The Old Acquaintance Beneath the Dungeon

Chenosli!

This nascent Believer of Chaos, who had left such a profound impression on him, was still in the Grand Inquisition and imprisoned at the very bottom of the Wailing Iron Prison.

You have to understand that he used to be a first-class Adjudicator. What crime could have led to a first-class Adjudicator was in the public eye being imprisoned in a place where only death row inmates are kept?

Cheng Shi frowned slightly, recalling what Chenosli had once told him. At the time, Chernosley clearly meant that he had been treated unfairly and suppressed from within. In this light, the Grand Inquisition's suppression of him... was going too far.

Is he about to be executed?

Oh no, could I be the one who let him go?

Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened, a sudden hesitation creeping into his heart. This overwhelming sense of destiny filled him with a touch of fear. He seemed to see again the single gap left on the ring formed by [Time], and when he were to fill that gap in the near future...

He raised his hand and looked at the [Eternal Prisoner of Time] in his hand.

... Time is about to close the loop again.

I saved Chenosli, and it's even possible that I gave him the first wisp of the [Chaos] will. Then he left the Grand Inquisition, went underground, met a group of people who had left their homes and shared the same will, and became a nascent Believer of [Chaos]. He then encountered his past self in Everbloom Town, and pushed himself to the forefront, becoming... Ultraman, the Emissary personally recognized by [Chaos].

It fits perfectly and is absolutely flawless.

So, how many gods are involved in this game?

What roles do Destiny and time play in this?

Besides moving forward, what other options does a piece have?

Cheng Shi frowned deeply and stopped in his tracks. As he stood silently in front of the four men, all four teammates, who were still waiting for redemption, held their breath and dared not utter a sound, for fear of disturbing their leader's thoughts.

He pondered for a long time before finally deciding to go down and take a look.

This is not a compromise with the "behind-the-scenes manipulator," nor is it giving up other options; rather, he feels that there are some things he needs to understand more deeply.

Without seeing the whole picture, it's impossible to comment.

Just as this tall, thin teammate described it as "Order".

Cheng Shi knew that there was a problem with [Order], and that the so-called [Iron Rule of Order] had stolen his identity. However, he had no information at the moment as to whether this [Iron Rule of Order] had betrayed His Lord of Grace with the identity bestowed by the God of [Order] or had been replaced by another being.

Adding to the truth about "Order" mentioned by the Investigator, perhaps this teammate really does have some big information about them.

This rare intelligence alone was enough to make him take a risk.

Moreover, with the Big Cat nearby, even if there is danger, someone will take the hit.

So Cheng Shi mind and jumped into what seemed to be a "trap" they had dug in advance.

With a blank expression, he stretched out his "Decay" hand and snapped the chains binding the Investigator. He then released the other three in turn, collecting the negligible "ransom" amidst their panicked gazes.

After doing all this, Cheng Shi asked with a serious expression:

"Among you, who is Believer in [Memory]?"

"..." The four people looked at each other, not knowing what the big boss meant, but from the feeling, the other party seemed to be very resistant to [Memory].

They looked at each other, considering their respective identities: a Martial Expert, an Investigator, a Wounded Eye, a Bell Ringer; there was Truth and Order, Decay and death, but no Memory.

"No?

Okay, let's change the question. Who has the [Memory] item?

If you have any information, I hope you will honestly disclose it. Otherwise, if I find out you are hiding something, I'm sorry, I will have no choice but to take you back with me.

This cold, threatening tone truly terrified the four people. The other three frantically shook their heads, indicating that they genuinely lacked the ability to "Memory" memories. Only the Investigator, his face paling, cautiously said:

"I... I possess a Dream-Peeking Candle, used to investigate the truth..."

"..."

How could it be you?

Who exactly brought you to my side?

Cheng Shi glanced at him with a slightly cold look in his eyes, and asked with a gloomy face, "Only the Dream-Peeking Candle, and no other tools to rewrite history?"

No, absolutely not!

Boss, you have to believe me. I'm Investigator, and I hate those who wantonly change history, because falsifying history will Annihilation the few historical clues we have left, making our investigation difficult to continue.

