A Long Talk with Deception (II)

"Splash—"

The glass is broken.

Although there was no frosted glass separating humans and gods in this Void, at this moment, Cheng Shi clearly felt that the glass that had been erected long ago and whose images had been severely distorted today had shattered.

For the first time, those Starry Eyes were displayed so "real" before me, vivid and lifelike, with every detail fully revealed.

For a moment, Cheng Shi even felt that He was no longer a lofty "He", but a pioneer walking on the same path, only one who had gone much further ahead of him.

It turns out that I wasn't the only one who was afraid; He was even more afraid than I was!

My speculation was correct; He was indeed not a "closer" and the reason He chose not to approach was this fear.

That fear is called "unjustified kindness".

However, there was still a question Cheng Shi couldn't understand: [Origin] was not like the gods. [*He] had never appeared, nor had He ever manipulated anything in the Cosmos. He was even considered a "non-existent" existence to all life in the Cosmos, with negligible influence. So what was [Deception] afraid of?

Fear that one's Divine Authority does not truly belong to oneself?

It is indeed possible, because [Death] once said that the [Covenant] was originally a divine covenant signed to protect all divine authority from Lost.

At the time Cheng Shi didn't think too much about it, but now that he thinks about it carefully, who among the gods could cause divine authority to Lost?

Therefore, the original purpose of the Covenant may not have been to target life below God. Since it is not below God, it can only be... God and above God!

This "Covenant," besides reconciling the conflicts among the gods, is probably also a precaution against "*He"!

But aren't there many "proximity factions" among the gods? How could they sign a "Covenant" to be wary of Him?

Therefore, it seems that the factors that led to the signing of this Covenant are far more complex than I had previously anticipated.

Aside from the fact that God of Merriment fears Divine Authority, Cheng Shi had another thought in mind: He also feared the end of the Age of Nothingness!

However, in this era of Nothingness, Deception, as the Dominion of this era, should have far more confidence than other gods.

Afros once said that there will definitely be a next era after the era of Nothingness. If this is true, even the Emissary can withstand the erosion of the end of the era, so a True God should not be afraid of it.

Therefore, there must be some reason that he doesn't understand, and this reason may point directly to the essence of God of Merriment's fear!

This is not mere speculation, but rather an inference made by Cheng Shi based on the apparent differing views on the path to the Faith Fusion through the concepts of "Deception" and "Destiny."

To reiterate, [Destiny] advocates for the Predestination, clearly wanting to witness the end of the [Nothingness] era. Since [Deception] contradicts His opinion, it means He does not want to experience the end of the era.

Cheng Shi wanted to ask directly what the end of the [Nothingness] era would entail, but he could also tell that he was no longer qualified to know more.

The God of Merriment could explain so much to himself was already beyond imagination. The fact that He forced himself to ask that blasphemous question also showed His attitude.

Yes, it's a forced change.

The one who broke the ice in this stalemate was not Cheng Shi, but God of Merriment himself.

When He used silence to force Cheng Shi into a stalemate, He had already broken the ice, because both the extremely intelligent man and God knew that when the stalemate came, Cheng Shi would definitely try to break the ice, which also meant that He was already prepared to "explain" something to Cheng Shi.

However, Cheng Shi was too terrified at the time to understand, but after receiving the explanation and calming down, the intelligent Cheng Shi understood everything.

He had long seen through his own suspicions and used this silent drama to explain the answer he wanted.

But is Deception merely a manifestation of Nothingness, a collection of all lies? Is His explanation truly credible?

Cheng Shi was not entirely certain, but at least in breaking the deadlock, His actions were consistent with His statements.

The conman's intuition told him that the God of Merriment was trustworthy, but was this intuition actually useful to the god...?

Sigh, we can only wait and see.

Cheng Shi breathed a long sigh of relief.

I gained a lot today, receiving many shocking pieces of information that defy description. But most importantly, I untied the knot that [Memory] had tied itself, giving me the confidence to approach [Nothingness]... no, to approach [Deception] again.

At least, before he could figure out the true will of his other Lord of Grace, he couldn't be sure whether [Destiny] was... cough cough.

But the good news is that today [Deception] seems sincere enough; it doesn't appear to be harming itself, at most, it's just using itself.

The word "utilize" here isn't meant negatively; it simply refers to a chess player using a global perspective to influence the movement of certain pieces. The pieces can't resist and can only endure it. But what if one day, the pieces themselves became the players?

Two chess players with similar paths can certainly collaborate and make this Cosmos game of chess even more exciting.

Cheng Shi realized that his Lord of Grace was working in this direction, because He did not seem to have found a "god" to play with and walk alongside Him on the other fifteen Divine Throne.

And today's audience, which can be described as resolving inner conflicts... is also thanks to [Memory].

If it weren't for the psychological demons planted in his mind by his adversaries, causing the "Deception" plan to deviate, perhaps it would have taken him a long time to understand these things.

Of course, it is also possible to thank [death], perhaps because this great being bestowed upon me a piece of glued-together "complete" Divinity, which gave me the opportunity to "temporarily sit on the table".

Cheng Shi thought about it a lot, for a long time, until he completely broke free from the influence of [Origin], and then solemnly raised his head to look at the joyful eyes in front of him.

At this moment, seemingly without needing to say more, a disheartened Clown once again smiled and returned to the Stage he should have been enjoying himself.

He stared blankly into those eyes, his lips moved for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, and then said with utmost seriousness:

What should I do?

Those eyes darted around, and then a sneer rang out:

"The Clown is indeed the Clown; your methods of making people laugh are far more effective than your confidence."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Shi's composure instantly dissipated.

Upon seeing this, those eyes burst into laughter again:

"You overestimate yourself; you can't do anything."

Your job is to be a player, so just be a con artist.

Players... do their duty...?

Cheng Shi was taken aback for a moment, then raised an eyebrow, seemingly understanding.