Path dependence is the most difficult problem in the world to solve, and even a Divine-level Being like the Arbitrator is no exception.

It refers to when you achieve success through a certain path, the next time you will unconsciously use the method that succeeded last time, without considering the actual situation.

When He faced the gods, because He knew He needed to bury a very important truth, He was still inwardly nervous.

Upon discovering that using the tactics Sin taught Him worked well, He briefly stopped thinking and completely applied the formula.

He completely forgot that the alliance between Him and Sin was an exceptionally fragile one, full of scheming and ulterior motives! 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Complete trust in him was fundamentally impossible; how could he possibly help Him completely? Even He himself wasn't wholeheartedly helping him. While mutually using each other, they would definitely dig pits for the other.

Like right now, frequently rejecting the gods' demands would certainly make something seem off!

Sin did want to use Him, so he couldn't let the gods oppose Him now, but stirring up some suspicion was still no problem.

Thinking of this, the Arbitrator slowly furrowed His brow.

On the other side, Life continued speaking with that same unquestionable arrogance.

[Have you perhaps forgotten your identity? Do I need to remind you?]

[Our demands, you need to find a way to fulfill them, not casually refuse, understand?]

His voice was cold, like a warning, yet also like a threat.

Pleasure glanced at Him from the side. Although she also felt the Arbitrator was acting a bit off now, it was clear Life probably didn't truly care about that.

In human terms, His mood should be somewhat bad right now?

Right, the publicly acknowledged strongest among the gods are Life and Death. Previously, Knowledge's dissolution allowed Death to take a step forward, while this Life here hasn't moved much.

Thinking this, Pleasure instantly let out a scornful laugh, feeling somewhat bored and disdainful.

Ultimately, even these two most powerful gods were merely scheming against each other to gain power, like children fighting over uneven candy distribution, offering no additional amusement.

It still had to be Agony who was somewhat more ambitious.

Life was quite displeased with His scornful laugh, but when He looked over, Pleasure had already averted His gaze.

When Life made His demand, the Arbitrator had also made a calculation in His heart.

Previously, Sin had discussed with Him that for the next game, they should try as much as possible to prevent the gods and players from being matched one-on-one according to the last method.

This way, those gods who had lost part of their power would have no chance to reclaim it, delaying it as long as possible!

Delay, delay, and perhaps They would be delayed to death.

But now, since Sin had already schemed against Him, the Arbitrator couldn't possibly help him under Life's pressure anyway.

They were just some other players; their life and death had nothing to do with Him, so why bother? Just agree directly!

Thus, He spoke up:

"I have no other meaning. It's just that recently, the frequency of adding rules, violating rules, and special modes has been somewhat excessive."

"The Game is already very unstable now, so I am being more cautious."

"However, this demand should not pose any major problem."

He very directly and decisively tossed aside the promise He made to Sin and agreed to the gods' demand.

—Just follow the same god-player wager matchups from last time, do it again!

Seeing the Arbitrator being obedient again, Life showed no particular reaction, seeming relatively satisfied.

"But..."

Changing His tone, the Arbitrator decided to still salvage the situation a little.

After all, nominally, He and Sin were still allies now.

The other party had already told Him how to deal with the gods. If He accomplished nothing at all, it would be somewhat hard to explain.

Especially since He was also somewhat afraid now. What if that lunatic suddenly resorted to desperate measures, directly risking his life, and then told the gods about His situation... that would be disastrous.

So, He still couldn't act against him now. He could only operate in a different way, giving Sin some sort of explanation.

"However, this kind of direct selection still has some restrictions."

What restrictions? It was completely up to Him alone...

"First, just like last time, the power you wager cannot lead to dissolution. To avoid accidents like what happened with Knowledge, I may need to impose some additional restrictions."

"And, since they are now your Apostles... when designing the game, it cannot be that violent, purely combat style. You also cannot directly attack them."

The Arbitrator casually listed a few restrictions that felt like they didn't hurt much, giving an account to the alliance with Sin.

Life's side was very dissatisfied that He dared to make demands, but ultimately said nothing.

Sin's method was indeed effective. After refusing many times, even when agreeing and making some demands, the gods could accept it.

However, what the Arbitrator didn't yet know was that Lu Ce understood all too well what the gods' true core pain point was.

He had long known that in this upcoming god-player wager, the gods absolutely had to face the players who took their power last time. There was no room for negotiation on this matter.

Therefore, their proposed demand was never going to succeed. What he wanted was to make the Arbitrator, Him, "feel guilty," appear to have failed to keep the promise, making it more convenient for him to negotiate terms with the other party in the next step.

He never expected the Arbitrator to proactively secure some benefits for the human side... and even feel smug about it.

Being schemed against without even noticing it; in this aspect, He truly was just a "newborn child."

[Don't worry, everyone, don't be afraid. This time, I won't deal with you.]

Seeing the gods silent, Pleasure spoke up to lighten the atmosphere, though of course, no god wanted to hear Him lighten the atmosphere.

[However, if you lose again this time, what will you do? Time seems to be running out~.]

The gods remained indifferent, as if They really hadn't considered this problem.

Nightmare spoke up hatefully:

[As long as you don't cause trouble, we should have achieved a complete victory in the last game!]

[Enough.] Life finally spoke again. [If you really can lose to humans, then you can just die.]

[But there's another problem.]

[Knowledge is dead. Who will deal with that 'Sin'?]