Therius

Li Yi fell silent, his expression complex and uncertain.

Cheng Shi turned to the Gao San and said, "Scholar, explain the Experiment here?"

"... I told you I'm a fucking soldier!"

"Oh? Your mother being a soldier doesn't prevent you from being Scholar."

"..." The Gao San's voice clenched again, and he looked at Cheng Shi, then at Li Yi, "Who exactly are you? And who are you?"

Li Yi pondered for a moment and said:

"Don't worry. Judging from the current situation, I'm more inclined to believe that it's 'chaos' at work, and it may be influencing our perception."

Gao San seniors should have the same talent for Master of Deception as me. Although I can't prove myself through your Master of Deception, Cheng Shi... can make my master of Deception tell me that he is not me.

Don't ask me why the word order is: He, no, I...

Because, whether from a general perspective or from the perspective of Experiment sequences, number 1 is always the first, or even... the one that is copied.

Therefore, I believe our situation is unrelated to these clones, and I can say with 100% certainty that my surname is indeed Li.

After pondering Li Yi's words, Gao San frowned and said to Cheng Shi in a deep voice:

"So your surname is really Cheng?"

Cheng Shi nodded. "Absolutely genuine."

The truth.

The Gao San frowned and said in a deep voice:

"If that's the case, I think I understand."

The Experiment subjects here may all be the same, but the clones in our group of Experiment have become the targets of the [Faith Game].

Thus, we each became one of the clones in the same group.

This situation seems to be leading us to believe that we are merely copies of Li Yi, thus prompting us to fight and seize identities like other prisoners, but...

To reiterate, since the game's release, there has never been Trials with combat as its main theme. Considering that this Trials is "Chaos," I agree with Li Yi's point of view!

He is indeed influencing our perceptions and confusing our concepts of each other, because He wants to make this Trials even more chaotic!

We... need to stay alert.

That's what they say, but the Gao San students still remain cautious.

Indeed, five and a half Deception are already chaotic enough; if you add this one, it becomes incredibly chaotic...

But are Li Yi and Gao San's deductions really correct?

Cheng Shi had some doubts in his heart. A strange idea suddenly popped into his mind, which even startled him, but the absurd idea quickly dissipated.

Scaring yourself is not a good habit.

So he shook his head and chuckled, then tentatively asked:

"So, I'm not Li Yi anymore?"

"Cheng Shi, you know who you are, no need to pretend or deceive."

Under the Master of Deception, you have no lies to tell.

If you think about it carefully, you'll see the clues. If—and I mean if—you were my Experiment clones, how could you possibly be stronger than me?

"Maybe you're hiding your true abilities?" Cheng Shi asked with interest. "Who knows if you're just playing a trick on us? Don't Magician love to play tricks on their audiences?"

"There's no need for further testing. The fact that you're willing to 'condescend' to cooperate with me shows that my life is still in your hands."

Although the rat cage is gone, another invisible cage has probably already been placed over me. Am I right, Cheng Shi?

"..."

Your guess was pretty accurate.

Cheng Shi pursed his lips and continued, "Is it possible that you are all my Experiment clones?"

"Impossible!" Before Li Yi could speak, Gao San exclaimed, his answer decisive, "I know who I am. You and I have nothing in common except... we're both liars."

"Tsk, how heartless. Let's just be ourselves then. In that case, cooperation..."

Continue?"

The Gao San did not respond, but his attitude was clear. Li Yi and pointed deep into the Experiment.

"This secluded Experiment is strange; I don't believe that our commotion didn't attract any attention."

Perhaps someone is already waiting for us deep inside that Experiment, so, shall we continue, my teammates?

Cheng Shi smiled, took a step back, and extended his hand in a gesture of invitation.

"As usual, the soldiers go first."

Gao San's eyelids twitched, and he couldn't suppress his anger any longer. He forced out a few words:

"When did this rule come about? Besides, wasn't I just Scholar?"

"You're a soldier, your mother's Scholar, the rules were just established, is there any problem?"

"..."

Whoosh—whoosh—

If we weren't outmatched...

Gao San took two deep breaths to suppress the urge to break off relations, and walked into the depths without saying a word.

Cheng Shi waited without moving for Li Yi to catch up. Li Yi put away his Daggers and playing cards and carefully followed behind the Gao San. Only when the two had walked far enough away did Cheng Shi stop, look around, and silently follow at the very back.

