundwork for a larger plan in his mind.

Though the plan was wildly speculative, what if it worked?

If feasible, he could understand the Jester God’s layout across multiple dimensions, and carve out a path for himself within the Jester God’s scheme—one not predetermined.

He refused to follow a predetermined path toward nothingness, no matter who had set it.

Don’t forget—the core will of Fear Faction is upward fear.

So even if [Deception] granted him more protection, Cheng Shi had to keep a backup—precisely because His name was [Deception]; no one could guess how many lies this Lord of [Void] had told, especially the word “salvation.”

After contacting Mi Lao Zhang, Cheng Shi reached out to several other clowns: Long Wang was no problem—he’d long awaited this day.

But the Doctor’s reaction was odd: he neither accepted nor refused, only said his experiment had reached a critical stage, and whether he attended depended on how smoothly it went.

Cheng Shi couldn’t learn what experiment it was, so after leaving the meeting method, he hung up.

He wasn’t worried the other side was fake—come on, when you enter the Clown Meeting, what’s real?

Then came Zhen Xin, the head of the History School, who had been waiting for Cheng Shi to reveal the truth of the world—so she agreed readily.

But Cheng Shi wasn’t pleased; he repeatedly stressed only Zhen Xin could attend—if another personality showed up, he’d permanently revoke the Zhen surname player’s right to join.

Zhen Xin said nothing, but immediately offered him the position of Vice Head of the History School as a bribe.

But Cheng Shi was hardly that easy to buy—he solemnly... accepted the vice-head role.

“You can CC me on all routine intelligence reports, but I won’t handle actual work—otherwise people will think I joined the school through your connections and am power-hunting with other vice-heads. Bad impression.”

“But one thing at a time: you’ve given me a side job, but the Clown Meeting welcomes only you—not Zhen Yi...”

Cheng Shi’s face darkened. “When she learns to behave, we’ll talk about anything else.”

“Zhen Xin, I’ll say this once: the ‘Hee’ weapon is for enemies, not allies—you need to make her understand who’s the older sister.”

Seeing her sister so disliked, Zhen Xin laughed and hung up.

With all clowns summoned, Cheng Shi hadn’t finished contacting—he still planned to bring the acrobat Long Jing, who had fused with [Time], into the clown group.

He hadn’t forgotten what Long Jing had said in the other world, and considering his future plans might need [Time]’s help, he believed this Chairman Gong deserved a seat among the clowns.

But Cheng Shi had no contact for Long Jing; to reach the right person, he had to mobilize his network—and found... Da Mao.

Of course, he didn’t meet Da Mao just to contact Long Jing—he also wanted to give her a gift.

Honglin had been busy catching mice these past days, trying to confirm her suspicion: the Yuge Cheng Shi encountered was probably not a real entity.

But Cheng Shi knew the Yuge he met was real—because the [Decay] container already lay in his inventory.

Whether the one Da Mao pursued was real or not would determine if his theory about the two Yuges was correct, so he strongly supported her continuing the pursuit.

They met in a void; Cheng Shi cut straight to the point: he wanted to trade something for Long Jing’s contact.

Honglin wasn’t surprised he wanted to contact Long Jing—but his polite demeanor left her baffled.

Then, when Cheng Shi pulled out the sandglass resembling knotted wood, she was even more stunned.

Yes—the gift Cheng Shi wanted to give was the [Prosperity] container.

Don’t forget: Da Mao currently held only the title of [Prosperity] Proxy, not the actual divinity.

She had indeed been trying to find her own divinity, but since learning of the containers’ existence, Cheng Shi knew her efforts were futile.

With [Prosperity] now dead, its Proxy had lost all pathways to obtain a container.

Two of Its four children perished within Its belly; Dizeer had defected to [Decay] and been dismantled; the last, Lele’er, had leapt into the Sea of Desire and become the Fear Mother Tree.

