Chapter Sixty-Seven: Everything Is As Planned
Ji Ma was feeling depressed, very depressed. She felt a moment of daze and returned to the ritual room; it seemed like only an instant had passed. She blinked and looked at the system time—it had only been 2 seconds. Did it succeed? Or was it just a dream? Ji Ma would rather it be a dream. Reflecting on what she had done, Ji Ma’s feelings were complicated. She had thought she would scream and cry out loud, but she managed to remain even calmer than she had expected.
Wasn’t it just a hand-holding session, like taking a baby to meet the Demon King Ji Ma, then I killed myself? Wasn’t it just abandoning thirty maids and the meticulously crafted Demon King’s palace to choose to become a hero’s slave? It’s not a big deal, right? The warmth of the color’s tongue lingered in her ears. A flock of crows outside was calling, sounding somewhat like laughter. The color’s demons and the Lord of Transformation must be greatly satisfied, right? I’m such a fun toy. Ji Ma took a deep breath, her throat trembling as she shifted her focus.
Why could the Lord of Transformation let me travel to the past? Although there were many restrictions, if he could manipulate time, how terrifying would his power be? Just imagine if I traveled directly to when Sigma was just born and strangled him; the empire would fall in an instant. The more she thought about it, the more afraid Ji Ma became.
She arrived at a conclusion: the entire world was just toys for the Four Gods, and the Fallen God was merely a giant toy—compared to that, they were all false gods. But all of this was based on the premise that the Lord of Transformation could indeed manipulate time at will. Her curiosity suddenly burst forth like fireworks in her heart. “Everything is as planned.”
Upon hearing this voice, Ji Ma went dark. The next line was: “Do you want to know?” Ji Ma changed her response: “I don’t want to know.” About the mysteries of time, it would serve you; you are favored by me, and I will impart everything to you.
“No.”
“You are a fool, but safe.” The mysterious voice continued, “In the Eternal Chosen and in my transaction with the Holy Hall, I deceived time, tricking it into thinking you came from the future and made a choice—nothing more.”
“Isn’t time linear?”
“Fool.”
Ji Ma couldn’t contain her curiosity: “Then what is it?”
“Ah ah ah…”
The crows’ cries approached. Under the flock, a book fell to the ground. Just by looking at the bronze cover, Ji Ma gasped: “The Book of Fate!”
Open it, open it, inside is knowledge that can resolve all your doubts. Not only the external voice but her inner voice was also calling. Ji Ma’s hands trembled; her eyes were fixed on it. The Lord of Transformation had promised that once opened, many of her questions would be explained. Ji Ma picked up the snake-skin bag…
Ten minutes later. The slaves were running in the weight-adjusted catapult’s running chamber, with the catapult’s sling hanging down. Ji Ma commanded: “Quickly throw this thing out, the further the better.” Several soldiers placed the Book of Fate, covered in a snake-skin bag, on the sling; once launched, the Book of Fate flew away like a meteor.
“You really surprise me, fool.”
“Just as the deceived are all smart people, I’m foolish; as long as I’m silly enough, no one can fool me.”
Ji Ma asked, “What if I smash the color’s egg out of frustration, what will happen?”
“Only the lies will be uncovered, and the timeline will return to that moment.”
“Ha, so it must be your trick.” Ji Ma sneered. “What did you do to me to make me lose my mind and do those things to please the color demon? How many benefits did you exchange with him for your grand conspiracy?”
No, everything is your own choice. If everything develops just as planned and prophesized, it is nothing but a stinking dead soup… The mysterious voice faded away. Ji Ma, this unqualified selection of the Lord of Transformation, finally realized how foolish her question had been.
The Lord of Transformation enjoyed the unpredictable, which was precisely the opposite of the Eternal Stagnant’s preference for constancy. If that is the case, then they are causes and effects of each other—there is no accident involved. Therefore, the Lord of Transformation might actually be annoyed. If I smashed the color egg, causing the timeline to revert to that moment, perhaps the Lord of Secrets would be even happier.
Ji Ma felt even more depressed. She realized that she should not have asked such a question; she merely wanted an answer to tell herself, “See, this isn’t the path I chose; it’s all part of the Lord of Transformation’s scheme.”
“You are wise yet foolish.”
From behind, colorful flames surged, and an old man emerged. He was holding the Book of Fate, saying, “Just now, I was ordered by the one true God in the world to speak with you.”
“Oh, I already noticed.” Ji Ma lied, putting her hands behind her back, speaking very calmly and pretending to be a master: “What can you bring me?”
The old man had a single eye. He knocked his staff, and changing flames appeared before him, saying: “The Eternal Chosen has sent four elite legions, and I have received the blessing of my master, able to freely manipulate the winds of magic to burn your enemies.”
Ji Ma nodded lightly. Although she had support from Saint Jenna, it was still insufficient. She desperately needed someone to cast military spells on the battlefield.
“Come.” Ji Ma raised her hand.
The old man smiled slightly, took a step forward, and with his right hand saluted Ji Ma, saying, “It’s an honor to serve you—”
“Baldi!” Ji Ma shouted. Suddenly, a black-armored Baldi materialized behind her, with a fractured lip and a blood deity mark on his bottom. This two-meter-tall muscle man raised his fist, and in the blink of an eye, appeared in front of the old man. With one punch to the head and one hand on the shoulder, he spun the old man’s head like a top.
This didn’t stop there. A flurry of punches followed, mercilessly hammering the old man’s body with pure violence.
Three minutes later.
A meatball stuffed with the Book of Fate was thrown onto the weight-adjusted catapult’s sling. Ji Ma commanded: “Quickly throw this thing out, the further the better.”
One soldier hit the firing device. Ji Ma, with her hands behind her back, looked at the meatball flying away and slowly said, “Everything is as planned.”
She indeed needed the old man with the Book of Fate. But reason often gives way to emotion; at least that’s how Ji Ma felt.
She wore a faint smile, soared back to her dormitory on a floating disk, picked up the sleeping Lianxi cat on her bed, and placed it outside the door, saying, “I need some time alone.”
The door closed.
The curtains were drawn.
Sunlight filtered through the purple curtains, dimming the room, filling it with a light lavender hue. Ji Ma’s smile disappeared. She called out George’s name, shouting, “You arrogant fool of a hero, come out this instant!”
“Get out here!”
She yelled several times and cursed George a few times, her voice echoing in the dormitory, but nothing happened. Ji Ma took a deep breath, calming herself.
This was quite normal. In this world, it had only been about forty minutes since she last called George. That’s why she had to yell at him; if he heard, it wouldn’t be good. He would definitely ask what was going on, and she didn’t want George to know that she had been the traitor, harming herself—not at all.
