Chapter 233: Madness in His Later Years

Chapter 233: Madness in His Later Years

“I obtained the Knowledge Emperor potion formula from that oldest organization long ago. Now, it is time to seek the corresponding materials. They may already belong to an angel, or perhaps they have fused with their surroundings and become a twisted, evil monster, or a chaotic, terrifying Grade 0 Sealed Artifact. In any case, I must be sufficiently careful. It would be best if I can find suitable helpers.

“Knowledge Emperor… The name of this Sequence 1 potion is truly interesting. If I had not directly seen the Blasphemy Slate, I would have thought it belonged to the Reader pathway, to the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. What is even stranger is that these two pathways are not interchangeable.

“I once discussed this matter with that mysterious leader and old Mr. Hermes. We basically reached a consensus: the Reader pathway represents the ‘omniscience’ in ‘omniscient and omnipotent,’ while the Mystery Pryer and Savant pathways correspond to knowledge itself, belonging to two different aspects—one leaning more toward mysticism, the other closer to reality.

“Heh. Once I become a Knowledge Emperor, Bernadette will no longer need to worry about the Hidden Sage’s instillation, nor fear the pursuit of knowledge.”

So the Emperor ultimately switched to the Mystery Pryer pathway. I wonder whether he successfully became a Knowledge Emperor… Perhaps it was precisely because of this matter that he completely broke with the Church of Steam, to the point that when he later became the enemy of the entire world and could find no helpers, he actually placed his hopes in the Twilight Hermit Order… Klein thought, half sighing and half speculating.

Apart from this, he was quite interested in Roselle’s explanation of why the Reader pathway could not be interchanged with the Mystery Pryer and Savant pathways. He felt that if he deepened this line of thinking, he might be able to find the law and principle behind the interchangeability of Beyonder pathways.

“To most Beyonders, Reader, Mystery Pryer, and Savant all belong to the domain of knowledge and should be highly related. Yet the former turns out to be the heretic here…

“Reader belongs to the ‘omniscience’ in ‘omniscient and omnipotent.’ Then Secret Supplicant—that is, the Shepherd pathway—belongs to the ‘omnipotence’ in ‘omniscient and omnipotent’? And the two possess a certain overlap; for example, being knowledgeable grants many abilities, while possessing many abilities brings extensive knowledge. Therefore, they can be interchanged…

“From this perspective, the Storm pathway being versatile across sea, land, and air can be understood. The Spectator pathway’s mental domain serves as a powerful supplement to Storm. Then why can the Sun pathway be interchanged with them? Considering that the previous being who held the title ‘omniscient and omnipotent’ was the ancient Sun God, does this mean Sun is the foundation that accommodates ‘omniscience and omnipotence’?

“Mm… Following this line of thought, Mystery Pryer and Savant are different aspects of knowledge itself, and therefore can be interchanged. Then what are the Assassin and Hunter pathways a differentiation of? What about the Evernight, Death, and God of Combat pathways?” Klein thought through many things at once. However, he had neither time nor enough information to analyze them more deeply, so he temporarily threw the questions to the back of his mind and used his will to move the third diary page to the top.

With one glance, Klein’s mind suddenly focused, because this diary entry was entirely different from the ones before.

It had no date. The spacing between words was very large. Because this was the original page, one could clearly see that the force behind the pen strokes had been extraordinarily heavy!

Klein swept his gaze over it, and the contents of the yellowed paper entered his mind:

“No! Impossible!

“How could this be!

“If my guess is correct, I should not have been the only one who experienced such a thing!

“No! No! How can this be!

“The things I saw are telling me that everything, absolutely everything, will be destroyed. Everything I created will be the same! No! I refuse to accept such an ending!

“I must work hard to save myself and no longer place my hopes in the Seven Gods!

“Only by ascending to the throne of Sequence 0 can I and the things I value be preserved!”

“Should I attempt to pull Mr. Door back into the real world? No! Although He claims to only be Sequence 1, I believe He is definitely not an ordinary Sequence 1! He is very likely to bring me disasters beyond expectation!”

The Chinese characters, much larger than those on the previous two pages, occupied the entire yellowed paper in sparse, chaotic form. The actual content was not long, yet reading it made Klein’s head throb in waves.

When writing this diary entry, Emperor Roselle was very likely already a Sequence 1 Knowledge Emperor. The contents he wrote while carrying such intense emotions possessed a powerful mystical nature. In other words, if Klein read these words in the real world, he would very likely suffer mental abnormalities, go insane on the spot, or even lose control!

Good thing Madam Hermit doesn’t understand Chinese. Otherwise, when she forcefully memorized the contents earlier, she would already have mutated… Even if she doesn’t understand it, she should still have felt especially tired and greatly drained… If she came into prolonged contact with it, stared at it for too long, auditory and visual hallucinations would be unavoidable, and there would be a high chance of symptoms of losing control… Klein thought with a touch of relief.

His attention quickly returned to the diary itself, and doubts rose one after another.

