Chapter 829: The Final Promise

"Wait, did you say 'we'?" the Butcher sneered. "Half my injuries came from you. Have you forgotten that?"

"Our common enemy is Destiny. Besides, injuries sustained in the Deep Dream Layer don't affect the physical body, so they should be relatively easy to recover from." I stood beside the Man in the Colorful Robe. "The four of us are the last live show streamers. We should aim for win-win cooperation. He makes a good point."

The Butcher snorted and said no more. In truth, after seeing Destiny's true form, everyone's convictions had been shaken to some degree.

"Then from now on, the four of us are an alliance," the Man in the Colorful Robe said. "Little A will remain in the Dream Realm to funnel its resources to you, while I'll return to reality with you two and try to help more people seize control of their fates." He was making a proactive concession, offering to leave the dream to demonstrate his sincerity.

"Then it's settled."

Little A was left to clear out Destiny's pawns in the Deep Dream Layer, while the Man in the Colorful Robe personally escorted the Butcher and me back to reality.

...

When I opened my eyes, Zhu Li lay lifeless in the center of the room. A black robe had fallen to his side, but apart from that, there was nothing else.

"Erasing all traces? So this is the price of defying Destiny." I solemnly gathered the black robe from the floor and closed Zhu Li's eyes. I was just about to push the door open when I suddenly noticed the Faceless Woman standing in the doorway. She stared silently at Zhu Li's corpse, lost in thought.

"Your black hair was a huge help, but I really didn't find that face. Maybe Zhu Li hid it away in his own heart. That lunatic had a tragic childhood; he never learned how to love. With you two together, it was probably destined to be a tragedy from the very moment you fell for each other." I walked past the faceless ghost, took off my mask, and sprinted toward Hongqiao Port.

"Did you see the mirage over Jinghai last night? It was fucking incredible!"

"Mirage my ass! The architecture in that illusion looked nothing like ours. Some people are saying it was the sunken civilization of Atlantis!"

"You're the one spouting bullshit. Why don't you just say it was aliens?"

People were discussing it everywhere along the street. The bizarre spectacle from last night had been witnessed by a small fraction of the population. Oddly enough, for some unknown reason, not a single person had recorded it—almost as if an unseen voice had stopped them.

"It seems the battle between Black Robe and Destiny has subtly planted seeds of doubt in a lot of people." I pulled my collar tight. "Paper can never cover fire. One day, everyone will see the real sky."

After picking up Chu Men from the underground parking lot at Hongqiao Port, I prepared to fulfill my promise. "Are you free anytime soon? I can take you into the Deep Dream Layer."

"Not for now. I have urgent business and need to make a trip back to Jiangcheng." Chu Men looked completely relaxed, showing no signs of an emergency. Since he had flatly refused, I couldn't force the issue.

"Then come find me when you've handled it." Having gone through thick and thin together, I trusted Chu Men completely now and wanted him to be exposed to some of the truths regarding Destiny and fate.

"Alright." Chu Men waved his hand and turned to leave. I studied his retreating back, wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me. In the instant he turned his head, I noticed he was actually smiling—and it was that familiar, eerily textbook smile.

In that fraction of a second, my brain jolted as if electrocuted, recalling a specific detail. At the end of the Real Death Game Live Broadcast, the name 'Socrates Paradox' had popped up in the bullet comments. But at that time, Du Yu had been sitting right next to me, and he... hadn't seemed to have the livestream app open on his phone.

"Both Du Yu and Chu Men helped me unconditionally. Could they be from the Live Show too? But the four of us are the only live show streamers left. Does the Live Show have other hidden measures deployed in the mortal world? If that's the case, its true power is completely unfathomable," I muttered to myself.

I was both a live show streamer and a Live Show Examiner, yet I wasn't the master of the Live Show. I was nothing more than a fish that had swum the farthest upstream in the River of Destiny.

"Ding!"

The sun rose as usual. Basking in the morning light, I received a text message in my inbox.

"Fifteenth livestream completed. Second Stage evaluation completed. Now unlocking partial Live Show privileges. Opening the brand-new product catalog. Adding one hundred categories of redeemable items..."

I closed my phone without looking closely. Taking a deep breath, I wandered aimlessly down the street like an ordinary person.

"It's about time I went back to Jiangcheng to take a look. What lies buried beneath that massive grave should be the Live Show's final secret. Standing above reincarnation and representing Destiny... Now that this livestream is over, I have partial Live Show privileges. If I return to Jiangcheng, I might uncover something entirely new," I mused. I still remembered how I had seen other people wearing Paper Doll Masks in the other underground rooms at No. 44 Lightless Road, Jiangcheng. Their identities were also a mystery.

"The Live Show branch in the Yin-Yang Boundary was destroyed by the Two-Faced Buddha, and the branch in the Deep Dream Layer was destroyed by the Traitors under Destiny's instigation. If Destiny's main consciousness awakens, it will definitely do whatever it takes to strike out at the Live Show. When that time comes, Jiangcheng will be in danger."

I didn't think Jiangcheng would be any safer than the Yin-Yang Boundary or the Deep Dream Layer. Everything had started there, and in the end, it was highly likely that everything would end there too.

But that wasn't something I needed to worry about right now. It should take a very long time for Destiny to fully awaken, and this gap was my window of opportunity.

"In three days, there will be another livestream. Destiny may be terrifying, but at least in our previous clashes, I haven't lost! That's right—as long as I'm still breathing, it isn't a loss!"

...

Jiangcheng, Ting Tang Road. Right next to an Adult Shop named Pinnacle of Happiness, a small noodle shop had opened.

The owner wore a veil year-round and was said to be a very gentle woman. She also kept a lazy hound.

The shop wasn't large. It opened promptly at eight in the evening and didn't close until daybreak. Some people had tried to advise the female owner to change her hours, but she would always just politely shake her head and refuse. She never bickered with anyone or got into arguments. Most of the time, she simply sat quietly, gazing out at the street corner as if waiting for someone.

"Bai Qi, time to open the shop." The woman's voice was melodious. After her repeated urging, a large dog reluctantly crawled out from under a table, bit onto the lock on the door, and pulled it open.

"If you don't start moving around, you'll get so fat you won't be able to run," the woman's helpless voice echoed from the back kitchen. A moment later, she realized something was wrong. Usually, that lazy hound would bark a few times in protest, but this time, there wasn't a single sound from outside. "Bai Qi?"

Taking off her apron, the woman hurried out. The moment she lifted the kitchen curtain, she froze.

A young man stood in the doorway of the noodle shop. Bai Qi, who was normally a roguish, lazy dog, was now circling him, wagging his tail furiously.

"Long time no see, Xiaofeng."

I rubbed Bai Qi's head and walked over to the woman, whose shoulders were trembling slightly. "I remember I still owe you a promise..."