# 1885
Chapter 1878: A Gamble
"You're back a bit later than expected."
Fate Monk glanced at Lin Qiye and spoke slowly.
Lin Qiye swept his gaze across the temple. Fallen leaves had accumulated and rotted at the entrance, clearly untouched by a broom for a long time. Wooden chairs and tables were scattered haphazardly throughout the courtyard. Even the offerings on the altar inside the temple lay strewn about in disarray.
Lin Qiye's brow furrowed slightly.
He remembered that last time he came, Fate Monk had kept this temple immaculately clean. How had it become like this?
"What happened?" Lin Qiye paused. "Could it be that I wouldn't let you leave the mountain, so you threw a tantrum?"
"I don't possess such trivial things."
"True… then what about all this?"
"Recently, my attention has been on other matters. This place truly hasn't been cleaned in a long while…" Fate Monk's expression carried a hint of weariness. "Sit first. Let's discuss business."
Seeing this, Lin Qiye didn't press further. He sat down across from Fate Monk.
"I've brought back my mother, as well as Athena, Goddess of War, and Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. Additionally, the Oath Society has moved the entire [Utopia] to Great Xia. Jinian also broke through to godhood and is now within Great Xia's borders."
Fate Monk nodded slightly. He casually picked up a few scattered chess pieces on the ground and placed them on the board.
"Good. That gives us more pieces to work with… What are the specifics?"
Lin Qiye recounted everything that happened on this journey, sparing no detail. Fate Monk narrowed his eyes, listening with extreme focus.
By the time Lin Qiye finished, the sky had darkened. Fate Monk rose and lit several candles inside the temple. The dim, yellowish light illuminated the chessboard at the entrance, shadows swaying among the fallen leaves throughout the courtyard.
"The Second Covenant, then…" Fate Monk murmured thoughtfully. "It is indeed time."
Lin Qiye hummed in agreement. "After this, the riffraff in the Mist has been mostly cleared. Even if we activate the Second Covenant, it shouldn't cause too much panic… The secrets the Night Watch has hidden for over a century should gradually come to light."
"When do you plan to activate it?"
"Within the next couple of days, but I still need to make some preparations." Lin Qiye's gaze flickered toward a certain direction. "As for the main body, the situation is still rather tricky."
"Any plans?"
"More or less. Though it is a bit risky."
"Then go ahead."
Lin Qiye's eyebrows rose. "This time you won't try to stop me? Aren't you usually against risky ventures?"
Fate Monk fell silent for a moment.
"We've come this far. We can't afford to miss any possibility that increases our odds of victory… Perhaps, we need to take a gamble."
"Odds of victory…" Lin Qiye seemed to recall something. "Though I've asked once before… I still want to know, what are humanity's odds of victory now?"
After the Moon War, Lin Qiye had asked this question, but Fate Monk hadn't given an answer then. Now that Great Xia's overall combat strength had been raised to an unprecedented peak, he wanted to know the current odds.
Fate Monk lowered his gaze, as if studying the scattered chess pieces, and didn't answer.
"…If you don't want to say it, forget it." Lin Qiye slowly rose to his feet. "Do one's best and leave the rest to fate. No matter what the odds are, I will push everything I can do to its limit."
Lin Qiye walked to the path leading down the mountain and turned back, glancing at the messy courtyard.
"Tomorrow I'll send someone to help you clean up."
Fate Monk sat motionless in place. By the time Lin Qiye's figure vanished completely, the candles in the temple also quietly went out. The entire courtyard fell into darkness.
After an unknown length of time, Fate Monk's sigh echoed:
"Where, then, is the way out…"
…
Due to the arrival of [Utopia], the Night Watch headquarters had become a hive of activity, though none of this required Lin Qiye's personal attention. The logistics and human resources departments would handle everything.
Lin Qiye sat back down in his office. A moment later, his secretary Min Junliang knocked on the door.
"Commander, the border forces at Sunken Dragon Pass have discovered a young woman. She says she's here to see you."
"A young woman? Did she say who she was?"
"She said her name is Lina Perin."
A trace of surprise flickered in Lin Qiye's eyes, but he still nodded. "Bring her in."
Logically, after Lina returned to [Hidden God], she should have had plenty of matters to deal with. Even if she couldn't regain control of [Hidden God] in the end, negotiations would take time… He had just arrived in Great Xia, and here she was right behind him. Most likely, something had happened en route.
And the facts bore out Lin Qiye's guess. When Lina entered the office, her first words were:
"[Hidden God] has been destroyed."
Lin Qiye had suspected this possibility. "Did the Cthulhu Faction do it?"
"Based on the traces left at the scene, yes."
Lin Qiye rubbed his chin with one hand, frowning as he thought.
Among the powers in the Mist currently, only Great Xia and the Cthulhu Faction Gods had the capability to take down [Hidden God]. Since he hadn't ordered the attack, it must have been An Qingyu's doing… It seemed he wasn't the only one trying to clear the board early.
He had wiped out Olympus and [Divine Desire Paradise]. An Qingyu had destroyed [Hidden God]. The Mist was now completely empty.
"So what are your plans now?" Lin Qiye didn't beat around the bush and asked directly.
Lina took a deep breath and slowly said, "The Mist isn't safe anymore. There's nowhere else I can go except Great Xia, so I have no choice but to seek refuge with you. I know as an outsider, I can't earn your complete trust. If you're truly uneasy, I can leave."
Looking at the serious-faced Lina before him, Lin Qiye considered for a moment.
"You can stay… But let me be clear upfront. Great Xia won't offer unconditional protection. When necessary, we'll need your strength."
"No problem." Lina agreed without hesitation.
Lin Qiye made a phone call. A moment later, Min Junliang arrived at the office and took Lina away to arrange lodging and meals.
In any case, Lina was a Human Apex-level powerhouse. If she used the sword in the stone to summon a projection of King Arthur, she could even briefly match a Supreme God. And she had a demonic wolf Fenrir capable of tearing apart a Chief God. Their joining was a welcome addition to Great Xia's forces.
Lin Qiye rose and walked to the window, gazing at the gloomy sky outside. His expression carried a weight of concern.
An Qingyu taking the initiative to clear the board was undoubtedly a dangerous signal. If Lin Qiye's guess was correct, the day of the final reckoning with the Cthulhu Faction Gods wasn't far off… Before that, there was one more thing that had to be accomplished.
Lin Qiye dialed the phone once more.
"Prepare a plane for me. In half an hour… I'm going to the Qilian Mountains."