Jiang Ran had to admit that Xiao Yan was indeed very intelligent and calm in the face of danger. Because he had lost the ability to not tell the truth, he could neither lie nor remain silent, so he veered off into other things.
Shan Shang also raised his gun and pressed the barrel against Shan Shang's thigh: "An interrogation should look like an interrogation. If this kid won't talk, just cripple his leg first. It's better for people to suffer a little!"
"No, no, no, brother, let's talk this out!" Xiao Yan immediately put on a smile. "Actually, I'm a real spineless person. I'll tell you everything if you ask me! Hahaha!"
Although he spoke softly, Jiang Ran didn't sense any fear from him. Usually, when people are afraid, their bodies tremble slightly, but Xiao Yan was as steady as a rock.
"What did the director tell you to do here?"
"Let's play." Xiao Yan was about to cross his legs when he suddenly remembered that he was already tied up tightly. "He has temporarily turned us into the natives of this place. As for what we can get from you, that's up to us."
"So—" Jiang Ran's face darkened, "The director never sent you guys to deal with us?"
"At least He never said that."
"Then what's the point of you attacking us? Are you just being cheap?"
Shan Shang gritted his teeth, almost wanting to just shoot the guy in front of him!
"Didn't I already say it? It's just one word: Play!"
Everyone stared at him, speechless for a long time.
After a while, Jiang Ran continued, "You didn't use [Loss] in advance, thus losing the opportunity to reveal any information. In this way, due to the paradox of the two [Loss], you can neither tell the truth nor reveal any information. The two abilities are conceptually contradictory, so they are both useless."
Is this even possible? Alansta has really learned something new. These tacticians are all incredibly shrewd. They're masters at anticipating these kinds of things. He almost actually believed this guy was just playing around!
"Hahaha! Jiang Ran, I have to admit you have a really wild imagination!" Xiao Yan laughed and shook his head. "I didn't let myself lose the opportunity to reveal any information, but you guessed right, you really can't affect me right now."
"So you've already self-destructed?" Jiang Ran frowned slightly. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Shan Shang lowered his gun barrel slightly further: "Let me shoot this guy first!"
“You wouldn’t dare to fire because it would break the rules and corrupt you.” Xiao Yan turned his gaze back. “Although you seem reckless and have a kind of reckless drive, you are actually very calm. You won’t make such an obvious big mistake before you achieve your true goal.”
Am I right?
"What are you betting on, kid?" Yamagami grinned. "If I were in a worse mood, I would have pulled the trigger the moment you opened your mouth."
But in the end, it wasn't pulled, was it?
“Jiang Ran, Jiang Ran, I always have a question.” Xiao Yan tilted his head, “Why do you have to be so hostile to the Director? In fact, He has never regarded you as an enemy; it’s just that you’ve wished He were an enemy.”
"【Shackles】 tells you to be careful of Him? Please, anyone can say that, but I'm sincerely reminding you to be careful of 【Shackles】."
“I really don’t know if He considers me an enemy,” Jiang Ran said, arms crossed. “But I’m really curious about His purpose. What does He want? To kill me? Probably not. Does He want something from me? What do I, a mortal, have that would be worth coveting by a god?”
"Why don't you tell me about it?"
"Hahaha, don't even mention you, do you think I would know these things? But, I can tell you something you'll probably find very interesting!"
"That is—the ritual of becoming a god!"
Everyone was drawn to the four words Xiao Yan uttered. Jiang Ran only knew that he needed to collect divinity, but he didn't know what his subsequent godhood ritual would be. Why would Xiao Yan reveal such important information? No, was it the "director" who revealed it to him?
Xiao Yan is a substitute god, and the core divinity of his lineage is still occupied by the [Director], so it is impossible for him to become a god. The [Director] originally had no need to tell him these things, but He did.
"Legend has it that long ago, there was only one god in the entire starry sky, meaning 'omniscient and omnipotent.' However, due to his own paradox, he collapsed and turned into twelve core divinities. Each core divinity had ten branch divinities, so there were a total of eleven kinds of authority. As a result, the world's authority was divided into 132 kinds, 12 kinds of sovereign authority and 120 kinds of branch authority. These abilities are intertwined and are not absolutely different."
At this moment, everyone had a strange feeling, as if Xiao Yan was their teacher. Jiang Ran didn't want Xiao Yan to continue thinking, because this knowledge was less brought by Xiao Yan and more like the "director" relaying a message!
On the other hand, this knowledge was something Jiang Ran didn't know and longed for, so even if he felt something was wrong, he had to listen to Xiao Yan continue!
"The twelve core divinities represent twelve divine positions. These core divinities are incompatible, so a god cannot possess two core divinities simultaneously. And among these twelve gods, one of them just fell with a bang—haha, or rather, he was scattered!"
"Thus, the eleven parts of divinity he represented scattered throughout the world. Once they merged with humans, they formed the 'Fallen Gods,' and thus possessed [miracles]!"
If what Xiao Yan said is true, then the core divinity is in Jiang Ran's hands. In addition, there are ten branches of divinity scattered in the world. That is to say, besides him, there are at most ten other fallen gods!
Currently, the confirmed Fallen Gods are Jiang Ran, Arceus, Rusgerer, and Yu Cheng. Jiang Ran can only be 100% certain about these four people. Bates, Alex, Song Yang, and the owner of the [Demon God] are all potential Fallen Gods.
There are at most 11 Fallen Gods and at most 11 Substitute Gods, which corresponds exactly one to one. Therefore, there are at most 22 people active on Earth who possess [miracles].
22... This corresponds exactly to the number of cards in the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck. Is this a coincidence?
"As long as you are a fallen god, you have the potential to become a god!" Xiao Yan suddenly smiled mysteriously. "Jiang Ran, I don't know what your godhood ritual is, but I know what Arthas's godhood ritual is. I think it's necessary for me to tell you, isn't it?"
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