Deceitful Game

Chapter 273 Paradox Engine

"I don't know the specific effects."

Ai Shiping shrugged: "Only those who deceive the world within the realm of wisdom can directly see the effects of the treasure. Apart from them, only the original owner of the treasure knows its effects."

"For example... the first treasure I obtained in my past life was something I bought from someone. It was called 'Nervousness Gum,' because that person was very prone to nervousness, but their reaction speed would increase after becoming nervous."

"...You mean," Chen Bingwen frowned slightly, "that treasures are formed from the condensed minds of charlatans?"

"No."

Ai Shiping shook his head with absolute certainty: "The treasures are actually the remains of certain hosts and charlatans after their deaths."

...Can TV presenters die too?

Upon hearing this, Mingpo paused slightly.

If that's the case...

While Mingpo was pondering, Ai Shiping continued, "When a person dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, they become a temporary being; when a temporary being dies, they become a rare being; and when a rare being dies, they become a 'peaceful being.' We who died unjustly and those who deceived the world are equivalent to 'ghosts,' while the host is 'temporary,' and the treasure is 'rare.'"

"The special abilities of the Deceiver come from 'titles,' which are related to performance in the game. The host also has his own title, for example, our host is called [Ink Sorrow Silk Dye], which should be a unique title of at least the Silver Moon level. As long as you obey the title, you can obtain extraordinary power... not to mention lifting cars or buildings, it can even turn a person into a living supercomputer, or give a person the power to destroy armies and countries."

"If it's the highest-level 'Gold of the Year,' it can even rewrite the rules and shake spacetime! The highest-ranking members of the current Eight Giants are all 'Gold of the Year' level Deceivers. And many of the Deceivers' powers are ineffective against higher-level Deceivers… at least at the same level." "But!"

At this point, Ai Shiping's voice became a little heavier: "No matter what title you receive... you must remember that the title is only 'Shadow of God,' not 'Perfect God.'"

"Once you completely identify with the title and believe that the title is 'the complete me,' it means you've been corrupted by it. It's almost impossible to escape that corruption... Whether you're a con artist or a host, once you reach that point, you're doomed."

"To die in this state becomes a treasure. And unclaimed treasures instinctively seek out those most similar to themselves." At this point, Ai Shiping tossed the coin again, scoffing, "Take this coin, for example… it was attracted to that flamboyant person." "…You're saying all this, aren't you worried about the company checking your memory later?"

Chen Bingwen frowned slightly.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Ai Shiping looked surprised: "What should we do then?"

Mingpo rolled her eyes, handed the corpse she had been carrying on her back to Chen Bingwen, and decided to rest for a while.

He has absolutely no interest in Ai Shiping's exaggerated acting skills these days.

Because he knew what kind of person Ai Shiping was.

That guy may seem frivolous and radical, but he is actually cautious, timid, and afraid of pain. Even if he gains memories of another future timeline and matures, he will not change in these aspects.

Since Ai Shiping took the initiative to say these things, it means he must have a solution. Otherwise, Mingpo would have stopped him from continuing after he uttered his first sentence.

"Actually, it's because of the effect of this copper coin."

Ai Shiping laughed and said, "Although I don't know its effects, that doesn't mean I can't use them."

You'd better be careful.

Mingbo warned, "There might be some side effects."

"I tested it for quite a while."

Ai Shiping said with a smile, "Can you still remember what I just said?"

Chen Bingwen and Ming Po both paused, staring at each other in astonishment.

They discovered that the memory they had just experienced had become blurry.

They vaguely remembered what Ai Shiping had said, but upon closer examination, they couldn't recall anything. The only clear memory they had was of Ai Shiping flipping a coin.

"And now?"

Ai Shiping tossed the copper coin into the air and asked the question again.

In an instant, the memories that had just been forgotten became clear again.

"I see………"

Mingpo understood: "That's the effect."

"This is a good thing," Chen Bingwen praised. "You can seal our memories when you go back, so it won't be easy for me to be found out."

"That's why I say the host definitely had ulterior motives."

