From the end of the world

Chapter 145 Undercurrent 1
Last time, I told Zhu Shi about the matter of Xujing and the No. 2 bowl. With her kind personality, she will not ignore the follow-up, so I need to wrap up this topic first.

If that were all, there would be no need for me to tell him about the Lord of the Divine Seal. But since I have told Zhu Shi such important information as the fragments of the Divine Seal, it is too late to hide it any further, so I might as well tell him everything.

Besides, Zhu Shi has systematic knowledge of mysticism and also has the identity and background of Luoshan. Although I am also an impermanence, I am an outsider of Luoshan. A lot of information needs to rely on Zhu Shi's relationship to obtain, and she can also be an excellent consultant.

As for Lu Youxun, he does have more connections in Luoshan than Zhu Shi, and probably has more experience and knowledge than Zhu Shi, but no matter what I say, I can't go to him to confess. Trust is more important than ability. Even if I like him, I can only form a relationship of interest with him at most, and I can't be a true friend.

In order to make it easier for Zhu Shi to accept what I said, I allowed her to use "Buzhou Mountain" on me throughout the process. On this basis, I told her about my experience in the virtual world this time.

Now, no matter how absurd what I said sounded, she had no choice but to accept it.

After being shocked, she first closed "Buzhou Mountain", rubbed her nose, and then said to herself: "Seven selected people compete for the only winning spot, and the final winner can use the universal wishing machine to fulfill his wish...Brother Zhuang, what kind of magical battle set have you mistakenly entered?"

“That’s what I wanted to ask, too,” I said.

"Fortunately, you don't have to kill each other for the chance to realize your wish. Otherwise, with two of the seven contestants being impermanent, how are the remaining contestants going to compete?" She shook her head. "No, it's hard to say that you won't kill each other. Although the Lord of the Divine Seal said that killing each other will penalize the contribution to the task of collecting Divine Seal fragments, if someone would rather risk this penalty to kill a competitor, that's another matter.

"Also, if one of the seven contestants stands out, the remaining six can simply team up to murder him and share the 'negative points'. If everyone's score is lowered, it's the same as if no one has their score lowered."

I felt that Junior Sister Zhu might have read a lot of magical stories about this, or she might just be naturally good at finding loopholes in things. As soon as I finished speaking, she immediately noticed the loophole in the rules.

In addition, if we talk about who is particularly outstanding among the seven people, it is me. Even the Lord of the Divine Seal specifically pointed me out, saying that I am the only intruder present. Could this be a deliberate attempt to put me at a disadvantage, to induce the other six to test my depth, or even to use what Zhu Shi said to create a situation of borrowing a knife to kill someone? It is difficult for me not to have this kind of paranoid speculation.

However, the Lord of the Divine Seal doesn't even take the Great Impermanence like No. 4 Xuanming and No. 6 seriously, let alone me. Even if he can't use the binding relationship of the Divine Seal fragments to directly affect me, at least the gray mist can control me. At worst, he can use his huge body to deal with me directly. There are many ways.

I don't think that because the virtual world is a dream, the death there doesn't count. No matter how I think about it, the opponent is not an opponent who will be bound by such common sense.

"This kind of competition with simple rules is problematic no matter how you think about it..." Zhu Shi pondered, "and it seems a bit stingy to only grant the wish of the person with the highest contribution. Since the Divine Seal is omnipotent, why not draw a big pie for all participants to realize their wishes?

"...No, that would actually reduce 'work efficiency'. According to the current system, people who are confident in their abilities can work hard, and those who are not confident can also trade for the knowledge necessary to realize their wishes. It doesn't seem so bad?"

I added: "Although the two strongest people in the virtual world right now don't seem like the kind of people who would work hard and honestly."

"You are the same. I guess the Lord of the Divine Seal must be having a headache right now." As she spoke, she seemed to think of something else and said with a smile, "Come to think of it, why do I feel that your place is like the fantasy novels I read before. Maybe the Lord of the Divine Seal is actually an ordinary person who accidentally obtained the Divine Seal and pretended to be the mastermind in front of you, and No. 7 is his sock puppet who infiltrated you. When he discovered you, the intruder, maybe he just looked calm, but he was actually sweating profusely."

I imagined what she was saying and was speechless for a moment. Then I said, "That would make things easier for us. If he is really just an ordinary person who is trying to be mysterious, at least we don't have to worry about him destroying the world."

There are actually quite a few ordinary people who wish for the destruction of the world when their lives are not going well. However, if they still sincerely think so after gaining extraordinary power and status, they are no longer ordinary people from a psychological perspective.