The road leading to the depths of the Experiment was long, Gao San walked it anxiously for a long time. When an ordinary wooden door finally came into view, his already taut heartstrings tightened even more.

"Watch out, ahead..."

Before they could finish speaking, a loud noise suddenly came from somewhere to their right.

"Bang!"

"Splash—"

Something was broken.

Immediately afterwards, a yellowish-green liquid began to spill from the floor between several Experiment petri dishes.

Cheng Shi tensed up, immediately gripped the Scalpel, hunched over, and prepared to strike.

In an instant, Magician Li Yi conjured a glowing playing card out of thin air. With a casual toss, a shimmering butterfly emerged from the card, fluttering its wings and flying toward the source of the sound.

Cheng Shi had seen the Sound-Seeking Butterfly before during his monthly Ladder settlement. It was a B-rank creature from the Isle of Hope. When it flapped its wings, the shimmering powder it scattered would reproduce the scene it saw in mid-air.

Because these butterflies are attracted to sounds, they are often used for reconnaissance and enemy detection in suppressive battlefields.

Gao San reacted immediately. Instead of adopting a defensive stance, he took advantage of the moment when Cheng Shi and Li Yi stopped and ran towards the wooden door.

Just then, as Cheng Shi frowned and pondered whether to use [Thunderclap Judgment] on the Gao San to resolve a variable, a heavy cough came from the side.

Cheng Shi's heart tightened, and he immediately turned around.

Then he and Li Yi saw a pool of yellowish-green liquid not far away, and an old man with a full head of white hair slowly walked out.

There was no need for the Sound-Seeking Butterfly to investigate; the person who made the noise had already stepped forward on their own!

Cheng Shi's pupils contracted as he recognized him.

Therius, Grand Scholar from the Department of Life Extension Studies in the Tower of Reason, is the true mastermind behind this underground Experiment.

"Ahem... I'm sorry, I'm getting old and my hands and feet are a bit clumsy. I broke the petri dish, but it's okay. These liquids don't contain any volatile toxins, so there's no need to worry."

He walked towards Cheng Shi and Li Yi with a smile, but after only a few steps, Li Yi stopped him with an unusually serious expression.

"Don't come any closer, or I'll make my move."

As he spoke, Li Yi punched the Experiment device next to him.

However, the Experiment device hidden behind the black cloth only made a muffled "thump" sound and then stopped responding.

"I'm very curious, Mr. Therius, how did you manage to break such a sturdy Experiment glass?"

Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow and quietly lifted the hand wearing the ring.

"I was just checking the status of the Experiment materials, and I accidentally pressed the wrong button..."

"Enough. There's no need for such a lame excuse. I've examined these petri dishes closely; there aren't any external interfaces or control buttons on the top or bottom of the glass. So what exactly are you...?"

Who is it?

What are you planning to do now?

"Hehe, young man, you know me, you know my name, and you know I am Scholar here, so why are you asking these meaningless questions?"

Besides, this is my Experiment. If anyone should be asking questions, it should be me asking you.

You shouldn't be here, especially with those 'Gladiator Mask' I personally crafted on your heads.

What are they fighting for?

Cheng Shi touched his Prison Helmet in surprise, then chuckled to himself.

How come everything can be called Mask now? If that's the case, doesn't that mean I've already surpassed being two-faced and become three-faced?

It's not impossible.

Ha, that's great, a conman should have enough Mask.

Meanwhile, on the other side...

The moment Gao San rushed into the room, he immediately turned around and closed the door, then stood close to the wall to prevent Cheng Shi from using that terrifying Thunderbolt again Cheng Shi behind him.

But after waiting for a long time without hearing any sound of someone chasing after him, he breathed a sigh of relief and began to nervously look around the pitch-black room.

However, just as he was about to take a step forward, the light came on.

A warm beam of light shone on the Experiment table not far away. Across from Experiment table, an elderly man with a full head of white hair slowly raised his head, looked at the unexpected guest, and smiled kindly.

"Looks like we have a guest in the Experiment, well, a guest who shouldn't be here."

The Gao San was horrified when he first saw the old man, because he had seen this old man before, or rather, he had seen this Scholar.

It's you!

Therius!