Ai Shiping said with certainty.

He was worried that his past life memories would be found out, but now he doesn't have to worry about that anymore.

What you fear most is what happens; nobody believes you if you say they're not in cahoots.

A blatant case of biased refereeing!

"How dare you talk like that?" Mingpo glared at him. "This is your godfather! He's the one who feeds us, so we should at least say something nice about him." ...Godfather, huh?

Upon hearing Mingpo's words, Ai Shiping's expression faltered for a moment.

He seemed to recall something, his expression changing several times before finally falling silent again, flipping a coin once more to put the previous topic behind him.

"The heating system is right here," Ai Shiping said without replying to Mingpo, but instead kicked the Iron Maiden in the corner. "Put the 'mutton' in there."

His voice was much lower, clearly indicating that he was not happy.

Although Mingpo didn't know why he suddenly became unhappy, it didn't affect Mingpo's work.

The heating system on the other side had already been repaired; this was the last one in front of them.

Ai Shiping and Chen Bingwen were both clerical workers; even tied together, they couldn't beat half of Xiong Ajie. Their ability to kill so many people was entirely due to their excellent acting skills and ruthlessness. This kind of physical labor was naturally left to Mingpo.

Mingpo stuffed the corpse into the Iron Maiden with one hand, closing it up like pulling down a gate.

"Do you guys feel like something's not right?"

Hearing the screams coming from inside, Chen Bingwen's expression gradually became serious.

Even with the two heating systems repaired, they were still slightly sweating just from walking. The temperature inside the carriage was around 32 or 33 degrees Celsius.

Now, the last heating device has been repaired... but the temperature inside the train, which had previously risen, has begun to drop rapidly at an abnormal rate! The heating device in front of us is clearly emitting heat, but an invisible chill is slowly creeping up to our ankles.

Ai Shiping was somewhat dazed again.

This feeling is hard to experience in this technologically advanced "near future".

Indoor temperature control has been widespread for over a decade, and has even been removed from the list of paradoxical technologies, becoming a common technology whose principles are fully understood. This experience of extremely high indoor temperatures and extremely low air conditioning reminded Ai Shiping of his college entrance examination hall in his previous life.

Those old-fashioned air conditioners have incredibly high power output, but their cooling efficiency is inexplicably mediocre.

A cool breeze swept past my feet, making my knees ache, but I still couldn't stop the sweat from pouring down my back.

In this era... this could be described as a "ghostly" experience.

"Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!"

Suddenly, a piercingly bright sound came from the communicator on Mingpo's waist.

Mingpo pressed the answer button: "Feed?"

"How's it going over there?"

It was Chu Yunge who spoke.

Mingpo had no intention of flirting with this rather serious and proper adult.

He simply said casually, "The third heating device has been found."

"I mean, do you have cold winds where you are?"

"Yeah, it's pretty cold."

As Mingpo spoke, he glanced at the ground.

The temperature near the ground is getting lower and lower, and is approaching zero degrees Celsius.

It's like a cold breeze blowing out of a refrigerator.

Let's meet up as soon as possible.

Chu Yunge said, "I suspect that the Paradox Engine may have already appeared. This anomaly may be the way the Paradox Engine eliminates us."

She meant that the rule that "if the paradox engine is not repaired within an hour, everyone will die" is already in effect.

If the method to eliminate everyone is extreme cold, then Mingpo's existence clearly makes this extreme cold test much more intense. Because if "one hour" is enough to kill Mingpo... then it is very likely that half an hour, or even twenty minutes, would be too much for the more vulnerable people to withstand.

"Then hurry up and come."

Mingpo said lazily, "We're right at the door of carriage number five."

After saying that, he didn't waste any time and hung up the communicator directly.

He looked at Ai Shiping: "What do you think will happen?"

Ai Shiping countered, "Do you think it's a coincidence that the name of this ultimate enemy is 'Paradox Engine'?"

"How is that possible?"

Mingpo smiled and said softly.

He narrowed his eyes, but his expression turned ferocious.