Identity Exposed?

"No..."

Chen Fan lowered his head, avoiding the statue's "gaze."

He tried his best to hide the fear in his heart. "I-I'm fine."

His mother frowned.

As the person who knew Chen Fan best in the world, she keenly sensed that something was wrong.

More precisely, she had vaguely noticed some abnormalities ever since Chen Fan had suddenly locked himself in his room a few days ago.

At first, she had thought it was merely because Chen Fan, having just become God Chosen, was under too much psychological pressure.

But now, it seemed that her original guess had been somewhat mistaken.

In the end, she could not suppress the confusion in her heart. "Xiao Fan, what exactly has been going on with you these past two days?"

"Why do I feel like..."

After hesitating again and again, his mother finally voiced the doubt stuck in her throat. "...you've become a different person?"

The instant he heard those words, Chen Fan's heart trembled.

This is bad.

Was the identity he had worked so hard to conceal about to be exposed so soon?

Feeling the atmosphere around him gradually grow tense, Chen Fan rapidly considered how to respond.

Too much pressure?

No, he had already used that excuse. He needed a new line.

Come clean and say that he had discovered there was something wrong with the gods?

You've got to be kidding!

Saying that to a devout believer was basically suicide!

This would not work, and neither would that. For a moment, Chen Fan felt utterly tangled up inside.

Just as anxiety filled Chen Fan's heart, Yi's voice suddenly rang out in his mind: Chen Fan, don't fall into the Self-Proving Trap.

Chen Fan froze for a moment, then suddenly understood!

The so-called Self-Proving Trap was when someone was questioned and immediately thought of proving themselves.

But in reality, the moment you began proving yourself, you were already at a disadvantage.

No matter how he answered the question his mother had raised, he would ultimately fall into an endless loop of trying to prove himself.

He could not perfectly prove himself, and his mother would only have more questions because of his answer—one lie often required even more lies to cover it up!

Yi, thank you.

Chen Fan thanked Yi in his heart.

This is what this unit should do.

The Electronic Synthesized Voice continued ringing in his mind: You should hurry up and think about how to solve this problem. This unit cannot analyze human nature and cannot help you with this.

After realizing that he had fallen into the Self-Proving Trap, Chen Fan's stalled thoughts instantly became much clearer.

As the saying went, whoever made the claim bore the burden of proof.

But it was definitely impossible to make his mother produce evidence.

As for the reason...

He really was an impostor!!!

What if his mother actually listed all the suspicious details? Wouldn't he just be shooting himself in the foot?

In that case, the only way to solve this problem was to approach it from another direction:

Rather than proving himself, he should redirect the conflict toward a third party!

Who could that third party be? In his eyes, there was no better scapegoat than the gods!

Chen Fan took a deep breath. "Mom, haven't you noticed it?"

"Noticed what?"

His mother was taken aback by Chen Fan's question, and her praying motions involuntarily stopped. "What have you noticed?"

Chen Fan let a trace of confusion and unease show on his face at just the right moment. "Lately, it feels like God has been paying much closer attention to us."

"As I recall, God didn't used to be so frequent..."

"Silly child."

Before Chen Fan could finish, his mother interrupted him. "Is this what you've been worried about?"

Seeing Chen Fan nod, his mother smiled in relief. She clasped her hands together again and turned toward the statue before her. "Xiao Fan, God is everywhere. He watches over every one of His believers."

"But not every believer is qualified to hear God's teachings."

"You are God Chosen now, someone personally selected by God. You should receive more."

Yesterday, Chen Fan would only have scoffed at those words, but now...

A raging storm had already risen in his heart!

God is everywhere.

In Chen Fan's view, that statement was inaccurate.

A more accurate statement would be that statues of God were everywhere!

If his judgment was correct, those statues were likely the tools the so-called gods used to monitor their believers!

Thinking back carefully, every time the gods had spoken, it had been when someone was worshipping a statue!

That was precisely why the so-called gods had not discovered that the original owner of this body had died, nor had they discovered the strange incident that had occurred in his room last night—the statue was in the living room, so it could not "see" what was happening in the room through the door!

After figuring out the truth behind all these bizarre events, an absurd thought suddenly surfaced in Chen Fan's mind.

The statue could produce a stiff Electronic Synthesized Voice, respond appropriately to nearby questions, give answers with obvious template-like traces, and monitor its surroundings...

This...

How was this a statue of God? It was practically a Smart Speaker made in the shape of a goddamn statue!

Together with the "voice-controlled incandescent lights" in the room...

Wasn't this obviously a complete Smart Home system?!

Having also realized the issue, Yi's voice became a little more serious: Find an opportunity to get close to the statue.

In visitor mode, the Intelligent Terminal has basic low-power scanning capabilities.

This unit can help you briefly examine the statue's internal structure.

Chen Fan was overjoyed when he heard that!

If he had known about this function earlier, he would have given this pretentious statue an X-ray long ago!

You didn't ask earlier...

Chen Fan: "..."

"Xiao Fan?" Seeing Chen Fan standing there blankly, his mother asked with some concern, "Do you understand what I said?"

Naturally, Chen Fan nodded repeatedly in response to his mother's question.

More than understand it—he was already considering taking an X-ray of the statue!

A corner of the veil of mystery surrounding the gods had been lifted, but even more questions immediately rose in Chen Fan's mind.

What exactly was God Chosen?

Were these devices that looked so much like Smart Home equipment really bestowed by the gods?

If that were true... wasn't this god a little too lame?

And besides, could the people of this world really not see anything wrong?!

With those doubts in mind, Chen Fan slowly rose from the Prayer Mat.

Suddenly!

"Bang!"

A dull, thunderous impact came from outside the door, interrupting both Chen Fan and his mother.

Before Chen Fan could react, his mother's expression had already turned ugly.

"They're here again. Those animals are here again..."

As she spoke, his mother hurried toward the front door.

Naturally, Chen Fan, filled with confusion, would not give up such an opportunity. He jogged after his mother.

The moment he reached the front door, he heard a burst of noisy shouting coming from beyond the wooden door.

"Damn it, it really is those animals!"

His mother clasped her hands together and closed her eyes in prayer. "Lord..."

Seeing the mingled fury and alarm on his mother's face, Chen Fan frowned and instinctively asked, "Who are they?"

"They?"

His mother opened her eyes and glared at the tightly shut wooden door through gritted teeth. "They're a pack of rats who live underground and cannot bear the light!"

Her face twisted, her eyes filled with hatred.

Perhaps blinded by rage, his mother did not notice anything unusual about Chen Fan's question.

Rats who could not bear the light?

Listening to the commotion outside, a vague guess immediately arose in Chen Fan's mind.

Could it be that this world ruled by gods also had "gangs"?

What happened to God being everywhere?

Could a mighty god not even deal with a tiny "gang"?