Deceitful Game

Chapter 303 I'd Rather Be Myself, One Glass of Wine

Mingpo's idea seems to have really spurred Ai Shiping on.

He followed behind Mingpo, head down, deep in thought, and even offered many ideas:

"If I cut myself into several pieces and project them into the bodies of several non-human, sentient beings, wouldn't that be equivalent to me creating several freely moving clones?"

"The issue you mentioned is already being discussed by the Technology Ethics Committee. I feel it should pass."

Mingpo replied casually.

"If these clones are killed by the Deceiver, can they enter the Deceiver Game? Or, if I create clones of myself, can they replace me and enter the Deceiver Game?"

"Then we'll have to see if these clones have souls."

"How can we give them souls? And what if they already have souls?"

Ai Shiping kept asking, "If I go back to the past and place this clone there, will he appear from the 'present'? If I throw a copy of myself at the moment of my death and let him die in my place... can he become a deceiver? If so, will I become a paradox, or will nothing change?"

"Could the person speaking to you now be a copy of me, a deceiver?"

"Since I can have such thoughts now... could it be that there was a version of myself who thought the same way before? Is the current me actually a copy of this version of myself?"

"You're just standing here talking to me about Steins;Gate!"

Mingpo was getting impatient: "If you keep saying 'Won't you... won't you... won't you... I'll boil you alive!"

In his previous life, Ai Shiping enjoyed reading philosophical works and discussing "what is I".

Even his signature is "I have struggled with myself for a long time, and I would rather be myself."

Mingbo has always scoffed at this.

"I'm having a very serious discussion with you."

Ai Shiping said somewhat discontentedly, "It's not like I'm deliberately trying to confuse you..."

As he spoke, he looked at a device on the table that was covered with a black cloth and resembled a birdcage.

"What is that?"

He pointed with his finger.

Mingpo glanced at Lin Ya, then without turning her head, casually said, "Potted plant."

"What kind of potted plant needs shade...?"

Ai Shiping walked over curiously and lifted a corner of the curtain.

Although it might seem a bit rude… he knew that since Mingpo was right next to him and hadn’t stopped him, it meant that Amber had tacitly approved. …Uh?

The moment the curtain was lifted, Ai Shiping's expression froze for a second.

He stared in astonishment, his eyes widening, and turned sharply to look at Mingpo's retreating figure.

He turned back to look at Lin Ya's head with some disbelief.

She seemed to have been tormented for a long time, and now she looked like she was about to cry. Her pupils trembled nervously from side to side, constantly refocusing on Ai Shiping's face.

Of course, she might have already cried. But she couldn't shed ordinary tears anymore; all that came out was preservative fluid. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Those eyes held a terrifying glint... hope intertwined with despair.

"Who...who is she?" Ai Shiping stammered.

"It was a discarded mining rig that I salvaged."

"Huh?! I didn't know you had such a morbid taste..."

"snort."

Mingpo's lips curled up slightly, with a hint of arrogance: "There's a lot you don't know."

He didn't explain further.

Because Mingpo believed that Ai Shiping would calm down soon.

as predicted.

Seeing Mingpo's calm and composed demeanor, Ai Shiping quickly realized that there must be a reason why this person was here.

Mingpo is not the kind of person who would do unnecessary things.

No matter how cruel or insane he is, he would never hunt innocent ordinary people.

That is to say...

This woman must have offended Mingpo at some point.

Ai Shiping's gaze turned cold. Ignoring Lin Ya's desperate, almost collapsing eyes, he slowly closed the curtain again. "But..."

Mingpo caught a glimpse of Ai Shiping's little gesture out of the corner of her eye and couldn't help but laugh.

He put his left hand in his pocket and picked up a bottle of port wine from the wine cabinet with his right hand, gesturing for Ai Shiping to take it.

Ai Shiping strode over and took the wine in his hand.

"...This is...the Dionysus Shrine?"

He looked at the gleaming gold wine cabinet, his tone incredulous.

No matter how you look at it, it's just an ordinary wine cabinet.