“What exactly did the Emperor see to make his emotions so intense and his attitude so much more extreme?

“No, the agitation and impulsiveness between the lines feel somewhat abnormal. They don’t match the image of someone who had long held high office, much less the status of an angel. Even during his final days, when the Emperor said, ‘after I die, what do I care if the flood comes,’ he did not lose composure like this, nor was he this excited.

“Was he influenced by someone? Or polluted and corroded by something?

“Also, when he mentioned that there should have been others who had the same experience as him, what matter was he referring to? Transmigration? Back then, on Earth, the person who transmigrated due to inexplicable people, objects, and matters truly was not only him. There was also me… and maybe even more?”

Thoughts flashed through Klein’s mind one after another. He did not waste time. He made the three diary pages vanish, smiled, and looked toward The Hermit Cattleya.

“Have you decided on a request?”

As though already prepared, Cattleya bowed and said, “I wish to know why Emperor Roselle went mad in his later years.”

Justice Audrey blinked, suspecting that she had heard wrong. She had never imagined that the first question Madam Hermit asked would be so weighty.

And how does she know Emperor Roselle went mad in his later years? Also, she only submitted three diary pages, yet she’s asking a question of this level. That doesn’t match the law of equivalent exchange! Many thoughts surged through Audrey’s mind, but she did not stop Madam Hermit from asking. Instead, she waited for Mr. Fool’s response with great interest and inexplicable excitement.

The Hanged Man Alger, The Moon Emlyn, and The Magician Fors likewise held their breath and turned their eyes toward the seat of honor at the bronze long table. Only The Sun Derrick and The World were not especially concerned.

The Fool Klein thought for a moment, then gave a soft laugh.

“First, let us establish one fact.

“I am not omniscient, nor am I omnipotent.”

He said those words in a lightly self-deprecating tone, but The Hermit and the others displayed not the slightest abnormality. They even became a little more respectful.

To them, the fact that Mr. Fool was not omniscient and omnipotent was self-evident. Even setting aside their individual speculations regarding Mr. Fool’s state, the fact that this hidden existence’s honorific name contained no such description was enough to explain the matter.

Furthermore, none of the current true gods or evil gods had honorific names indicating omniscience and omnipotence!

Having imperceptibly laid the groundwork, Klein began answering The Hermit’s question.

“I, too, wish to know what Roselle encountered in his later years.

“What can currently be confirmed is that, due to the stimulation or influence of certain unknown reasons, Roselle turned his gaze toward Sequence 0.”

He did not explain what Sequence 0 corresponded to. Within the Tarot Club, more members knew than did not, and those who did not could vaguely guess a little.

Sequence 0… The Emperor wanted to become a god? No wonder she said he went mad in his later years… Justice Audrey knew what Sequence 0 represented and felt deeply moved for a moment. The Hanged Man Alger felt the same.

The Hermit Cattleya clearly understood the meaning of Sequence 0 as well. Thoughtful, she expressed her thanks and withdrew her gaze.

Sequence 0… The Moon Emlyn and The Magician Fors each chewed over those two words, seeming to have only now learned that above Sequence 1, there was still another rank, one that belonged to true gods!

The Sun Derrick looked at Mr. Fool in confusion, not understanding what was wrong with the highly present Emperor Roselle attempting to advance to Sequence 0. In the City of Silver, if there were an opportunity, every resident would wish to become a Sequence 0 true god, in order to create an environment more suitable for survival or lead everyone out of that forsaken land.

Klein said no more. He leaned back against his chair, looked around, and said, “You may begin.”

After speaking, he controlled The World to look toward The Sun Derrick and laugh in a low voice.

“The Notary potion formula you wanted is available.”

“Thank you, Mr. World. According to our agreement, I will record this debt and wait for you to make your request,” The Sun Derrick said sincerely.

“Good.” While controlling The World to answer, Klein had him make a show of requesting manifestation from Mr. Fool.

It did not take long for the potion formula to arrive in Little Sun’s hands.

Derrick accepted it with delight and ravenously browsed through the contents on the parchment:

“Sequence 6, Notary. Main ingredients: one portion of root-stem crystal from the Elder Tree; five tail feathers from a Pact Spirit Bird. Supplementary ingredients: 100 milliliters of Radiant Pact Spirit Tree sap, one golden-edged sunflower, one white-edged sunflower, and five drops of water fern juice.”

Before anyone else could speak, The World looked at The Hanged Man Alger and spoke again.

“You know. The Ocean Songster potion formula and main ingredient you wanted are available.”

Huh? Justice Audrey and the others were momentarily dumbfounded.

The Hermit Cattleya stared at The World, undisguised astonishment in her gaze. She remembered very clearly that Gehrman Sparrow had only hunted Slaughterer Gilchies last week. Then where had he obtained the Ocean Songster potion formula and main ingredient from?

He couldn’t have killed another Ocean Songster, could he? Even within the Church of Storms, that would count as a quasi-high-ranking member… It has only been one week! Cattleya felt that this was not realistic at all.