Foolish Game of the Gods - Chapter 80

After 24 hours of constant tension and a brush with death, everyone’s bodies were utterly exhausted.

Especially the pink-haired girl, a follower of [Prosperity]. Without any food to sustain her, she had been maintaining her divine powers for far too long, and her mental strength was completely drained.

So after their brief rest, the group immediately set out to search for food.

Zhao Qian proposed that they search together, for safety’s sake.

But before Su Yida could even open his mouth, Cheng Shi firmly rejected the idea, citing one reason:

It would be too inefficient, and they didn’t have enough time.

Of course, that wasn’t the real reason. Cheng Shi’s true concern was that if they grouped up, how was Su Yida going to conjure food for Tao Yi?

Whether Tao Yi could get a proper meal would directly impact how difficult their survival would be moving forward.

Or rather, it would impact Cheng Shi’s chances of survival.

After all, she was one of the only three people who could potentially help him out.

The other two were Little Master Gao and the old man, Elder Cui.

At the moment, the pink-haired girl seemed reliable—both in utility and trustworthiness.

Given that Cheng Shi had indeed saved everyone earlier, his words carried weight. Zhao Qian, looking conflicted, reluctantly agreed with his suggestion but still advised everyone not to stray too far, urging them to stay within each other’s line of sight.

Su Yida shot Cheng Shi a brief, knowing glance before diving into the water.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Su Yida returned with the most “abundant” haul.

He had “found” an edible tree branch, spent a lot of effort peeling some “bread”-like fruit, and even “discovered” a few unidentified bird eggs…

Cheng Shi, “staring” at all the things he couldn’t see, felt tired just imagining it.

How many brain cells had Su Yida burned trying to make it all seem real?

Had he spent those two hours underwater, coming up with suitable reasons and explanations?

It must’ve been exhausting.

As for Cheng Shi, since he couldn’t partake in the imaginary feast, he settled for something he was used to.

The sea was littered with the floating carcasses of unknown giant creatures. Apart from the body of the Vortex Devourer, which was still steeped in void energy and thus impossible to approach, the others were relatively easy targets. You just had to slice off some meat from the open wounds, and voilà—dinner.

The rest of the group had thought about harvesting the giant beast meat, but the taste…

Well, let’s just say it left a lot to be desired.

The texture was like mud, and the flavor was worse.

One bite in, and you’d be spitting twice as much out. Instead of replenishing energy, you’d end up losing stomach acid. A complete loss.

But Cheng Shi didn’t have the luxury of being picky.

He didn’t mind.

Watching him down the meat with delight, the others’ faces twisted with disgust, their frowns deeper than the folds of the Cordillera mountain range.

His strange eating habits became the topic of conversation once again, and Su Yida, holding his “fancy” food, sat down next to him and struck up a conversation about the nature of taste and the essence of fine dining.

“Why aren’t you eating the food I brought back? Don’t like it?”

This bastard grovels like a dog when talking to Tao Yi, but with me, it’s all snark and sarcasm.

Cheng Shi rolled his eyes internally and replied:

“To suppress the [Divinity] in my body, I can’t indulge in food too much.”

Su Yida’s eyes shifted for a moment, and he seemed to find that explanation reasonable.

“What’s it like, having [Divinity] sealed inside? Do you feel its gaze?”

“If I don’t think about it, I don’t feel anything. But if I focus on it, it’s not much better than eating this stuff.”

“I see.”

Su Yida suddenly felt a bit queasy. He put down his food and went silent. But after a while, he couldn’t resist asking:

“I’m curious… About what happened underwater earlier…”

Finally!

Though Cheng Shi had been discreet when he pulled off that move in the belly of the beast, the impact had been anything but subtle. Everyone probably had questions about it.

But everyone had their secrets. Since Cheng Shi had saved them, as long as he didn’t offer that information willingly, it was only polite not to pry.

Still, curiosity is human nature. The moment Su Yida asked the question, the others’ movements slowed, and even the sounds of chewing became quieter.

“Oh, that? It’s just a lightning-based explosive tool, something from [Prosperity]’s experiments. The [Chosen One] gave it to us as payment.”

Ah, I see!

The others nodded in understanding, their questions answered, and resumed eating.

Su Yida didn’t press further and smoothly changed the subject. He wasn’t all that interested in the lightning trick.

Cheng Shi responded half-heartedly, recognizing that Su Yida’s real goal wasn’t to discuss his strange dietary habits but rather to probe into the [Divinity] within his body.

It was a battle of wits between two masters of subtlety. They danced around the topic for nearly an hour, but neither gave away any useful information.

Cheng Shi was growing tired of Su Yida’s incessant questioning, and Su Yida was getting frustrated with how slippery Cheng Shi was, never letting anything slip.

This priest was far more cunning than Su Yida had anticipated!

There were undoubtedly huge secrets hidden within this man’s body.

…

Moments of leisure were rare in an [Oblivion] trial.

But unfortunately, the players couldn’t fully enjoy it.

While trying to relax and recover, they remained on edge, constantly monitoring their surroundings, worried that disaster could strike at any moment.

That kind of tension was mentally draining.

After several hours of nerve-wracking silence, something shocking finally happened.

The water began to recede!

“What the…?”

Zhao Qian dipped his hand into the water, feeling the water level drop. His face twisted in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hmm… The water seems to be draining a bit too quickly.”

The group stood on the surface of the water, with nothing but the vast ocean around them. Without any other visual references, it was hard to perceive just how fast the water was receding.

But Zhao Qian’s senses were sharp, and he could feel the pressure waves in the water growing stronger.

The pressure wasn’t coming from the sea itself—it was coming from somewhere deep below.

“Everyone, stay alert. For this much water to drain this quickly, something must have changed on the ocean floor. There’s a good chance we’re looking at a fissure!

Regardless, we can expect the water to fully recede soon, so let’s gather materials and prepare. Also, be on guard for earthquakes and tsunamis!”

Gao Yu immediately chimed in:

“If the ocean floor is shifting, we also need to be wary of potential volcanic eruptions. We should make large shields and boots first. Everyone, gather materials, and I’ll craft them!”

Everyone sprang into action, gathering anything within sight that could be shaped into shields and equipment for protection.

But in just the few minutes it took for them to act, the speed at which the sea level was dropping accelerated even further!

Even though they were floating on the water, they could begin to feel a subtle sense of falling.

What kind of fissure could drain this much water?

Cheng Shi instinctively furrowed his brow.

“Little Master Gao, maybe you should try something else?”

“Like what?”

“A helicopter, maybe?”

“?”

Before Gao Yu could respond, something else happened beneath their feet.

The gently spinning raft gave a violent jolt.

At this point, the water wasn’t simply receding—it was as if the ocean beneath them had been instantly drained. In the blink of an eye, the players went from floating on the water’s surface to hanging in midair.

But in the absence of any external force, how could an object remain suspended in the air?

The answer was: it couldn’t.

And so, as everyone looked on in shock, the fall began!

With the ocean gone, everything that had once existed within it began to plummet, the weightlessness slamming into everyone’s minds with brutal force.

What had once been the unreachable ocean floor now seemed like a terrifying abyss, waiting to consume everything that fell within it—without mercy or distinction.

“Shit, I knew it!”