A Familiar Long-Table Conversation
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The seating arrangement at the long table on the terrace has been Change.
Instead of placing a chair at the head of the table where He should have been seated, Afros pulled out a chair and sat opposite Cheng Shi.
The two sat on opposite sides of the long table, leaving the last seat at the head of the table to Hong Lin was still looking around.
Hong Lin raised an eyebrow, and without any hesitation, sat down. She took in the beautiful scenery around her, watching the servants, bowing reverently, bring out food and wine. With a hint of interest, she looked at Cheng Shi and said in a strange tone:
"You call this a prison cell?"
With just this one sentence, Cheng Shi knew that even if Hong Lin knew something about Afros, it was only a limited understanding. Perhaps she only knew that there was such a person and had heard some stories about him, but she didn't know what had happened to him.
So he smiled and explained the situation with Dolgo D, and then cleverly connected Afros a little more closely.
"So, this prisoner of [Existence] is actually a friend of our [Nothingness]. Am I right, Flazhol? The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
That statement makes sense, but Hong Lin still dared not let her guard down against [Filth and Decay]. She knew all too well what kind of people they were; their Believer would stop at nothing for their desires.
Afros sensed Hong Lin's wariness, but He did not resist. Perhaps no one understood better than His Emissary what the reputation of "Filth and Decay" was in the eyes of the gods.
He could not ask a "True God's successor" to change his opinion of him. If Golis's consciousness had not been so obsessive and insane, He would have preferred to face this guest, who was also a "life," in that form.
Therefore, He was very satisfied with Cheng Shi's introduction, and after Cheng Shi finished speaking Afros clapped his hands with a smile.
"I know that as a convict, I may not be able to be friends with the Nothingness, but I will certainly not be Nothingness enemy."
I love this era, I love everything about this era, but I have one thing I'm curious about.
My brother, why do you Nothingness the same name as this esteemed Lady Flazhol... " "
"..."
Oh no, I let it slip; I forgot about that.
Cheng Shi's expression froze for a moment, then he clicked his tongue. Hong Lin was also taken aback, and then his face darkened. In their consensus, this matter should be kept secret as much as possible, so as to delay the exposure and quietly build up an information barrier, gaining more advantages in subsequent exchanges and confrontations.
But now, in order to bring them closer, this hook of "Nothingness" has been exposed.
But this is no challenge for a Clown who can act.
Cheng Shi's expression quickly changed again. After a couple of awkward laughs, he became much more serious.
He looked intently at Afros, and in a tone of solemnity the other had never heard before, he spoke, word by word:
"Afros, I'm not sure if it was your [Filth and Decay] power that pulled at my desires, making me relax..."
To be honest, as the Emissary of [Filth and Decay], Afros's aura of [Filth and Decay] was constantly pulling at the emotions around him, but this subtle pull could be completely countered by the Door Key in Cheng Shi's hand, and had no effect on him at all.
He said that purely to shift the blame and put pressure on the other party. He was deliberately creating a tense atmosphere and a sense of mystery, with the purpose of deceiving people.
All the tricks of a con artist are designed to deceive people.
"As a result, some little secrets of [Nothingness] were unintentionally revealed."
But I suggest that until you completely trust me and embrace Nothingness, it's best to forget what just happened.
As expected, all of this involved the struggle for Divine Authority between [Nothingness] and them!
But...
Forget?
Afros laughed, a smile full of desire spreading across his face.
Forgetting is easier said than done, especially since He was a devotee of desire. How is it any different for a Filth and Decay follower to give up his desires than for Him to break his vows?
It's impossible.
But Afros wasn't stupid; he understood what Cheng Shi meant. It clearly meant that if you wanted to know more about the story of "Nothingness," you had to get closer to "Nothingness."
Therefore, He also became vigilant.
He had to consider that the other party was a Deception Emissary. Cheng Shi's words just now were very likely not a slip of the tongue, but a deliberate act, to push him one step further and slowly lead him into the Abyss of Deception.
Although approaching the Nothingness in the age of the Nothingness is not wrong, Deception is too fake and Destiny is too mysterious. So far, all of His understanding of the Nothingness comes from the mouth of a Nothingness walker. He is not sure whether this Deception Emissary will deceive Him, and He is even more afraid that making a rash choice will have some irreversible impact on Him.
Although Afros could not escape the prison of time, his repeated reincarnations and yearly waits were certainly not for self-torture, but to one day continue his grand ambition.
He was wondering whether approaching the "Nothingness" would grant his wish or cause him to fall into Nothingness and cease to exist.
Originally, He didn't need to consider so much when facing Cheng Shi, because this "Fool's Game" brother wasn't that powerful, at least not before he retrieved the Mask.
Therefore, Afros felt that he should have enough time to understand this era before facing the overwhelming power of the "Nothingness".
But now, it seems a bit too late, especially after seeing a Flazhol who possesses the Divine Authority [Prosperity].
This Flazhol's identity must be fake, because He had seen the real Flazhol before. The eldest daughter of [Prosperity] did not have such a beautiful and healthy face and physique as this one.
He was very thin, and under the Divinity oppression of His mother, His growth was not vigorous.
Moreover, He had long since died, in His mother's arms.
So, this fake Flazhol, like the Fool's Game, is also a practitioner of the "Nothingness"? Or perhaps Emissary?
The Nothingness has begun to brazenly seize the Divine Authority of the gods.
Even if this is a sordid affair that all the gods are aware of, how did [Nothingness] snatch Divine Authority from [Prosperity]?
In Afros's understanding, prosperity cannot share its Divine Authority with its children, let alone with a practitioner of Nothingness.
What exactly went wrong with this second god of "life"?
Unable to fathom the cause and effect, Afros suddenly found himself in a dilemma. He should have followed his heart and obeyed his desires, but now his desires had also forked. Both the conservative and radical paths seemed to have bright futures, so much so that the bewildered seeker stood at the crossroads of Destiny, hesitating helplessly.
This entanglement manifested itself in the fact that Afros's aura began to fluctuate, becoming extremely chaotic, and the pull of the surrounding [Filth and Decay] was also slowly intensifying.
He looked at Cheng Shi with a complicated expression and said softly:
"My good brother, the Emissary of [Deception], the Lord Foolish Play..."
Are you lying to me again?
Before Cheng Shi could react, the Big Cat moved first.
Her pupils contracted sharply as she looked at Cheng Shi, her sharp, cheetah-like eyes revealing boundless confusion; her expression clearly asked:
"How did you become the Emissary of [Deception] again?"
"..."
Cheng Shi was numb. He could only respond with dry laughs from both sides at the same time, while screaming wildly in his heart:
Come on, let the lies rage on!