The first time, the apocalypse's corrupting power had yet to react, but the second time, that was no longer possible.
Zhao Cheng's words struck Luo Zhen like a thunderbolt.
He had considered all kinds of possibilities. Perhaps the world he had been reborn into was actually a parallel world, or perhaps Zhao Cheng's appearance was a butterfly effect—he had never known of this person because, amid the coming chaos, Zhao Cheng had died here.
But he had never imagined that Zhao Cheng would expose his rebirth in a single sentence. This was his greatest secret!
"You..."
"Who are you?!"
Luo Zhen's expression changed several times. The powerful mindset he had forged over decades completely collapsed.
Even when facing the Demon God King in his second loop, he had never been this flustered.
"Don't panic. I bear you no ill will."
Zhao Cheng said this because Luo Zhen had taken the initiative to ask. Otherwise, he would not have brought it up himself.
But since the other party had asked, Zhao Cheng was happy to clear up his doubts. The logic of it was roughly this: Luo Zhen had applied to initiate an interaction, and Zhao Cheng had approved his request.
Whether the one speaking to him was truly Luo Zhen was not actually important. Zhao Cheng simply did not reject communication from the outside.
In that respect, he carried something of the Ascend to God system's air of a deity answering a believer's doubts. Only, the scope of his responses was broader, not limited to believers—so long as there was that kind of affinity.
Initiating an interaction was, in Zhao Cheng's view, itself a kind of affinity.
If one day he encountered it again and no longer considered it affinity, then naturally his attitude would be different.
Affinity and causality