Even someone like me who has a somewhat radical personality would not wish for such extreme destruction.

What I really expect is the bizarre colors that bloom in the process of destruction, not the result of destruction.

However, according to Luo Shan's prophecy of the end of the world, the end of the world will be the four elements being empty, and everything will become nothingness. "That's true." She shook her head helplessly, "From your previous description, No. 6 obviously has an extraordinary understanding of the Divine Seal, and he thinks that he has figured out the details of the Lord of the Divine Seal, and he easily broke through the gray mist's seal, but in the end he was still defeated...

“Although I don’t know what No. 6 thought the Lord of the Divine Seal was at first, if the latter was really just an ordinary person who happened to pick up the Divine Seal, he would have probably been chopped into pieces at that stage.”

She then asked, "Do you have a way to destroy the fragment of the divine seal in your hand? If the fragment of the divine seal that forces you to participate in the fragment competition is bound to it, you should be able to withdraw as long as you destroy it, right?"

"This is impossible." I denied it directly.

I have long been able to decompose the fragments of the divine seal into flames and reassemble them, but the material fragments of the divine seal are nothing but a mirage of its essence. Even if it is decomposed into particles, its essence and my binding relationship remain unchanged. The fragments of the divine seal that once disappeared will reappear without anyone noticing. This is something I confirmed long before I found Ma Zao again.

Could the state of the Divine Seal being "both shattered and intact" be referring to this? I feel that the truth may be different. If the Divine Seal's contradictory state was just this, then a great impermanence like No. 4 Xuanming would not be confused by it.

By the way, after this virtual gathering, the fragment of the divine seal bound to me has undergone some changes. The new function added by the Lord of the Divine Seal to the fragment of the divine seal seems to be not only able to detect other fragments of the divine seal, but also makes it more portable. As long as I think about it, I can make my fragment of the divine seal disappear temporarily; if I think about it again, it will reappear.

"Since there is no way to withdraw, we have no choice but to face this situation positively. Ma Zao's suggestion to you is correct. Even if the Lord of the Divine Seal promises that he can answer any question, you should not really exchange the Divine Seal fragments for answers." Zhu Shi said cautiously, "You seem to think that as long as you find a way to eliminate this risk, there will be no problem. I suggest that you still don't have that kind of fluke idea.

"It's like when a court determines whether a suspect has committed a crime, it will only ask for 'proof that he has committed a crime', but not 'proof that he has not committed a crime'. The latter is impossible in most cases. In the same way, you have no way of judging whether making a deal with a weird being will really not have any bad consequences.

"But... even if I say this, you might accidentally forget it when the time comes."

Compared to Ma Zao, Zhu Shi really knows more about me. And I have thought about the questions she asked. But even I am not sure whether I will risk making a deal with the Lord of the Divine Seal in the future and ask him all kinds of questions related to the doomsday - whether it is to prevent the doomsday or the other way around, I must get a definite answer.

So I humbly asked: "If the situation really develops into that, what should I do?"

Hearing this, Zhu Shi sighed tiredly at first, then cheered up and made a suggestion: "If you really want to ask, you can start with some less important questions. For example, if you accidentally lost something in the past, you want to know the location of the target, or some answers that you can find by yourself if you spend more time.

"As for puzzles that you think you can't solve no matter how long you spend on them, or puzzles that are too big to solve like 'how to save the world', it's best not to ask. Even if you really want to ask, it's best not to ask the first time.

"The greater the gains from transactions with evil and strange things, the greater the consequences. Therefore, the first problem must be a small-scale problem. Don't think it is a waste to pay for such a small problem. Because how much you gain in the first transaction is not important, what really matters is what kind of feedback the transaction itself will bring you in the future, that is, testing the waters."

"Been taught a lesson."

I took note of it carefully and then continued to go deeper with her.

Although she just gave her advice based on the premise that I should make a deal with the Lord of the Divine Seal, overall she still stood on the position of not making a deal. The reason was not only that making a deal would bring bad consequences to me, but also that the Lord of the Divine Seal's position was unknown. If the Lord of the Divine Seal was really the person who wished to destroy the world as No. 4 Xuanming speculated, then helping him collect the fragments of the Divine Seal would be aiding and abetting.

As an extension of this issue, there is another crucial issue that I have to face.

How does the Lord of the Divine Seal plan to recover all the fragments of the Divine Seal in the final stage?

(End of this chapter)