Even if Da Mao knew about the container, even if she dared to venture near the Sea of Desire to find Lele’er, she’d still have to hope this Fear Mother Tree—now a [Corruption] Envoy—had somehow dropped the [Prosperity] container.

Missing any single step meant a dead end for Da Mao, pushed to the front by Cheng Shi to wield the authority.

Yet [Fate] was so strange—no one imagined Cheng Shi had, out of greed, retrieved this last remaining [Prosperity] container beside the Sea of Desire.

Doesn’t this plot sound familiar?

Sick—doctor arrives; dying—game descends; believing fate—granted authority; now, from hollow title to seeing the container...

Though Cheng Shi brought back the container, when he revealed it and explained everything, Honglin’s first thought was still those cold, starlike eyes.

[Fate]!

“Is this the destined one?” Honglin’s mind rang—she forgot to ask how he got it.

Cheng Shi didn’t know what mental storm she was enduring; seeing her suddenly so reverent, he looked utterly baffled.

Logically, with this container and the faith of countless [Prosperity] worshippers, Da Mao would soon gain her own divinity and gradually become a “complete” “It”—but...

You’re a [Prosperity] Proxy—why does your reverence scream [Fate]?

Is this right?

[Deception] tricked [Death]; [Fate] stole [Prosperity]; so [Void] is just picking on [Life], huh?

Fortunately, [Birth] remains stable, ignoring everyone—otherwise, I’d say the universe’s origin has nothing to do with [Life]; [Void] might replace it as the fraudulent origin of creation.

Watching Da Mao’s pupils shake with shock, Cheng Shi nodded with a smile:

“This is the destined one.”

“But Cheng Shi, why don’t you keep it yourself... you have more?!”

Seeing Cheng Shi pull out another container, Honglin’s voice cracked; she snatched the [Decay] container from his hand and demanded:

“This... you got it from that Yuge?”

“Damn it—then the one I met must’ve been the illusion from the simulation?”

“...”

Honestly, you don’t need to think hard, Da Mao—you’re different from others; don’t waste your talent on mental effort.

Cheng Shi held back his laughter and said nothing.

Too stunned to feel awkward, Honglin examined the two containers repeatedly, then asked uncertainly:

“You’re really giving me this?”

“No one in this game suits it better than you, right?”

Why?

Honglin wanted to ask—but suddenly felt it unnecessary; her gaze shifted, then hardened into resolve, and she nodded solemnly: “Fine.”

That single “fine” carried such complex emotion Cheng Shi saw in her eyes the very image of “resolve”—a sincerity of life-or-death trust.

“Then what about the [Decay] container?”

“Setting aside faction rivalry—I’m honest: among [Decay] players, none deserve it.”

“If you want to pick one among them as a puppet... or an ally...”

Honglin frowned, thinking hard about the best candidate.

But Cheng Shi just smiled casually, reclaimed the [Decay] container, and patted her shoulder:

“I have my own use for it.”

“But Da Mao, you’re wrong about one thing: you’ve never been a puppet.”

Not in the past, not now, not ever in the future.”

“You’re yourself—you’re the Weaver’s friend, and the Clown’s backing.”

Who’s backing whom isn’t certain yet...

Honglin’s nostrils flared, moved; she silently accepted the gifts, handed over the item to contact Long Jing, fell silent, then suddenly lifted her head, eyes blazing:

“What did you just call me?”

“Cheng Shi, don’t think sending me gifts every now and then lets you shit on my head—I think you’re asking for a beating!”

「?」

Can't provoke, can't provoke.

Seeing things turn bad, Cheng Shi grabbed Long Jing’s contact info and slipped away immediately; when he saw the Weaver of Fate vanish from this space, Honglin stared at the container in his hand and smiled with carefree joy.

"Above, the gods pull the strings; below, mortals are mere puppets."

Who in this game isn’t a puppet?

The only thing that makes me luckier than them is that I can still choose to be a puppet for a friend.

For this, I willingly accept it.

Praise 【Fate】!

All paths, coming and going, are destined.