An overwhelming crisis bore down heavily, locking Shiheng's mind in its grip.
Knowing Oakes's predetermined fate in the original story and seeing the inescapable death trap hidden behind this thousand-year escape, Shiheng's heart had long since erupted into towering waves of turmoil. Countless dangerous possibilities flashed through his mind, and every projected outcome pointed to destruction and death.
But his expression remained unchanged. He forcibly suppressed all his shock and turmoil, weighed the advantages and disadvantages in an instant, and settled on the most suitable explanation.
He understood the nature of the Azure Dragon Clan among the Four Divine Beasts all too well.
As Divine Beast descendants of an Overgod Family, the Azure Dragon Clan's members were naturally proud and conceited, stubbornly conservative and hidebound to their core. They firmly believed their clan's foundations would endure for countless ages and that their Overgod ancestors would protect them forever.
If he spoke the truth now, telling Oakes that all his clan's ancestors had fallen, that the outside world had changed beyond recognition, and that every contingency had become useless, it would only plunge Oakes, who had clung to his obsession throughout ten thousand years of imprisonment, into utter despair and mental chaos.
Once morale collapsed, their plans would inevitably fall apart.
If Oakes lost his composure, tomorrow's desperate breakout would be riddled with flaws, and everyone would perish in the Demonic Grotto.
I absolutely cannot tell the truth.
The only safe approach was to draw on his most unusual trump card-the Fate Laws.
By claiming he had glimpsed future danger through divination with Fate, he could warn Oakes of the peril ahead, making him wary enough to act cautiously and refine their tactics without shattering his last source of spiritual support, thus preserving their remaining fighting strength for the prison break.