"How many worlds have you experienced?"
Wen Xishu thought for a moment and said,
"The first one, and possibly the last, but it is not the only one I have seen."
"Recently, I acquired something, and I discovered another world very similar to mine."
"However, in that world, I still seem to be very weak. I can also sense that... the main opponent in this competition is not other versions of me, but the one who is quite similar to me in my world."
Pisces paused briefly and then said,
"Now, what question do you need me to answer?"
Wen Xishu also remained silent for a brief moment before saying,
"My companions are dying one by one. I, together with my brother, have started... ascending to godhood."
"In other words, according to your world’s narrative, I am dismantling the machinery of God."
"But I also encountered the same problem as you. In your world, the Outer Domain’s Forbidden Machinery is revered in ours as the Outer God."
"Their existence made me realize that in the first half of the Three Towers War, there might have been a massive conspiracy."
"Before the death of the first of the Twelve Constellations, they each lay very dormant. Even if something occasionally surfaced, it seemed extremely weak."
"Logically, the death of the Twelve Constellations should not weaken the overall strength because as the number of constellations diminished, the power of each individual constellation would... continually increase."
"But we encountered a problem."
"The fewer the constellations, the more the Outer Gods."
"And with the death of the first of the Twelve Constellations, many balances were broken, and the fate of constellations hunting each other intensified."
"During these hunts, my friends... died one after another. I became stronger but also more alone."
"I possessed god-like power, but my enemies also became stronger because of it. I started to realize... some lies we deeply believed in, some artifacts that appeared, were actually the conspiracies of the Outer Gods."
"We fought for an artifact, only to unwittingly serve the Outer Gods. Those conflicting setups within the Three Towers were indeed the strategic tug-of-war between our secret power and the Outer Gods."
"But I realized it too late."
"I made mistakes. But I don’t know how to correct them, and with the Eye of Tragedy I obtained not long ago... I witnessed a tragic end."
"Simultaneously, I also saw myself before that tragedy had occurred. But that belonged to another universe."
"I don’t know, what is the purpose of my existence."
Pisces remained silent for a longer time.
"Are you implying that the evolution of the divine machinery is a conspiracy? But between us, there is an irreconcilable conflict."
"Of course, I should first answer your question."
"Where did you obtain your Eye of Tragedy?"
Wen Xishu answered,
"It was a drunk. Another version of me from another universe. I encountered many different versions of myself. During a survival test, he approached me, trying to provoke me, and he paid the price for his recklessness."
"And because of that, I gained his power."
This time, Pisces replied quickly,
"How could someone who foresaw their downfall be reckless?"
showed no surprise.
In fact, he intentionally phrased it that way to elicit the same inference from Pisces as himself.
Indeed, how could one act recklessly even while intoxicated?
However you look at it, the drunk seemed to be attempting suicide.
Yet at that time, 01 Wen Xishu did not notice anything amiss because everyone’s powers were stripped away, and above the drunk version of himself was the enigmatic phrase "speak of me."
In his opinion, it was worded too simply and was easily triggered.
But what if the drunk... before the game started, before the power was taken by rules, had seen the full story?
Pisces posed a question,
"All of these versions of you, gathering together, is something happening?"
responded,
"It’s a test from the Three Towers, although it seems odd, I had long parted from the Three Towers, I had already begun the Three Towers War..."
"My strength also far exceeds the other versions of Wen Xishu, by a wide margin."
Pisces continued to question,
"You still haven’t answered my question."
Wen Xishu nodded,
"Yes, all the ’me’s gathered together, and it seems like we need to choose a true ’me.’
Pisces directed,
"You think it’s caused by the ’Tower’ of the world you are in."
Wen Xishu did not deny,
"Yes."
Pisces continued the guidance,
"But you were completely unaware. You thought you had surpassed that stage."
Wen Xishu was silent.
He understood the implication behind the guidance.
Pisces showed no signs of stopping,
"Selecting the true you, does that imply the other yous are false?"
"And none of us would want to give up our own existence or our world. Yet you are the most powerful among all of you."
"In this ’true you’ contest, you could easily defeat the others, couldn’t you?"
Wen Xishu stayed silent.
Today he had been silent far too many times, for given his capacity for thought, he could deduce certain outcomes. But he did not wish to concede.
Along this bumpy journey, the separation from loved ones, this trek experienced countless losses, was not for this kind of result.
He also needed discernment over whether this scene was an illusion created by the Outer God to dismantle him.
Pisces said,
"One among you used their death to grant you the Eye of Tragedy, because they had seen the truth."
"Actually, you also can see clearly. But how you choose is your matter. One could assume, another version of you is also enduring some form of torment at this moment."