Light Cone World, destiny, dice.

’I see the key elements.’

Shi Ming blinked, the motion almost imperceptible.

’It seems the gears of fate are truly wondrous. For the #2 ranked sea beast to show up and launch an attack now... This must mean that after it attacked Heijin fifteen years ago, it wasn’t suppressed and killed by Skynet, which took over. Instead, it fled to the Earth’s Lung and hid within a Light Cone World.’

’As for why it’s hiding here?’

Birds of a feather flock together.

The attribute of the Holy Hall-level Sea Beast in this Earth’s Lung was self-evident.

’Destiny!’

After receiving the warning from his Eye of Destiny, Shi Ming showed no outward reaction. He remained on his rocking chair as usual. He even poured himself a cup of coffee from Heijin. Its characteristic sour notes, accompanied by a rich aroma, quickly wafted through the air. Meanwhile, Ah Jian quietly sent a mental command to the Three-Eyed Golden Crow perched at the ship’s prow: ’Keep a low profile.’

The Three-Eyed Golden Crow lazily stepped down from the prow.

But within Shi Ming’s eyes, a river imperceptible to others began to flow. This was the River of Destiny, its scale measured in time, not distance, its many tributaries extending sixty minutes into the future.

’He was preparing to use "Destiny Fixation"!’

’Want to play a game?’

’Too bad. I can fix the outcome!’

...

Within the dense fog.

A strange domain enveloped this patch of sea. A twenty-sided Light Cone, invisible to the naked human eye, tumbled down onto the *Da Yun* and abruptly expanded. A snake forged from light darted between the Light Cones, at times connecting its head to its tail, at others slithering forward.

The #2 ranked S-class skill, Destiny Light Cone!

And its master.

The Mobius Serpent!

Everyone on the ship, including Shi Ming, felt themselves enter a bizarre space. In this strange space, even taking a single step, making any movement, drinking a sip of water, or speaking a single word required a dice roll for a check. Furthermore, large movements would consume action points.

"Enemy attack!"

"All hands, stand fast!"

As soon as Shi Ming gave the command, a long, illusory serpent with its head connected to its tail coiled around the *Da Yun*, its gaze locking onto Shi Ming...

Ah Jian could no longer hold back its desire to test its strength against the Mobius Serpent. But after a mental communication from Shi Ming, it suddenly took flight. It focused its powerful Spiritual Power on the great serpent’s head and directly unleashed its signature skill.

Eternal Life Law!

At the same time, as if constrained by the rules, two twenty-sided Light Cones descended from the sky. They spun as they landed in this world, rotating nonstop. Finally, the one on Ah Jian’s side came to rest with the face showing a "3" pointing up. The one on the great serpent’s side showed an "18".

Ah Jian’s luck was terrible.

The skill, Eternal Life Law, missed.

In the Light Cone World, for every action an enemy takes, the Mobius Serpent also gets to take one. Since Ah Jian’s initial action failed, it was now the illusory serpent’s turn.

The Mobius Serpent launched an attack. Two more Light Cones fell from the sky. The great serpent’s roll was a "7," while Ah Jian’s was an "8."

Great Serpent

Theoretically, the attack should have failed.

But the body of the Mobius Serpent, head connected to tail, twitched. It activated its reroll ability and began to cheat! Five more similar Light Cones fell from the sky, scattering and spinning across the Light Cone World. The sum of all the numbers was 78 points!

The attack was a forced success!

A terrifying physical attack landed on one of Ah Jian’s subclones. This subclone offered no resistance and simply dissolved into Spiritual Power, dissipating completely.

The Mobius Serpent seemed quite confused.

’This bug ranked beneath it, the one that was once suppressed by that great ship... how did it suddenly disappear? A clone? Has it evolved the ability to create clones?’

...

Shi Ming silently watched the first exchange between the two sea beasts.

The "Destiny Fixation" power of his Eye of Destiny was already active. The River of Destiny held no secrets before his eyes. At this moment, he was like a true prophet, able to peer into every branching tributary of the next sixty minutes of the future.

He looked toward the flow of the river with its countless forks.

[Tributary 1: Serpent Scampers for its Life]

[After just three rounds of combat, the Mobius Serpent inadvertently detects the Holy Hall Tier power within Shi Ming. Terrified, it flees, diving into the Light Cone Space to hide itself. It vanishes from this stretch of sea, never to be seen again.]

[Probability: 45.21%]

Shi Ming shook his head.

’A 45.21% probability. It’s the most likely future, but not the outcome I want.’

’But it doesn’t matter. There are plenty of other tributaries to choose from.’

When it came to reading, he could scan ten lines at a glance.

[Tributary 2: Destiny’s Advent]

[Shi Ming, stacking three types of Holy Hall Power, shatters the Mobius Serpent’s Light Cone World, breaking its laws with brute force. The Mobius Serpent is swiftly killed by Shi Ming. However, before Shi Ming can absorb its source energy, he is pulled into a higher-level battle.]

[Probability: 21.14%]

’A higher-level battle?’

’Did I startle that Holy Hall-tier Sea Beast? I have no intelligence on it yet. The power of destiny is treacherous and unpredictable. It’s not the right time for a direct confrontation.’

’Next.’

[Tributary 3: The Weaker Player’s Game]

[The Mobius Serpent fails to detect Shi Ming’s deliberately concealed power and is outmatched by him in the turn-based game. Despite constantly cheating, it is suppressed from start to finish by a strange power. It gives up the game and uses its masterful control over destiny to force an escape into the Light Cone Space, where it hides.]

[Probability: 18.21%]

’No...’

’Why do they all end with it running away?’

’Can’t there be a single perfect ending?’

[Tributary 4: I’ll Get My Parents]

[The Mobius Serpent, unable to defeat Shi Ming, uses the traditional skill "Call a Parent" to get help from the Holy Hall-tier Sea Beast and successfully escapes. During the confrontation, the Holy Hall-level Sea Beast senses a peculiar ripple of destiny and goes into hiding from then on.]

[Probability: 12.39%]

’This ending is even worse.’

Aside from the four major tributaries above, the subsequent ones were all extremely minor, meaning that under normal circumstances, their chances of occurring were infinitesimal.

For example:

[Tributary 21 (Worst Teammate): During the pleasant game, a crew member of the *Da Yun* acts without authorization, granting the Mobius Serpent an extra turn. This causes a slight shift in the battle... ]

[Probability: 0.031%]

[Tributary 43 (Deus Ex Machina): A terrifying beast wandering through a different dimension happens to pass by. It sympathizes greatly with the Mobius Serpent’s tragic plight and intervenes to help. But the Mobius Serpent doesn’t know that unknown kindness is the most fatal poison.]

[Probability: 0.000013%]

[Tributary 52 (Land of Light): The Mobius Serpent loses the game and is unable to escape. On the verge of death, it finds an opportunity to self-destruct. The Light Cone World is transformed into the Land of Light, but unfortunately, no damage is dealt to the enemy.]

[Probability: 0.0034%]

...

Shi Ming scanned ten lines at a glance.

His efforts paid off. He finally saw a branch that made his eyes light up.

Its probability of occurring was even lower than the "Deus Ex Machina" scenario, but under the influence of the Eye of Destiny, it could be selected for a Destiny Fixation!