That's the main reason why Minper called him back.

Ai Shiping carefully examined the label on the back of the Port wine.

"【Detective】...is that a title?"

He muttered to himself, somewhat taken aback.

"Yes, relics of Dionysus."

Mingbo looked up and exclaimed, "By mixing the wines here, we can create even better wines and establish entirely new titles."

"It sounds like a divine artifact from the Realm of Balance."

"Who can argue with that?"

Mingpo remained noncommittal.

He told Ai Shiping that mixing more than four bottles of wine could create a "taboo".

Sometimes, the less you know about things you shouldn't know, the safer you are.

What title are you using now?

Mingpo casually asked, "Once you're promoted, you can drink the wine here. You should then be able to get the title of [Detective]." "...Should?"

"After all, I haven't used its power on anyone else. Actually, I'm not sure if it even has this function... but I feel like it probably does. After all, Limbo once used it to enhance Divine Melody."

Mingpo shrugged and pulled out a bottle of whiskey: "This is [Werewolf], the title of the Slaughter Domain. It's my only Time Bronze level title... Why don't you give it a try? But switching domains seems to be a bit painful."

"fine……"

Ai Shiping shook his head: "The title I originally received was also the Domain of Slaughter."

"Why did you suddenly decide to change fields?"

…because I realized I didn't have enough power.

Ai Shiping sighed deeply, his tone heavy: "When you're at a low level, whatever type of title you can get, you can basically get all the way through. And I've completely given up on myself for being unable to do anything..."

"The initial title I got this time is [Assassin]. It's much better than the [Fox] title I had back then."

"By observing others closely, I can gradually discern their weaknesses. Once the observation is complete, I can obtain secret information to kill them."

"It sounds like a rather opportunistic title."

Ming Po commented, "Why doesn't it even have an active skill?"

"It does have some intelligence capabilities, I think it's a good title for killing enemies above one's level."

Ai Shiping, however, was quite satisfied: "I'm already quite satisfied. With my physique, I probably can't obtain the title of 'Domain of Power'... That's why I killed so many people, forcibly transforming myself into the Domain of Slaughter. Do you have anything better?"

…Hmm, let's leave that aside for now. Is the title "Domain of Slaughter" still universally reviled among the Deceivers?

"No, no, no, the environment is much better now. I asked about this when I first awakened my memories, and Xiao Fan told me about it then."

At this point, Ai Shiping's expression turned strange: "Xiao Fan said that what the current charlatans fear most... is actually the Domain of Virtue."

"...Huh? Why?"

Mingbo couldn't quite understand it.

Those who deceive the world in the realm of virtue are not the hypocrites.

They are all truly compassionate, undoubtedly the core of the team, and truly reliable leaders.

"Right now, the best-reputed title is 'the realm of balance and wisdom,' followed by 'power and slaughter.' This is probably due to people's subconscious envy and awe of corporate employees."

Ai Shiping shrugged. "As for the Domain of Virtue... the charlatans of this era think that everyone in the Domain of Virtue is crazy. Perhaps this decadent era has lasted too long, and most people from Central are completely unable to understand the thinking of these 'old fogies' in the Domain of Virtue. This sense of the unknown makes them feel that these people are terrifying, completely uncommunicative, like pseudo-humans." How ironic.

Mingpo's lips twitched upwards, but she ultimately couldn't manage a smile: "It's disgusting."

"Who can argue with that?"

As Ai Shiping spoke, he poured himself a glass of whiskey.

Forcibly equipping a higher-level title might be dangerous, so he chose "Werewolf," which was at the same level as himself.

If titles of the same level and domain cannot be used, then the significance of the Dionysian Shrine will be greatly reduced.

And if possible...

Then their actions might be much simpler!

Therefore, Ai Shiping had to test the taboos and limits of the Dionysus Shrine himself.

"Let's do it, brothers!"

Ai Shiping yelled and downed the glass of "Werewolf" liquor in one gulp!

The next moment, he suddenly clutched his chest!