I swear I only Dream-Peeking Candle, absolutely no other [Memory] artifacts!

Cheng Shi glanced at him, nodded, and then took out a blank A4 sheet of paper.

"This is a Deception Clown contract. Sign your names on it. If you use any power of Memory without my permission before the end of this Trials, the consequences will be..."

"Ha, you wouldn't want to know."

The four people stared at the absurdly blank A4 paper, their minds blank for a moment.

Can a blank piece of paper really be a contract?

Is this just a hoax?

However, the bigwig said this was a Deception contract?

Well, that could very well be true.

The God of Merriment, those who know, know; he can come up with such absurd props.

The four men, each with a different expression, dipped their fingers in blood and signed their names. The Investigator, unable to exert any force due to his severed arm, had to be given a bottle of healing medicine by Cheng Shi to heal his hand first.

The Investigator nervously said thank you, then firmly wrote down his name.

"Li Zhen."

The truth of the real versus the fake.

Cheng Shi glanced at his name, silently put away the contract, and walked towards the lower level of the dungeon without hesitation. Li Zhen was stunned for a moment, then looked at his teammates around him and hurriedly followed.

The others seemed to want to follow, as it was much safer to stay in front of the big boss than on their own, but before they could even make a move, Cheng Shi decisively refused them.

"Don't follow me. I don't have time to babysit you. Good luck until the Trials is over."

However, I'd still like to kindly remind you not to try and go up, or you might get killed by a bear.

Before he finished speaking, while the other three were still wondering why there was a bear here, Cheng Shi had already disappeared with the Investigator.

Tree Servant followed closely behind, and the three of them walked in a line down the dark staircase leading to the lower level, all in silence.

It's called a staircase, but it's more like a passageway.

Unlike the staircases in ordinary buildings where you can see the upper and lower floors, the connection between each dungeon floor is more like an intersecting corridor. With the walls obscuring the view, the three of them could only see the corner in front of them until they turned past a thick wall and could see the next path down.

The loss of sight on both sides creates a sense of oppression. The cramped and narrow space, coupled with the gradually dimming lights on the walls, makes the atmosphere of descending increasingly eerie.

The thumping footsteps echoed in the empty stairwell, like the terrifying beat of a drum, making people panic.

Of course, Cheng Shi wasn't afraid, because he was walking in the middle of the group, with the Investigator leading the way and the Twilight Hunter bringing up the rear. He, the strongest fighter, was well protected.

Looking down at the seemingly endless passageway, Cheng Shi gradually frowned. He even wondered if he had already fallen into the trap of "Order" and Wrong Path.

No, we can't go any further. Let the Tree Servant go down and scout ahead!

Just as Cheng Shi was about to urge Yu Mu to go ahead, Li Zhen in front of him suddenly stopped and said nervously, "We're here."

"?"

Cheng Shi instinctively took a step back, pushing Yu Mu in front of him, and cautiously examined the sturdy walls on either side of the staircase, saying in a deep voice:

"Investigator, it seems you have many secrets you're keeping from me."

Li Zhen's face turned deathly pale, and he said with a hint of panic:

"Boss, I haven't been hiding anything from you."

The reason I didn't tell you the location of the dungeon beforehand is because I only just found out myself!

I learned from the Adjudicator in the courtroom that the final level of the Wailing Iron Prison was not at the end of the dungeon stairs, but rather in the wall next to one of the stairs...

I don't know which level it is, but I can feel the power of [Order] emanating from this wall, so I think... it should be here.

Right in front of us!

As he spoke, he took out an arrow, the tip of which emitted a trace of pure [Order] power. Under the resonance of this [Order] power, a wall beside them quietly turned into transparent ripples of light, which then dissipated, revealing a huge underground stone cell.

In the center of this stone prison, three fully clothed prisoners were tightly bound by chains formed from the holy light of [Order], and suspended high in the air.

One of them was Cheng Shi's old friend, a first-level Adjudicator of the Grand Inquisition, and a nascent Believer of "Chaos," Chenosli.