Reunion

When Cheng Shi awoke from his dream, the surrounding darkness was fading.

A torrent of memories flooded his mind, making him dizzy. When he regained consciousness, he suddenly realized that what he had just experienced was not a dream, but the experience of the Shadow Cheng Shi leaving his body. Now that the shadow had returned, this Memory was naturally written into his mind.

Yes, the shadow has returned.

The white light was gradually expanding, and it was spewing out what Cheng Shi had thrown in.

Cheng Shi stood there blankly, picking up the props he had already thrown away once. When he saw Eye Brother being spat out, he grabbed it, pressed it back into its socket, and asked himself:

I thought meeting you at the Path of Fate's Beginning was an arrangement by the God of Merriment...

So you came here because you sensed Eye Brother's presence, Mouth Brother?"

The Lips of Foolish Play did not respond; in the True Universe, they have never uttered a word.

Cheng Shi fell silent again.

Although this seems like an accident by any measure, when one accident is followed by another, and this cycle continues endlessly, can it still be called an accident?

Is their infinitely extending and infinitely approaching state what is meant by "Predestination"?

But how does this Predestination effect penetrate the Cosmos and take effect in the True Universe?

Could it be, as I suspect, Predestination Experiment rules for this Experiment were written by the Creator?

Cheng Shi's heart tightened, and he dared not think any further.

His current situation didn't allow him to think about it any further. Ever since the white light gradually spread and began to take shape, Cheng Shi had speculated that it might be a white Storm that was completely opposite to the dark Storm.

He wasn't sure what lay behind the rampant whiteness, or if it was the same world he had just encountered, so all he could do was retreat, retreat endlessly.

Fortunately, the white light did not spread quickly, and the darkness behind him remained endless. Cheng Shi retreated with full concentration, cautiously observing the Change around him, fearing that another unexpected event might occur, causing him to experience another physically and mentally exhausting adventure.

However, as he retreated, Cheng Shi froze.

He stopped in his tracks, utterly horrified. It wasn't because he had stepped into a trap, but because he found a bridge suddenly appearing in front of him—a long bridge where reality and illusion intertwined, and black and white crisscrossed!

If it were just a bridge, no matter how strange it was, it wouldn't have shocked Cheng Shi so much. But he clearly saw countless huge figures moving around on the bridge!

These figures were enormous, not much smaller than the Leaky World Silent Puppet they had encountered before. Most importantly, Cheng Shi actually recognized what these enormous figures were!

Void-Snout Devouring Pig!!

That colossal beast that devours [Existence] from Nothingness has actually appeared in the True Universe!

And judging from the appearance, the spread of that white light was the trace of their rampant swimming!

These beings, which the players considered to be [Nothingness], are now actually consuming darkness and exhaling light!

Shouldn't Nothingness be darkness, and [Existence] be light?

Why are the Void-Snout Devouring Pig in the True Universe completely opposite to those in the Slice Universe?

The scene before him was so shocking that Cheng Shi was momentarily at a loss for words.

Intuition told him he should go across that bridge to find a new way out, but his steadiness held him back, preventing him from moving forward.

As the white light spread further and the countless ethereal, ethereal Void-Snout Devouring Pig drew ever closer, Cheng Shi had no choice but to accept the inevitable outcome that "light will soon completely erode darkness." With a determined bite, he stepped onto the bridge before him.

However, the moment he stepped onto that bridge, he knew he was wrong.

That wasn't a bridge at all; it was clearly a twisted and tangled time tunnel!

As soon as he stepped in, he saw countless versions of himself rushing past him. They behaved exactly like him, looking around in surprise. But at most, they could only exchange a glance, and some didn't even have time to look at each other before their figures twisted into rays of light and disappeared into the bridge.

On this bizarre and dazzling bridge, the only thing Cheng Shi could clearly see was himself.

He couldn't see the end of the bridge, and looking back, he lost sight of the darkness below. It was like an endless passage; once you stepped in, you didn't know how to get out.

Cheng Shi walked forward cautiously with a furrowed brow, and after a few steps, he finally encountered the first piece of good news since the outbreak of the dark Storm.

The Big Cat has appeared!

In contrast to Cheng Shi's cautiousness, Hong Lin was running wildly across the bridge.

She called out Cheng Shi and Qin Xin's names, and soon found Cheng Shi standing in front of her.

She was first delighted, then paused, nervously staring at the figure before her, and raised her claws, asking in a deep voice:

Which world's Cheng Shi are you from?

Faced with such a straightforward question, Cheng Shi's tension finally eased a bit. He was about to respond when he heard the sound of footsteps rushing behind him again.

He dared not turn around, fearing it might be a trap to lure the enemy, so he asked Shadow Cheng Shi to look behind him. However, the voice did not come from any enemy, but from Qin Xin, who had been separated from them earlier!

However, Qin Xin was not wearing heavy armor at this moment, revealing his strong physique beneath the armor.

He was indeed very strong, one could even say he was almost too strong. His muscles were so full they resembled a suit of flesh and blood armor, something that even top-tier warriors would be ashamed of.

Hong Lin noticed Qin Xin's Change, her pupils contracted, and she growled again:

"And where did you come from, Qin Xin?"

Seeing Hong Lin's certainty, Qin Xin was momentarily unsure of the other party's identity. Cheng Shi, Cheng Shi immediately spoke up, dispelling the doubts. He didn't say much, only uttering two words:

"Divine Authority!"

The two immediately understood and used the method of sharing Divine Authority to confirm the identities of the three of them—they were indeed the unlucky trio from the same world!

The joy of reunion instantly made the Big Cat pounce on him. She patted Cheng Shi's shoulder with one paw, her mouth moving for a long time. She clearly had a lot to say, but when the words reached her lips, she didn't know what to say.

She didn't know if her actions would bring about any Change in the Another World, so after much hesitation, she simply asked one question:

"Is everything we've experienced Destiny, or... a trajectory already arranged by 'people'?"

As she spoke, she looked up in that distant direction. Clearly, only the all-powerful Creator, high above, could arrange the trajectories of all life in the Cosmos.

Qin Xin's expression was complicated, and she did not respond.

Cheng Shi didn't know what to say. Saying "yes" at this moment would be too discouraging, since all three of them wanted to defy "Destiny." If they couldn't defy Destiny, what was the point of their persistence?

But they couldn't bring themselves to say "no." Everything they had just experienced had taught them that even in the True Universe, Destiny is predictable, so self-deception could only offer temporary comfort.

Cheng Shi thought for a long time, until the Big Cat put its paw down, then he rubbed his stiff cheeks and forced a bright smile, saying:

I never believe in Destiny.

We don't need to search for any meaning.

All we need to know is that we are remembering the people we want to remember, protecting the friends we want to protect, and upholding the beautiful things we want to uphold. That's enough.

We are writing our own stories. As long as we are self-accepting and emotionally consistent, it doesn't matter whether what drives us to do all this is so-called 'Destiny' or some bullshit Experiment rule.

The important thing is that we believe our choices were right.

The Predestination Destiny will inevitably be broken;

The scheme of [Deception] will surely fail;

Even the Creator's Experiment would not succeed...

As long as you and I never give up.